Dexter Gabriel (born 1971), better known by his

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Phenderson Djèlí Clark, is an American

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

writer and historian, who is an assistant professor in the department of history at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. He uses a pen name to differentiate his literary work from his academic work, and has also published under the name A. Phenderson Clark. This pen name, "Djèlí", makes reference to the

griots A griot (; ; Manding: or (in N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicating stories and history orally, w ...

– traditional Western African storytellers, historians and poets. In 2022, his fantasy novel '' A Master of Djinn'' won the

Nebula A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...

and

Locus Awards The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus (magazine), Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. O ...

. He has also won awards for his short fiction, including the

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Mathematics and science * Locus (mathematics), the set of points satisfying a particular condition, often forming a curve * Root locus analysis, a diagram visualizing the position of r ...

and

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 ...

s for the novella ''

Ring Shout A shout, ring shout, Hallelujah march or victory march is a Christian religious practice in which worshipers move in a circle while praying and clapping their hands, sometimes shuffling and stomping their feet as well. Despite the name, shouting a ...

'' in 2021.

Life and career

Dexter Gabriel was born 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 ...

in 1971, but spent most of his early years living in his parents' original home of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. At age eight, he returned to the United States and lived in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

before moving to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, when he was 12. Gabriel went to college at

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

, San Marcos, earning a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

and then an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in history. He then earned a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in history from

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

. Gabriel is currently assistant professor in the department of history at the

. In 2011, Gabriel began publishing short stories variously as P. Djèlí Clark, Djèlí A. Clark, Phenderson Djèlí Clark, and A. Phenderson Clark. Phenderson was his grandfather's name, while Clark was his mother's maiden name; Djèlí refers to West African storytellers, known in French as griots. He chose to use a

in order to separate his academic and literary work. In 2016, Clark sold his first major work, a novelette titled "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", to ''

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''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 specul ...

''. Since then, he has published novellas, short stories, and a novel. Four of his works – "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", "The Angel of Khan el-Khalili", ''

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 ''The Haunting of Tram Car 015'' is an alternate history science fantasy police procedural novella by American novelist P. Djèlí Clark. It was first published by ''Tor.com'' in 2019. Synopsis In 1912, three decades after the resurgence of ma ...

'' and '' A Master of Djinn'' – are set in the same world, an alternate-universe Egypt. They are collectively titled the ''Ministry of Alchemy'' series or the ''Dead Djinn Universe''. He has been announced as Guest of Honour at the 2027

Eastercon Eastercon is the common name for the annual British national science fiction convention. The convention is organised by voluntary self-organising committees, rather than a permanent entity. Overview Eastercon attracts 800-1200 fans of scien ...

and was a Guest of Honor at

Readercon Readercon is an annual science fiction convention, typically held every July in the Boston, Massachusetts area, currently taking place in Quincy, Massachusetts. It was founded by Bob Colby and Eric Van in 1987 with the goal of focusing almost exc ...

2025.

Awards

Partial bibliography

''Dead Djinn Universe''

*"A Dead Djinn in Cairo" (novelette), ''Tor.com'', 2016. *"The Angel of Khan el-Khalili" (short story), ''Clockwork Cairo: Steampunk Tales of Egypt'', ed. Matthew Bright, Twopenny Books, 2017. *''

'' (novella), ''Tor.com'', 2019. *'' A Master of Djinn'' (novel),

Tordotcom 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, H ...

, 2021.

For young readers

* '' Abeni's Song'' (YA Novel), Starscape, 2023 * '' Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold'' (YA Novel), Starscape, 2025

Standalone novellas

*'' The Black God's Drums'' (novella), ''Tor.com'', 2018. *''

'' (novella), Tordotcom, 2020. * '' The Dead Cat Tail Assassins'' (novella), Tordotcom, 2024.

Other works

*" The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" (short story), ''Fireside Fiction'', 2018 * " If the Martians Have Magic" (short story), ''

Uncanny Magazine ''Uncanny Magazine'' is an American science fiction magazine, science fiction and Fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy online magazine founded by publishing editors Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas. History First issued in 2014, the pu ...

'', 2021.

As Dexter Gabriel

*''Jubilee’s Experiment: The British West Indies and American Abolitionism.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, April 2023.''

References

External links

Official siteOfficial Blog
*
Faculty page
at the

''A Dead Djinn in Cairo''
at ''Tor.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, P. Djèlí University of Connecticut faculty Living people Nebula Award winners 21st-century American historians American science fiction writers Speculative fiction writers of African descent 1971 births Texas State University alumni Stony Brook University alumni 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Writers from New York City Historians from New York (state) 21st-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers 21st-century American short story writers American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent