Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi (born August 6, 1972) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 literature and d ...

writer. He has won the

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

, Nebula,

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called '' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...

, Compton Crook,

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...

, and Michael L. Printz awards, and has been nominated for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. His fiction has appeared in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & 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 ...

'', ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

'', and the environmental journal ''

High Country News ''High Country News'' is a monthly independent magazine based in Paonia, Colorado, that covers environmental, social, and political issues in the Western United States. Syndicated stories from ''High Country News'' have appeared in ''The New York T ...

''. Nonfiction essays of his have appeared in

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

and ''High Country News'', and have been syndicated in newspapers, including the ''

Idaho Statesman The ''Idaho Statesman'' is the daily newspaper of Boise, Idaho, in the western United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History The paper was first published as the ''Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman'' on July 26, 1864, by James S. Reynolds ...

'', the '' Albuquerque Journal'', and the ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History A ...

''. Bacigalupi's short fiction has been collected in the anthology ''Pump Six and Other Stories'' (

Night Shade Books Night Shade Books is an American, San Francisco–based imprint, formerly an independent publishing company, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among its publications have been the U.S. edition of Iain M. Banks' novel '' ...

, 2008). His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

'' The Windup Girl'', also published by Night Shade Books in September 2009, won the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards in 2010. ''The Windup Girl'' was also named by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' as one of the Top 10 Books of 2009. '' Ship Breaker'', published by

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...

in 2010, was awarded the Michael L. Printz Award for the "best book written for teens", and was nominated for the

National Book Award for Young People's Literature The National Book Award for Young People's Literature is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation (NBF) to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers".< ...

Themes

'' The Windup Girl'', along with many of his short stories, explores the effects of bioengineering and a world in which fossil fuels are no longer viable. Bioengineering has ravaged the world with food-borne plagues, produced tailored organisms as mimics to both cats and humans, and replaced today's fossil-fuel reliant engines with muscle power, whether human or engineered animal. Energy storage is accomplished through the use of high-capacity springs, as well as simply transporting food to feed either ''megodonts'' (bioengineered elephants) or human laborers. His writing deals with the ethics and possible ramifications of genetic engineering and western dominance, as well as the nature of humanity and a world in which, despite drastic changes, people remain essentially the same. Similar themes run through his book ''

The Water Knife ''The Water Knife'' is a 2015 science fiction novel by Paolo Bacigalupi. It is Bacigalupi's sixth novel, and is based on his short story, ''The Tamarisk Hunter'', first published in the news magazine '' High Country News''. It takes place in the ...

'', where a future

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

is reduced to a dystopian

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...

where water is a guarded commodity for the wealthy and powerful interests.

Personal life

Bacigalupi was born in

Paonia, Colorado Paonia is a statutory town in Delta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,451 at the 2010 census. History The area was first explored in 1853 by Captain John W. Gunnison of the United States Army. Gunnison was on an expediti ...

. He graduated from Oberlin College with a major in East Asian Studies.

Awards and nominations

* 2005: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novelette for " The People of Sand and Slag" (''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', February 2004) * 2006: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "The Calorie Man" (''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', Oct/Nov 2005) * 2006: Nominated for Nebula Award for Best Novelette for " The People of Sand and Slag" (''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', February 2004) * 2006: Won the

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 stor ...

for "The Calorie Man" (''

'', Oct/Nov 2005) * 2007: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novelette, for " Yellow Card Man" (''

'', December 2006) * 2009: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novelette, for " The Gambler" (''Fast Forward 2'') * 2009: Won the Locus Award for Best Collection, for ''Pump Six and Other Stories'' (Night Shade Books, 2008) * 2009: Won the Locus Award for Best Novelette, for "Pump Six" (''Pump Six and Other Stories'', Night Shade Books, 2008) * 2010: Nominated for

Nebula Award for Best Novelette The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to a science fiction or fantasy novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novelette if it is between 7,50 ...

for " The Gambler" (''Fast Forward 2'', Pyr Books), Oct 2008 * 2010: Nominated for the

for Young People's Literature for ''Ship Breaker'', Little, Brown 2010. * 2010: Won the

Compton Crook Award The Compton Crook Award is presented to the best English language first novel of the year in the field of science fiction, fantasy, or horror by the members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society at their annual science fiction convention, Baltic ...

for Best First Novel for ''The Windup Girl'', Night Shade Books, 2009 * 2010: Won the

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,000 ...

for ''The Windup Girl'', Night Shade Books, 2009 (tied with

China Miéville China Tom Miéville ( ; born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and literary critic. He often describes his work as '' weird fiction'' and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called '' New Weird''. M ...

's '' The City & the City'') * 2010: Won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel for '' The Windup Girl'',

, 2009 * 2010: Won the

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. In addition to the pl ...

for Best First Novel for ''The Windup Girl'', Night Shade Books, 2009 * 2010: Won the

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; a ...

for ''The Windup Girl'', Night Shade Books, 2009 * 2011: Nominated for the

Andre Norton Award The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to the ...

for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy for '' Ship Breaker'', Little, Brown 2010. * 2011: Nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novella for ''The Alchemist'', Subterranean Press, 2010. * 2011: Won the Michael L. Printz Award for Best Young Adult Novel for ''Ship Breaker'', Little, Brown 2010. * 2012: Won the for '' The Windup Girl'' (French edition) * 2012: Won the

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Japan Science Fiction Convention. ...

for The Best Translated Novel for ''The Windup Girl'', Hayakawa Publishing Corp, 2011. * 2013: Won the Seiun Award for The Best Translated Short Story for "Pocketful of Dharma" (''Pump Six and Other Stories'', Hayakawa Publishing Corp, 2012) * 2015: Nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel for 'The Doubt Factory', Little, Brown 2014.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' The Windup Girl'' (Night Shade Books, 2009) * ''

'' (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015) * ''The Tangled Lands'', with Tobias S. Buckell (Saga Press, 2018)

Young adult

* ''Ship Breaker'' trilogy ** '' Ship Breaker'' (2010) ** '' The Drowned Cities'' (2012) ** ''Tool of War'' (2017) * '' The Doubt Factory'' (2014)

Younger readers

* ''Zombie Baseball Beatdown'' (2013)

Collections

Novellas

* ''The Alchemist'' ( Subterranean Press, 2011) (collected in The Tangled Lands)

Short stories

* "Pocketful of Dharma" (1999) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * "The Fluted Girl" (2003) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * " The People of Sand and Slag" (2004) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * "The Pasho" (2004) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * "The Calorie Man" (2005) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * "The Tamarisk Hunter" (2006) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * "Pop Squad" (2006) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * " Yellow Card Man" (2006) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * "Softer" (2007) (collected in Pump Six and Other Stories) * "Small Offerings" (2007) * "Pump Six" (2008) (From Pump Six and Other Stories) * "The Gambler" (2008) * "Moriabe's Children" (2014) * "Shooting the Apocalypse" (2014) * "A Hot Day's Night" (2015) * "City of Ash" (2015) * "Mika Model" (2015) * "A Passing Sickness" (2017) * "Fixable" (2019) * "American Gold Mine" (2019) * "A Full Life" (2019) * "Efficiency" (2021)

Audiobooks

*''The Alchemist and The Executioness'' (2010) with

Tobias Buckell Tobias S. Buckell (born 1979) is a New York Times Bestselling author and World Fantasy Award winner born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence much of his work. His novels an ...

References

External links

*
List of works
*
Critical profile and bibliography
in ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacigalupi, Paolo 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Hugo Award-winning writers Nebula Award winners Michael L. Printz Award winners Steampunk writers Oberlin College alumni Novelists from Colorado Writers of young adult science fiction Living people 1972 births American male short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers