Lawrence M. Schoen

Lawrence M. Schoen (born 1959) is an American science fiction author, psychologist, and small-press publisher from Chicago, also known as a leading expert in the constructed Klingon language. His novel Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard (2015), opening the Barsk universe, imagines a galaxy of uplifted animal species and was a Nebula Award finalist, continued in Refugee and The Moons of Barsk. He is equally known for the comic Amazing Conroy/Buffalito sequence, following an interstellar stage hypnotist and his empathic, all-consuming pet buffalito through a string of Nebula-nominated novellas including Buffalito Destiny and Buffalito Contingency. Schoen founded the small press Paper Golem in 2006 and previously worked in academic psychology and mental health research. He received the Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award in 2016 for his contributions to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.