Rachel Swirsky (born April 14, 1982, in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

) is an American literary, speculative fiction and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

writer, poet, and editor living in Oregon. She was the founding editor of the

PodCastle ''PodCastle'' is a weekly audio fantasy fiction podcast. They release audio performances of fantasy short fiction, including all the subgenres of fantasy, including magical realism, urban fantasy, slipstream, high fantasy, and dark fantas ...

podcast and served as editor from 2008 to 2010. She served as vice 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, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...

in 2013. She has been published in such literary publications as ''PANK'', the ''Konundrum Engine Literary Review'', and the ''

New Haven Review The ''New Haven Review'' is a not-for-profit quarterly literary journal founded in August 2007 and located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded as ''The New Haven Review of Books'', the magazine "was founded to resuscitate the art of the book review ...

''. Her speculative fiction work has appeared in numerous markets including '' Tor.com'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Beneath Ceaseless Skies'', Fantasy Magazine, '' Interzone'', ''

Realms of Fantasy ''Realms of Fantasy'' was a professional bimonthly fantasy speculative fiction magazine published by Sovereign Media, then Tir Na Nog Press, and Damnation Books, which specialized in fantasy fiction (including some horror), related nonfiction (wit ...

'', and

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 ...

, and collected in a variety of year's best anthologies, including

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of ''Asimov's Science Ficti ...

's ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'', Rich Horton's ''The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy'',

Jonathan Strahan Jonathan Strahan (born 1964, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a ...

's ''Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year,'' and

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

Ann VanderMeer Ann VanderMeer (née Kennedy) is an American publisher and editor, and the second female editor of the horror magazine ''Weird Tales''. She is the founder of Buzzcity Press. Work from her press and related periodicals has won the British Fantasy ...

's ''Best American Fantasy''. Her novella "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window" won the 2010

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 ...

. and was also a nominee for a 2011

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 and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...

and for the 2011

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 ...

. Swirsky's short story "

If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love "If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love" is a short story by American writer Rachel Swirsky. It was first published in ''Apex Magazine'' in 2013. Synopsis As a paleontologist lies in a coma, his fiancée tells him how things would be different if he wer ...

" won the 2013

Nebula Award for Best Short Story The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short sto ...

, and was nominated for the Hugo award for best short story of 2013.

Biography

Swirsky was born in 1982 in

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family.. A graduate of the

University of California Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...

and the Iowa Writers Workshop, Swirsky taught undergraduate science fiction and fantasy writing while a teaching assistant at

The University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 c ...

. In 2005, she attended the Clarion West writers workshop. In addition to her fiction, Swirsky writes critical essays, reviews, and other non-fiction. Swirsky has donated her writing to a number of charity anthologies. Her story "Heat Engine" appeared in ''Last Bird, Drink Head'', a flash fiction anthology supporting the ProLiteracy charity. In September 2010, she contributed a story to the online chapbook story collection ''Clash of the Geeks'', presented by

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 ...

supporting the Lupus Alliance of America. Swirsky lives in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. She has described herself as a person with disability.

Awards and critical reception

In addition to winning the Nebula, Swirsky's work has been nominated for awards and received other critical attention. Her novell
"A Memory of Wind"
was a finalist for the 2009 Nebula Awards ballot. Her novelett
"Eros, Philia, Agape"
was nominated for the Hugo, the

Theodore Sturgeon Award The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award is an annual literary award presented by the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best short science fiction story ...

, the

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

, the

storySouth ''storySouth'' is an online quarterly literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, criticism, essays, and visual artwork, with a focus on the Southern United States. The journal also runs the annual Million Writers Award to select the best s ...

Million Writers Award, and the

Tiptree Award The Otherwise Award, formerly known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science f ...

. Her novelett
"Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia"
was a finalist for the 2012 Nebula Awards ballot. 2012

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 ...

, and the 2011

Nebula Award for Best Novelette The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to a science fiction or fantasy novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novelette if it is between 7,50 ...

. Her story "Fields of Gold" was nominated for the 2012

, and the 2011

. "

" won the 2013

, and was nominated for the 2014

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 ...

. Her poem "The Oracle on River Street" won third place for the

Rhysling Award __NOTOC__ The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year. Unlike most literary awards, which are named for the creator of the award, the subject of the award, or a noted member of t ...

and was reprinted in the 2008 Rhysling anthology. Other work has also been long-listed for the

Million Writers Award, the

BSFA Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, ...

, and the Tiptree Award. Her work has been listed on the annual ''

Locus Magazine ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields ...

s Recommended Reading List.Locusmag.com
/ref>

Bibliography

Novellas

* ''January Fifteenth'', Tor.com, 2022, ISBN 9781250198945

Collections

*''How the World Became Quiet and Myths of the Past, Present, and Future'',

, 2013, *''Through the Drowsy Dark: Short Fiction & Poetry'',

Aqueduct Press Aqueduct Press is a publisher based in Seattle, Washington, United States that publishes material featuring a feminist viewpoint. History Aqueduct Press was founded in 2004 by L. Timmel Duchamp. The company has focused on publishing speculati ...

, 2010,

Edited works

*''People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction & Fantasy'',

Prime Books Sean Wallace (born January 1, 1976) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologist, editor, and publisher best known for founding the publishing house Prime Books and for co-editing three magazines, '' Clarkesworld Magazine'', '' ...

, 2010,

Selected short stories

"Defiled Imagination,"
''PANK Magazine, October 2010
"The Monster's Million Faces,"
Tor.com, Sept 8, 2010 *"The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen's Window," ''Subterranean Magazine'', Summer 2010 *"A Memory of Wind," Tor.com, Nov 3 2009
"Eros, Philia, Agape,"
Tor.com, Mar 3 2009 (reprinted in Jonathan Strahan's ''Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol. 4'' and in Rich Horton's ''The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy,'' 2010) *"Marrying the Sun," ''Fantasy Magazine'', June 30, 2008 (reprinted in Jonathan Strahan's ''The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol. 3'') *"How the World Became Quiet: A Post-Human Creation Myth," ''Electric Velocipede,'' issue 13 (reprinted in audio at

Escape Pod An escape pod, escape capsule, life capsule, or lifepod is a capsule or craft, usually only big enough for one person, used to escape from a vessel in an emergency. An escape ship is a larger, more complete craft also used for the same purpose ...

, Sep 20 2008 and in Jeff & Ann VanderMeer's ''Best American Fantasy 2'') *"A Monkey Will Never Be Rid of Its Black Hands," ''Subterranean Magazine'', Winter 2008 *"Dispersed by the Sun, Melting in the Wind," ''Subterranean Magazine'', Spring 2007 *"The Debt of the Innocent," '' Glorifying Terrorism'', 2007 *"Heartstrung," in Interzone 210 (reprinted in audio at

Pseudopod A pseudopod or pseudopodium (plural: pseudopods or pseudopodia) is a temporary arm-like projection of a eukaryotic cell membrane that is emerged in the direction of movement. Filled with cytoplasm, pseudopodia primarily consist of actin filament ...

, Mar 28 2008; reprinted in Rich Horton's ''Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008'') *"A Letter Never Sent," in ''Konundrum Engine Literary Review'' *"Scene from a Dystopia," in ''Subterranean Magazine'' #4, 2006

Selected poetry

*"Mundane," Ideomancer, 2010 *"Evening in Pompeii," ''Ideomancer'', 2010 *"String Theory," ''Ideomancer'', September 2009 *"Remembering the World," ''Electric Velocipede'' #15-16, Winter 2008 *"The Passionate Oven," ''Helix'' #8 (reprinted in ''Transcriptase'') *"Pro-Life Patter," ''Diet Soap'' #2 (originally printed on ''Alas, a Blog'') *"Terrible Lizards," ''Diet Soap'' #1, online edition, February 2008 *"Invitation to Emerald," ''Lone Star Stories'', December 2007 *"A Season with the Geese," ''Abyss&Apex'', third quarter 2007 (reprinted in ''The Best of Abyss & Apex, Volume One'') *"The Oracle on River Street," ''Goblin Fruit'', Summer 2007