Mary Robinette Kowal (; born February 8, 1969) is an American author and puppeteer. Originally a puppeteer by primary trade after receiving a bachelor's degree in art education, she became art director for science fiction magazines and by 2010 was also authoring her first full-length published novels. The majority of her work is characterized by science fiction themes, such as

interplanetary travel Interplanetary spaceflight or interplanetary travel is the crewed or uncrewed travel between stars and planets, usually within a single planetary system. In practice, spaceflights of this type are confined to travel between the planets of the S ...

; a common element present in many of her novels is

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

or alternate history fantasy, such as in her Glamourist Histories and Lady Astronaut books. Kowal has been active in the SF&F community, acting as secretary, vice president (2010), and later president (2019-2021) 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, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...

. In response to frustration from the fanbase over panel selection, and perceived misallocation of resources in advance of the 2018 WorldCon, the board named her chair of programming. She has since returned as a chair at the 2021 WorldCon, which was delayed to mid-December 2021 on account of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. Professional magazines such as ''

Asimov's ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...

'' and ''Uncanny'' have published her stories across the years, since "Portrait of Ari" was picked up by ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, an ...

'' in 2006, which eventually resulted in an ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer.

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, and is the largest publisher of Chinese sci ...

has been the main avenue for her longer fiction. Both her novels and short fiction have received praise and accolades, including (though not limited to) four

Hugo Awards 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 a single

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 of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of prof ...

. ''

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 " Lady Astronaut" series and is a prequel to the 2012 short story "Th ...

'', perhaps her most decorated and recognizable work, won both the

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...

and the

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (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; a ...

. She continues to write and puppeteer, in addition to voicing

audio books 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 ...

, and lives in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

with her husband.

Life and career

Mary Robinette Harrison was born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

, attended William G. Enloe High School, and studied at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...

. 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 ...

in 1989. She 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 the ...

;

Jim Henson Productions The Jim Henson Company (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 known for ...

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

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

on the children's television show '' LazyTown'' 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 Portable Document Format ...

'' 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, prin ...

''. She served as secretary of the

for two years, was elected to the position of SFWA Vice President in 2010, and was elected SFWA President in 2019. In 2008, her second year of eligibility, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. 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 the Royal Institution of Australia that covers science globally. It appears four times a year in print as ''Cosmos Magazine'', an ...

'' 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 of America (SFWA), a nonprofit organization, nonpro ...

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

'', and ''

Apex Digest ''Apex Magazine'', also previously known as ''Apex Digest'', is an American horror and science fiction magazine. This subscription webzine, ''Apex Magazine'', contains short fiction, reviews, and interviews. It has been nominated for several aw ...

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

. 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'' was ineligible for the 2013

because it had only been released as part of an audiobook, but was later published in text format and went on to win 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 first novel in her Lady Astronaut series, won the 2019

, 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 ...

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

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talen ...

and 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 ...

versions of books written by other authors such as

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 no ...

Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire (pronounced SHAWN-in; born January 5, 1978 in Martinez, California) 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 ...

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 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 o ...

and

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

. In July 2018, after criticism that many authors who were Hugo award finalists at the August 2018

World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, or more formally 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 ...

had not been selected to participate on that year's panels, Kowal took over as Programming chair and "repaired and replaced" many sessions by working with a large and diverse team to do so. Kowal served as President of the

from 2019-2021. Kowal served as Chair of the DisCon III the 2021

Worldcon Worldcon, or more formally 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 ...

after the original Chairs resigned.

Awards and nominations

Publications

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

*" The Lady Astronaut of Mars",

Audible (store) Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service that allows users to purchase and stream audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content. This content can be purchased individually or under a subscription model where the user receiv ...

and

, 2012, (winner of the

) *''

'',

, 2018, (winner of the

and the

) *''The Fated Sky'',

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

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

, announced for 2022

Standalone novels

*''Ghost Talkers'',

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

, 2022

Novellas

* ''Kiss Me Twice'', ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

'', 2011 (nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novella) * ''Forest of Memory'', Tor.com / maryrobinettekowal.com, 2014

Novelettes

* "A Fire in the Heavens", ''

Shadows Beneath ''Writing Excuses'' is a podcast hosted by authors Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, and author and web cartoonist Howard Tayler. Promoted as "fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart", the fo ...

'' anthology, 2014
"The Worshipful Society of Glovers"
(

Uncanny The uncanny is the psychological experience of something as not simply mysterious, but creepy, often in a strangely familiar way. It may describe incidents where a familiar thing or event is encountered in an unsettling, eerie, or taboo context. ...

7-8/17)

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, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novels, short story ...

, 2009, *''Word Puppets'', Prime Books, 2015,

Short 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", ''

'', 2006 *"Locked In", ''

'', 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 The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

'', 2007 *"Horizontal Rain", '' 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", '' Doctor Who: Short Trips: Destination Prague'', 2007 *"Clockwork Chickadee", ''

Clarkesworld Magazine ''Clarkesworld Magazine'' (ISSN 1937-7843) is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It released its first issue October 1, 2006 and has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Elizabet ...

'', 2008 *"Scenting the Dark", '' Apex Online'', 2008 *"Waiting for Rain", ''

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

'', 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 ''InterGalactic Medicine Show'' (sometimes shortened to ''IGMS'') was an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It was founded in 2005 by multiple award-winning author Orson Scott Card and was edited by Edmund R. Schubert from 2006 ...

'', 2009 *"The Consciousness Problem", ''

'', 2009 *"First Flight", ''

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 ...

'', 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 Online'', 2010 *"Beyond the Garden Close", '' Apex Online'', 2010 *"Typewriter Triptych", ''Sharable.net'', 2010 *" For Want of a Nail", ''

'', 2010 (winner of the

) *"Salt of the Earth", '' Redstone Science Fiction'', 2010 *"American Changeling", ''

Daily Science Fiction ''Daily Science Fiction'' is an email and online magazine devoted to publishing science fiction stories that was founded in 2010. Per the title, it is a daily publication, publishing each weekday, edited by Jonathan Laden and Michele Barasso. O ...

'', 2010 *"Changement d’itinéraire (Changed Itinerary)", ''Légendes'', 2010 *"Birthright", ''2020 Visions'', 2010 *"Water to Wine", ''

METAtropolis ''METAtropolis'' is a series of science fiction audiobook collections. In 2008, Audible.com released the audiobook anthology ''METAtropolis'', edited by John Scalzi and featuring short fiction in a shared world created by Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear ...

: Cascadia'', 2010 *"Weaving Dreams", ''Apex'', 2012 *"The White Phoenix Feather", ''Fireside Magazine'', 2012 *"We Interrupt This Broadcast", '' The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination'', 2013 *"Midnight Hour", ''

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 ...

'', 2015 *"Grinding Time", ''

Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

'', 2015 *"Your Mama's Adventures in Parenting", ''

Shimmer Shimmer may refer to: * ''Shimmer'' (play), a 1988 play by John O'Keefe * Shimmer (comics), a DC Comics super-villain * ''Shimmer'' (novel), by Eric Barnes * '' Shimmer Magazine'', or ''Shimmerzine'', a speculative fiction magazine * "Shimmer" ...

'', 2017 *"Dust to Dust", ''Fireside Fiction'', 2018 *"Articulated Restraint", ''Tor.com'', 2019

Audio originals

*"The Original"
Dragonsteel Entertainment
2020

Children's books

* ''Molly on the Moon'', ill. Diana Mayo,

Roaring Brook Press A roar is a type of animal vocalization that is deep and resonating. Many mammals have evolved to produce roars and other roar-like vocals for purposes such as long-distance communication and intimidation. These include various species of big cat ...

, 2022, ISBN 9781250259615

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 podcasters American puppeteers American science fiction writers American women novelists American women podcasters American women short story writers East Carolina University alumni Hugo Award-winning writers John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners Nebula Award winners Novelists from North Carolina Sidewise Award winners William G. Enloe High School alumni Women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers from Raleigh, North Carolina