Mary Robinette Kowal

American author and puppeteer (born 1969) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mary Robinette Kowal (née Harrison; born February 8, 1969)[1] is an American author, translator, art director, and puppeteer.[2][3] As an author, she is a four-time Hugo Award winner, a Nebula Award and Locus Award winner, and served as the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America from 2019-2021. She has worked on puppetry for shows including Jim Henson Productions and the children's show LazyTown.[3]

Born
Mary Robinette Harrison

(1969-02-08) February 8, 1969 (age 57)
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation
NationalityAmerican
AlmamaterEast Carolina University
Quick facts Born, Occupation ...
Mary Robinette Kowal
Kowal in 2025
Kowal in 2025
Born
Mary Robinette Harrison

(1969-02-08) February 8, 1969 (age 57)
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation
NationalityAmerican
Alma materEast Carolina University
GenreScience fiction, fantasy, fantasy of manners
Notable works
Notable awards
Signature
Website
www.maryrobinettekowal.com
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Early life

Mary Robinette Harrison was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was named after both of her grandmothers, and describes her given name, "Mary Robinette," as a double first name.[4][5] She attended William G. Enloe High School,[6][7][non-primary source needed] and studied at East Carolina University. She graduated with a degree in Art Education with a minor in theater and began work as a professional puppeteer in 1989.

Career

Puppetry and art direction

Kowal has performed for the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Productions; and her own production company, Other Hand Productions.[8] She also worked in Iceland on the children's television show LazyTown for two seasons.[9][3] She was accepted as a participant in a Sesame Puppetry Workshop.[10][11]

Kowal served as art director for Shimmer Magazine and in 2010 was named art director for Weird Tales.[12]

Literary work

In 2008, Kowal won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.[13][14]

Kowal's work as an author includes "For Solo Cello, op. 12"[15][16] (originally published in Cosmos Magazine and reprinted in Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition)[17] which made the preliminary ballot for the 2007 Nebula Awards.[18] Her fiction has also appeared in Talebones Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Apex Digest, among other venues.[19][20][21][22] Her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel.[23] Two of her short fiction works have been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story: "Evil Robot Monkey" in 2009[24] and "For Want of a Nail", which won the award in 2011.[25] Her novelette "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" won the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.[26] The Calculating Stars, the first novel in her Lady Astronaut series, won the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 2018 Sidewise Award for Alternate History.[27][28][29][30][31]

Kowal translated the 2021 novel The Night Guest, by Hildur Knútsdóttir, from Icelandic into English, which was published in 2024. Kowal studied Icelandic while living in Reykjavík and working for the show LazyTown. It is Kowal's first work of translation.[32]

Kowal served as secretary of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for two years. She was elected to the position of SFWA Vice President in 2010, and was elected SFWA President in 2019.[33] In July 2018, after criticism[34] that many authors who were Hugo award finalists at the August 2018 World Science Fiction Convention had not been selected to participate on that year's panels, Kowal took over as programming chair.[35] She also served as chair of the DisCon III the 2021 Worldcon after the original chairs resigned.[36]

Audio work

After appearing several times as a guest on the podcast Writing Excuses, Kowal became a full-time cast member at the start of the sixth season in 2011.[37]

Kowal is a voice actor and has recorded audiobooks for authors including John Scalzi,[38] Seanan McGuire,[39] Cory Doctorow,[38] Neal Stephenson,[40] and Kage Baker.[41][42]

Personal life

Kowal has previously lived in Chicago and Nashville.[43][44] She lives in Denver with her husband, Robert Kowal.[2][45][46]

She also owns a calico cat named Elsie who has reportedly learned over 120 words using a set of soundboard buttons to "talk".[47][48]

Minor planet 52691, discovered by the Spacewatch Project in 1998, is named after her.[49][50]

Awards and nominations

More information Year, Title ...
Year[51] Title Award Category Result Ref
2008 — John W. Campbell Award — Won [13]
2009 "Evil Robot Monkey" Hugo Award Hugo–Short Story Shortlisted [52]
2010 "First Flight" Locus Award Locus–Novelette Nominated [53]
Shades of Milk and Honey Nebula Award Nebula–Novel Shortlisted [54]
2011 Locus Award Locus–First Novel Nominated [55]
"For Want of a Nail" Hugo Award Hugo–Short Story Won [56]
"Kiss Me Twice" Nebula Award Nebula–Novella Shortlisted [57]
2012 Hugo Award Hugo–Novella Shortlisted [58]
Locus Award Locus–Novella Nominated [59]
Writing Excuses (Season 6) Hugo Award Hugo–Related Work Shortlisted [60]
Glamour in Glass Nebula Award Nebula–Novel Shortlisted [61]
2013 Locus Award Locus–Fantasy Novel Nominated [62]
Writing Excuses (Season 7) Hugo Award Hugo–Related Work Won [63]
The Lady Astronaut of Mars Locus Award Locus–Novelette Nominated [62]
2014 Hugo Award Hugo–Novelette Won [64][65]
Writing Excuses (Season 8) Hugo Award Hugo–Related Work Shortlisted [66]
2015 "For Want of a Nail" Seiun Award Translated Story Shortlisted [67]
2017 Ghost Talkers Mythopoeic Award Best Fantasy Novel Shortlisted [68]
2018 "The Worshipful Society of Glovers" Locus Award Locus–Novelette Nominated [69]
The Calculating Stars Nebula Award Nebula–Novel Won [31]
Sidewise Award for Alternate History Sidewise Award–Long Form Won [30]
2019 Hugo Award Hugo–Novel Won [70]
Locus Award Locus–Scifi Novel Won [71]
John W. Campbell Memorial Award — Finalist [72]
2020 The Relentless Moon Hugo Award Hugo–Novel Shortlisted [73]
Locus Award Locus–Scifi Novel Nominated [74]
2021 The Lady Astronaut Universe Hugo Award Hugo–Series Shortlisted [73]
2023 The Spare Man Hugo Award Hugo–Novel Nominated [75]
2025 "Marginalia" Hugo Award Short Story Finalist [76]
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Works

Novels and novellas

  • A Fire in the Heavens. Dragonsteel Entertainment. January 1, 2014. ASIN B0DM19LDB3.
  • Forest of Memories. Tordotcom. March 8, 2016. ISBN 9780765383891.
  • Ghost Talkers. Tor Books. August 16, 2016. ISBN 9780765378255.
  • The Spare Man. Tor Books. October 11, 2022. ISBN 9781250829153.
  • Apprehension. Saga Doubles. 2025 (in double-sided book with Red Star Hustle by Sam J. Miller) ISBN 9781668099155 [a]
Glamourist Histories series
Lady Astronaut Universe

Short fiction

Collections
Stories[81]
More information Title, Year ...
Title Year First published Notes
"Kiss Me Twice" 2011 Asimov's Science Fiction Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novella
"Forest of Memory" 2014 Tor.com Novella
"A Fire in the Heavens" 2014 Shadows Beneath Novelette
"Like Native Things" 2015 Kowal, Mary Robinette (July 2015). "Like Native Things". Asimov's Science Fiction. 39 (7): 10–21. Novelette
"The Worshipful Society of Glovers" 2017 Kowal, Mary Robinette (Jul–Aug 2017). "The Worshipful Society of Glovers". Uncanny. 17. Novelette
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Children's books

Audio books

  • Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal. "The Original" (Recorded Books, 2020) ISBN 9781980062738; eBook (Dragonsteel, 2025) ISBN 9781938570360

Notes

  1. [a]
    This edition contains two works; only Apprehension was written by Kowal.

References

External links

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