Ellen Klages


Ellen Klages is an American science, science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction writer who lives in San Francisco. Her novelette "Basement Magic" won the 2005 Nebula Award for Best Novelette. She had previously been nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell awards. Her first novel, The Green Glass Sea, was published by Viking Children's Books in 2006. It won the 2007 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, the New Mexico Book Award, and the Judy Looez Memorial Award. Portable Childhoods, a collection of her short fiction published by Tachyon Publications, was named a 2008 World Fantasy Award finalist. White Sands, Red Menace, the sequel to The Green Glass Sea, was published in Fall 2008 and won the New Mexico and California Book Awards. In 2010, her short story "Singing on a Star" was nominated for a World Fantasy Award. In 2018 her novella Passing Strange won the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Awards and was nominated for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. In 2019, her novel Out of Left Field won the Children’s History Book Prize and the Ohioana Book Award.

Biography

Ellen Janeway Klages was born in Columbus, Ohio, on July 9, 1954, and now lives in San Francisco. She holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Michigan. In 1992, she began working at the San Francisco Exploratorium, where she was selected to co-author a children's science activity book with science fiction author Pat Murphy. Murphy encouraged Klages to write her own stories as well. Her first novelette, "Time Gypsy", was published in 1999 and was a finalist for the Nebula Award and Hugo Award. She was also nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2000. Besides her writing, she also graduated from the Second City Conservatory, the Clarion South Workshop, and has served on the Motherboard of the James Tiptree Jr. Award for twenty years.
Klages is also known for doing stand-up comedy and other performances as an auctioneer annually at Wiscon. The Wiscon Tiptree Auction is a fundraiser for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award; Klages also serves on the Board for the award. "At past Tiptree auctions, auctioneer/comedian Ellen Klages has auctioned off her own hair, Mary Doria Russell's brassiere, a hand-knitted uterus, a kangaroo-scrotum purse, a cherry pie, and a Xena lawn butt". Klages was a Guest of Honor at Wiscon 33.

Awards

source:
YearWorkAwardCategoryResultRef
1999"Time Gypsy"Hugo AwardNovelette
1999"Time Gypsy"Locus AwardNovelette
1999"Time Gypsy"Nebula AwardNovelette
1999"Time Gypsy"Tiptree Award
2000Astounding Award
2001"Flying Over Water"Nebula AwardShort Story
2005"Basement Magic"Nebula AwardNoveletteWon-
2005"The Green Glass Sea"Locus AwardShort Story
2007The Green Glass SeaLocus AwardFirst Novel
2007The Green Glass SeaScott O'Dell Award for Historical FictionWon
2007"In the House of the Seven Librarians"Locus AwardNovelette
2008"Mrs. Zeno's Paradox"Locus AwardShort Story
2008Portable ChildhoodsCrawford Award
2008Portable ChildhoodsLocus AwardCollection
2008Portable ChildhoodsWorld Fantasy AwardCollection
2010"Singing on a Star"Locus AwardShort Story
2010"Singing on a Star"World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction
2012"Goodnight Moons"Locus AwardShort Story
2013"The Education of a Witch"Locus AwardShort Story
2014"Wakulla Springs"Hugo AwardNovella
2014"Wakulla Springs"Locus AwardNovella
2014"Wakulla Springs"Nebula AwardNovella
2014"Wakulla Springs"World Fantasy AwardNovellaWon
2015"Amicae Aeternum"Locus AwardShort Story
2018Wicked WondersAlex AwardNomitated
2018Wicked WondersLocus AwardCollection
2018Wicked WondersWorld Fantasy AwardCollection
2018Passing StrangeBritish Fantasy AwardNovellaWon
2018Passing StrangeGaylactic Spectrum AwardNovelWon
2018Passing StrangeLocus AwardNovella
2018Passing StrangeMythopoeic AwardAdult
2018Passing StrangeNebula AwardNovella
2018Passing StrangeWorld Fantasy AwardNovellaWon

Science fiction and fantasy

Collections

Portable Childhoods, short fiction collection
  • *"Basement Magic"
  • *"Intelligent Design"
  • *"The Green Glass Sea"
  • *"Clip Art"
  • *"Triangle"
  • *"The Feed Bag"
  • *"Flying Over Water"
  • *"Möbius, Stripped of a Muse"
  • *"Time Gypsy"
  • *"Be Prepared"
  • *"Travel Agency"
  • *"A Taste of Summer"
  • *"Ringing Up Baby"
  • *"Guys Day Out"
  • *"Portable Childhoods"
  • *"In the House of the Seven Librarians"
  • Wicked Wonders, short fiction collection
  • * Introduction by Karen Joy Fowler
  • * The Education of a Witch
  • * Amicae Aeternum
  • * Mrs. Zeno's Paradox
  • * Singing on a Star
  • * Hey, Presto
  • * Echoes of Aurora
  • * Friday Night at St. Cecilia's
  • * Caligo Lane
  • * Goodnight Moons
  • * Gone to the Library
  • * Household Management
  • * Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl
  • * Woodsmoke
  • * The Scary Ham
  • * Afterword: Why I Write Short Fiction

Novellas

Novelettes

Short stories

  • "Flying Over Water", Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet #7
  • "Triangle", Bending the Landscape: Horror, edited by Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel
  • "Travel Agency", Strange Horizons
  • "A Taste of Summer", Black Gate #3
  • "Be Prepared", The Infinite Matrix
  • "Green Glass Sea", Strange Horizons
  • "Intelligent Design", Strange Horizons
  • "Guys Day Out", Sci Fiction
  • "Ringing Up Baby", Nature
  • "Friday Night at St. Cecilia's", The Coyote Road, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
  • "Mrs. Zeno's Paradox", Eclipse One, edited by Jonathan Strahan
  • "Echoes of Aurora", What Remains, with Geoff Ryman, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Four, edited by Jonathan Strahan
  • "Singing on a Star", Firebirds Soaring, edited by Sharyn November.
  • "A Practical Girl", Eclipse Three: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Jonathan Strahan
  • "Goodnight Moons", Life on Mars: Tales from the New Frontier, ed. Jonathan Strahan ; The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Six, ed. Jonathan Strahan
  • "The Education of a Witch", Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, ed. Jonathan Strahan
  • "Amicae Aeternum", Reach for Infinity, ed. Jonathan Strahan

Historical fiction

The Green Glass Sea
  • White Sands, Red Menace
  • ''Out of Left Field''

Non-fiction

Harbin Hot Springs: Healing Waters, Sacred Land The Science Explorer: The Best Family Activities and Experiments from the World's Favorite Hands-On Science Museum, with Pat Murphy, Linda Shore The Science Explorer Out and About: Fantastic Science Experiments Your Family Can Do Anywhere, with Pat Murphy, Linda Shore Exploratorium: A Year of Discoveries The Brain Explorer: Puzzles, Riddles, Illusions, and other Mental Adventures, with Pat Murphy, Linda Shore and Pearl Tesler