Ann Leckie (born March 2, 1966) is an American author of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

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, ...

. Her 2013

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 pu ...

'' Ancillary Justice'', which features artificial consciousness and gender-blindness, won the 2014

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 ...

for "Best Novel", as well as the

Nebula Award 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 pr ...

, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the BSFA Award. The sequels, '' Ancillary Sword'' and ''

Ancillary Mercy ''Ancillary Mercy'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ann Leckie, published in October 2015. It is the final novel in Leckie's "Imperial Radch" space opera trilogy, which began with '' Ancillary Justice'' (2013) and was followed b ...

'', each 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. Originally a poll ...

and were both nominated for the Nebula Award. ''

Provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

'', published in 2017, and '' Translation State'', published in 2023, are also set in the ''Imperial Radch'' universe. Leckie's first fantasy novel, ''

The Raven Tower ''The Raven Tower'' is a 2019 fantasy literature, fantasy novel by Ann Leckie and her first fantasy novel. The novel recounts the story of Mawat, a prince seeking to overthrow his usurper uncle and regain his rightful place as the servant of a l ...

'', was published in February 2019.

Career

Having grown up as a science fiction fan in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, Leckie's attempts in her youth to get her science fiction works published were unsuccessful. One of her few publications from that time was an unattributed

bodice-ripper A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

in '' True Confessions''. After giving birth to her children in 1996 and 2000, boredom as a

stay-at-home mother A stay-at-home mother (alternatively, stay-at-home mom or SAHM) is a mother who is the primary caregiver of the children. The male equivalent is the stay-at-home dad. The gender-neutral term is stay-at-home parent. Stay-at-home mom is distinct ...

motivated her to sketch a first draft of what would become ''Ancillary Justice'' for

National Novel Writing Month National Novel Writing Month, often shortened to NaNoWriMo ( ), was a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promoted creative writing around the world. Its flagship program was an annual, international creative writing event in which participa ...

2002. In 2005, Leckie attended the

Clarion West Writers Workshop Clarion West is a non-profit organization best known for their intensive six-week workshop for writers preparing for professional careers in speculative fiction. The Six-Week Workshop is a space for writing short stories and learning how to worksho ...

, where she studied under

Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction writer who won several awards for her works, including Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to recei ...

. After that, she wrote ''Ancillary Justice'' over a period of six years; it was picked up by the publisher

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

in 2012 and published the following year. Leckie has published numerous short stories, in outlets including ''

Subterranean Magazine Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novels, short stor ...

'', ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online magazine, online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and non-fiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in S ...

'', and ''

Realms of Fantasy ''Realms of Fantasy'' was a professional bimonthly fantasy speculative fiction magazine published by Sovereign Media, then Tir Na Nog Press, and Damnation Books, which specialized in fantasy fiction (including some horror), related nonfiction (wi ...

''. Her short stories have been selected for inclusion in year's best collections, such as ''The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy'', edited by Rich Horton. She edited the science fiction and fantasy

online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the comput ...

'' Giganotosaurus'' from 2010 to 2013, and is assistant editor of the '' PodCastle'' podcast. She served as the secretary of the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...

from 2012 to 2013.

Imperial Radch trilogy

Leckie's debut novel '' Ancillary Justice'', the first book of the ''Imperial Radch''

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

trilogy, was published to critical acclaim in October 2013 and won all of the principal English-language science fiction awards (see Ann Leckie#Awards and nominations). It follows Breq, the sole survivor of a

starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1 ...

destroyed by treachery and vessel of that ship's artificial consciousness, as she attempts to avenge herself on the ruler of her empire. The sequel, '' Ancillary Sword'', was published in October 2014, and the conclusion, ''

'', was published in October 2015. "Night's Slow Poison" (2014) and "She Commands Me and I Obey" (2014) are short stories set in the same universe.

Other novels

In 2015, Orbit Books purchased two additional novels from Leckie. The first, ''

'' (published on 3 October 2017), is set in the ''Imperial Radch'' universe. The second was to have been an unrelated science fiction novel. In April 2018, Orbit announced that Leckie's first fantasy novel, ''The Raven Tower'', would be published in early 2019. Another standalone novel set in the ''Imperial Radch'' universe entitled ''Translation State'' was published on June 6th, 2023.

Bibliography

Novels

Set in the Ancillary universe

;Imperial Radch trilogy #'' Ancillary Justice''. (1 October 2013).

. . #'' Ancillary Sword''. (7 October 2014). Orbit. . #''

''. (6 October 2015). Orbit. . ;Other novels *''

''. (26 September 2017). Orbit. . * '' Translation State''. (6 June 2023). Orbit. .

Non-Ancillary novels

*''

''. (26 February 2019). Orbit. .

Collections

*''Lake of Souls''. (9 Jul 2024). Orbit. ISBN 9780356523460.

Short fiction

*"Hesperia and Glory". (2006). ''Subterranean Magazine 4''. (Reprinted in ''Science Fiction: The Best of the Year 2007 Edition'', edited by Rich Horton) *"Footprints". (2007). ''Postcards from Hell: The First Thirteen.'' *"The Snake's Wife". (2007). ''Helix #6.'' (Reprinted on ''Transcriptase'') *"Needle and Thread" - co-authored by Rachel Swirsky. (2008). ''Lone Star Stories #29''. *"The Nalendar". (2008). ''Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine'', Issue #36. (Reprinted in ''Uncanny Magazine'' #2, January 2015 and as audio on PodCastle #52, May 2009) *"Clickweed". (July 2008). ''A Field Guide to Surreal Botany''. *"Marsh Gods". (7 July 2008). ''Strange Horizons''. *"The God of Au". ''Helix #8''. (Reprinted in ''The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2009'', edited by Rich Horton) *"The Endangered Camp". (2009). ''Clockwork Phoenix 2''. (Reprinted in ''The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2010'', edited by Rich Horton) *"The Sad History of the Tearless Onion" (12 June 2009). ''PodCastle Miniature #33''. *"The Unknown God". (February 2010). ''Realms of Fantasy''. *"Beloved of the Sun". (21 October 2010). ''Beneath Ceaseless Skies''. *"Maiden, Mother, Crone". (December 2010). ''Realms of Fantasy''. (Reprinted in ''Lightspeed'', January 2015 and as audio on PodCastle #500, 11 December 2017) *"The Endangered Camp". (12 March 2012). ''Clockwork Phoenix 2''. (Reprinted in ''The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2010'' and ''Forever Magazine'', March 2015) *"Saving Bacon". (30 July 2014). ''PodCastle #322.'' *"The Creation and Destruction of the World" (25 February 2015). ''PodCastle #352'' *"Another Word for World". (2015). ''Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Stories Inspired by Microsoft''. *"The Justified". (2019). ''The Mythic Dream''. ;Set in the Ancillary universe *"Night's Slow Poison". (2012) ''Electric Velocipede'', reprinted (2014). Tor. *"She Commands Me and I Obey". (2014). ''Strange Horizons''.

Critical studies and reviews of Leckie's work

Awards and nominations

* ''Ancillary Justice'' (2013) ** 2013: won the

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (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; ...

** 2013: won the BSFA Award for Best Novel ** 2013: won the Kitschies Award Golden Tentacle (Debut) ** 2014: won the

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year by the World Science Fiction Society for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is ava ...

** 2014: won the Arthur C. Clarke Award ** 2014: won the Locus Award for Best First Novel ** 2014: won the

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

for the Best Newcomer (the Sydney J. Bounds Award) ** 2016: won the for Best Translated Novel ** 2016: 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 Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fic ...

for Best Translated Novel (Japan) ** 2013: Nominated for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award ** 2013: Nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award ** 2014: Finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel ** 2014: Finalist for the Compton Crook Award * ''Ancillary Sword'' (2014) ** 2014: won the BSFA Award for Best Novel ** 2015: won the

Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel The Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine Locus (magazine), ''Locus''. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar ...

** 2014: Nominated for the

** 2015: Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novel * ''Ancillary Mercy'' (2015) ** 2016: won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel ** 2015: Nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel ** 2016: Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novel ** 2016: Nominated for the Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel * Imperial Radch ** 2017: won Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Translator (Jacques Chambon Translation Prize) for ''Les Chroniques du Radch, tomes 1 à 3'' (France) ** 2017: Nominated for Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign Novel (France) **2017: Nominated for the

for Best Translated Novel ** 2024: Won the Hugo Award for Best Series * ''

'' (2017) ** 2018: Nominated for the

* ''Lake of Souls'' ** 2025: Nominated for the

Hugo Award for Best Novelette The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of ...

Personal life

Leckie earned a degree in music from Washington University in St. Louis in 1989. She has since held various jobs, including as a

waitress Waiting staff ( BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food and drink as requested. Waiting staff ...

, a

receptionist A receptionist is an Employment, employee taking an office or Business administration, administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting room, waiting area such as a Lobby (room), lobby or front office desk of an organ ...

, a

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

, a

lunch lady Lunch lady, in Canada and the U.S., is a term for a woman who Cooking, cooks and serves food in a school cafeteria. The equivalent term in the United Kingdom is dinner lady. The role is also sometimes known as cafeteria lady or school caterer. S ...

, and a recording engineer. She is married to David Harre, with whom she has a son and daughter, and lives with her family in

References

External links

* at annleckie.com * *
Ann Leckie
at ''

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 Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Leckie, Ann 1966 births 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American science fiction writers American women novelists American women science fiction and fantasy writers Hugo Award–winning writers Living people Nebula Award winners Novelists from Missouri Washington University in St. Louis alumni Writers from St. Louis