Elsa Sjunneson (born 1985) is an American speculative fiction writer, editor, media critic, and

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global new social movements, social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunity, equal opportunities and equality before the law, equal rights for all people with disability, disabilities. It is made u ...

activist. She is a

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 and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...

and

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 ...

winner through her editorial work on ''

Uncanny Magazine ''Uncanny Magazine'' is an American science fiction and fantasy online magazine, edited and published by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, based in Urbana, Illinois. Its mascot is a space unicorn. The editors-in-chief, who originally ed ...

''. Deafblind since birth, Sjunneson writes and speaks extensively about the representation of disabilities in popular culture.

Biography

Elsa Sjunneson was born in 1985. She was born with

congenital rubella syndrome Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) can occur in a developing fetus of a pregnant woman who has contracted rubella, usually in the first trimester. If infection occurs 0–28 days before conception, the infant has a 43% risk of being affected. If t ...

, resulting in hearing loss, cataracts in both eyes, and a heart defect. She is legally blind and wears a prosthetic eye and bilateral hearing aids. She attended

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, th ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in history in 2008. While at Gonzaga she worked to raise awareness for FACE AIDS. Sjunneson went on to earn a master's degree in women's history from

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sarah Lawrence scholarship, particularly i ...

in 2011. Sjunneson is an adjunct professor at the

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

Department of Humanities, where she teaches writing. She lives in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Washington.

Writing and media criticism

Sjunneson writes in multiple genres, including speculative fiction and nonfiction. She is a game designer and writes about inclusive game design. Sjunneson was the lead developer and creative director of the ''

Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although ofte ...

'' Accessibility Toolkit. In a 2019 article in '' Dragon+'' magazine, she discusses inclusionary practices for accommodating disabled players in

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participan ...

s. Sjunneson frequently writes about the representation of disability in popular culture. "Constructing Blindness," a series of essays for ''

Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 2 ...

'', discuss blindness as it is represented in movies and television shows. She has written essays about her own disabilities for CNN and ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. Sjunneson's memoir ''Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism'', published in October 2021, explores cultural perceptions of disability along with her own experience.

Awards

Sjunneson has been a Hugo Award finalist seven times for her writing and editorial work. She won the

Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer The Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer is the Hugo Award given each year for writers of works related to science fiction or fantasy which appeared in low- or non-paying publications such as semiprozines or fanzines or in generally available electroni ...

in 2021. She was a guest of honor at

CONvergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen * "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that united the four Weir ...

in 2021. Sjunneson was a nominee for the 2019

Nebula Award for Best Game Writing The Nebula Award for Best Game Writing is one of the various Nebula Awards presented each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy game writing, defined as "an interactive or playable story ...

for the ''Fate Accessibility Toolkit''. Sjunneson was also nominated for the 2022

Hugo Award for Best Related Work The Hugo Award for Best Related Work is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for primarily non-fiction works related to science fiction or fantasy, published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The Hugo Awards have bee ...

for ''Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism''. As the nonfiction editor of ''Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction'', issue 24 of ''Uncanny Magazine'', Sjunneson won the 2019

Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine The Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine is given each year to a periodical publication related to science fiction or fantasy that meets several criteria having to do with the number of issues published and who, if anyone, receives payment. The awar ...

and the 2019 Aurora Award for Best Related Work. As an editorial staff member of ''Uncanny Magazine'', she was a winner of the 2019

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 Best Magazine / Periodical. She was the first blind person to win a Hugo Award (although Edmund Meskys, editor of Hugo-winning ''

Niekas ''Niekas'' (from Lithuanian: ''nothing'' or ''nobody'') was a science fiction fanzine published from 1962–1998 by Ed Meskys – also spelled ''Meškys'' – of New Hampshire. It won the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Fanzine, and was nominat ...

'', became blind after his Hugo win).

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sjunneson, Elsa 1985 births 20th-century American women writers Living people American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American deafblind people American disability rights activists Gonzaga University alumni Hugo Award-winning fan writers Sarah Lawrence College alumni Women science fiction and fantasy writers Blind scholars and academics Blind activists Deaf activists American activists with disabilities American writers with disabilities Deaf writers