John Kessel

John Kessel (b. 24 September, 1950 in Buffalo, New York) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story author with several longer works to his credit. He won a Nebula Award in 1982 for his story "Another Orphan," in which the protagonist finds himself living inside the novel "Moby Dick". His short story "Buffalo" won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and the Locus poll in 1992. His novella "Stories for Men" shared the 2002 James Tiptree Award for science fiction dealing with gender issues with M. John Harrison's novel "Light." He also is a widely published science fiction and fantasy critic, and organizes the Sycamore Hill Writer's Workshop.

Having obtained a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 1981, Kessel has taught classes in American literature, science fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University since 1982. He was named as the first director of the MFA Creative Writing Program at NCSU and currently shares the directorship of creative writing with Wilton Barnhardt.

In 2007, his short story, "A Clean Escape" was adapted for ABC's science fiction anthology series "Masters of Science Fiction".

Bibliography

Novels

* 1985 "Freedom Beach" (with James Patrick Kelly)
* 1989 "Good News From Outer Space" (Nebula Award Nominee)
* 1997 "Corrupting Dr. Nice"

Novellas

* 1989 "Another Orphan"

Plays

* 1986 "A Clean Escape"
* 1994 "Faustfeathers" (Paul Green Playwrights' Prize Winner)

hort story collections

* 1992 "Meeting in Infinity" (World Fantasy Award Nominee)
* 1997 "The Pure Product"
* 2008 "The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories"

Anthologies

* 1996 "Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology" (with Mark L. Van Name and Richard Butner)
* 2006 "Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology" (with James Patrick Kelly) Features stories by Aimee Bender, Michael Chabon, Ted Chiang, Carol Emshwiller, Jeffrey Ford, Karen Joy Fowler, Theodora Goss, Jonathan Lethem, Kelly Link, M. Rickert, Benjamin Rosenbaum, George Saunders, Bruce Sterling, Jeff VanderMeer, and Howard Waldrop
* 2007 "" (coedited with James Patrick Kelly) ("Tachyon Publications", 2007)

Other Notable Stories

* 1982 "Another Orphan" (September, "Fantasy and Science Fiction") - Nebula Award Winner
* 1988 "Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner" (June, "Asimov's SF") - Nebula Award Nominee
* 1991 "Buffalo" (January, "Fantasy and Science Fiction") - Sturgeon Award Winner, Locus Award Winner, Hugo Award Nominee, Nebula Award Nominee
* 1993 "The Franchise" (August, "Asimov's SF") - Nebula Award nominee, novelette
* 1996 "The Miracle of Ivar Avenue" (from "Intersections") - Nebula Award nominee, novelette
* 1998 "Every Angel is Terrifying" (October-November, "Fantasy and Science Fiction") - World Fantasy Award nominee
* 1999 "Ninety Percent of Everything" with Jonathan Lethem and James Patrick Kelly (September, "Fantasy and Science Fiction") - Nebula Award nominee, novella
* 2002 "Stories for Men" (October-November, "Asimov's SF") - James Tiptree Jr. Award Winner, Nebula Award Nominee

As Editor

* 1996 "Intersections" (with Mark L. Van Name and Richard Butner)
* 1998 "Memory's Tailor" (by Laurence Rudner. Kessel was the literary executor after Rudner's death in 1995.)
* 2006 "Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology" (with James Patrick Kelly) Features stories by Aimee Bender, Michael Chabon, Ted Chiang, Carol Emshwiller, Jeffrey Ford, Karen Joy Fowler, Theodora Goss, Jonathan Lethem, Kelly Link, M. Rickert, Benjamin Rosenbaum, George Saunders, Bruce Sterling, Jeff VanderMeer, and Howard Waldrop
* 2007 "Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology" (coedited with James Patrick Kelly) ("Tachyon Publications", forthcoming Fall 2007)

External links

* [http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/ John Kessel's home page]
*
* [http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw12963.html An Interview with John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly conducted by John Joseph Adams]
* [http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/interviews/feehan59interview.htm An interview with John Kessel] conducted by Fiona Kelleghan writing as Ellen Feehan