Eileen Kernaghan (born January 6, 1939) is a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

and three-time winner of the

Prix Aurora Award The Aurora Awards (french: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lure ...

for English-language Canadian speculative fiction. The settings of her

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

novels range from the prehistoric

Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kash ...

and eighteenth century

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

, to

Elizabethan England The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England England became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk have indicated.; "Earliest ...

and nineteenth century

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

. She lives 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 capita ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

Biography

Eileen Kernaghan grew up on a dairy farm outside Grindrod, B.C., Canada, population 600. The reading material she found on the family shelves - Greek myths, historical novels,

G. A. Henty George Alfred Henty (8 December 1832 – 16 November 1902) was an English novelist and war correspondent. He is most well-known for his works of adventure fiction and historical fiction, including ''The Dragon & The Raven'' (1886), ''For The ...

's boys' adventure books, a collection of ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

'' and ''

Thrilling Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...

'' - helped to shape her writing career. Her first published story, written when she was twelve, appeared in the Vancouver Sun newspaper. It earned her a byline, an illustration, and a cheque for $12.65. Her next appearance in print, twenty years later, was with a cover story in the New York science fiction magazine

Galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...

. She went on to write the "Grey Isles" series, a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

trilogy based on the origins of

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting ...

. Journey to Aprilioth, Songs from the Drowned Lands and The Sarsen Witch were published by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...

during the 1980s. As for her day jobs, they've included elementary school teaching, arts administration, operating a used bookstore with her husband Pat, and, for many years, teaching creative writing at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby, and Port Moody's Kyle Centre. She has three adult children and four grandchildren.

Bibliography

* The ''Grey Isles'' sequence: ** ''

Journey to Aprilioth Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred r ...

'' (1980). New York: Ace. . ** '' Songs from the Drowned Lands'' (1983). New York: Ace. . ** '' The Sarsen Witch'' (1989). New York: Ace. . * ''

Dance of the Snow Dragon Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

'' (1995). Saskatoon, Sask: Thistledown Press. . * ''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Saml ...

'' (2000). Saskatoon, Sask:

Thistledown Press Thistledown may refer to: * The soft feathery material which protects the fruiting part of a thistle * ''Thistledown'' (film), a 1938 British musical film * Thistledown (racecourse) Jack Thistledown Racino is a thoroughbred race track and casin ...

. . * ''

The Alchemist's Daughter ''The Alchemist's Daughter'' is a young adult historical fantasy, set in Elizabethan England a year before the Spanish Armada, in which Sidonie Quince attempts to save her father from the consequences of a rash night with the Queen. It was writte ...

'' (2004). Saskatoon, Sask:

. . * ''

Winter on the Plain of Ghosts Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

: a novel of Mohenjo-daro'' (2004). New Westminster, BC: Flying Monkey Press. . * ''

Wild Talent Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...

: A Novel of the Supernatural'' (2008). Historical fantasy: YA age 14+. Thistledown Press. . * '' Tales from the Holograph Woods: Speculative Poetry'' (2009). Wattle and Daub Books. * '' Dragon-Rain and Other Stories (Kindle Edition)'' (2013) Neville Books/Flying Monkey Press
Dragon Rain and Other Stories at Amazon.com
*'' Sophie, in Shadow'' (2014). Historical fantasy: YA age 14+. Thistledown Press. .

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

*
Eileen Kernaghan's blog
* *
Strange Horizons interview of Kernaghan
(2005; archived 2007)
Review of Dragon-Rain and Other Stories
by R. Graeme Cameron, ''Amazing Stories'', August 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kernaghan, Eileen Canadian fantasy writers Canadian women novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Living people 1939 births Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers