C. L. Clark

Cherae Clark, also known under the pen name C. L. Clark, is an American author and editor of speculative fiction, a personal trainer, and an English teacher. She graduated from Indiana University with a MFA in creative writing and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow. Her debut novel, The Unbroken, the first book of the Magic of the Lost trilogy, was published by Orbit Books in 2021. The Unbroken was a finalist for the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2022 Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel from the British Fantasy Awards, the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel - Adult, and the 2022 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Clark edited, with series editor Charles Payseur, We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020, which won the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Anthology.

Education

Clark's short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ''FIYAH Literary Magazine, Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, PodCastle, Tor.com, Uncanny, The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction, and The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy ''. Her short story "You Perfect, Broken Thing", published in Uncanny Magazine, won the 2021 Ignyte Award for Best Short Story.
Clark served as a co-editor of PodCastle from 2019 to 2021. With series editor Charles Payseur, Clark edited We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020, an anthology of queer speculative fiction published by Neon Hemlock. We're Here won the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Anthology.
Clark's debut novel, The Unbroken, was a finalist for the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel - Adult, the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2022 Locus Award for Best First Novel, and the 2022 British Fantasy Society's Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

"Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home", first published in Uncanny Magazine, issue #46, 2022
"The Captain and the Quartermaster", first published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, issue #326, 2021
"When the Last of the Birds and Bees Have Gone On", first published in Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, Neon Hemlock Press, 2020
"Forgive Me, My Love, for the Ice and the Sea", first published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, issue #296, 2020
"You Perfect, Broken Thing", first published in Uncanny Magazine, issue #32, 2020
"The Cook", first published in Uncanny Magazine, issue #22, 2018
"Burning Season", first published in PodCastle, #519, 2018
"Sisyphus", first published in FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, issue #4, 2017

We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020, Neon Hemlock Press, 2021
PodCastle'', co-editor 2019-2021''