Emily Tesh

Writing career

Tesh's first published works were the novellas Silver in the Wood and Drowned Country, in the Greenhollow Duology.^[5] Silver in the Wood is an adaptation of the Green Man English tale.^[6] Author Katharine Coldiron described it as an "utterly enchanting" tale centering queer romance and nature writing.^[7] The story won the 2020 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella.^[8]

Tesh's first novel, Some Desperate Glory, earned praise from critics and the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel.^[1] It is a science-fiction novel focusing on the choices that the protagonist, Kyr, must make during a devastating war after having been raised in a fascist, militaristic society. It is a queer story and subverts classic tropes from the space opera and bildungsroman genres.^[9]

Tesh's next novel, The Incandescent, was released in May 2025. It is a fantasy novel following Dr. Walden, who is Director of Magic at a British boarding school. In handling the demonic mistakes of her students and her own missteps, Dr. Walden is forced to question and confront her own self-image.^[10] Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, describing it as a "thoughtful exploration of privilege, power, and private school education."^[11] Critic Liz Bourke described it as a brilliant novel, "that marries the energy and verve and peril of the best of the fantasy genre with the understated, literary examination of interior and professional lives".^[10]