Kelly Link
Template:Short description Template:BLP refimprove Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main other Kelly Link (born July 19, 1969) is an American editor and writer. Mainly known as an author of short stories, she published her first novel, The Book of Love in 2024.[1][2] While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and literary fiction. Among other honors, she has won a Hugo Award, three Nebula Awards, and a World Fantasy Award for her fiction, and she was one of the recipients of the 2018 MacArthur "Genius" Grant.[3]
Biography
Link is a graduate of Columbia University in New York and the MFA program of UNC Greensboro. In 1995, she attended the Clarion East Writing Workshop.
Link and husband Gavin Grant manage Small Beer Press, based in Northampton, Massachusetts. The couple's imprint of Small Beer Press for intermediate readers is called Big Mouth House. They also co-edited St. Martin's Press's The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology series with Ellen Datlow for five years, ending in 2008. (The couple inherited the "fantasy" side from Terri Windling in 2004.) In 2019, Link and Grant opened Book Moon, a new and used bookstore in Easthampton, Massachusetts.[4] Link also co-edits the literary magazine Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet,[5] and was the slush reader for Sci Fiction, edited by Datlow.
Link taught at Lenoir–Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina, with the Visiting Writers Series for spring semester 2006. She has taught or visited at a number of schools and workshops including:
- Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York;
- Brookdale Community College of Lincroft, New Jersey;
- the Imagination Workshop at Cleveland State University;
- New England Institute of Art & Communications, Brookline, Massachusetts;
- Clarion East at Michigan State University, Lansing;
- Clarion West in Seattle, Washington; and
- Smith College, near her home in Northampton.
She has participated in the Juniper Summer Writing Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's MFA Program for Poets & Writers.
Awards
| Work | Year & Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travels with the Snow Queen | 1997 Otherwise Award | Template:Won | ||
| 1999 World Fantasy Award | Short Fiction | Template:Nominated | ||
| The Specialist's Hat | 1999 World Fantasy Award | Short Fiction | Template:Won | |
| Shoe and Marriage | 2001 World Fantasy Award | Short Fiction | Template:Nominated | |
| Stranger Things Happen | 2001 Salon.com Book Award | Fiction | Template:Won | [6] |
| 2002 World Fantasy Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2002 SF Site Readers Poll | SF/Fantasy Book | Template:Nominated | [7] | |
| 2002 Locus Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | [8] | |
| Louise's Ghost | 2002 Nebula Award | Novelette | Template:Won | |
| Lull | 2003 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| Small Beer Press
(with Gavin Grant) |
2003 World Fantasy Special Award—Non-professional award | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2004 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award | Template:Nominated | |||
| 2005 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award | Template:Nominated | |||
| 2023 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award | Template:Nominated | |||
| Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House
(with Gavin Grant) |
2009 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award | Template:Won | ||
| The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (17th Annual Collection)
(with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant) |
2004 Bram Stoker Award | Anthology | Template:Won | |
| 2005 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2005 British Fantasy Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | ||
| The Faery Handbag | 2004 BSFA Award | Short Fiction | Template:Nominated | |
| 2005 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Won | ||
| 2005 World Fantasy Award | Short Fiction | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2005 Hugo Award | Novelette | Template:Won | ||
| 2006 Nebula Award | Novelette | Template:Won | ||
| 2012 Premio Ignotus | Foreign Story | Template:Nominated | ||
| Catskin | 2004 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| The Hortlak | 2004 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| 2004 World Fantasy Award | Novella | Template:Nominated | ||
| Trampoline | 2004 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | |
| 2004 World Fantasy Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | ||
| Stone Animals | 2005 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| 2005 Theodore Sturgeon Award | Short Science Fiction | Template:CFinalist | [9] | |
| Magic for Beginners | 2005 BSFA Award | Short Fiction | Template:Won | |
| 2006 Young Lions Fiction Award | Template:CFinalist | |||
| 2006 Locus Award | Novella | Template:Won | ||
| 2006 SF Site Readers Poll | SF/Fantasy Book | Template:Nominated | [10] | |
| 2006 World Fantasy Award | Novella | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2006 Hugo Award | Novella | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2006 Nebula Award | Novella | Template:Won | ||
| 2006 Theodore Sturgeon Award | Short Science Fiction | Template:Nominated | [11] | |
| 2008 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire | Foreign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories | Template:Nominated | [12] | |
| Magic for Beginners (Collection) | 2005 International Horror Guild Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | [13] |
| 2005 Bram Stoker Award | Fiction Collection | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2005 Salon Book Award | Template:Won | [14] | ||
| 2006 Locus Award | Collection | Template:Won | ||
| 2006 World Fantasy Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | ||
| Some Zombie Contingency Plans | 2005 Bram Stoker Award | Long Fiction | Template:Nominated | |
| 2006 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | ||
| Monster | 2006 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | |
| The Great Divorce | 2006 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | |
| The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (18th Annual Collection)
(with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant) |
2006 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Won | |
| The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (19th Annual Collection)
(with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant) |
2007 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | |
| 2007 British Fantasy Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | ||
| Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
(with Gavin Grant) |
2007 Hugo Award | Semiprozine | Template:Nominated | |
| Light | 2008 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet | 2008 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | |
| The Constable of Abal | 2008 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (20th Annual Collection)
(with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant) |
2008 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | |
| Pretty Monsters | 2009 Locus Award | Novella | Template:Won | |
| Pretty Monsters (Collection) | 2009 Locus Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | |
| 2009 World Fantasy Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | ||
| The Surfer | 2009 Locus Award | Novella | Template:Nominated | |
| The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (21st Annual Collection)
(with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant) |
2009 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | |
| 2009 World Fantasy Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | ||
| Secret Identity | 2010 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| The Cinderella Game | 2010 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | |
| The Summer People | 2011 Shirley Jackson Award | Novelette | Template:Won | |
| 2012 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2013 O. Henry Award | Juror Favorite | |||
| Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
(with Gavin Grant) |
2012 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | |
| Valley of the Girls | 2012 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | |
| Two Houses | 2013 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | |
| 2013 Shirley Jackson Award | Short Fiction | Template:Nominated | [15] | |
| I Can See Right Through You | 2015 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| 2015 World Fantasy Award | Short Fiction | Template:Nominated | ||
| Monstrous Affections
(with Gavin Grant) |
2015 Locus Award | Anthology | Template:Nominated | |
| 2015 World Fantasy Award | Anthology | Template:Won | ||
| The Lady and the Fox | 2015 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | |
| The New Boyfriend | 2015 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| Get in Trouble | 2016 Shirley Jackson Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | [16] |
| 2016 World Fantasy Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | Template:CFinalist | |||
| 2016 Locus Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | [17] | |
| 2016 Indies Choice Book Awards | Adult Fiction | Honor | ||
| The Game of Smash and Recovery | 2016 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | |
| 2016 Theodore Sturgeon Award | Short Science Fiction | Template:Won | ||
| 2017 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award | Contributions to the Genre | Template:Nominated | ||
| The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear | 2020 Locus Award | Short Story | Template:Nominated | |
| Skinder's Veil | 2022 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | |
| White Cat, Black Dog | 2023 Kirkus Prize | Fiction | Template:Nominated | |
| 2024 World Fantasy Award | Collection | Template:Nominated | ||
| 2024 Locus Award | Collection | Template:Won | ||
| 2024 Chautauqua Prize | Template:Sho | |||
| Prince Hat Underground | 2024 World Fantasy Award | Novella | Template:Nominated | |
| 2024 Locus Award | Novelette | Template:Nominated | ||
| The Book of Love | 2025 Compton Crook Award | Template:Nominated | [18] | |
| 2025 Nebula Award | Novel | Template:Nominated |
- 2018: MacArthur Fellowship[19]
- 2023: Honorary degree from Smith College.[20]
Bibliography
Books
- Stranger Things Happen: 2001 Salon Book of the Year, The Village Voice favorite (available here [1] as a free download, under a Creative Commons license)
- Magic for Beginners: 2006 Locus Award for Best Short Story Collection
- Pretty Monsters: 2008 World Fantasy[21] and Locus Award finalist.
- Get in Trouble: 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist.
- White Cat, Black Dog: Stories (Random House, 2023)
- The Book of Love: 2024[22][23][24][25]
Selected stories (award winners)
- "The Game of Smash and Recovery": 2016 Theodore Sturgeon Award
- "The Summer People": 2011 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette, 2013 The O. Henry Prize Stories
- "Pretty Monsters": 2009 Locus Award for Best Novella
- "Magic for Beginners": 2005 Nebula Award for Best Novella
- "The Faery Handbag": 2005 Hugo and Nebula Award for Best Novelette, Locus Award winner
- "Stone Animals": 2005 The Best American Short Stories
- "Louise's Ghost": 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novelette
- "The Specialist's Hat": 1999 World Fantasy Award
- "Travels with the Snow Queen": 1997 James Tiptree, Jr. Award
As author
- 4 Stories (chapbook), Small Beer Press, 2000
- Stranger Things Happen, Small Beer Press, 2001
- Magic for Beginners, Small Beer Press, 2005 (reprinted by Harcourt, 2005)
- Catskin: a swaddled zine, Jelly Ink Press, date unknown
- Pretty Monsters: Stories, Viking Juvenile, 2008
- The Wrong Grave, 2009
- Get in Trouble: Stories, Random House, 2015
- White Cat, Black Dog: Stories, Random House, 2023[26]
- The Book of Love, Random House, 2024[27][28][29][30]
As editor
- Trampoline Small Beer Press, 2003
- The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Volumes 17 - 21 (from 2004-2008) (with Ellen Datlow and Gavin J. Grant)
- Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (2011) (with Gavin J. Grant)
- Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales (2014) (with Gavin J. Grant)
In addition, Link and Grant have edited a semiannual small press fantasy magazine: Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet (or LCRW) since 1997. An anthology, The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, was published by Del Rey Books in 2007.
References
External links
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- Official website
- Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
- Template:Isfdb name
- Kelly Link's awards and nominations at the Science Fiction Awards Database
- Essay on Link's story "Lull" at Fantastic Metropolis
- RealAudio Interview from KCRW's Bookworm show
- An excerpt from Origin Story from the magazine A Public Space
- Reading by Kelly from the Stonecoast MFA program's Winter 2008 residency Template:Webarchive
Template:James Tiptree, Jr. Award Winners Template:Locus Award Best Novella Template:Nebula Award Best Novella Template:Nebula Award Best Novelette Template:World Fantasy Award Best Anthology Template:World Fantasy Award Best Short Fiction Template:World Fantasy Special Award Professional Template:Authority control
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ About Kelly. (January 7, 2020). Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://kellylink.net/about-kelly
- ↑ https://www.librarything.com/award/228/Salon-Book-Award
- ↑ https://www.sfadb.com/SF_Site_Readers_Poll_2002
- ↑ https://www.sfadb.com/Locus_Awards
- ↑ https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?41+2005
- ↑ https://www.sfadb.com/SF_Site_Readers_Poll_2006
- ↑ https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?41+2006
- ↑ https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?25+2008
- ↑ https://horroraward.org/prevrec.html
- ↑ https://www.librarything.com/award/228/Salon-Book-Award
- ↑ https://www.sfadb.com/Shirley_Jackson_Awards_2013
- ↑ https://www.sfadb.com/Shirley_Jackson_Awards_2016
- ↑ https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2016
- ↑ https://www.librarything.com/award/1412.2.0.2025/Compton-Crook-Award-Nominee-2025
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Categories:
- Pages with script errors
- 1969 births
- 20th-century American short story writers
- 21st-century American short story writers
- American fantasy writers
- American science fiction writers
- Magic realism writers
- Hugo Award–winning writers
- Living people
- Nebula Award winners
- American print editors
- American women science fiction and fantasy writers
- World Fantasy Award–winning writers
- Writers from Northampton, Massachusetts
- University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty
- American women short story writers
- Chapbook writers
- Columbia College (New York) alumni
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni
- Writers from Massachusetts
- Creative Commons-licensed authors
- MacArthur Fellows
- American speculative fiction editors
- American women editors
- American weird fiction writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- O. Henry Award winners