Patrick James Nielsen Hayden (born Patrick James Hayden January 2, 1959), is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, fan,

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

publisher, essayist, reviewer, anthologist, teacher and

blogger A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

. He is a

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

and

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 (with nine nominations for the latter award), and is an editor and the Manager of Science Fiction at

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, ...

Life and career

Born in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, he was first active in

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

while living in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in the early 1970s. He continued in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, before moving to the New York area in the 1980s to work professionally in publishing. After moving to New York, he worked at

Literary Guild The Literary Guild of America is a mail order book sales club, book club selling low-cost editions of selected current books to its members. Established in 1927 to compete with the Book of the Month Club, it is currently owned by Bookspan. It was a ...

as an editorial assistant, then at Chelsea House as an associate editor. He changed his last name to "Nielsen Hayden" on his marriage to Teresa Nielsen (now Teresa Nielsen Hayden) in 1979. He joined

in the mid-1980s as an assistant and has worked there ever since. He has published a number of essays and reviews. He has contributed to a number of books and magazines, including ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

'' (2nd edition, 1993) and ''The Map: Rediscovering Rock and Roll''.PNH website
/ref> He is one of the regular instructors at Viable Paradise, a science fiction writing workshop held on

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

, and has also taught at both U.S.

Clarion Workshop The Clarion Workshop is an American six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writer's Workshop, Milford Writer's Conference, held at their home in Milfo ...

s. He used to be active on the

Usenet Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...

groups rec.arts.sf.* in the 1990s. Since July 2000 he wrote a blog, ''Electrolite'', until it was incorporated into his wife's blog ''Making Light'' in May 2005, where he now writes along with her, SF writer James D. Macdonald, and SF fans Avram Grumer and Abi Sutherland.

Fanzine editor, small press publisher and magazine editor

From 1982 to 1987, he edited and published the science-fiction fanzine '' Izzard'' with his wife Teresa Nielsen Hayden. He has worked on a number of other fanzines over the years, including '' Twibbet'', '' Thangorodrim'', '' Tweek'', '' Ecce Fanno'', ''

Telos Telos (; ) is a term used by philosopher Aristotle to refer to the final cause of a natural organ or entity, or of human art. ''Telos'' is the root of the modern term teleology, the study of purposiveness or of objects with a view to their aims, ...

'', '' Zed'', and ''

Flash Point The flash point of a material is the "lowest liquid temperature at which, under certain standardized conditions, a liquid gives off vapours in a quantity such as to be capable of forming an ignitable vapour/air mixture". The flash point is somet ...

''. Through their small press, Ansatz Press, Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden published

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexual orientation, sexuality, and ...

's ''Wagner/Artaud: A Play of 19th and 20th Century Critical Fictions'' From 1985 to 1989, he served on the editorial board of ''The Little Magazine'', a poetry magazine. Excerpt including relevant biographical information at In 1988, he was one of the founding editors of ''

The New York Review of Science Fiction ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' is a monthly literary magazine of science fiction that was established in 1988. It includes works of science fiction criticism, essays, and in-depth critical reviews of new works of fiction and scholarsh ...

'', for which he did the basic design, in use until 2012. He left the magazine after several issues.

Personal life

Nielsen Hayden is also a writer, teacher, and musician. He plays guitar and sings on occasion for the New York rock band Whisperado. He currently lives in

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 ...

, New York.

Awards and nominations

* 2013, 2010, and 2007 winner for Hugo Award for Best Editor Long Form, also nominated in this category 2008–2009; also 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 nominee for Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor * 1989 co-nominee for Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine for ''

'' * 1986, 1987 nominee for Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer * 1984 co-nominee, with Teresa Nielsen Hayden, for

Hugo Award for Best Fanzine The Hugo Award for Best Fanzine is given each year for non professionally edited magazines, or "fanzines", related to science fiction or fantasy which has published four or more issues with at least one issue appearing in the previous calendar y ...

for '' Izzard''

Works

Anthologies

* ''Alternate Skiffy'' (Wildside Press, 1997) with

Mike Resnick Michael Diamond Resnick (; March 5, 1942 – January 9, 2020) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct mag ...

()PNH bibliography
at ISFDB * ''New Skies'' (Tor, 2003) * ''New Magics: An Anthology of Today's Fantasy'' (Tor, 2004) * ''The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens: First Annual Collection'' (Tor, 2005) with Jane Yolen * ''Twenty-First Century Science Fiction'', with David G. Hartwell (Tor Books, 2013)

Starlight Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It typically refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the Sun, observable from Earth at night, although a component of starlight is observable from Earth during daytime. Sunlig ...

original science fiction & fantasy anthology series: * ''Starlight 1'' (Tor, 1996) – won a

* ''Starlight 2'' (Tor, 1998) * ''Starlight 3'' (Tor, 2001)

Short Fiction

* "Binding" in ''Aladdin: Master of the Lamp'', 1992, ed.

& Martin H. Greenberg * "Sincerity" in ''More Whatdunits'', 1993, ed. Mike Resnick * "Return" in ''Xanadu'', 1993, ed. Jane Yolen (also available online).

References

External links

*
Spring 2001 Interview
by

Darrell Schweitzer Darrell Charles Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy. ...

Interview from 2004/7

PNH's Usenet posts
from 1992 to 2002 in Google Groups * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen Hayden, Patrick 1959 births 21st-century American non-fiction writers American bloggers American book editors American male essayists American political blogs Hugo Award–winning editors Living people American science fiction critics American science fiction editors Usenet people World Fantasy Award winners Writers from Lansing, Michigan Novelists from New York City 21st-century American male writers