Leslie What
Encyclopedia
Leslie What is a writer of fantasy and literary fiction and nonfiction. She grew up in Southern California and attended Santa Ana College
, and earned a certificate in Vocational Nursing. She also attended California State University Fullerton and received her MFA in Writing from Pacific University
in 2006.
She began publishing in 1992 with a story for Asimov's Science Fiction
. In 1999 she won the Nebula Award
for The Cost of Doing Business, published in Amazing Stories
. Her story collaboration with Eileen Gunn
, "Nirvana High" was nominated for the 2005 Nebula Award for novelette
. She has published more than 80 short stories and essays, and her work has appeared in Parabola
, Lilith Magazine, The Clackamas Review, Sci Fiction
, Witpunk, Bending the Landscape, The Mammoth Book of Tales from the Road, Midstream
, Utne Reader
, Calyx, Best New Horror, and other anthologies and magazines. Her collection "Crazy Love" was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award
Ken Kesey Fiction award in 2009.
What's father was a teenage conscript who fled Stalin's Red army
as Berlin was being partitioned at the end of WWII. He chose the surname "Nelson" after arriving in the United States. Her mother was a German Holocaust survivor who was interned in the Riga ghetto
and a series of work camps in and out of Germany.
The stories in her collection, The Sweet and Sour Tongue incorporate "elements of science fiction and fantasy into domestic scenes of Jewish family life." She has written about Jewish practices including the ritual bath Mikveh and preparation of the dead by the volunteer Jewish burial society (Chevra kadisha
).
What worked as a licensed vocational nurse and later volunteered with the Chevra kadisha
. She lives in Eugene, Oregon
and was a contributing writer to the alternative newspaper, The Eugene Weekly. She is an instructor at UCLA Extension in The Writers Program (http://www.uclaextension.edu/). She was the senior nonfiction editor for "Silk Road, a literary crossroads" journal, and is the fiction editor for "Phantom Drift: New Fabulism", published by Wordcraft of Oregon. She is the co-editor with R. A. Rycraft of Winter Tales: Women Write About Aging from Serving House Books.
Santa Ana College
Santa Ana College is a community college located in Santa Ana, California, USA.-History:In 1915, Santa Ana Junior College opened its doors to 25 students as a department of Santa Ana High School. It was the second community college founded in Orange County, behind Fullerton College, and the fourth...
, and earned a certificate in Vocational Nursing. She also attended California State University Fullerton and received her MFA in Writing from Pacific University
Pacific University
Pacific University is a private university located in Oregon, United States. The first campus began more than 160 years ago and is located about 38 km west of Portland in Forest Grove...
in 2006.
She began publishing in 1992 with a story for Asimov's Science Fiction
Asimov's Science Fiction
Asimov's Science Fiction is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy and perpetuates the name of author and biochemist Isaac Asimov...
. In 1999 she won the 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...
for The Cost of Doing Business, published in Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
. Her story collaboration with Eileen Gunn
Eileen Gunn
Eileen Gunn is a science fiction author and editor based in Seattle, Washington, who began publishing in 1978....
, "Nirvana High" was nominated for the 2005 Nebula Award for novelette
Novelette
A novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
. She has published more than 80 short stories and essays, and her work has appeared in Parabola
Parabola (magazine)
Parabola: Where Spiritual Traditions Meet, whose founder and editor was D.M. Dooling, began publishing in 1976 as a quarterly magazine on the subjects of mythology and the world's religious and cultural traditions. It is published by The Society for the Study of Myth and Tradition, a not-for-profit...
, Lilith Magazine, The Clackamas Review, Sci Fiction
Sci Fiction
Sci Fiction was an online magazine which ran from 2000 to 2005. At one time, it was the leading online science fiction magazine. Published by Syfy and edited by Ellen Datlow, the work won multiple awards before it was discontinued.- History :...
, Witpunk, Bending the Landscape, The Mammoth Book of Tales from the Road, Midstream
Midstream
The petroleum industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. Midstream operations are usually included in the downstream category....
, Utne Reader
Utne Reader
Utne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
, Calyx, Best New Horror, and other anthologies and magazines. Her collection "Crazy Love" was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award
Oregon Book Award
The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by Literary Arts, Inc. for "the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature." -History:...
Ken Kesey Fiction award in 2009.
What's father was a teenage conscript who fled Stalin's Red army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
as Berlin was being partitioned at the end of WWII. He chose the surname "Nelson" after arriving in the United States. Her mother was a German Holocaust survivor who was interned in the Riga ghetto
Riga Ghetto
The Riga Ghetto was a small area in Maskavas Forštate, neighborhood of Riga, Latvia, designated by the Nazis where Jews from Latvia, and later from Germany, were forced to live during World War II. On October 25, 1941, the Nazis relocated all Jews from Riga and the vicinity to the ghetto while the...
and a series of work camps in and out of Germany.
The stories in her collection, The Sweet and Sour Tongue incorporate "elements of science fiction and fantasy into domestic scenes of Jewish family life." She has written about Jewish practices including the ritual bath Mikveh and preparation of the dead by the volunteer Jewish burial society (Chevra kadisha
Chevra Kadisha
A chevra kadisha is a loosely structured but generally closed organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of Jews are prepared for burial according to Halacha and are protected from desecration, willful or not, until burial...
).
What worked as a licensed vocational nurse and later volunteered with the Chevra kadisha
Chevra Kadisha
A chevra kadisha is a loosely structured but generally closed organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of Jews are prepared for burial according to Halacha and are protected from desecration, willful or not, until burial...
. She lives in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
and was a contributing writer to the alternative newspaper, The Eugene Weekly. She is an instructor at UCLA Extension in The Writers Program (http://www.uclaextension.edu/). She was the senior nonfiction editor for "Silk Road, a literary crossroads" journal, and is the fiction editor for "Phantom Drift: New Fabulism", published by Wordcraft of Oregon. She is the co-editor with R. A. Rycraft of Winter Tales: Women Write About Aging from Serving House Books.