Meanings
- uncountableA subgenre of mythic fiction that starts in folklore and myth and adds elements of postmodernist literary techniques.
Her [Natania Barron’s] first book, a mythpunk, world-hopping novel called Pilgrim of the Sky, was published in 2011; […]
2012, Natania Barron, Kathy Ceceri, Corrina Lawson, Jenny Williams, “Meet the Moms”, in Geek Mom: Projects, Tips, and Adventures for Moms and Their 21st-Century Families, New York, N.Y.: Potter Craft, Crown Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 121 more example
About “To Seek Her Fortune,” she [Nicole Kornher-Stace] rather puckishly elucidates, “This story is the result of my taking the time-honored tradition of expanding a short story into a novel and running it in reverse. The novel in question is underway. (Mythpunk/steampunk/paranormal mashup! Now with about 900% more Sentient Airship!)”
2010, “Pinions”, in Mike Allen, editor, Clockwork Phoenix 3: New Tales of Beauty and Strangeness, Winnetka, Calif.: Norilana Books, →ISBN, page 312
Origin
From myth + -punk. Coined by American fiction writer, poet, and literary critic Catherynne M. Valente in a 2006 blog post as a joke for describing her own and other works of challenging folklore-based fantasy.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mythpunk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mythpunk
“mythpunk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mythpunk. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mythpunk,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mythpunk.
Source: mythpunk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.