Elizabeth Hand (born March 29, 1957) is an American writer.

Life and career

Hand grew up in

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

and

Pound Ridge, New York Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census. The town is located toward the eastern end of the county, bordered to the north and east by the town of Lewisboro, by Stamford, C ...

. She studied drama and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...

. Since 1988, Hand has lived in coastal

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, the setting for many of her stories, and as of 2017 lives in Lincolnville. She also lives part-time in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

which has been the setting for ''Mortal Love'' and the short story "Cleopatra Brimstone". Hand's first story, "Prince of Flowers", was published in 1988 in ''Twilight Zone'' magazine, and her first novel, ''Winterlong'', was published in 1990. With Paul Witcover, she created and wrote

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

' 1990s

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

series ''

Anima Anima may refer to: Animation * Ánima (company), a Mexican animation studio founded in 2002 * Córdoba International Animation Festival – ANIMA, in Argentina Religion and philosophy * Animism, the belief that objects, places, and creatur ...

''. Hand's other works include ''Aestival Tide'' (1992); ''Icarus Descending'' (1993); '' Waking the Moon'' (1994), which won the

Tiptree Award The Otherwise Award, formerly known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science f ...

and the

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Awar ...

; the

post-apocalyptic novel Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astr ...

'' Glimmering'' (1997); contemporary

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

''Black Light'' (1999), a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Notable Book; the

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

fantasy ''Mortal Love'' (2004), a ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' Notable Book; the

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

''Generation Loss'' (2007), and the

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

-winning " The Maiden Flight of McCauley's ''Bellerophon''". Her story collections are ''

Last Summer at Mars Hill ''Last Summer At Mars Hill'' (2013) is the first short story collection by American writer Elizabeth Hand. It contains the Nebula Award-winning story of the same name. It also contains her first ever published story, "Prince of Flowers".

'' (1998) (which includes the Nebula and World Fantasy award-winning title novella); ''Bibliomancy'' (2002), winner of the World Fantasy Award; and '' Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories'', which includes the Nebula Award-winning "Echo" (2006). ''Mortal Love'' was also shortlisted for the 2005 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. Among Hand's other recent short fiction, "Pavane for a Prince of the Air" (2002) and "Cleopatra Brimstone" (2001) won International Horror Guild Awards. Most recently, she won the

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 the dark fantastic are presented ...

for ''Generation Loss'' and the

in 2008 for ''Illyria''. She also writes movie and television spin-offs, including ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' tie-in novels and novelizations of such films as ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'' and ''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée'', starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in sup ...

''. She contributed a ''Bride of Frankenstein'' novel to the recent series of classic movie monster novels published by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

. One of Hand's themes from the ''Winterlong'' saga is the remorseless exploitation of animal and plant species to create what she calls "geneslaves." Examples include a three-hundred-year-old genetically reconstructed and cerebrally augmented ''

Basilosaurus ''Basilosaurus'' (meaning "king lizard") is a genus of large, predatory, prehistoric archaeocete whale from the late Eocene, approximately 41.3 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). First described in 1834, it was the first archaeocete and prehistor ...

'' by the name of Zalophus; the aardmen, hybrids of dog and man; hydrapithecenes, human-fish or human-cuttlefish hybrids somewhat resembling Davy Jones and his crew from the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series; and sagittals, whelks genetically engineered to be worn as a bracelet and, when its host feels threatened or agitated, extrude a spine laced with a deadly neurotoxin. Hand is a longtime reviewer and critic for ''The Washington Post'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Boston Review'', ''Salon'', and ''Village Voice'', among others. She also writes a regula
review column
for the

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

Bibliography

Novels

* 1988 ''Winterlong'' – * 1992 '' Aestival Tide'' – * 1993 ''Icarus Descending'' – * 1994 '' Waking the Moon'' (longer UK edition) – * 1995 ''Waking the Moon'' (US edition preferred by the autho

– * 1997 ''Glimmering'' (second edition 2012) – * 1999 ''Black Light'' – * 2000 "Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol" in ''

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 ...

'' * 2002 "Cleopatra Brimstone" in ''

Redshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in f ...

'' * 2003 "The Least Trumps" in Conjunctions 39: The New Wave Fabulists * 2004 ''Mortal Love'' – * 2006 ''Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol'' (illustrated by Judith Clute; originally published December 2000) – . The story is a tribute to entertainers

Sandy Becker George Sanford Becker (February 19, 1922 – April 9, 1996), who was known professionally as Sandy Becker, was an American television announcer, actor, and comedian who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City. The best known ...

and

Joey Ramone Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American musician, best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. His image, voice, and his tenure with the R ...

. A
online edition of ''Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol''
was serialized by Hand on her Livejournal community "theinferior4". * 2006 ''Illyria'' – , * 2007 ''The Bride of Frankenstein'' (media tie-in) – * 2012 ''Radiant Days'' * 2015 ''Wylding Hall'' (novella) * 2019 ''Curious Toys'' * 2020 ''The Book of Lamps and Banners'' * 2022 ''Hokuloa Road''

Cass Neary Crime Novels

* 2007 ''

Generation Loss Generation loss is the loss of quality between subsequent copies or transcodes of data. Anything that reduces the quality of the representation when copying, and would cause further reduction in quality on making a copy of the copy, can be consid ...

'' – * 2012 ''Available Dark'' – * 2016 ''Hard Light'' – * 2022 ''The Book of Lamps and Banners'' –

Star Wars Expanded Universe

* 2003 ''Boba Fett: Maze Of Deception'' – * 2003 ''Boba Fett: Hunted'' – * 2004 ''Boba Fett: A New Threat'' – * 2004 ''Boba Fett: Pursuit'' –

Adaptations

* 1995 ''

'' – * 1997 ''

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

: The Frenchman'' – * 1998 '' The X-Files: Fight the Future'' – * 1999 ''

Anna and the King ''Anna and the King'' is a 1999 American biographical period drama film directed by Andy Tennant and written by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes. Loosely based on the 1944 novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'', which gives a fictionalized account ...

'' – * 2001 ''

The Affair of the Necklace ''The Affair of the Necklace'' is a 2001 American historical drama film directed by Charles Shyer. The screenplay by John Sweet is based on what became known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, an incident that helped fuel the French populac ...

'' – * 2004 ''

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

'' –

Short fiction

;Collections * 1998 ''

'' – * 2003 ''Bibliomancy'' – * 2006 ''Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories'' – * 2012 ''Errantry'' – ;Stories * 1990 "Jangletown" (with Paul Witcover; in '' The Further Adventures of The Joker'') * 1993 "Lucifer Over Lancaster" (with Paul Witcover; in ''The Further Adventures of Superman'') * 1994 "The Erl-King"

Book reviews

Footnotes

External links

* *
Elizabeth Hand
at Free Speculative Fiction Online
Interview at Strange Horizons

The Fantastic Spectrum of Elizabeth Hand
(interview), ''

Clarkesworld Magazine ''Clarkesworld Magazine'' (ISSN 1937-7843) is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It released its first issue October 1, 2006 and has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Elizabe ...

'', November 2009
Interview
at Tor.com, August 24, 2010 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hand, Elizabeth 1957 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American science fiction writers American women short story writers American women novelists American speculative fiction critics Nebula Award winners World Fantasy Award-winning writers Science fiction critics Catholic University of America alumni Women science fiction and fantasy writers Novelists from New York (state) Writers from Maine People from Yonkers, New York People from Pound Ridge, New York 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers People from Lincolnville, Maine American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Weird fiction writers