C. L. Clark

Last updated
C. L. Clark
Occupation
  • Author
  • editor
Education Indiana University Bloomington (MFA)
Genre
Notable works The Unbroken
Website
clclarkwrites.com

Cherae Clark, also known under the pen name C. L. Clark, is an American author and editor of speculative fiction, a personal trainer, and an English teacher. She [a] graduated from Indiana University with a MFA in creative writing and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow. Her debut novel, The Unbroken , the first book of the Magic of the Lost trilogy, was published by Orbit Books in 2021. The Unbroken was a finalist for the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2022 Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel from the British Fantasy Awards, the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel - Adult, and the 2022 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Clark edited, with series editor Charles Payseur, We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020, which won the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Anthology. [1]

Contents

Education

C. L. Clark earned an MFA in creative writing from Indiana University Bloomington and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow. [2]

Career

Clark's short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, FIYAH Literary Magazine , Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, PodCastle, Tor.com , Uncanny, The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction, and The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy (2022). Her short story "You Perfect, Broken Thing", published in Uncanny Magazine , won the 2021 Ignyte Award for Best Short Story.

Clark served as a co-editor of PodCastle from 2019 to 2021. [3] With series editor Charles Payseur, Clark edited We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020, an anthology of queer speculative fiction published by Neon Hemlock. [1] We're Here won the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Anthology.

Clark's debut novel, The Unbroken , was a finalist for the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel - Adult, the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2022 Locus Award for Best First Novel, and the 2022 British Fantasy Society's Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

Awards and nominations

Awards for Clark's writing
WorkYearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2021 The Unbroken Goodreads Choice Award FantasyFinalist [4]
Nebula Award Best Novel Finalist [5]
"You Perfect, Broken Thing" Ignyte Award Short Story Won [6]
2022 The Unbroken British Fantasy Award Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy NovelFinalist [7]
Ignyte Award Adult Novel Finalist [8]
Locus Award Best First Novel Finalist [9]
We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020 Ignyte Award Anthology/Collected Works Won [8]
Locus Awards Best AnthologyWon [9]
Other awards
WorkYearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2020 PodCastle Aurora Award Best Related Work Finalist [10]
Ignyte Award Fiction Podcast Finalist [11]
2021 Aurora Award Best Related Work Finalist [12]
Ignyte Award Fiction Podcast Finalist [6]
Hugo Award Best Semiprozine Finalist [13]
2022 Ignyte Award Fiction Podcast Finalist [8]
Hugo Award Best Semiprozine Finalist [14]

Bibliography

Magic of the Lost trilogy

Short fiction

Essays

Editor

Notes

  1. Clark uses she/her and they/them pronouns. She/her pronouns will be used in this article for consistency.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020". Publishers Weekly. 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  2. Kirichanskaya, Michele (2021-06-09). "Interview with author C. L. Clark". GeeksOut. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  3. 1 2 Clark, Cherae (2021-06-01). "One Last Time". PodCastle. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  4. "Readers' Favorite Fantasy 2021". Goodreads . Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  5. "2021 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  6. 1 2 "2021 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Sep 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  7. "Announcing the 2022 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Reactor. 19 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 "2022 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 19 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  9. 1 2 "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 25 Jun 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  10. "2020 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. 17 Aug 2020. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  11. "2020 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Oct 2020. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  12. "2021 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Oct 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  13. "2021 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Winners". Locus. 18 Dec 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
  14. "2022 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Awards Winners". Locus. 4 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

Interviews