By Slanted Light

I'd be curious to go right back to whoever coined the term "literary fiction" and find out exactly what they were talking about and in what context - I strongly expect they did it in a sniffy kind of way, and suddenly people had something to call themselves that sounded better than just "an author" when they wanted to think of themselves as a cut above other authors...

I suppose I can understand if someone writes a story that just happens to be set in a science fiction world, but they don't feel that the science fiction is the focus - but I don't see why they'd object to be called science fiction by people who didn't know have their authorial intent behind it, that makes no sense! I think it was Atwood who was particularly sniffy about being called SF... as you say, bizarre... Surely it should be just fabulous enough to know that hundreds and thousands and more people are going to read your story and enjoy it!