Emily Tesh
Emily Tesh is a science fiction and fantasy author. She won the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel for her first novel, Some Desperate Glory. She won the World Fantasy Award in the novella category in 2020, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer in 2021.
Biography
Emily Tesh grew up in London. Tesh has stated that she has written stories since she was a child.Tesh attended Trinity College, Cambridge and the University of Chicago. She lives in Hertfordshire and is a school classics teacher.
Writing career
Tesh's first published works were the novellas Silver in the Wood and Drowned Country, in the Greenhollow Duology. Silver in the Wood is an adaptation of the Green Man English tale. Author Katharine Coldiron described it as an "utterly enchanting" tale centering queer romance and nature writing. The story won the 2020 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella.Tesh's first novel, Some Desperate Glory, earned praise from critics and the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel. It is a science-fiction novel focusing on the choices that the protagonist, Kyr, must make during a devastating war after having been raised in a fascist, militaristic society. It is a queer story and subverts classic tropes from the space opera and bildungsroman genres.
Tesh's next novel, The Incandescent, was released in May 2025. It is a fantasy novel following Dr. Walden, who is Director of Magic at a British boarding school. In handling the demonic mistakes of her students and her own missteps, Dr. Walden is forced to question and confront her own self-image. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, describing it as a "thoughtful exploration of privilege, power, and private school education." Critic Liz Bourke described it as a brilliant novel, "that marries the energy and verve and peril of the best of the fantasy genre with the understated, literary examination of interior and professional lives".
Awards and honors
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
| 2020 | Silver in the Wood | Astounding Award for Best New Writer | — | ||
| 2020 | Silver in the Wood | Crawford Award | — | ||
| 2020 | Silver in the Wood | World Fantasy Award | Novella | Won | |
| 2021 | Silver in the Wood | Astounding Award for Best New Writer | — | Won | |
| 2024 | Some Desperate Glory | Arthur C. Clarke Award | — | ||
| 2024 | Some Desperate Glory | Hugo Award | Novel | Won | |
| 2024 | Some Desperate Glory | Locus Award | First Novel | ||
| 2024 | Some Desperate Glory | Ursula K. Le Guin Prize | — |
Selected publications
- Greenhollow Duology
- * Silver in the Wood,
- * Drowned Country,
- Some Desperate Glory,
- The Incandescent,