Neopronouns in Speculative Fiction

This page gathers works of speculative fiction that use neopronouns, in any language. It also includes a few non-speculative works that prominently use neopronouns.

Entries are in chronological order, with the oldest works per neopronoun displayed first.

To submit entries, updates, and corrections to this list, please contact me.

Terminology

A neopronoun is an invented pronoun distinct from the standard pronouns already in use by speakers of a language.

In English, the term neopronoun generally refers to any third-person pronoun that is not “he,” “she,” “they,” or “it.”

Most neopronouns are coined to be gender-neutral in response to a language lacking ungendered pronouns. So, they are typically third-person pronouns, which are more commonly gendered. However, as gendered first- and second-person pronouns exist in some languages, a neopronoun could conceivably not be third-person.

Additionally, neopronouns are not inherently gender-neutral. They can be gendered if people use them to refer only to people of a specific gender.

Annotations

Entries have badges indicating how prominent a neopronoun is in the work:

Prominence
lead
At least one primary character uses this neopronoun throughout the entire work.
secondary
At least one secondary character uses this neopronoun throughout the work, or a primary character uses the neopronoun, but for only part of the work.
peripheral
This neopronoun only appears a few times in the text.
unknown
This entry has not been evaluated yet for how prominent its neopronoun use is. These are usually works reported by others that I haven’t been able to acquire or review to verify neopronoun use.
multiple
This work uses multiple neopronouns.

I have also included several badges for how the character who uses neopronouns is represented:

Tropes
👤
Character who uses neopronouns is human or humanoid (e.g. horned humans, dwarves).
👽
Character who uses neopronouns is an alien.
🤖
Character who uses neopronouns is a robot.
🧚
Character who uses neopronouns is fae, elven, angelic, or otherwise otherworldly but not demonic.
👹
Character who uses neopronouns is a monster or demon.
❓
Type of representation unknown or unconfirmed.

A common pitfall in representation by people who are not nonbinary writing with neopronouns is to represent only extremely alien or Other beings as using neopronouns.

This is not inherently negative representation. But extremely ordinary humans, like your neighbors, family, and friends, also use neopronouns.

If you find that you only write non-humans who use neopronouns, consider writing a couple human characters who use neopronouns. For more structured practice, visit my Introduction to Neopronouns open-access course.

Works

  1. æ
  2. be
  3. e
  4. ey
  5. ke
  6. khe
  7. nee
  8. peh
  9. per
  10. po
  11. se
  12. te
  13. vae
  14. ve
  15. xe
  16. xie
  17. y
  18. ze
  19. zhe
  20. zie
  21. not specified

æ

Lu, S. Qiouyi. In the Watchful City. First published August 31, 2021 by Tordotcom Publishing. 38,000 words. lang: ENleadnovellamultiple👤

be

Anders, Charlie Jane. Love Might Be Too Strong a Word. First published June 2008 by Lightspeed Magazine. 5,700 words. lang: ENleadshort storymultiple👽

e

Takács, Bogi. The Handcrafted Motions of Flight. First published March 2012 in Stone Telling. 80 lines. lang: ENleadpoem❓

Stirling, Penny. Love Over Glass, Skin Under Glass. First published September 2013 by Aurealis. 3,800 words. lang: ENperipheralshort story❓

Stirling, Penny. Kin, Painted. First published July 2015 by Lackington’s. 4,400 words. lang: ENleadshort story❓

Takács, Bogi. The Need for Overwhelming Sensation. First published September 2015 in Capricious. 5,200 words. lang: ENleadshort story❓

Chu, John. The Law and the Profits. First published March 2016 in The Revelator. 4,600 words. lang: ENsecondaryshort story🧚

Kobabe, Maia. Gender Queer: A Memoir. First published May 28, 2019 by Oni Press. 240 pages. lang: ENleadgraphic novelnot speculative👤

Lu, S. Qiouyi. In the Watchful City. First published August 31, 2021 by Tordotcom Publishing. 38,000 words. lang: ENsecondarynovellamultiple👤

Sass, A.J. Balancing Acts. First published October 19, 2021 in This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us by Knopf. Length unknown. lang: ENprominence unknownshort storynot speculative👤

Melleby, Nicole & Sass, A.J. Camp QUILTBAG. First published March 21, 2023 by Algonquin Young Readers. 352 pages. lang: ENleadnovelnot speculative👤

Wang, Regina Kanyu translated by S. Qiouyi Lu. Zhurong on Mars. English translation first published in Machine Decision is Not Final: China and the History and Future of Artificial Intelligence edited by Benjamin Bratton, Bogna Konior, and Anna Greenspan, forthcoming from Urbanomic. 4,800 words. lang: ENtranslatedleadshort storynewest entry🤖Note: The original Chinese uses a classical gender-neutral pronoun 伊 yī, which is not a neopronoun. I introduced neopronouns into the English version by translating 伊 yī as e.

ey

Carter, CJ. Que Será Serees: What Will Be, Serees?. First published May 2011 by CJCS. 354 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Lu, S. Qiouyi. Curiosity Fruit Machine. First published February 2017 by GlitterShip. 800 words. lang: ENleadflash fictionmultiple👤

ke

Gentle, Mary. Golden Witchbreed. First published 1985 by Arrow Books. 495 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Gentle, Mary. Ancient Light. First published 1987 by Dutton Adult. 576 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

khe

Polk, C. L. Soulstar. First published Feburary 16, 2021 by Tordotcom Publishing. 298 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

nee

Mardoll, Ana. Poison Kiss. First published February 2017 by Acacia Moon Publishing. 252 pages. lang: ENperipheralnovel👤

peh

Lee, Jenn Manley. Dicebox. First published January 2009. Ongoing. lang: ENprominence unknownwebcomic❓

per

Piercy, Marge. Woman on the Edge of Time. First published May 1976 by Ballantine Books. 384 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnoveloldest entry❓

po

Anders, Charlie Jane. Love Might Be Too Strong a Word. First published June 2008 by Lightspeed Magazine. 5,700 words. lang: ENleadshort storymultiple👽

se

Lu, S. Qiouyi. In the Watchful City. First published August 31, 2021 by Tordotcom Publishing. 38,000 words. lang: ENleadnovellamultiple👤🧚

te

Wells, Martha. Artificial Condition. First published May 2018 by Tordotcom Publishing. 160 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovella❓

vae

Edgmon, H.E. The Fae Keeper. lang: ENperipheralnovel🧚

ve

Egan, Greg. Diaspora. First published September 1997 by Night Shade Books. 352 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

May, Elizabeth & Lam, Laura. Seven Mercies. First published January 20, 2022 by Gollancz. 432 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

xe

Lu, S. Qiouyi. Curiosity Fruit Machine. First published February 2017 by GlitterShip. 800 words. lang: ENleadflash fictionmultiple👤

Blauersouth, Lee. Secondhand Origin Stories. First published October 2017 by CreateSpace. 362 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Roanhorse, Rebecca. Black Sun. First published January 21, 2021 by Solaris. 290 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

White, Andrew Joseph. Hell Followed With Us. First published June 7, 2022 by Peachtree Teen. 416 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel👤

xie

Sylver, RoAnna. The Lifeline Signal. First published March 2017 by CreateSpace. 370 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

y

Anders, Charlie Jane. Love Might Be Too Strong a Word. First published June 2008 by Lightspeed Magazine. 5,700 words. lang: ENleadshort storymultiple👽

ze

Bornstein, Kate & Caitlin Sullivan. Nearly Roadkill. First published June 1996 by Serpent’s Tail. 382 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Edwards, RJ. Black Holes. First published June 2015 in Lightspeed: Queers Destroy Science Fiction! 8 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownshort story❓

Stirling, Penny. Kin, Painted. First published July 2015 by Lackington’s. 4,400 words. lang: ENleadshort story❓

Newman, Emma. After Atlas. First published November 8, 2016 by Ace. 377 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Sriduangkaew, Benjanun. Where Machines Run With Gold. First published 2019 in The Future Fire. 11,000 words. lang: ENleadnovelette❓

zhe

Lechler, Kate. Selections from ‘Volume S’ of the Intragalactic Encyclopedia of Habitable Planets. First published November 2015 in Dear Robot. 3,100 words. lang: ENprominence unknownshort story❓

zie

Ryman, Geoff. Capitalism in the 22nd Century. First published August 2015 in Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany. 14 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownshort story❓

not specified

These works have been identified as having neopronouns in them, but I have been unable to verify what pronouns appear or how prominent they are. This section is alphabetized by author, then title of work.

Brooks, Mike. The Black Coast. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Bunker, Lisa. Zenobia July. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Fields, J S. Ardulumn. lang: ENprominence unknownseries❓

Grant, Rhiannon. Between Boat & Shore. First published July 18, 2022. 215 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Hargrave, Gabriel. The Orchid & The Lion. First published October 12, 2021. 427 pages. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Hurley, Kameron. Worldbreakers Saga. lang: ENprominence unknownseries❓

Kern, Sim. Real Sugar Is Hard to Find. lang: ENprominence unknowncollectionmultiple❓

Leckie, Ann. Ancillary Justice, particularly Provenance. lang: ENprominence unknownseriesmultiple❓

Lee, Emery. Meet Cute Diary. lang: ENsecondarynovelnot speculative👤

Mardoll, Ana. Cinder the Fireplace Boy. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Mardoll, Ana. No Man of Woman Born. lang: ENprominence unknowncollectionmultiple❓

Nicnevin, Tam M. Mirror Monster On My Wall. lang: ENprominence unknownnoveleroticamultiple❓

Newman, Emma. Before Mars. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Rowland, Alexandra. A Choir of Lies. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

Tracy, William C. Dissolution. lang: ENprominence unknownseries❓

Willows, Brittany M. Bloody Spade. lang: ENprominence unknownnovel❓

To submit entries, updates, and corrections to this list, please contact me.

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