Linda D. Addison (born September 8, 1952) is an American poet and writer of horror,

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, and science fiction. Addison is the first African-American winner of the

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

, which she won five times. The first two awards were for her

poetry collections A poetry collection is often a compilation of several Poetry, poems by one poet to be published in a single Volume (bibliography), volume or chapbook. A collection can include any number of poems, ranging from a few (e.g. the four long poems in ...

''Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes'' (2001) and ''Being Full of Light, Insubstantial'' (2007). Her poetry and fiction collection ''How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend'' won the 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. She received a fourth HWA Bram Stoker for the collection ''The Four Elements'', written with

Marge Simon Marge Baliff Simon (born 1942) is an American artist and a writer of speculative poetry and fiction. Biography Early life Marge Simon was born in Bethesda, Maryland, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. Education and career She received her ...

Rain Graves Rain Graves is an author of horror, fantasy, science fiction and poetry. She is also a noted Wine Poet, commissioned and featured by winemakers and wineries, and the Creator and Hostess of the Haunted Mansion Writer's Retreat. She is the 2002 B ...

, and

Charlee Jacob Nell Anne 'Charlee' Jacob (June 2, 1952 – July 14, 2019) was an American author specializing in horror fiction, dark fantasy, and poetry. Her writing career began in 1981 with the publication of several poems under the name Charlee Carter Broach ...

. Her fifth HWA Bram Stoker was for the collection ''The Place of Broken Things'', written with Alessandro Manzetti. Addison is a founding member of the CITH (Circles in the Hair) writing group.

Early life

Addison was born in

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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, on September 8, 1952. She is the eldest of nine children born to Janet Marie Webster ( Warrick) and J. Decarsta Webster. Addison attended

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, from 1970 to 1975, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in Mathematics. She moved to New York City in 1975 with fiancé Ken Addison, and started working in the Foreign Royalty Accounting Department at

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. The couple married in 1975 and their son Brian was born in 1982.

Career

In 1996, Addison's short story "Little Red in the Hood" was published in ''

Tomorrow Speculative Fiction ''Tomorrow Speculative Fiction'' was a science fiction magazine edited by Algis Budrys, published in print and online in the United States from 1993 to 1999. It was launched by Pulphouse Publishing as part of its attempt to move away from book ...

'' and was listed as an Honorable Mention in the annual ''

Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1988 to 2007. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospect ...

'' anthology (1997). During her time at Carnegie Mellon, Addison became a fan of science-fiction author

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

and began regularly submitting short stories for publication to ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...

'' magazine. Science fiction author and editor

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...

advised that in order to get published in science fiction "everyone has to write a how the dinosaurs died story." Addison took the advice and from a short story drafted a poem entitled "Why the Dinosaurs Died"; it was published in ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' in 1997. She went on to be published four times in ''Asimov's'' magazine between 1997 and 1999. In 1997, she published her first science fiction, fantasy and horror collection of short stories, journal entries and poetry entitled ''Animated Objects'', which features an introduction by science fiction and fantasy writer

Barry N. Malzberg Barry Nathaniel Malzberg (July 24, 1939 – December 19, 2024) was an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy. Life and career Early life and family Malzberg originated from a Jewish family and graduated from Syra ...

. African-American editor

Sheree Thomas Biography Sheree Renée Thomas (born September 30, 1972) is an American writer, book editor, and publisher. In 2020, Thomas was named editor of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction''. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Thomas' father joined th ...

put the call out for African-American speculative fiction writers to submit for a collection that became the groundbreaking anthology: '' Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction From the African Diaspora''. Addison's work was featured along with that of Octavia E. Butler, Samuel Delaney,

Tananarive Due Tananarive Priscilla Due ( ) (born January 5, 1966) is an American author and educator. Due won the American Book Award for her novel '' The Living Blood'' (2001), and the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, the Shirley Jackson Award for Best ...

and

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private in ...

. Addison went on to be included in ''Dark Dreams'' and ''Dark Thirst''. Addison created the

-winning poetry collection ''Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes''. Addison was the first African American to win this award. The first book signing for this collection was held on September 11, 2001, at the

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

. In 2007, her third book of poetry and second Bram Stoker Award-winning collection was released: ''Being Full of Light, Insubstantial''. It was inspired by her mother's

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

diagnosis. She describes the experience "as something she had never felt before, it was as if a voice came to her in meditation and gently whispered... 100 poems." The collection was an amalgamation of reprints and new poetry. Addison completed her "100th poem" on March 14, 2007. Addison is a member of the

Horror Writers Association The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of horror and dark fantasy writers. Overview HWA was formed in 1985 with ...

(HWA) and has participated in panels with

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave science fiction, New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published wo ...

Jack Ketchum Dallas William Mayr (November 10, 1946 – January 24, 2018), better known by his pen name Jack Ketchum, was an American horror fiction author. He was the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. His novels inclu ...

and L. A. Banks. She was "Poet Guest of Honor" at The World Horror Convention in 2005. Addison has participated in Ellen Datlow's Fantastic Fiction Reading Series at KGB Bar in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Her writing has been featured in ''

Essence Magazine ''Essence'' (stylized in all caps) is an American monthly lifestyle magazine covering fashion, beauty, entertainment, and culture. First published in 1970, the magazine is written for African-American women. History Edward Lewis, Clarence O ...

'', and she is currently poetry editor for ''Space and Time Magazine''. In March 2012, Addison won her third Bram Stoker Award for ''How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend'', a collection of reprints, new poems and short stories. In 2013, she won her fourth HWA Bram Stoker for ''The Four Elements'', a collection of poetry inspired by the

four elements The classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Angola, Tibet, India, a ...

released in 2012, and published by Bad Moon Books. The book was inspired by a discussion between Addison and Houarner about female Bram Stoker Award-winners. Addison contacted three Bram Stoker Award-winning female authors and asked them to choose their "element."

(Earth),

(Water),

(Fire) and Addison (Air). In 2020, she won her fifth HWA Bram Stoker for ''The Place of Broken Things'', a collection of poetry written with Alessandro Manzetti released in 2019, and published by Crystal Lake Publishing. Her story, ''Shadow Dreams'', was published March 2021 by Titan Books in the anthology Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda.

Personal life

Addison separated from Ken Addison in 1992, and her divorce was finalized in 1995. Addison started a relationship with horror fiction writer Gerard Houarner in 1995; they married in 2004 but separated in 2010 and legally divorced in 2015. She currently resides in the

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, area.

Awards

* Five-time winner of the HWA Bram Stoker Award. * In 2018, she was given the Horror Writers Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for 2017. * In 2020, she was designated SFPA Grand Master of Fantastic Poetry.

Partial bibliography

* ''Animated Objects'' (1997) * ''Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes'' (2001), Bram Stoker Award for Best Poetry Collection * ''Being Full of Light, Insubstantial'' (2007), Bram Stoker Award for Best Poetry Collection * ''How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend'' (2011), Bram Stoker Award for Best Poetry Collection * ''Dark Duet'' (2012), written with Stephen M. Wilson, finalist for Bram Stoker Award for Best Poetry Collection * ''The Four Elements'', written with Marge Simon, Rain Graves, Charlee Jacobs (2013), Bram Stoker Award for Best Poetry Collection * ''Sycorax's Daughters'' (2017), co-edited with Kinitra Brooks PhD and Susana Morris Phd, finalist for Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology. * ''The Place of Broken Things'', written with Alessandro Manzetti (2019), Bram Stoker Award for Best Poetry Collection

References

External links

*
Complete bibliography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Addison, Linda 1952 births American horror writers African-American poets American women short story writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American poets 20th-century American poets 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American short story writers American women poets Carnegie Mellon University alumni 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers American science fiction writers Living people Poets from Pennsylvania American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women horror writers Speculative fiction writers of African descent