Eleanor Arnason
Encyclopedia
Eleanor Atwood Arnason is an American
author of science fiction
novel
s and short stories
.
Arnason is the daughter of H. Harvard Arnason, who became the director of the Walker Art Center
in 1951, and Elizabeth Yard Arnason, a social worker by profession who has spent her childhood in China. From 1949 to 1961, Arnason and her parents lived in "Idea House #2," a futuristic dwelling built by the Walker Art Center. http://citypages.com/databank/19/927/article5962.asp
Arnason's earliest published story appeared in New Worlds
in 1972. Her work often depicts cultural change and conflict, usually from the viewpoint of characters who cannot or will not live by their own societies' rules. This anthropological focus has led many to compare her fiction to that of Ursula K. Le Guin
.
Arnason won the first James Tiptree, Jr. Award
, and the Mythopoeic Award
(both for A Woman of the Iron People), the Spectrum Award
(for "Dapple") and the HOMer Award (for her novelette Stellar Harvest). Stellar Harvest also was nominated for a Hugo Award
in 2000. In 2003 she was nominated for two Nebula Award
s, for her novella Potter of Bones and her short story "Knapsack Poems." She lives in Minnesota
.
Lydia Duluth stories
Selected other stories
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s and short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
.
Arnason is the daughter of H. Harvard Arnason, who became the director of the Walker Art Center
Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
in 1951, and Elizabeth Yard Arnason, a social worker by profession who has spent her childhood in China. From 1949 to 1961, Arnason and her parents lived in "Idea House #2," a futuristic dwelling built by the Walker Art Center. http://citypages.com/databank/19/927/article5962.asp
Arnason's earliest published story appeared in New Worlds
New Worlds (magazine)
New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine which was first published professionally in 1946. For 25 years it was widely considered the leading science fiction magazine in Britain, publishing 201 issues up to 1971...
in 1972. Her work often depicts cultural change and conflict, usually from the viewpoint of characters who cannot or will not live by their own societies' rules. This anthropological focus has led many to compare her fiction to that of Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
.
Arnason won the first James Tiptree, Jr. Award
James Tiptree, Jr. Award
The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February of 1991 by science fiction authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon.- Background...
, and the Mythopoeic Award
Mythopoeic Awards
The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given by the Mythopoeic Society to authors of outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas; the full criteria and description can be read on the Mythopoeic Society's -Mythopoeic Fantasy...
(both for A Woman of the Iron People), the Spectrum Award
Gaylactic Spectrum Awards
The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards are given to works of science fiction, fantasy and horror that explore LGBT topics in a positive way. Established in 1998, the awards were initially presented by the Gaylactic Network, with awards first awarded in 1999. In 2002 the awards were given their own...
(for "Dapple") and the HOMer Award (for her novelette Stellar Harvest). Stellar Harvest also was nominated for a Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
in 2000. In 2003 she was nominated for two Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
s, for her novella Potter of Bones and her short story "Knapsack Poems." She lives in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
.
Novels
- The Sword SmithThe Sword SmithThe Sword Smith is a low fantasy fiction by Eleanor Arnason, published in 1978 by Condor . It had no introduction, the beginning of the story plunged straight into the narration of a smith on the run, named Limper, with a young dragon named Nargri...
(1978) - To the Resurrection Station (1986)
- Daughter of the Bear King (1987)
- A Woman of the Iron PeopleA Woman of the Iron PeopleA Woman of the Iron People is an anthropological science fiction novel by Eleanor Arnason, originally published in 1991. It is a first contact story between peoples from a future Earth and an intelligent, furred race of people who live on an unnamed planet far from Earth.Along with White Queen, A...
(1991) - Ring of Swords (1993)
Short stories
Hwarhath stories- "The Hound of Merin" (1993)
- "The Lovers" (1994)
- "The Semen Thief" (1994)
- "The Small Black Box of Morality" (1996)
- "The Gauze Banner" (1998)
- "Feeding the Mother: A Hwarhath Religious Anecdote" (1998)
- "Dapple: A Hwarhath Historical Romance" (1999)
- "The Actors" (1999)
- "Origin Story" (2000)
- "The Potter of Bones" (2002), available online
- "The Garden: A Hwarhath Science Fictional Romance" (2004)
Lydia Duluth stories
- "Stellar Harvest" (1999)
- "The Cloud Man" (2000)
- "Lifeline" (2001)
- "Moby Quilt" (2001)
- "Tomb of the Fathers" (2010)
Selected other stories
- "The Warlord of Saturn's Moons" (1974)
- "The Dog's Story" (1996)
- "The Grammarian's Five Daughters" (1999)
- "Knapsack Poems" (2002)
- "Big Green Mama Falls in Love" (2006) in Eidolon IEidolon IEidolon I is a 2006 speculative fiction anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan and Jeremy G. Byrne.-Background:Eidolon I was first published in 2006 by Eidolon Books in trade paperback format...
(ed. Jonathan StrahanJonathan StrahanJonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....
, Jeremy G. Byrne)