Sylvia Kelso is an author of both fantasy and science fiction, usually set in analogue or outright Australian landscapes. She has a Creative Writing MA built around one science-fiction novel using alternate North Queenslands and she earned her Ph.D. in 1997.

Kelso's novels are densely descriptive, the worlds complex and minutely constructed, the environments, lush or bleak, brought alive with poetic force.

Her critical interests cover: Feminist Theory and History, Gothic and Horror Fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Women's Writing.

There are some stylistic similarities to the works of Patricia A. McKillip.