Mary Robinette Kowal (; born February 8, 1969) is an American author, translator, art director, and puppeteer. She has worked on puppetry for shows including

Jim Henson Productions The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...

and the children's show ''

LazyTown ''LazyTown'' () is an Icelandic children's educational musical television series created by aerobics champion Magnús Scheving. Originally produced in English, it has been broadcast in dozens of languages globally. Designed to encourage health ...

''. As an author, she is a four-time

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 ...

winner, and served as the president 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 2019-2021.

Early life

Mary Robinette Harrison was born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. She was named after both of her grandmothers, and describes her given name, "Mary Robinette," as a double first name. She attended William G. Enloe High School, and studied at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

. She graduated with a degree in Art Education with a minor in theater and began work as a professional

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

in 1989.

Career

Puppetry and art direction

Kowal has performed for the

Center for Puppetry Arts The Center for Puppetry Arts, located in Atlanta, is the United States' largest organization dedicated to the art form of puppetry. The center focuses on three areas: performance, education, and museum. It is one of the few puppet museums in th ...

; and her own production company, Other Hand Productions. She also worked in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

on the children's television show ''

'' for two seasons. She was accepted as a participant in a Sesame Puppetry Workshop. Kowal served as art director for ''

Shimmer Magazine ''Shimmer Magazine'' was a quarterly magazine which published speculative fiction, with a focus on material that is dark, humorous or strange. Established in June 2005, ''Shimmer'' was published in digest format and PDF and was edited by Beth W ...

'' and in 2010 was named art director for ''

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, printe ...

''.

Literary work

In 2008, Kowal won the

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

. Kowal's work as an author includes "For Solo Cello, op. 12", (originally published in ''

Cosmos Magazine ''Cosmos'' (subtitled The Science of Everything) is a science magazine published in Adelaide, South Australia, by CSIRO Publishing that covers science globally. It appears four times a year in print as ''Cosmos Magazine'', and the online editio ...

'' and reprinted in ''Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition'',) which made the preliminary ballot for the 2007

Nebula Awards 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 pro ...

. Her fiction has also appeared in ''Talebones Magazine'', ''

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 '' Apex Digest'', among other venues. Her debut novel ''Shades of Milk and Honey'' was nominated for the 2010

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; ...

. Two of her short fiction works have been nominated for the

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story 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 short story award is available for works of fiction of ...

: " Evil Robot Monkey" in 2009 and "For Want of a Nail", which won the award in 2011. Her novelette "

The Lady Astronaut of Mars "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" is an alternate history/science fiction short story by Mary Robinette Kowal. It was first published in 2012 as part of the Audible.com anthology ''Rip-Off''. Synopsis Thirty years after Elma York led the first expediti ...

" won the 2014

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 ...

. ''

The Calculating Stars ''The Calculating Stars'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Mary Robinette Kowal. The book was published by Tor Books on July 3, 2018. It is the first book in the "Mary_Robinette_Kowal#Lady_Astronaut_Universe, Lady Astronaut" series a ...

'', the first novel in her Lady Astronaut series, won the 2019

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 ...

, the 2018

, and the 2018

Sidewise Award for Alternate History The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story " Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in w ...

. Kowal translated the 2021 novel ''The Night Guest'', by

Hildur Knútsdóttir Hildur Knútsdóttir (born 16 June 1984 Reykjavík) is an Icelandic writer. In 2016, she won the Icelandic Literary Prize for children's books for her novel ''Vetrarhörkur'' (Winter Frost). She studied at University of Iceland. She taught a wr ...

, from Icelandic into English, which was published in 2024. Kowal studied Icelandic while living in Reykjavík and working for the show ''

''. It is Kowal's first work of translation. Kowal served as secretary of the

for two years. She was elected to the position of SFWA Vice President in 2010, and was elected SFWA President in 2019. In July 2018, after criticism that many authors who were Hugo award finalists at the August 2018

World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, officially the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during Wor ...

had not been selected to participate on that year's panels, Kowal took over as programming chair. She also served as chair of the

DisCon III The 79th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as DisCon III, was held on 15–19 December 2021 in Washington, D.C., United States. Participants Guests of Honor * artist John Harris * author Nancy Kress * fan Ben Yalow ...

the 2021

Worldcon Worldcon, officially the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during Wor ...

after the original chairs resigned.

Audio work

After appearing several times as a guest on the podcast '' Writing Excuses'', Kowal became a full-time cast member at the start of the sixth season in 2011. Kowal is a

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

and has recorded

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

s for authors including

John Scalzi John Michael Scalzi II (born May 10, 1969) is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his ''Old Man's War'' series, three novels of which have been n ...

Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire (pronounced SHAWN-in; born January 5, 1978) is an American author and filker. McGuire is known for her urban fantasy novels. She uses the pseudonym Mira Grant to write science fiction/ horror and the pseudonym A. Deborah Baker to w ...

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born 17 July 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of th ...

and

Kage Baker Kage Baker (June 10, 1952 – January 31, 2010Obituary: Kage Baker
", SF Site, Januar ...

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

Novels

*''Ghost Talkers'',

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

, 2016, *'' The Spare Man'',

, 2022 ;Glamourist Histories series *''Shades of Milk and Honey.''

, 2010, *''Glamour in Glass'',

, 2012, *''Without a Summer'',

, 2013, *''Valour and Vanity'',

, 2014, *''Of Noble Family'',

, 2015, ;Lady Astronaut Universe *''

'',

, 2018, *''The Fated Sky'',

, 2018, *'' The Relentless Moon'',

, 2020, *''The Martian Contingency'',

, originally announced for 2022, but delayed 2025. *''Silent Spaces'',

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

, projected publishing date July 2025

Short fiction

;Collections *''Scenting the Dark and Other Stories'',

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

, 2009, *''Word Puppets'', Prime Books, 2015, ;Stories *"Just Right", '' The First Line'', 2004 *"Rampion", ''The First Line'', 2004 *"The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland", ''The First Line'', 2004 *"Portrait of Ari", ''

'', 2006 *"Bound Man", ''Twenty Epics'', 2006 *"Cerbo in Vitra ujo", '' Apex Digest'', 2006 *"Locked In", '' Apex Digest'', 2006 *"This Little Pig", ''

Cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

'', 2007 *"For Solo Cello, op. 12", ''Cosmos (magazine), Cosmos'', 2007 *"Horizontal Rain", ''Apex Magazine, Apex Online'', 2007 *"Death Comes But Twice", ''Talebones'', 2007 *"Some Other Day", ''All Possible Worlds'', 2007 *"Tomorrow and Tomorrow", ''Gratia Placenti'', 2007 *"Suspension and Disbelief", ''Short Trips: Destination Prague, Doctor Who: Short Trips: Destination Prague'', 2007 *"Clockwork Chickadee", ''Clarkesworld Magazine'', 2008 *"Scenting the Dark", ''Apex Magazine, Apex Online'', 2008 *"Waiting for Rain", ''Subterranean Press, Subterranean Magazine'', 2008 *"Chrysalis", ''Aoife's Kiss'', 2008 *" Evil Robot Monkey", ''The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Vol. 2'', 2008 (nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story) *"At the Edge of Dying", ''Clockwork Phoenix 2: More Tales of Beauty and Strangeness'', 2009 *"Body Language", ''InterGalactic Medicine Show'', 2009 *"The Consciousness Problem", ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', 2009 *"First Flight", ''Tor Books, Tor.com'', 2009 *"Ginger Stuyvesant and the Case of the Haunted Nursery", ''Talebones'', 2009 *"Jaiden's Weaver", ''Diamonds in the Sky: An Astronomical Anthology'', 2009 *"Prayer at Dark River", ''Innsmouth Free Press'', 2009 *"Ring Road", ''Dark Faith Anthology'', 2010 *"The Bride Replete", ''Apex Magazine, Apex Online'', 2010 *"Beyond the Garden Close", ''Apex Magazine, Apex Online'', 2010 *"Typewriter Triptych", ''Sharable.net'', 2010 *"For Want of a Nail (short story), For Want of a Nail", ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', 2010 (winner of the

) *"Salt of the Earth", ''Redstone Science Fiction'', 2010 *"American Changeling", ''Daily Science Fiction'', 2010 *"Changement d'itinéraire (Changed Itinerary)", ''Légendes'', 2010 *"Birthright", ''2020 Visions'', 2010 *"Water to Wine", ''METAtropolis: Cascadia'', 2010 *"Weaving Dreams", Apex Magazine, ''Apex'', 2012 *"The White Phoenix Feather", ''Fireside Magazine'', 2012 *"

", Audible, 2012, ''Tor.com'', 2013 (winner of the

) *"We Interrupt This Broadcast", ''The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination'', 2013 - part of the Lady Astronaut Universe series *"Midnight Hour", ''Uncanny Magazine'', 2015 *"Grinding Time", ''Popular Science'', 2015 *"Your Mama's Adventures in Parenting", ''Shimmer Magazine, Shimmer'', 2017 *"Dust to Dust", ''Fireside Fiction'', 2018 *"Amara's Giraffe", May 2018 - part of the Lady Astronaut Universe series *"Rockets Red", July 2018 - part of the Lady Astronaut Universe series *"The Phobos Experience" - in Fantasy & Science Fiction July 2018 - part of the Lady Astronaut Universe series *"Articulated Restraint", ''Tor.com'', 2019 - part of the Lady Astronaut Universe series

Children's books

* ''Molly on the Moon'', ill. Diana Mayo, Roaring Brook Press, 2022, ISBN 9781250259615

Audio books

* Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal. "The Original" (Recorded Books, 2020) ISBN 9781980062738

References

External links

*
Mary Robinette Kowal's Weekly Fantasy Column at AMCtv.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kowal, Mary Robinette 1969 births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American alternate history writers American book podcasters American puppeteers American science fiction writers American women novelists American women podcasters American women short story writers Asimov's Science Fiction people East Carolina University alumni Hugo Award–winning writers John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners Nebula Award winners Novelists from North Carolina Presidents of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association Sidewise Award winners Enloe High School alumni American women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers from Raleigh, North Carolina Female puppeteers