Erin Bow

Erin Bow is an American-born Canadian author. Among other awards and honors, she won the 2011 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for Plain Kate, the 2014 Monica Hughes Award for Sorrow's Knot, the 2016 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award for The Scorpion Rules, and a 2019 Governor General's Award for Stand on the Sky.

Early life and education

Erin Noteboom was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She had one sibling, a younger sister named Wendy. As a child, she was interested in science, writing, and exploring the woods. In her eighth grade year, Noteboom moved from a suburb in Des Moines to a suburb in Omaha. She then attended Mercy High School and graduated in 1990. In high school, she founded the math club and was the captain of the debate team.
She graduated from Creighton University, where she studied physics as a major and writing as a minor. Noteboom chose physics because she believed that it was "easier to become a self-taught writer rather than a self-taught physicist."
After her undergraduate, Noteboom attended a doctoral program in particle physics in Twin Cities, Minnesota. As part of her research, she worked a summer student at the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva, Switzerland. During graduate school, Noteboom was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Though doctors initially thought the tumor was fatal, it was ultimately found to be a removable glioma. This diagnosis contributed to a change of priorities for Noteboom, leading her to drop out of graduate school and return full-time to poetry.

Career

Bow wrote poetry and a memoir before focusing on writing young adult works. During this time, she worked various jobs but all related to her passion as a writer. She was the poetry editor for the New Quarterly and organised writing workshops in Kitchener, Ontario. She also worked as a part-time writer at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and participated in the Vancouver Writers Fest Writer-in-Residence program at Rossland Summit School.
As part of St. Jerome University's Reading Series, Bow gave a talk on the intersection between science and literature.

Writing influences and themes

Bow's novels typically depict young adults in a science fiction and fantasy setting. She has written a defense of young adult fantasy, arguing that fantasy books help young adults to fall in love with reading. Bow also likes to write about unsolvable questions.
She takes inspiration from places, such as the prairies she grew up on, Saskatchewan, and the Black Hills in South Dakota. Bow also draws influence from Lakota and Russian folklore. Bow's characters rarely have a default race or sexual orientation. Her themes generally cover the concepts of acting on faith, doing what is right, and being human.

Awards and honors

Four of Bow's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Plain Kate, The Scorpion Rules, Stand on the Sky, and Simon Sort of Says.
Bow's works have landed on multiple "best-of" lists. In 2010, Kirkus Reviews named Plain Kate one of the best books of the year. Young Adult Library Services Association included it on their 2011 list of Best Fiction for Young Adults. In 2013, Kirkus Reviews and Quill & Quire named Sorrow's Know one of the best books of the year. In 2015, Chapters and Kirkus Reviews named The Scorpion Rules one of the best books of the year. In 2023, Kirkus Reviews named Simon Sort of Says one of the best middle grade books of the year.

Year	Title	Award	Result
2001	Ghost Maps: Poems for Carl Hruska	CBC Canadian Literary Award	Won
2003	Ghost Maps: Poems for Carl Hruska	Kitchener Waterloo Arts Award – Literary Award	Won
2004	Ghost Maps: Poems for Carl Hruska	Acorn-Plantos Award for Peoples Poetry, Ontario Poetry Society	Won
2004	Ghost Maps: Poems for Carl Hruska	Pat Lowther Memorial Award
2010	Plain Kate	Cybils Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction
2011	Plain Kate	Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award
2011	Plain Kate	CBC Reader's Choice Award	Nomitated
2011	Plain Kate	Sunburst Award for Young Adult Work
2011	Plain Kate	TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for English Language	Won
2014	Sorrow's Knot	CBC Reader's Choice Award	Nomitated
2014	Sorrow's Knot	Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy	Won
2014	Sorrow's Knot	Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award
2014	Sorrow's Knot	Sunburst Award for Young Adult Work
2016		Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Young Adults Award	Won
2017		Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award
2019	Stand on the Sky	Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature	Won
2023	Simon Sort of Says	National Book Award for Young People's Literature
2023	Simon Sort of Says	Newbery Medal
2023	Simon Sort of Says	Schneider Family Book Award for Middle-Grade

Personal life

In 1997, Noteboom moved to Canada. There, she married fellow author and Canadian James Bow.
In 2005, her younger sister, a painter named Wendy Ewell, drowned.
Bow lives with her husband, two children, and two pets in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. She writes in a modified backyard shed and enjoys cooking.

Works

Fiction

Standalone novels

Prisoners of Peace series

Prisoners of Peace is a book series set in a future dystopia on the prairies of Saskatchewan. Children of rulers are hostages to be killed if their country goes to war. The hostages are kept together in a school and must obey the governing AIs who manage it.

Short fiction

Collaborating with her husband James Bow, Erin Bow published a short piece of fiction titled "A Stone of the Heart" in 2001. "A Stone of the Heart" was published in Missing Pieces, a collection of Doctor Who stories.

Poetry

Under her maiden name Erin Noteboom, Bow published two volumes of poetry:

Her poetry was also published in other collections, including The Malahat Review, PRISM International, Prairie Fire, and online in Rattle.

Memoir

Other

In 2013, Bow wrote A Defense of Fantasy: Classical Literature v. Modern YA for YA Interrobang. She also published short essays for the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics.