Chelsea Louise Polk (born 1969) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

author of

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, ...

fiction, best known for the

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 ...

Witchmark ''Witchmark'' is a 2018 fantasy novel by Canadian author C. L. Polk. It features a murder mystery set in a secondary world in a country called Aeland, and has been described as gaslamp fantasy. ''Witchmark'' won the World Fantasy Award for Best ...

'' which won the

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 ...

in 2019. A blend of murder mystery and fantasy, ''Witchmark'' is set in a

gaslamp Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly by ...

secondary world A fictional universe, also known as an imagined universe or a constructed universe, is the Continuity (fiction), internally consistent fictional Setting (narrative), setting used in a narrative or a work of art. This concept is most commonly as ...

and is followed by two sequels, ''Stormsong'' and ''Soulstar''.

Life and career

Polk was born in 1969 in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and grew up in Surrey and Edmonton. Polk is non-binary and has referred to their gender as a "

lava lamp A lava lamp is a decorative lamp that was invented in 1963 by British entrepreneur Edward Craven Walker, the founder of the lighting company Mathmos. It consists of a bolus of a special coloured wax mixture inside a glass vessel, the remainde ...

." They began writing in their thirties, publishing short fiction in magazines such as '' Abyss & Apex'' in the early 2000s. Polk was influenced by the works of fantasy author

Tanith Lee Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime ...

, in particular the ''

Tales from the Flat Earth ''Tales from The Flat Earth'' is a fantasy series by British writer Tanith Lee. The novels take inspiration from ''One Thousand and One Nights'' and are similarly structured as interconnected stories. The series has been well received, and ''D ...

'', the historical mystery and fantasy novels of

Barbara Hambly Barbara Hambly (born August 28, 1951) is an American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Benjamin January mystery series featuring a ...

, and the ''

Valdemar Waldemar, Valdemar, Valdimar, or Woldemar is an Old High German given name. It consists of the elements ''wald-'' "power", "brightness" and ''-mar'' "fame". The name is considered the equivalent of the Latvian name Valdemārs, the Estonian name ...

'' novels by

Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of Fantasy literature, fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar (fictional co ...

. Polk's first novel ''

'', featuring a murder mystery set in an

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

England, was written in 2014 and published in 2018. ''Witchmark'' won the

for Best Novel, and received nominations for several awards including the

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 ...

and

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 ...

s. In 2019, Polk was listed by the ''

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

'' as one of "19 Canadian writers to watch". ''Witchmark'' is the first book of the ''Kingston Cycle'', with the sequel ''Stormsong'' listed by ''

CBC Books CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...

'' as among the Canadian fiction to watch for in 2020. The third and concluding book of the series, ''Soulstar'', was published in 2021. Other works by Polk include a

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic (fantasy), magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those c ...

set in

Regency era The Regency era of British history is commonly understood as the years between and 1837, although the official regency for which it is named only spanned the years 1811 to 1820. King George III first suffered debilitating illness in the lat ...

England, ''The Midnight Bargain'', which was nominated for several

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

prizes and was a contender in the 2021 edition of

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

. ''

Even Though I Knew the End ''Even Though I Knew the End'' is a 2022 urban fantasy novella by Canadian speculative author C. L. Polk. It was first published by Tor Books. Synopsis In 1941, Elena "Helen" Brandt is a private detective and augur in Chicago, who agrees to hunt ...

,'' a period novella set in early 1900s

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

about a damned woman fighting for a chance to be with the woman she loves, was nominated for multiple major awards and won 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 ...

. Polk expressed surprise at the flood of nominations, saying that they didn't think it was "an award book." In 2023, Polk underwent treatment with

ketamine Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management. Ketamine exists as its S- (esketamine) a ...

and blogged about their experience. Their intent was to manage

Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD, cPTSD, or hyphenated C-PTSD) is a stress-related mental disorder generally occurring in response to complex traumas (i.e., commonly prolonged (or repetitive) exposure to a traumatic event (or trau ...

impacting their life and writing career. As of 2020, Polk resides in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Awards

Bibliography

''The Kingston Cycle''

* * *

Other novels and novellas

* *

Short fiction

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polk, C. L. Living people Canadian fantasy writers Canadian feminist writers People from New Westminster 21st-century Canadian novelists Black Canadian novelists 1969 births Canadian non-binary writers Black Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian LGBTQ novelists Non-binary novelists 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Nebula Award winners Novelists from British Columbia