Short biography
SJ Groenewegen BEM’s most recent novels include The Disinformation War (GoldSF, 2023) and Lethbridge-Stewart: A Most Haunted Man (Candy Jar, 2022). SJ’s short fiction has appeared in anthologies including the forthcoming Wrath Month (Bona Books, 2027), Who Am I? Sapphic Speculative Fiction of Identity & Purpose (Scylla Publishing, 2026), Big Finish’s Doctor Who Short Trips range, the Lethbridge-Stewart HAVOC Files collections and UNIT anthologies. In 2016, SJ was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to law enforcement and LGBTQIA diversity.
Longer biography
SJ Groenewegen BEM was born in Sydney, Australia, to a Dutch father and an Australian mother. They nurtured in SJ a love of books, politics, and history. SJ migrated to the UK in 2004, and from 2020 has made a home in Scotland. SJ uses they/them or she/her pronouns.
SJ is the author of the novels: The Disinformation War (GoldSF), Lethbridge-Stewart: A Most Haunted Man and Lethbridge-Stewart: Daughters of Earth (as Sarah Groenewegen, Candy Jar), the Black Archive monograph on Doctor Who‘s Face the Raven (Obverse Books), and of numerous essays on Doctor Who, science fiction/fantasy/horror (SFFH), gaming, and being queer. SJ’s short fiction has won awards (Scarlet Stiletto in 2002), appeared in Big Finish’s Doctor Who Short Trips range and the Lethbridge-Stewart Havoc Files and UNIT anthologies, as well as various standalone collections. For further details, please refer to the Publications page.
SJ’s essay, ‘SF and Abolishing the Police’, published in Shoreline of Infinity in August 2024, was a finalist in the Best Short Non-fiction category of the British Science Fiction Association Awards 2024.
The Disinformation War was on the long list for Best Novel in the British Science Fiction Association Awards 2023.
SJ is a member of the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA), British Fantasy Society (BFS), Edinburgh Science Fiction and Fantasy (ESFF) writing community, the Milford Speculative Writers’ Conference, HighlandLIT, the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), and the Society of Authors (SoA). SJ served on the committee for the SoA in Scotland as the Secretary from 2023 to 2026. SJ is also a long-time supporter of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB).
SJ often appears at SFFH conventions (including Worldcon, World Fantasycon, and the UK’s Eastercon and Fantasycon) as a panellist and moderator. SJ speaks on policing/law enforcement in SF, military SF, Doctor Who, fan studies, own voices (SJ is queer and autistic), disinformation, writing, and politics.
Before leaving Australia, SJ was part of the team responsible for many of the successful Whovention Doctor Who fan conventions. SJ’s involvement in conrunning has now extended to the UK’s Eastercons and volunteering for Worldcons.
In 2016, SJ was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to law enforcement and LGBTQIA diversity and wrote about the experience. For 20 years, SJ worked as an intelligence analyst in several law enforcement and criminal justice agencies around the world. SJ is trained and experienced in critical thinking, project management, and government policy development. SJ is a passionate advocate for human rights, particularly of LGBTQIA and neurodivergent people.
SJ is a trustee of ARGH Scotland, an autistic-led advocacy group for autistic people and a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) registered in Scotland (Scottish Charity Number SC054724).
SJ has a Bachelor’s Degree with Honours in political science from the Australian National University (specialising in international relations, European political history, and impartiality in publicly owned broadcasting), and a Master’s in Cultural/Media Studies from the University of Western Sydney (Australia), specialising in Doctor Who and its fans from queer and feminist perspectives.
SJ currently lives in the Highlands of Scotland and enjoys long loch-side walks, taking photographs, and the occasional wee dram of a peat-smoke flavoured whisky. Slàinte!