John Kessel
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| Born | (1950-09-24) September 24, 1950 (age 73) Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Occupation |
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| Period | 1978–present |
| Genre | Science fiction; Fantasy literature; Comic science fiction; Metafiction; Satire |
| Subject | Time travel; the Future; Dinosaurs |
| Literary movement | Savage Humanism[1] |
| Notable works | Another Orphan, Good News from Outer Space, "Buffalo", "Pride and Prometheus", Corrupting Dr. Nice |
| Spouse | Therese Anne Fowler |
| Website | |
| johnjosephkessel | |
John Joseph Vincent Kessel (born September 24, 1950) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer, and the author of four solo novels, Good News From Outer Space (1989), Corrupting Dr. Nice (1997), The Moon and the Other (2017), and Pride and Prometheus (2018), and one novel, Freedom Beach (1985) in collaboration with his friend James Patrick Kelly. Kessel is married to author Therese Anne Fowler.
Kessel obtained a B.A. in Physics and English from the University of Rochester in 1972, followed by a M.A. in English from University of Kansas in 1974,[2] and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 1981, where he studied under science fiction writer and scholar James Gunn.[3] Since 1982 Kessel has taught classes in American literature, science fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University, and helped organize the MFA Creative Writing program at NCSU, serving as its first director.[4][5]
Kessel won a Nebula Award in 1982 for his novella "Another Orphan", in which the protagonist finds himself living inside the novel Moby-Dick. His short story "Buffalo" won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and the Locus poll in 1992. He won a second Nebula Award for his 2008 novelette "Pride and Prometheus,"[6] a melding the tales of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The intervening 26 years between his two Nebula Awards was the longest gap between competitive awards in Nebula history.[7] The novelette also won a 2009 Shirley Jackson Award,[5] and was expanded into a novel by the same name in 2018.[8]
His novella "Stories for Men" shared the 2002 James Tiptree Jr. Award (Otherwise Award) for science fiction dealing with gender issues with M. John Harrison's novel Light. He has been nominated three times for a World Fantasy Award: 1993 for the Meeting in Infinity collection, 1999 for the short fiction "Every Angel is Terrifying", and 2009 for the short story "Pride and Prometheus".[9]
Kessel is also a widely published science fiction and fantasy critic. His works of criticism include the 2004 essay on Orson Scott Card's novel Ender's Game, "Creating the Innocent Killer: Ender's Game, Intention, and Morality". With Mark L. Van Name, Kessel created the Sycamore Hill Writer's Workshop. Kessel has also edited, with James Patrick Kelly, three collections of contemporary sf short stories, Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology, and The Secret History of Science Fiction.
In 1994 his play Faustfeathers received the Paul Green Playwrights' Prize. In 2007 his story "A Clean Escape" (previously adapted by Kessel as a one-act play in 1986) was adapted by Sam Egan for ABC's science fiction anthology series Masters of Science Fiction.
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| Title | Year | First published | Awards/Nominations | Notes |
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| Freedom Beach | 1985 | Kessel, John; Kelly, James Patrick (1985). Freedom Beach. Orion Publishing. | ||
| Good News From Outer Space | 1989 | Kessel, John (1989). Good News from Outer Space. Tor Books. | Nebula Award Nominee | |
| Corrupting Dr. Nice | 1997 | Kessel, John (1997). Corrupting Dr. Nice. Tor Books. | ||
| The Moon and the Other | 2017 | Kessel, John (2017). The Moon and the Other. Simon & Schuster. | James Tiptree Jr. Award Long List | |
| Pride and Prometheus | 2018 | Kessel, John (2018). Pride and Prometheus. Simon & Schuster. |
| Title | Year | First published | Awards/Nominations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting in Infinity | 1992 | Kessel, John (1992). Meeting in Infinity: Allegories & Extrapolations. Arkham House. | World Fantasy Award Nominee | |
| The Pure Product | 1997 | Kessel, John (1997). The Pure Product: Stories By John Kissel. Tor Books. | ||
| The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories | 2008 | Kessel, John (2008). The Baum Plan for Financial Independence: and Other Stories. Small Beer Press. | ||
| The Dark Ride | 2022 | Kessel, John (2023). The Dark Ride: The Best Short Fiction of John Kessel. Subterranean Press. | ||
| The Presidential Papers | 2024 | Kessel, John (2024). The Presidential Papers (Outspoken Authors #31). PM Press. | Forthcoming (October) |
| Title | Year | First published | Awards/Nominations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Another orphan | 1982 | Kessel, John (September 1982). "Another orphan". F&SF. | Nebula Award winner | |
| Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner | 1988 | Kessel, John (June 1988). "Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner". Asimov's SF. | Nebula Award Nominee | |
| Another orphan | 1989 | Novella | ||
| Buffalo | 1991 | Kessel, John (January 1991). "Buffalo". F&SF. | Sturgeon Award Winner, Locus Award Winner, Hugo Award Nominee, Nebula Award Nominee[11] | |
| The Franchise | 1993 | Kessel, John (August 1993). "The Franchise". Asimov's SF. | Nebula Award nominee, Hugo Award nominee | Novelette |
| The Miracle of Ivar Avenue | 1996 | John, Kessel (1996). "The Miracle of Ivar Avenue". In Kessel, John; Van Name, Mark L.; Butner, Richard (eds.). Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology. New York: Tor Books. ISBN 9780312860905. | Nebula Award nominee | Novelette |
| Every Angel is Terrifying | 1998 | Kessel, John (October–November 1998). "Every Angel is Terrifying". F&SF. | World Fantasy Award nominee | |
| Ninety Percent of Everything | 1999 | Kessel, John; Lethem, Jonathan; Kelly, James Patrick (September 1999). "Ninety Percent of Everything". F&SF. | Nebula Award nominee | Novella |
| Stories for Men | 2002 | Kessel, John (October–November 2002). "Stories for Men". Asimov's SF. | James Tiptree Jr. Award Winner, Nebula Award Nominee | |
| Pride and Prometheus | 2008 | Kessel, John (January 2008). "Pride and Prometheus". F&SF. | Nebula Award winner, Shirley Jackson Award winner, James Tiptree Jr. Award Honor List | Novelette |
| Spirit level | 2020 | Kessel, John (July–August 2020). "Spirit level". F&SF. 139 (1&2): 52–77. | Novelette |
| Year | Review article | Work(s) reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Kessel, John (February 1994). "Just like real people". Books. F&SF. 86 (2). |
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Meet the Savage Humanists: the hottest science-fiction writers working today. They use SF's unique powers to comment on the human condition in mordantly funny, satiric stories... In these pages, you'll find the top names in the SF field: including...John Kessel...
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Otherwise Award/James Tiptree Jr. Award Winners
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| 1991–2000 |
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| 2001–2010 |
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| 2011–2020 |
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| 2021–present |
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