Nancy Kress

Nancy Kress (center), with Delia Sherman (left) and Ellen Datlow (right).

Nancy Kress (born January 20, 1948) is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo and Nebula-winning 1991 novella "Beggars in Spain" which was later expanded into a novel with the same title. In addition to her novels, Kress has written numerous short stories and is a regular columnist for Writer's Digest. She is a regular at Clarion writing workshops and at The Writers Center in Bethesda, Maryland.^[1] During the Winter of 2008/09, Nancy Kress was the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the University of Leipzig's Institute for American Studies in Leipzig, Germany.

Biography

Born Nancy Anne Koningisor in Buffalo, New York and grown up in East Aurora, she attended college at SUNY Plattsburgh. In 1973, she moved to Rochester to marry Michael Joseph Kress. They had two sons, and divorced in 1984. At that time, she went to work at Stanton and Hucko, an advertising agency. In 1998, she married fellow author Charles Sheffield, who died in 2002 of a brain tumor. Kress moved back to Rochester, New York, to be near her grown children.^[1] She recently (2009) moved to Seattle.^[2] In February 2011 she married author Jack Skillingstead^[3].

Work

She tends to write technically realistic stories set in a fairly near future. Her fiction often involves genetic engineering, and, to a lesser degree, artificial intelligence. She loves ballet, and has written stories around it.

Awards

Nebula Awards

• Best Short story winner (1986): "Out of All Them Bright Stars"
• Best Novella winner (1991): "Beggars in Spain" (this is the 1991 Novella, not the 1993 novel of the same title)
• Best Novelette winner (1998): "The Flowers of Aulit Prison"
• Best Novella winner (2007): "Fountain of Age"; read online

Hugo Award

• Best Novella winner (1992): "Beggars in Spain" (this is the 1991 Novella, not the 1993 novel of the same title)
• Best Novella winner (2009): "The Erdmann Nexus"

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

• Best Novel second place (1994): Beggars in Spain (there was no first place award in 1994)
• Best Novel winner (2003): Probability Space

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

• Best Short Science Fiction winner (1997): "The Flowers of Aulit Prison"

Bibliography

Series

The Sleepless

• Beggars in Spain, (AvoNova / William Morrow April 1993)
• Beggars and Choosers, (Tor Oct. 1994)
• Beggars Ride, (Tor Nov. 1996)
• "Sleeping Dogs," (nv) Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction, ed. Robert Silverberg, Avon Eos May 1999

Robert Cavanaugh

• Oaths and Miracles, (Tor Jan. 1996)
• Stinger, (Tor Oct. 1998)
• "Plant Engineering," (ss) Death Dines at 8:30, ed. Claudia Bishop & Nick DiChario, Berkley 2001

Probability

The Probability series, aka Faller's War, is loosely based on Kress' Nebula-winning novelette "The Flowers of Aulit Prison," (nv) Asimov’s Oct./Nov. 1996

• Probability Moon, (Tor July 2000)
• Probability Sun, (Tor July 2001)
• Probability Space, (Tor Sep. 2002)

Crossfire

• Crossfire, (Tor Feb. 2003)
• Crucible, (Tor Aug. 2004)

Soulvine Moor Chronicles (writing as Anna Kendall)

• Crossing Over, (Gollancz June 2010 / Viking Oct. 2010)
• Dark Mist Rising, (Gollancz May 2011)

Forthcoming:

• A Bright and Terrible Sword, (Gollancz April 2012)

Novels

• The Prince of Morning Bells, (Timescape / Pocket Oct. 1981)
• The Golden Grove, (Bluejay Books March 1984)
• The White Pipes, (Bluejay Books Jan. 1985)
• An Alien Light, (Arbor House / William Morrow Jan. 1988 / Legend Nov. 1988)
• Brain Rose, (William Morrow Jan. 1990)
• Maximum Light, (Tor Jan. 1998)
• Yanked, (Avon June 1999) from David Brin's Out of Time series
• Nothing Human, (Golden Gryphon Press Sep. 2003)
• Dogs, (Tachyon Publications July 2008)
• Steal Across the Sky, (Tor Feb. 2009)

Chapbooks

• Beggars in Spain, (na) Axolotl Press / Pulphouse Feb. 1991; more or less simultaneous with Asimov’s April 1991
• The Price of Oranges, (ss) Pulphouse June 1992; reprinted from Asimov’s April 1989
• Dancing on Air, (na) Tachyon Publications Sep. 1997; reprinted from Asimov’s July 1993
• Act One, (na) Phoenix Pick March 2010; reprinted from Asimov’s March 2009; read online

Forthcoming:

• Before the Fall, After the Fall, During the Fall, (Tachyon Publications April 2012) - 39,000-word novella, per Kress' blog

Collections

1. Trinity and Other Stories, (Bluejay Books Aug. 1985)
   • Explaining Nancy Kress, Gene Wolfe, (in) *
   • "With the Original Cast," (nv) Omni May 1982
   • "Casey’s Empire," (ss) F&SF Nov. 1981
   • "Talp Hunt," (ss) Universe 12, ed. Terry Carr, Doubleday 1982
   • "Against a Crooked Stile," (nv) Asimov’s May 1979
   • "Explanations, Inc.," (ss) F&SF July 1984; read online
   • "Shadows on the Cave Wall," (nv) Universe 11, ed. Terry Carr, Doubleday 1981
   • "Ten Thousand Pictures, One Word," (ss) Twilight Zone July/Aug. 1984
   • "Night Win," (nv) Asimov’s Sep. 1983
   • "Borovsky’s Hollow Woman," (with Jeff Duntemann), (nv) Omni Oct 1983
   • "Out of All Them Bright Stars," (ss) F&SF Mar. 1985
   • "Trinity," (na) Asimov’s Oct. 1984
2. The Aliens of Earth, (Arkham House Oct. 1993)
   • "The Price of Oranges," (nv) Asimov’s April 1989
   • "Glass," (ss) Asimov’s Sept. 1987
   • "People Like Us," (ss) Asimov’s Sept. 1989; read online
   • "Cannibals," (nv) Asimov’s May 1987
   • "To Scale," (ss) Xanadu, ed. Jane Yolen & Martin Harry Greenberg, Tor 1993
   • "Touchdown," (ss) Asimov’s Oct. 1990
   • "Down Behind Cuba Lake," (ss) Asimov’s Sept. 1986
   • "In a World Like This," (ss) Omni Oct. 1988
   • "Philippa’s Hands," (ss) Full Spectrum, ed. Lou Aronica & Shawna McCarthy, Bantam 1988
   • "Inertia," (nv) Analog Jan. 1990
   • "Phone Repairs," (ss) Asimov’s Dec. 1986
   • "The Battle of Long Island," (ss) Omni Feb./March 1993
   • "Renaissance," (ss) Asimov’s mid-Dec. 1989
   • "Spillage," (ss) F&SF April 1988; read online
   • "The Mountain to Mohammed," (ss) Asimov’s April 1992
   • "Craps," (ss) Asimov’s March 1988
   • "And Wild For to Hold," (na) Asimov’s July 1991
   • "In Memoriam," (ss) Asimov’s June 1988
3. Beaker’s Dozen, (Tor Aug. 1998)
   • Introduction, (in) *
   • "Beggars in Spain," (na) Axolotl Press/Pulphouse Feb. 1991 / Asimov's April 1991
   • "Feigenbaum Number," (ss) Omni Winter 1995 [not seen until 1996]
   • "Margin of Error," (ss) Omni Oct. 1994
   • "Fault Lines," (na) Asimov’s Aug. 1995
   • "Unto The Daughters," (ss) Sisters in Fantasy, ed. Susan Shwartz & Martin H. Greenberg, Roc 1995
   • "Evolution," (nv) Asimov’s Oct. 1995
   • "Ars Longa," (ss) By Any Other Fame, ed. Mike Resnick & Martin Harry Greenberg, DAW 1993
   • "Sex Education," (nv) Intersections, ed. John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name & Richard Butner, Tor 1996
   • "Grant Us This Day," (ss) Asimov’s Sept. 1993; slightly revised here
   • "The Flowers of Aulit Prison," (nv) Asimov’s Oct./Nov. 1996
   • "Summer Wind," (ss) Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears, ed. Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, AvoNova/William Morrow 1995
   • "Always True to Thee, in My Fashion," (ss) Asimov’s Jan. 1997
   • "Dancing on Air," (na) Asimov’s July 1993
4. Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories, (Golden Gryphon Press May 2008)
   • Foreword, Mike Resnick, (in) *
   • "Nano Comes to Clifford Falls," (ss) Asimov’s July 2006; read online
   • "Patent Infringement," (ss) Asimov’s May 2002
   • "Computer Virus," (nv) Asimov’s April 2001
   • "Product Development," (vi) Nature March 16 2006
   • "The Most Famous Little Girl in the World," (nv) SciFiction May 8 2002
   • "Savior," (na) Asimov’s June 2000
   • "Ej-Es," (nv) Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian, ed. Janis Ian & Mike Resnick, DAW 2003; read online
   • "Shiva in Shadow," (na) Between Worlds, ed. Robert Silverberg, SFBC 2004
   • "First Flight," (ss) Space Cadets, ed. Mike Resnick, L.A.WorldCon/SciFi, Inc., Aug. 2006
   • "To Cuddle Amy," (vi) Asimov’s Aug. 2000
   • "Wetlands Preserve," (nv) SciFiction Sep. 27 2000
   • "Mirror Image," (na) One Million A.D., ed. Gardner Dozois, SFBC Dec. 2005
   • "My Mother, Dancing," (ss) Asimov’s June 2004; first appeared in French in Destination 3001, ed. Robert Silverberg & Jacques Chambon, Flammarion 2000; read online

Forthcoming:

5. Fountain of Age: Stories, (Small Beer Press April 2012)

Anthologies

• Nebula Awards Showcase 2003, (Roc / Penguin April 2003)

Non-Fiction: books about writing

• Beginnings, Middles & Ends, (Writer’s Digest Books 1993)
• Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities That Keep Readers Captivated, (Writer’s Digest Books 1998)
• Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints, (Writer’s Digest Books 2005)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Nancy Kress Home Page". Nancy Kress. 2005. http://www.sff.net/people/nankress/. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
2. ^ David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer (2010). Year's Best SF15. Eos Books. p. 119. 
3. ^ http://nancykress.blogspot.com/2011/02/las-vegas.html

External links

• Nancy Kress's Home Page
• Nancy Kress bibliography
• Nancy Kress's blog
• Nancy Kress at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Buffalo International Film Festival Board of Advisors
• Interview with Nancy Kress at Writer Unboxed
• Nancy Kress' online fiction at Free Speculative Fiction Online

Persondata
Name	Kress, Nancy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 20, 1948
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death