Biography

I’m Dustin Grinnell, a writer based in Boston. Journalism and creative nonfiction, short stories and novels, poetry and scripts—all these and more have earned me publication with a wide range of presses, magazines, and literary journals.

My true passion, however, lies in exploring the intersection of ethics and science in a subgenre of speculative fiction I’ve dubbed “sci-fi with heart.” Most of my fiction writing falls under this subgenre, blending the imaginative worlds of science fiction with deep, emotional storytelling and emphasizing the human impact of science and technology. This is demonstrated with my most recent books, The Empathy Academy, a work of soft science fiction, and my short story collection, The Healing Book, which contains seven stories that blend science fiction with emotionally rich narratives. In an article for Writer’s Digest, I broke down how the screenplay for Her puts the “heart” in sci-fi. And in my video series, Sci-Fi with Heart, I review sci-fi movies that bring real emotion to a genre—analyzing what makes them hit on a deeper level.

Born in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I grew up with a fascination for the science-fiction works of authors like Michael Crichton, and I never missed an addition to R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, or an episode of The X Files. With a BA in psychobiology from Wheaton College (MA), an MS in physiology from Penn State, and an MFA in fiction from Lasell University’s Solstice Program, I hone my writing in marketing for American corporations and nonprofits while building my literary portfolio.

Beyond writing, I love to explore the world. I’ve traveled a lot throughout my life, including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, running the Paris Marathon, hitchhiking across New Zealand, and riding my motorcycle across the United States. I’ve written about many of these adventures in personal essays, which I put together in my collection, Lost & Found: Reflections on Travel, Career, Love, and Family.

More recently, I’ve applied my love of exploring the world to my podcast, Curiously, in which I explore big ideas with a variety of guests in insightful and engaging conversations. When not traveling the world, I can be found in the seaside town of Winthrop, MA, where I live with my cat, Poe, named after author and poet Edgar Allan Poe.

To learn more, download the bio below and check out an interview from Authority Magazine.