Kelly Link
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Kelly Link (born July 19, 1969) is an American editor and writer. Mainly known as an author of short stories, she published her first novel, ''The Book of Love'' in 2024. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as
slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or water) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving object, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is moving. The term slips ...
or
magic realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical re ...
: a combination of science fiction,
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
, horror, mystery, and
literary fiction Literary fiction, serious fiction, high literature, or artistic literature, and sometimes just literature, encompasses fiction books and writings that are more character-driven rather than plot-driven, that examine the human condition, or that are ...
. Among other honors, she has won a
Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
, three
Nebula Awards The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of pro ...
, and a
World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...
for her fiction, and she was one of the recipients of the 2018 MacArthur "Genius" Grant.


Biography

Link is a graduate of
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
and the MFA program of UNC Greensboro. In 1995, she attended the Clarion East Writing Workshop. Link and husband Gavin Grant manage Small Beer Press, based in
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...
. The couple's imprint of Small Beer Press for intermediate readers is called Big Mouth House. They also co-edited
St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...
's '' The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' anthology series with Ellen Datlow for five years, ending in 2008. (The couple inherited the "fantasy" side from
Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958, in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram St ...
in 2004.) In 2019, Link and Grant opened Book Moon, a new and used bookstore in
Easthampton, Massachusetts Easthampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The city is in the Pioneer Valley, near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst. The population was 16,211 at the 2020 census. History E ...
. Link also co-edits the literary magazine ''Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet,'' and was the slush reader for '' Sci Fiction'', edited by Datlow. Link taught at Lenoir–Rhyne University in
Hickory, North Carolina Hickory is a city in western North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County, North Carolina, Catawba County. The List of municipalities in North Carolina, 25th most populous city in the state, it is located approximately northwest of Charlot ...
, with the Visiting Writers Series for spring semester 2006. She has taught or visited at a number of schools and workshops including: *
Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...
in
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Annandale-on-Hudson is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States, located in the Hudson Valley town of Red Hook, New York, Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston, New York, Kingston. The hamlet consists main ...
; *
Brookdale Community College Brookdale Community College is a public community college in the Lincroft section of Middletown Township, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1967, the college also has regional locations in Neptune Township, Free ...
of
Lincroft, New Jersey Lincroft is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...
; * New England Institute of Art & Communications,
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
; * Clarion East at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
,
Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...
; * Clarion West in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington; and *
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
, near her home in Northampton. She has participated in the Juniper Summer Writing Institute at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...
's MFA Program for Poets & Writers.


Awards

* 2018:
MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...
* 2023: Honorary degree from Smith College.


Bibliography


Books

* ''Stranger Things Happen'': 2001 Salon Book of the Year, ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' favorite (available her

as a free download, under a
Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
license) * '' Magic for Beginners'': 2006
Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...
for Best Short Story Collection * ''Pretty Monsters'': 2008 World Fantasy and Locus Award finalist. * '' Get in Trouble'': 2016
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
finalist. * ''White Cat, Black Dog: Stories'' (Random House, 2023) * '' The Book of Love'': 2024


Selected stories (award winners)

* "The Game of Smash and Recovery": 2016
Theodore Sturgeon Award The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award is an annual literary award presented by the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best short science fiction story ...
* "The Summer People": 2011
Shirley Jackson Award The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and dark fantasy are presented at Rea ...
for Best Novelette, 2013 The O. Henry Prize Stories * "Pretty Monsters": 2009 Locus Award for Best Novella * " Magic for Beginners": 2005
Nebula Award for Best Novella The Nebula Award for Best Novella is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novellas. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novella if it is between 17,500 and 4 ...
* " The Faery Handbag": 2005 Hugo and
Nebula A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...
Award for Best Novelette,
Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...
winner * "Stone Animals": 2005 ''
The Best American Short Stories ''The Best American Short Stories'' is a yearly anthology that's part of ''The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the ''BASS'' has anthologized more than 2,000 short stories, including works by some of the ...
'' * "Louise's Ghost": 2001
Nebula Award for Best Novelette The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to a science fiction or fantasy novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novelette if it is between 7,5 ...
* "The Specialist's Hat": 1999
World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...
* "Travels with the Snow Queen": 1997 James Tiptree, Jr. Award


As author

*''4 Stories'' (
chapbook A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...
), Small Beer Press, 2000 *''Stranger Things Happen'', Small Beer Press, 2001 *''Magic for Beginners'', Small Beer Press, 2005 (reprinted by Harcourt, 2005) *''Catskin: a swaddled zine'', Jelly Ink Press, date unknown *''Pretty Monsters: Stories'', Viking Juvenile, 2008 *''The Wrong Grave'', 2009 *'' Get in Trouble: Stories'',
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
, 2015 * ''White Cat, Black Dog: Stories'', Random House, 2023 * ''The Book of Love'', Random House, 2024


As editor

*''Trampoline'' Small Beer Press, 2003 * ''The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Volumes 17 - 21'' (from 2004-2008) (with Ellen Datlow and Gavin J. Grant) * ''Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories'' (2011) (with Gavin J. Grant) * ''Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales'' (2014) (with Gavin J. Grant) In addition, Link and Grant have edited a semiannual
small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when a distinction ...
fantasy magazine: ''
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet ''Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet'' (''LCRW'') is a twice-yearly small press zine published by Small Beer Press, edited by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link. It contains an eclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, with an emphasis on specula ...
'' (or ''LCRW'') since 1997. An anthology, ''The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet'', was published by
Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is an imprint (trade name), imprint of the Random House Group, a division of Penguin Random House. The imprint was established in 1977 under the editorship of Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, author Lester del Rey. Today, th ...
in 2007.


References


External links


Official websiteLady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
* *Kelly Link'
awards and nominations
at the Science Fiction Awards Database
Essay
on Link's story "Lull" at Fantastic Metropolis
RealAudio Interview
from KCRW's Bookworm show
An excerpt from Origin Story
from the magazine '' A Public Space''
Reading by Kelly from the Stonecoast MFA program's Winter 2008 residency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Link, Kelly 1969 births 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers American fantasy writers American science fiction writers Magic realism writers Hugo Award–winning writers Living people Nebula Award winners American print editors American women science fiction and fantasy writers World Fantasy Award–winning writers Writers from Northampton, Massachusetts University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty American women short story writers Chapbook writers Columbia College (New York) alumni University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni Writers from Massachusetts Creative Commons-licensed authors MacArthur Fellows American speculative fiction editors American women editors American weird fiction writers 21st-century American women writers O. Henry Award winners