Mary Robinette Kowal
Encyclopedia
Mary Robinette Kowal is an American author and puppeteer. She also served as art director for Shimmer Magazine
and in 2010 was named art director for Weird Tales
. She served as secretary of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
for two years, and was elected to the position of SFWA vice-president in 2010. In 2008, her second year of eligibility, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Kowal has worked as a professional puppeteer
since 1989. She has performed for the Center for Puppetry Arts
, Jim Henson Productions, and her own production company, Other Hand Productions. She also worked in Iceland
on the children's television show LazyTown
for two seasons.
Kowal's work as an author includes "For Solo Cello, op. 12," (originally published in Cosmos Magazine and reprinted in Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition, which made the preliminary ballot for the 2007 Nebula Awards. Her fiction has also appeared in Talebones Magazine, Strange Horizons
, and Apex Digest
, among other venues. Her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel
. Two of her short fiction works have been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story
: "Evil Robot Monkey
" in 2009 and "For Want of a Nail," which won the award in 2011.
In 2009, she donated her archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University
.
After appearing several times as a guest star in the podcast, Writing Excuses
, she became a full-time cast member at the start of their sixth season in 2011.
Shimmer Magazine
Shimmer Magazine, or Shimmerzine, is a quarterly magazine which publishes speculative fiction, with a focus on material that is dark, humorous or strange. Established in June 2005, Shimmer is published in digest format and Portable Document Format and is edited by Beth Wodzinski...
and in 2010 was named art director for Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
. She served as secretary of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or SFWA is a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. It was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight under the name Science Fiction Writers of America, Inc. and it retains the acronym SFWA after a very brief use of the SFFWA...
for two years, and was elected to the position of SFWA vice-president in 2010. In 2008, her second year of eligibility, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Kowal has worked as a professional puppeteer
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...
since 1989. She has performed for the Center for Puppetry Arts
Center for Puppetry Arts
The Center for Puppetry Arts, located in Atlanta, is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to the art form of puppetry. The Center focuses on three areas: performance, education and museum. It is one of the only puppet museums in the world. The Center is located in Midtown, the city's arts...
, Jim Henson Productions, and her own production company, Other Hand Productions. She also worked in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
on the children's television show LazyTown
LazyTown
LazyTown is a children's television program that was produced in Iceland with a cast and crew from Iceland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was created by Magnús Scheving, a gymnastics champion and CEO of LazyTown Entertainment, who also stars in the show...
for two seasons.
Kowal's work as an author includes "For Solo Cello, op. 12," (originally published in Cosmos Magazine and reprinted in Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition, which made the preliminary ballot for the 2007 Nebula Awards. Her fiction has also appeared in Talebones Magazine, Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry in every issue....
, and Apex Digest
Apex Digest
Apex Magazine, also previously known as Apex Digest, is an American horror and science fiction magazine which began publishing in 2005 out of Lexington, Kentucky. In 2008, Apex Digest ceased printing the American digest size print version and opted to move the magazine online. This free webzine,...
, among other venues. Her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel
Nebula Award for Best Novel
Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.- Winners and other nominees :...
. Two of her short fiction works have been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story
Hugo Award for Best Short Story
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society 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 once officially...
: "Evil Robot Monkey
Evil Robot Monkey
"Evil Robot Monkey" is a science fiction short story published in 2008 by Mary Robinette Kowal. It was nominated for the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.-Plot summary:...
" in 2009 and "For Want of a Nail," which won the award in 2011.
In 2009, she donated her archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
.
After appearing several times as a guest star in the podcast, Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses is a fifteen minute long podcast hosted by authors Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal and web cartoonist Howard Tayler...
, she became a full-time cast member at the start of their sixth season in 2011.
Collections
- Scenting the Dark and Other Stories, Subterranean PressSubterranean PressSubterranean Press is a small press publisher in Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction...
, 2009, ISBN 978-1-59606-267-2
Short stories
- "Just Right", The First LineThe First LineThe First Line is an American literary magazine founded in 1999 by David LaBounty, Robin LaBounty, and Jeff Adams. It is a quarterly journal based in Plano, Texas. The premise of the magazine is simple: each story begins with the same first line.-History:When The First Line debuted, the magazine...
, 2004 - "Rampion", The First LineThe First LineThe First Line is an American literary magazine founded in 1999 by David LaBounty, Robin LaBounty, and Jeff Adams. It is a quarterly journal based in Plano, Texas. The premise of the magazine is simple: each story begins with the same first line.-History:When The First Line debuted, the magazine...
, 2004 - "The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland", The First LineThe First LineThe First Line is an American literary magazine founded in 1999 by David LaBounty, Robin LaBounty, and Jeff Adams. It is a quarterly journal based in Plano, Texas. The premise of the magazine is simple: each story begins with the same first line.-History:When The First Line debuted, the magazine...
, 2004 - "Portrait of Ari", Strange HorizonsStrange HorizonsStrange Horizons is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry in every issue....
, 2006 - "Bound Man", Twenty Epics, 2006
- "Cerbo in Vitra ujo", Apex Digest, 2006
- "Locked In", Apex Digest, 2006
- "This Little Pig", Cicada, 2007
- "For Solo Cello, op. 12", CosmosCosmos (magazine)Cosmos is an Australian popular science magazine that is published six times a year. It is subtitled "the science of everything" and is described as "a magazine of ideas, science, society and the future"....
, 2007 - "Horizontal Rain", Apex Online, 2007
- "Death Comes But Twice", Talebones, 2007
- "Some Other Day", All Possible Worlds, 2007
- "Tomorrow and Tomorrow", Gratia Placenti, 2007
- "Suspension and Disbelief", Doctor Who: Short Trips: Destination PragueShort Trips: Destination PragueShort Trips: Destination Prague is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Steven Savile and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The collection features stories set in the future of Prague.-Stories:...
, 2007 - "Clockwork Chickadee", Clarkesworld MagazineClarkesworld MagazineClarkesworld Magazine is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. The first issue was published October 1, 2006 and it has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Sarah Monette, Catherynne Valente, Elizabeth Bear, Caitlin R...
, 2008 - "Scenting the Dark", Apex Online, 2008
- "Waiting for Rain", Subterranean MagazineSubterranean PressSubterranean Press is a small press publisher in Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction...
, 2008 - "Chrysalis", Aoife’s Kiss, 2008
- "Evil Robot Monkey", The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Vol. 2, 2008 (nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story)
- "At the Edge of Dying", Clockwork Phoenix 2: More Tales of Beauty and Strangeness, 2009
- "Body Language", InterGalactic Medicine ShowIntergalactic Medicine ShowInterGalactic Medicine Show is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It was founded by multiple award-winning author Orson Scott Card. An anthology also called Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show was published by Tor in August, 2008, featuring selected stories from...
, 2009 - "The Consciousness Problem", Asimov's Science FictionAsimov's Science FictionAsimov'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...
, 2009 - "First Flight", Tor.comTor BooksTor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
, 2009 - "Ginger Stuyvesant and the Case of the Haunted Nursery", Talebones, 2009
- "Jaiden’s Weaver", Diamonds in the Sky: An Astronomical Anthology, 2009
- "Prayer at Dark River", Innsmouth Free Press, 2009
- "Ring Road", Dark Faith Anthology, 2010
- "The Bride Replete", Apex Online, 2010
- "Beyond the Garden Close", Apex Online, 2010
- "Typewriter Triptych", Sharable.net, 2010
- "For Want of a Nail", Asimov's Science FictionAsimov's Science FictionAsimov'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...
, 2010 (winner of the Hugo Award for Best Short StoryHugo Award for Best Short StoryThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society 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 once officially...
) - "Salt of the Earth", Redstone SF, 2010
- "American Changeling", Daily Science FictionDaily Science FictionDaily Science Fiction is an email and online magazine devoted to publishing science fiction stories that was founded in 2010. Hence the title, it is a daily publication, publishing each weekday, edited by Jonathan Laden and Michele Barasso. Daily Science Fiction is a professional paying market...
, 2010 - "Changement d’itinéraire (Changed Itinerary)", Légendes, 2010
- "Birthright", 2020 Visions, 2010
- "Water to Wine", METAtropolis: Cascadiopolis, 2010
- "Kiss Me Twice", Asimov's Science FictionAsimov's Science FictionAsimov'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...
, 2011
External links
- Mary Robinette Kowal's official Web site
- Mary Robinette Kowal's Weekly Fantasy Column at AMCtv.com
- Other Hand Productions' official Web site
- "Clockwork Chickadee" (short story) Clarkesworld MagazineClarkesworld MagazineClarkesworld Magazine is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. The first issue was published October 1, 2006 and it has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Sarah Monette, Catherynne Valente, Elizabeth Bear, Caitlin R...
, June 2007 - Writing Excuses