Nisi Shawl

Nisi Shawl
Born	1955 Kalamazoo, Michigan
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	African-American
Alma mater	Residential College, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Genre	Speculative fiction
Notable awards	2008 James Tiptree, Jr. Award

Nisi Shawl (born 1955) is an African-American writer and journalist. She is best known as a writer of science fiction and fantasy short stories.^[1]

Work

Shawl is the co-author (with Cynthia Ward) of Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Differences for Successful Fiction, a book derived from the authors' workshop of the same name, in which participants explore techniques to help them write credible characters outside their own cultural experience. Her short stories have appeared in Asimov's SF Magazine, the Infinite Matrix, Strange Horizons, Semiotext(e) and numerous other magazines and anthologies.^[1]

Among the writers who influence her work, she has named Colette and Raymond Chandler.^[2]

Shawl is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and a 1992 graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop. She is a board member of Clarion West and one of the founders of the Carl Brandon Society. Her stories have been shortlisted for the Theodore Sturgeon Award, the Gaylactic Spectrum Award, and the Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award, and Writing the Other received special mention for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award.^[3] In 2008, she won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for Filter House.^[4] In 2009 her novella "Good Boy" was nominated for a World Fantasy Award.^[5]

In 2009, she donated her archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.^[6]

In 2011 she was the Guest of Honor at WisCon 35.^[7]

Personal life

Shawl was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She started attending the Residential College of the University of Michigan in 1971 at the age of 16, but did not graduate.^[8] She lives in Seattle, Washington, where she reviews books for the Seattle Times as a freelance contributor.^[1][2][9]

Select bibliography

Fiction

• "I Was a Teenage Genetic Engineer," Semiotext(e) SF, NY, NY, April, 1989, Columbia University.
• "The Rainses'," Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April, 1995. (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "The Pragmatical Princess," Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, January, 1999. (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "At the Huts of Ajala," Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora, NY, NY, July, 2000, Warner Books. (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "Shiomah's Land," Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, March, 2001. (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "Vapors," Wet: More Aqua Erotica, Mary Anne Mohanraj (editor), Three Rivers Press, NY, NY.
• "The Beads of Ku," Rosebud Magazine Issue 23, April 2002. (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "Momi Watsu," Strange Horizons (website) August 2003 (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "Deep End," So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan, 2004, Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, BC, Canada. (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "Maggies," Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, edited by Sheree R. Thomas, 2004, NY: Warner Books. (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "Matched," The Infinite Matrix. (Excerpt from the novel The Blazing World, co-sponsored by the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs.) May 2005.
• "Wallamelon," Aeon Speculative Fiction #3, May 2005 (website) (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "Cruel Sistah," Asimov's SF Magazine, October/November 2005; Year's Best Fantasy & Horror #19, St. Martin's Press, NY, NY, August 2006.
• "But She's Only a Dream," Trabuco Road (website) March 2007. (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)
• "Little Horses" Detroit Noir, Akashic Books, Nov 2007 (appeared in FILTER HOUSE)

Non-fiction

• Writing the Other: A Practical Guide, with co-author Cynthia Ward, Aqueduct Press, Seattle, WA, December 2005.
• "To Jack Kerouac, to Make Much of Space and Time," Talking Back: Epistolary Fantasies, L. Timmel Duchamp (editor), Aqueduct Press, Seattle, WA, March, 2006.

References

External links

• Official website
• Nisi Shawl at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• "A Review of Writing the Other" at Compulsive Reader
• "A review of Writing the Other" at Strange Horizons
• "Transracial Writing for the Sincere," article by Nisi Shawl, at Speculations