Deborah Harkness (born 1965) is an American scholar and novelist, best known as a historian and as the author of the All Souls Trilogy, which consists of ''

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'' best-selling novel '' A Discovery of Witches'' and its sequels '' Shadow of Night'' and '' The Book of Life''. Her latest book is ''The Black Bird Oracle'', a sequel to the All Souls Trilogy.

Early life

Born in 1965, Harkness grew up near

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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, the daughter of an American-born father and a British-born mother. She is a graduate of

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

(B.A., 1986),

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

(M.A., 1990), and the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

(Ph.D., 1994). Harkness also studied in England at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. She is a well-regarded historian of science and medicine, as well as having taught courses about the history of magic and science.

Career

Harkness is a professor of history and teaches European history and the history of science at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. She has published two works of historical non-fiction, ''John Dee's Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy and the End of Nature'' (1999) and ''The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution'' (2007). In 2011, Harkness published her first work of fiction, '' A Discovery of Witches''. The first novel in the ''All Souls'' trilogy, ''A Discovery of Witches'' is a

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

novel that tells the story of a modern-day witch who inadvertently calls up an ancient enchanted manuscript at

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thereby attracting the unwelcome notice of a host of magical creatures who live among humans, including other witches, daemons, and a 1,500-year-old French vampire. The novel debuted at number two on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller hardcover fiction list, and has been sold in at least 34 countries. The book was called "a sophisticated fairy tale for adults" by the ''

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''. The second novel in the series, '' Shadow of Night'', was published a year later, becoming a number one success on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. The third novel in the series is called '' The Book of Life''. The book was published on July 15, 2014, in hardback, e-book, and audiobook in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland. On January 9, 2014, the United States front cover and a two-page excerpt were released to the public on USA Today. On May 12, 2014, chapter 1 was released on Harkness' website. Harkness is also the author of the award-winning wine blog, ''Good Wine Under $20''. Harkness released a companion book in May 2018 entitled ''The World of All Souls: The Complete Guide to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy)'', followed in September 2018 by an ''All Souls'' series trilogy prequel/sequel entitled ''Time's Convert''. The book features Marcus Whitmore, Matthew Clairmont's vampire son. Harkness is an executive producer of BadWolf's television series based on Harkness' novel, '' A Discovery of Witches.'' The series premiered in the UK on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

on September 14, 2018, and streams on NOW TV and Netflix. The international distribution of the series is handled by Sky Vision. It was revealed by

on All Souls Day (November 2) 2018 that the TV series would be extended by seasons 2 and 3, corresponding to the '' A Discovery of Witches'' sequels '' Shadow of Night'' and '' The Book of Life''. Season 2 (10 episodes) was released in early 2021, and season 3 ( 7 episodes) in early 2022.

Personal life

Harkness married her longtime partner, Karen Halttunen, they had been together since 1995. She currently lives in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

where she is a professor of history. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021.

Bibliography

Novels

''All Souls''

# A Discovery of Witches (2011) # Shadow of Night (2012) # The Book of Life (2014) # Time's Convert (2018) # The Black Bird Oracle (2024) # The Falcon and the Rose (TBD)

Companions

*''The All Souls Real-Time Reading Companion'' (2015) *''The World of All Souls: A Complete Guide to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and the Book of Life'' (2018)

Other books

* * (see also The Jewel House)

Journal articles

Awards

* Comic-Con International's

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...

for (2018)Inkpot Award
/ref> * Honorary Degree,

(2014) Harkness' faculty profile on the University of Southern California's website also lists the following honors and awards: * Highly Commended, Longman-History Today Awards Book Prize, Spring 2009 * Pfizer Award for Best Book in the History of Science,

History of Science Society The History of Science Society (HSS), founded in 1924, is the primary professional society for the academic study of the history of science. The society has over 3,000 members worldwide. It publishes the quarterly journal ''Isis'' and the yearly ...

, Fall 2008 * John Best Snow Prize for Best Book in British Studies, North American Conference on British Studies, Fall 2008 * Prize for Best Book, Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies, Spring 2008 *

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Research Fellowship,

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Fellow, 2006–2007 *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, John S. Guggenheim Foundation, 2004–2005 * Residency at the

National Humanities Center The National Humanities Center (NHC) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States. The NHC operates as a privately incorporated nonprofit and is not part of any uni ...

, National Humanities Center, John E. Sawyer Fellow, 2004–2005 * NIH/NSF Career Development Award, National Science Foundation Senior Scholar's Award, 2001–2002 * Derek Price Award for Best ''

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

'' Article, History of Science Society, 1998 *

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

Fellowship, 1997–1998 * Huntington Library Research Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Huntington Library, 1997–1998 * Nelson Prize for Best Article, Renaissance Society of America, 1997 * Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, U.S. Department of Education, 1989–1993 * Fulbright Award, Fulbright Fellowship to the United Kingdom, 1991–1992

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harkness, Deborah 1965 births 21st-century American novelists American medical historians American women novelists American historians of science Living people American women historians American women science writers 21st-century American women writers University of California, Davis alumni 21st-century American non-fiction writers Mount Holyoke College alumni Inkpot Award winners