Ellen Kushner

Last updated

Ellen Kushner
EK - Diner - Photo by Delia.jpg
Kushner in 2013
Born1955 (age 69–70)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation
  • Editor
  • writer
Alma mater Barnard College
Genre Speculative fiction, fantasy of manners
Notable works
Notable awards
Spouse Delia Sherman
Website
www.ellenkushner.com
Delia Sherman (l.) and Ellen Kushner. DS-EK-Outdoors.jpg
Delia Sherman (l.) and Ellen Kushner.

Ellen Kushner (born 1955) [1] is an American editor and writer of fantasy fiction. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program Sound and Spirit , produced by WGBH in Boston and distributed by Public Radio International. [2] [3]

Contents

Background and personal life

Kushner was born in a Jewish family in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.[ citation needed ] She attended Bryn Mawr College and graduated from Barnard College.[ citation needed ] She lives in New York City with her wife and sometime collaborator, Delia Sherman. They held a wedding in 1996 [4] [5] and were legally married in Boston in 2004. [6] Kushner is bisexual. [7]

Career

Kushner began her career as a fantasy editor for Tor Books. [2] During her tenure at Tor, she wrote and published five Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks, and in 1987 published her first novel, Swordspoint . [2] A sequel set 18 years after Swordspoint, called The Privilege of the Sword, was published in July 2006, with a first hardcover edition published in September 2006 by Small Beer Press. [8] The Fall of the Kings (2002) (co-authored by Sherman) is set 40 years after Swordspoint.[ citation needed ] All three books are considered mannerpunk novels [2] and take place in a nameless imaginary capital city and its raffish district of Riverside, where swordsmen-for-hire ply their trade.

From 2011 to 2014 audiobook versions of all three novels were produced under the label of Neil Gaiman Presents. [9] The Swordspoint adaptation won the 2013 Audie Award for Best Audio Drama, [10] an Earphones Award from AudioFile , [11] and the 2013 Communicator Award: Gold Award of Excellence (Audio). [12] The adaptation of The Fall of the Kings won the 2014 Wilbur Award. [13]

Kushner's second novel, Thomas the Rhymer, won the World Fantasy Award [14] and the Mythopoeic Award [15] in 1991. She has also published short stories and poetry in various anthologies, including The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and the Borderland series of urban fantasy anthologies for teenage readers.

In 1987, Kushner relocated from New York to Boston, and began working as a presenter in radio. She worked with public radio station WBGH-FM, first hosting its all-night radio program "Night Air". [16] [17] In 1989 she hosted the Nakamichi International Music Series for American Public Radio (now Public Radio International), and later produced three Jewish holiday specials with APR, Festival of Liberation: the Passover Story in World Music, The Door is Open: a Jewish High Holiday Meditation, and Beyond 1492. [17]

Beginning in 1996, Kushner wrote, programmed and hosted the series "Sound & Spirit", produced by WGBH/PRI. [18] "Sound & Spirit" was an hour-long weekly series "exploring the human spirit through music and ideas." [19] Episodes featured folk, classical, and world music, with a wide variety of special guests including Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, religious historian Elaine Pagels, [20] and writer Neil Gaiman. [21] "Sound & Spirit" remained on the air until 2010. [18]

In 2002, she released a CD of her story The Golden Dreydl: A Klezmer Nutcracker, which uses music from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker to tell a Hanukkah story. The music on the CD is performed by Shirim Klezmer Orchestra. The Golden Dreydl won a Gracie Award from American Women in Radio and Television. [22] A live theater version of The Golden Dreydl was performed in 2008 and 2009 at Vital Theater in New York City, written by Kushner (who played "Tante Miriam" in the 2008 production) and directed by Linda Ames Key. [23]

In 2007, Kushner, along with Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom, scripted the musical audio drama The Witches of Lublin for public radio. Based on the history of Jewish women who were klezmer musicians in 18th Century Europe, The Witches of Lublin premiered on radio stations nationwide in April 2011 with performances by Tovah Feldshuh and Simon Jones. [24] It won the 2012 Wilbur Award for Best Single Program, Radio; the 2012 Grace Allen Award for Best Director, and the 2012 Gabriel Award: Arts, Local Release, Radio. [25]

In 2011 she co-edited (with Holly Black) Welcome to Bordertown, an anthology of new stories from Terri Windling's seminal shared-world series. In an audiobook adaptation Neil Gaiman read his own work, set to an original score by Boiled in Lead's Drew Miller. [26]

In 2015, Kushner created Tremontaine, a serialized prequel to Swordspoint, for the Serial Box platform. [27] The series ran for four seasons. [28]

With Sherman and others, she is actively involved in the interstitial art movement. She is the co-founder and past president of the Interstitial Arts Foundation. [29]

She is also a member of the Endicott Studio and has taught classes and seminars as part of Hollins University's MFA program; the Odyssey Writing Workshop; and the Clarion Writers' Workshop.[ citation needed ]

Awards

Awards and nominations
AwardCategoryYear [a] WorkResult [30]
Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Hall of Fame 2000 Swordspoint Won
Novel2003The Fall of the KingsNominated
2007 The Privilege of the Sword Nominated
2018TremontaineNominated
James Tiptree Jr. Award –2007The Privilege of the SwordHonor list
Locus Award Anthology 1981Basilisk13th
1998 The Horns of Elfland 8th
2012Welcome to Bordertown2nd
2017Tremontaine8th
Fantasy Novel 1991 Thomas the Rhymer 5th
2003The Fall of the Kings9th
2007The Privilege of the SwordWon
First Novel 1988Swordspoint10th
Novelette 2010"A Wild and a Wicked Youth"16th
Short Story 2010"Dulce Domum"25th
2011"The Man with the Knives"12th
"The Children of Cadmus"27th
2022"Immortal Coil"29th
Mythopoeic Award Adult Literature 2003The Fall of the KingsNominated
Fantasy 1991Thomas the RhymerWon
Nebula Award Novel 2007The Privilege of the SwordNominated
Skylark Award –2024–Won
World Fantasy Award Novel 1991Thomas the RhymerWon
2007The Privilege of the SwordNominated
Novella 1998The Fall of the KingsNominated
Short Fiction 1999"The Death of the Duke"Nominated

Published works

Kushner has published four edited volumes, four novels, two poems, and more than forty short stories, [31] beginning with Basilisk in 1980, an anthology for which she served as editor. [1] [32] Her first novel, 1987's Swordspoint , is considered a central text in the fantasy of manners subgenre [33] and was inducted into the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Hall of Fame in 2000. [30]

Notes

  1. ↑ Year in which the award was received.

References

  1. 1 2 D'ammassa, Don (2006). "Kushner, Ellen (1955– )". Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction. New York City: Infobase Publishing. pp. 199–200. ISBN   978-0-8160-6192-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Gehiere, Bruce (2004). "Spiritual Syncretism, Innovations in the Speculative Realm, and Radio Theater". Femspec . 5 (1): 293–299.
  3. ↑ "PUGGY'S HILL – Final 'Sound & Spirit' broadcasts". archive.is. November 29, 2012. Archived from the original on November 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ Bickelhaupt, Susan; Maureen Dezell (October 25, 1996). "Will Klein Sign His Letters From Washington?". The Boston Globe .
  5. ↑ Simon, Clea (September 1, 2004). "It was love, but now it's gone". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  6. ↑ "NYRSF Readings' 'Family Night' Features Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman Duo". SFScope. December 15, 2010. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ Kushner, Ellen (March 2016). "Are You Bisexual?". Ellen Kushner's Tumblr. Tumblr. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  8. ↑ "The Locus Index to Science Fiction: 2006: Books, Listed by Author". Locus Online . Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  9. ↑ "'Neil Gaiman Presents' Launches on ACX". October 25, 2011. Archived from the original on October 30, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Audie Award Best Drama". Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Swordspoint:A Melodrama of Manners". Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  12. ↑ "19th annual Communicator Award of Excellence Winners". Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Sue Media Productions – Awards". Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ "1991 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Mythopoeic Awards – Winners". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
  16. ↑ Mathews, David. "The SF Site: An Interview With Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman". www.sfsite.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  17. 1 2 "Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman – Brief Biographies". Archived from the original on April 6, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  18. 1 2 Farrell, John. "Ellen Kushner: Taking Audiobooks To Another Level". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Sound and Spirit; Drummers' Circle". openvault.wgbh.org. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Sound and Spirit; Devil's Trill, The". openvault.wgbh.org. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  21. ↑ "WGBH/PRI: Sound & Spirit: Neil Gaiman talking about Sandman – SFFaudio". May 20, 2013. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  22. ↑ "People and Publishing: Awards," Locus, May 2002, p. 14
  23. ↑ "The Klezmer Nutcracker: Vital Theatre Company Announces Full Cast". New York Theatre Guide. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  24. ↑ "The Witches of Lublin: Complete Cast". Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Music and Story for an Old Fashioned Passover". Hadassah Magazine. March 30, 2012. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  26. ↑ Doctorow, Cory (September 17, 2013). "Expanded 'Welcome to Bordertown' audiobook, with Neil Gaiman, Steven Brust, Ellen Kushner and more". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Spotlight on: Ellen Kushner, Tremontaine". Locus Online. January 22, 2017. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Tremontaine". www.serialbox.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  29. ↑ "Interstitial Arts Foundation: IAF Origins". Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  30. 1 2 "Award Bibliography: Ellen Kushner". Internet Speculative Fiction Database . Archived from the original on August 25, 2025. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  31. ↑ "Chronological Bibliography: Ellen Kushner". Internet Speculative Fiction Database . Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  32. ↑ Keller, Donald G. (1997). "Kushner, Ellen". In Clute, John; Grant, John (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. New York City: St. Martin's Press. p. 551. ISBN   978-0-312-15897-2.
  33. ↑ Walton, Jo (November 13, 2008). "Fantasy of Manners". Reactor . Retrieved August 27, 2025.
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