Caitlín R. Kiernan


Caitlín Rebekah Kiernan is an Irish-born American paleontologist and writer of science fiction and dark fantasy works, including 10 novels, series of comic books, and more than 250 published short stories, novellas, and vignettes. Kiernan is a two-time recipient of both the World Fantasy and Bram [Stoker Award for Best Novel|Bram Stoker] awards.
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Early life

Kiernan was born in 1964 in Skerries, County Dublin, Ireland. After the death of their father, Kiernan moved to the United States as a young child with their mother Susan Ramey Cleveland and younger sister Mary Angela. Much of their childhood was spent in the small town of Leeds, Alabama, and early interests included herpetology, paleontology, and fiction writing. As a teenager, Kiernan lived in Trussville, Alabama, and, in high school, began doing volunteer work at the Red Mountain Museum in Birmingham, Alabama and spending summers on their first archaeological and paleontological digs.
Kiernan attended college at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham–Southern College, and the University of Colorado at Boulder, studying geology and vertebrate paleontology, and held both museum and teaching positions before finally turning to fiction writing in 1992. They were awarded a summer internship by Petrified Forest National Park for the summer of 1993. Kiernan has been referred to as a polymath.

Career

Paleontology

In 1984, Kiernan co-founded the Birmingham Paleontological Society. In 1988, they co-authored a paper describing the new genus and species of mosasaur, Selmasaurus russelli. More recent papers include one on the biostratigraphy of Alabama mosasaurs, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology and "First record of a velociraptorine theropod from the Eastern Gulf Coastal United States".
As of 2019, Kiernan is a research associate and fossil preparator at McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama, again studying mosasaurs, as well as Cretaceous turtles. In 2020, they coauthored on a paper describing a new large fossil sea turtle, Asmodochelys parhami, from the Demopolis Chalk of Alabama. In 2021, Kiernan also joined the staff of the University of Alabama Museum, Department of Research and Collections, as a Research Associate in Vertebrate Paleontology. In 2022, they coauthored the description of a new giant freshwater turtle from the Late Cretaceous Mooreville Chalk of Alabama, Appalachemys ebersolei, a previously unknown macrobaenid with a shell more than 80 cm.in length. In 2023, they were the senior author on a paper describing two new species of the rare mosasaur Ectenosaurus, ''E. tlemonectes and E. shannoni,'' from the Niobrara and Mooreville formations of Kansas and Alabama, respectively.
Kiernan has been a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology since 1984 and is a member of the Paleontological Society and the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. At various times, they have been a member of the Alabama Academy of Science, Sigma Xi, the Society of Sedimentary Geology, the American Mathematical Society, and the Paleontological Research Institution.

Novels, short fiction, and comics

Kiernan's first novel, The Five of Cups, was written between June 1992 and early 1993, though it was not published until 2003. Their first published short story was "Persephone", a dark science fiction tale released in 1995. Their first published novel, Silk, was released in 1998.
Kiernan's short fiction was selected for Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, and The Year's Best Science Fiction, and their short stories have been collected in several volumes. To date, Kiernan's work has been translated into German, Italian, Chinese, French, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Czech, Polish, Russian, Korean, and Japanese.
Kiernan was approached by writer Neil Gaiman and editors at Vertigo Comics to write for The Dreaming, a spin-off from Gaiman's The Sandman, and did so from 1996 until its conclusion in 2001, focusing on both pre-existing characters and creating new characters. They wrote the novelization for the 2007 Beowulf film. Kiernan later scripted Alabaster: Wolves for Dark Horse Comics, continuing with Alabaster: Grimmer Tales and Alabaster: The Good, the Bad, and the Bird.

Film and screenwriting

Josh Boone's Mid-World Productions has optioned both The Red Tree and The Drowning Girl to develop into feature films. Kiernan is writing the screenplay for The Red Tree, and Boone will be writing The Drowning Girl. Kiernan stated, "A few people have asked questions about the films and preserving the queerness of the novels. This is something you do not have to worry about. Also, though no details can be released yet and nothing is certain, the hope is that we can cast a transgender actress as Abalyn Armitage."

Style and genre

Kiernan's blog states:
Much of Kiernan's earlier work, such as Silk, is set among or alludes to the aesthetics of the goth and punk rock subcultures, elements which are generally absent in their later novels.
Kiernan has also stated, regarding the role of plot in creative writing: "anyone can come up with the artifice/conceit of a 'good story.' Story bores me. Which is why critics complain it's the weakest aspect of my work. Because that's essentially purposeful. I have no real interest in plot. Atmosphere, mood, language, character, theme, etc., that's the stuff that fascinates me. Ulysses should have freed writers from plot."
In his review of The Red Tree, H. P. Lovecraft scholar S. T. Joshi writes: "Kiernan already ranks with the most distinctive stylists in our field – Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Dunsany, Thomas Ligotti. With Ligotti's regrettable retreat into fictional silence, hers is now the voice of weird fiction." In their introduction to The Weird, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer write that Kiernan has "become perhaps the best weird writer of her generation."

Music

In 1996 and 1997, Kiernan fronted an Athens, Georgia-based "goth-folk-blues band", Death's Little Sister, named for Neil Gaiman's character Delirium. They were the band's vocalist and lyricist, and the group enjoyed some success on local college radio and played shows in Athens and Atlanta. Other members included Barry Dillard, Michael Graves, and Shelly Ross. Kiernan left the band in February 1997 because of their increased responsibilities writing for DC Comics and because Silk had recently sold. They were briefly involved in Crimson Stain Mystery, a studio project, two years later, which produced one EP to accompany a special limited edition of Silk, illustrated by Clive Barker.

Publishing

In December 2005, Kiernan began publishing the monthly Sirenia Digest consisting of vignettes and short stories: "The MerViSS Project is a continuation of Kiernan's exploration of the fusion of erotic literature with elements of dark fantasy and science fiction, creating brief, dreamlike fictions." It is illustrated by Vince Locke. The digest includes the occasional collaboration with Sonya Taaffe.

Archives

The Caitlín R. Kiernan Papers at the John Hay Library at Brown University consist of twenty-three linear feet of manuscript materials, including correspondence, journals, manuscripts, and publications, circa 1970–2017, in print, electronic, and web-based formats, as well as their first computer and other artifacts of their career. Additions to the collection are regularly made by the author. In 2017, a formal reception was held at the Hay Library to announce the collection and to unveil "Caitlín R. Kiernan Papers @ Brown University Library", an exhibit based on them.

Personal life

In their twenties, Kiernan identified as transgender and transitioned to female, further identifying as lesbian. In 2020, Kiernan stated, "I no longer consider myself transgender. I would say that I'm gender fluid, if I had to say anything", explaining that this was not a recognized option in the 1980s. They added that male or female pronouns do not offend them, but prefer "they, them, and their".
Kiernan identifies as an atheist. Politically, they have described themself as a classical liberal.
Kiernan lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with photographer and doll maker Kathryn A. Pollnac.

Awards

Won

Nominated (partial list)

  • Bram Stoker Award 1995, Best Short Story
  • Bram Stoker Award, Best First Novel 1998
  • British Fantasy Award, Best First Novel 1998
  • Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Award, Best Graphic Novel 1998
  • International Horror Guild Award, Best Collection
  • Bram Stoker Award, Best Graphic Novel 2001
  • International Horror Guild Award, Best Graphic Novel 2001
  • International Horror Guild Award, Best Short Form 2002
  • International Horror Guild Award, Best Collection 2005
  • World Fantasy Award 2006, Best Collection 2005
  • World Fantasy Award 2006, Best Short Fiction 2005
  • International Horror Guild Award, Best Mid-Length Fiction 2006
  • Locus Award 2010, Best Fantasy Novel
  • Locus Award 2010, Best Collection
  • Shirley Jackson Award, Best Novel
  • World Fantasy Award 2010, Best Novel
  • Shirley Jackson Award, Best Short Story
  • World Fantasy Award 2011, Best Collection 2010
  • Bram Stoker Award 2011, Best Collection
  • Bram Stoker Award 2011, Best Long Fiction
  • Locus Award 2012, Best Collection
  • World Fantasy Award 2012, Best Collection
  • Nebula Award 2012, Best Novel
  • British Fantasy Award 2012, Best Fantasy Novel
  • World Fantasy Award 2012, Best Novel
  • Mythopoeic Award 2012, Adult Literature
  • Shirley Jackson Award 2012, Best Novel
  • Bram Stoker Award 2013, Fiction Collection
  • World Fantasy Award 2014, Best Novella
  • World Fantasy Award 2014, Best Short Story
  • World Fantasy Award 2014, Best Collection
  • Bram Stoker Award 2017, Long Fiction
  • Locus Award 2018, Best Novella
  • Locus Award 2019, Best Collection
  • Locus Award 2019, Best Novella
  • Locus Award 2020, Best Collection

Novels

  • Threshold
  • Beowulf
  • The Red Tree
  • The Drowning Girl: A Memoir
  • Blood Oranges Red Delicious Cherry Bomb Agents of Dreamland Black Helicopters La Belle Fleur Sauvage The Tindalos Asset
  • ''Zoetrope Bizarre''

Short fiction collections