IAN LI

writer | poet | economist | developer

About

Ian Li in a blazer, laughing at a social event

Ian Li is a Chinese-Canadian author of speculative fiction and poetry, who started writing in late 2023 after a lifetime of believing he could never be creative. Find his writing in Abyss & Apex, Orion’s Belt, Small Wonders, and elsewhere.

He graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University with a degree in Operations Research & Financial Engineering. He leads project teams as an economist and consultant, and has extensive expertise in antitrust, market microstructure, valuation, and large-scale data analysis.

He also enjoys developing games, building websites, and solving brain teasers.

Select Fiction

Calling a Starskipper
Abyss & Apex, forthcoming

Everyone is Dying to Work Here ($)
Fission by the British Science Fiction Association

The Halfling Tree ($)
Solarpunk Magazine

A Fulfilling Life
Sci-Fi Shorts

Wielder of Wit
Stupefying Stories

Who Runs This House
100-Foot Crow

Searching for Song
101 Words

Full list of my published fiction

2024 Awards Eligibility

Hello friends, I am a new speculative writer and poet based in Toronto, and I’m excited to share my work with the world. Although I have a number of stories and poems published this year, here’s my favourite poem that I hope you’ll consider:

Traveling at Lightspeed is Easy, Returning to Earth is Hard
Small Wonders, Issue 16, October 2024

Eligible for the poetry categories of the Nebula, Hugo, Rhysling, Ignyte, and Aurora awards

My other eligible works:

Poetry

The Sail” | Orion’s Belt

Visions of Manhattan” | Eye to the Telescope

Planetary Almanac: Torus” | Utopia Science Fiction

Stealing a Moment” | Star*Line

A Rahokan’s Gem” | Worlds of Possibility

A World in Her Tresses” | The Fairy Tale Magazine

Fiction

Everyone is Dying to Work Here” | Fission #4

Contact me if you need a review copy of anything not freely available above

Other Projects

Brain Easer

Curated collection containing hundreds of interesting and challenging puzzles, plus explanations of how I solved them.

BrainEaser Screenshot

Eltera

Web development, design, and digital marketing services.

Eltera Digital Consultancy

Contact

I love to receive notes, but I’m not very active on social media, so you can send me a message via the form below.

Contact