The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington
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Short story by P. Djèlí Clark
"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" is a fantasy short story by P. Djèlí Clark, about George Washington's teeth. It was first published in Fireside Fiction in 2018.
Rather than being a single narrative, the story examines the lives of the nine enslaved people whose teeth were taken to produce dentures for George Washington — in a world where magic and sorcery are real.
Reception
Locus noted that the story "defeats (the) idea that there might be 'one true' slave narrative, that slaves would have all been this way or that way", and observed that the story is "deeply inform(ed)" by Clark's training as a historian.[1]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Nebula Award | Short Story | Won | [2] |
| 2019 | Hugo Award | Short Story | Finalist | [3] |
| Locus Award | Short Story | Won | [4] | |
| Theodore Sturgeon Award | — | Shortlisted | [5] |
References
- ↑ Karen Burnham Reviews Short Fiction: Fireside Fiction, by Karen Burnham, in Locus; published April 23, 2018; retrieved April 2, 2019
- ↑ "2018 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 21 Jul 2025.
- ↑ "2019 Hugo and Campbell Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Aug 2019. Retrieved 21 Jul 2025.
- ↑ "2019 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Magazine. 29 Jun 2019. Retrieved 21 Jul 2025.
- ↑ "2019 Campbell and Sturgeon Awards Winners". Locus. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 21 Jul 2025.
External links
- Text of the story, at Fireside Fiction
- On Slavery, Magic, and the Negro Teeth of George Washington, essay by Clark on the writing of the story
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