Kelly Link

Kelly Link
Kelly Link and Gavin Grant
Born	(1969-07-19) July 19, 1969 (age 56) Miami, Florida, U.S. [1]
Occupation	Writer
Education	Columbia University (BA) University of North Carolina, Greensboro (MFA)
Genre	Fantasy, horror, magical realism
Spouse	Gavin Grant
Children	1 [2]

Kelly Link (born July 19, 1969) is an American editor and writer. Mainly known as an author of short stories, she published her first novel, The Book of Love in 2024. ^{[3] [4]} While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and literary fiction. Among other honors, she has won a Hugo Award, three Nebula Awards, and a World Fantasy Award for her fiction, and she was one of the recipients of the 2018 MacArthur "Genius" Grant. ^[5]

Biography

Link is a graduate of Columbia University in New York and the MFA program of UNC Greensboro. In 1995, she attended the Clarion East Writing Workshop.

Link and husband Gavin Grant manage Small Beer Press, based in Northampton, Massachusetts. The couple's imprint of Small Beer Press for intermediate readers is called Big Mouth House. They also co-edited St. Martin's Press's The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology series with Ellen Datlow for five years, ending in 2008. (The couple inherited the "fantasy" side from Terri Windling in 2004.) In 2019, Link and Grant opened Book Moon, a new and used bookstore in Easthampton, Massachusetts. ^[6] Link also co-edits the literary magazine Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, ^[7] and was the slush reader for Sci Fiction , edited by Datlow.

Link taught at Lenoir–Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina, with the Visiting Writers Series for spring semester 2006. She has taught or visited at a number of schools and workshops including:

• Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York;
• Brookdale Community College of Lincroft, New Jersey;
• the Imagination Workshop at Cleveland State University;
• New England Institute of Art & Communications, Brookline, Massachusetts;
• Clarion East at Michigan State University, Lansing;
• Clarion West in Seattle, Washington; and
• Smith College, near her home in Northampton.

She has participated in the Juniper Summer Writing Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's MFA Program for Poets & Writers.

Awards

Awards for Kelly Link

Work	Year & Award	Category	Result	Ref.
Travels with the Snow Queen	1997 Otherwise Award		Won
	1999 World Fantasy Award	Short Fiction	Nominated
The Specialist's Hat	1999 World Fantasy Award	Short Fiction	Won
Shoe and Marriage	2001 World Fantasy Award	Short Fiction	Nominated
Stranger Things Happen	2001 Salon.com Book Award	Fiction	Won	[8]
	2002 World Fantasy Award	Collection	Nominated
	2002 SF Site Readers Poll	SF/Fantasy Book	5th Place	[9]
	2002 Locus Award	Collection	Nominated	[10]
Louise's Ghost	2002 Nebula Award	Novelette	Won
Lull	2003 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
Small Beer Press (with Gavin Grant)	2003 World Fantasy Special Award—Non-professional award		Nominated
	2004 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award		Nominated
	2005 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award		Nominated
	2023 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award		Nominated
Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House (with Gavin Grant)	2009 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award		Won
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (17th Annual Collection) (with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant)	2004 Bram Stoker Award	Anthology	Won
	2005 Locus Award	Anthology	Nominated
	2005 British Fantasy Award	Anthology	Nominated
The Faery Handbag	2004 BSFA Award	Short Fiction	Nominated
	2005 Locus Award	Novelette	Won
	2005 World Fantasy Award	Short Fiction	Nominated
	2005 Hugo Award	Novelette	Won
	2006 Nebula Award	Novelette	Won
	2012 Premio Ignotus	Foreign Story	Nominated
Catskin	2004 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
The Hortlak	2004 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
	2004 World Fantasy Award	Novella	Nominated
Trampoline	2004 Locus Award	Anthology	Nominated
	2004 World Fantasy Award	Anthology	Nominated
Stone Animals	2005 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
	2005 Theodore Sturgeon Award	Short Science Fiction	Finalist	[11]
Magic for Beginners	2005 BSFA Award	Short Fiction	Won
	2006 Young Lions Fiction Award		Finalist
	2006 Locus Award	Novella	Won
	2006 SF Site Readers Poll	SF/Fantasy Book	5th Place	[12]
	2006 World Fantasy Award	Novella	Nominated
	2006 Hugo Award	Novella	Nominated
	2006 Nebula Award	Novella	Won
	2006 Theodore Sturgeon Award	Short Science Fiction	3rd Place	[13]
	2008 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire	Foreign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories	Nominated	[14]
Magic for Beginners (Collection)	2005 International Horror Guild Award	Collection	Nominated	[15]
	2005 Bram Stoker Award	Fiction Collection	Nominated
	2005 Salon Book Award		Won	[8]
	2006 Locus Award	Collection	Won
	2006 World Fantasy Award	Collection	Nominated
Some Zombie Contingency Plans	2005 Bram Stoker Award	Long Fiction	Nominated
	2006 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
Monster	2006 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
The Great Divorce	2006 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (18th Annual Collection) (with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant)	2006 Locus Award	Anthology	Won
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (19th Annual Collection) (with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant)	2007 Locus Award	Anthology	Nominated
	2007 British Fantasy Award	Anthology	Nominated
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet (with Gavin Grant)	2007 Hugo Award	Semiprozine	Nominated
Light	2008 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet	2008 Locus Award	Anthology	Nominated
The Constable of Abal	2008 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (20th Annual Collection) (with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant)	2008 Locus Award	Anthology	Nominated
Pretty Monsters	2009 Locus Award	Novella	Won
Pretty Monsters (Collection)	2009 Locus Award	Collection	Nominated
	2009 World Fantasy Award	Collection	Nominated
The Surfer	2009 Locus Award	Novella	Nominated
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (21st Annual Collection) (with Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant)	2009 Locus Award	Anthology	Nominated
	2009 World Fantasy Award	Anthology	Nominated
Secret Identity	2010 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
The Cinderella Game	2010 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
The Summer People	2011 Shirley Jackson Award	Novelette	Won
	2012 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
	2013 O. Henry Award		Juror Favorite
Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (with Gavin Grant)	2012 Locus Award	Anthology	Nominated
Valley of the Girls	2012 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
Two Houses	2013 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
	2013 Shirley Jackson Award	Short Fiction	Nominated	[16]
I Can See Right Through You	2015 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
	2015 World Fantasy Award	Short Fiction	Nominated
Monstrous Affections (with Gavin Grant)	2015 Locus Award	Anthology	Nominated
	2015 World Fantasy Award	Anthology	Won
The Lady and the Fox	2015 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
The New Boyfriend	2015 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
Get in Trouble	2016 Shirley Jackson Award	Collection	Nominated	[17]
	2016 World Fantasy Award	Collection	Nominated
	2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction		Finalist
	2016 Locus Award	Collection	Nominated	[18]
	2016 Indies Choice Book Awards	Adult Fiction	Honor
The Game of Smash and Recovery	2016 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
	2016 Theodore Sturgeon Award	Short Science Fiction	Won
	2017 World Fantasy Special Award—Professional award	Contributions to the Genre	Nominated
The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear	2020 Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated
Skinder's Veil	2022 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
White Cat, Black Dog	2023 Kirkus Prize	Fiction	Nominated
	2024 BookTube Prize	Fiction	Octofinalist	[19]
	2024 World Fantasy Award	Collection	Nominated
	2024 Locus Award	Collection	Won
	2024 Chautauqua Prize		Shortlisted
Prince Hat Underground	2024 World Fantasy Award	Novella	Nominated
	2024 Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated
The Book of Love	2025 Compton Crook Award	Novel	Nominated	[20]
	2025 Nebula Award		Nominated
	2025 Los Angeles Times Book Prize–Ray Bradbury Prize		Won	[21]

• 2018: MacArthur Fellowship ^[22]
• 2023: Honorary degree from Smith College. ^[23]

Bibliography

Books

• Stranger Things Happen: 2001 Salon Book of the Year, The Village Voice favorite (available here as a free download, under a Creative Commons license)
• Magic for Beginners : 2006 Locus Award for Best Short Story Collection
• Pretty Monsters: 2008 World Fantasy ^[24] and Locus Award finalist.
• Get in Trouble : 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist.
• White Cat, Black Dog: Stories (Random House, 2023)
• The Book of Love : 2024 ^{[25] [26] [27] [28]}

Selected stories (award winners)

• "The Game of Smash and Recovery": 2016 Theodore Sturgeon Award
• "The Summer People": 2011 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette, 2013 The O. Henry Prize Stories
• "Pretty Monsters": 2009 Locus Award for Best Novella
• "Magic for Beginners": 2005 Nebula Award for Best Novella
• "The Faery Handbag": 2005 Hugo and Nebula Award for Best Novelette, Locus Award winner
• "Stone Animals": 2005 The Best American Short Stories
• "Louise's Ghost": 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novelette
• "The Specialist's Hat": 1999 World Fantasy Award
• "Travels with the Snow Queen": 1997 James Tiptree, Jr. Award

As author

• 4 Stories (chapbook), Small Beer Press, 2000
• Stranger Things Happen, Small Beer Press, 2001
• Magic for Beginners, Small Beer Press, 2005 (reprinted by Harcourt, 2005)
• Catskin: a swaddled zine, Jelly Ink Press, date unknown
• Pretty Monsters: Stories, Viking Juvenile, 2008
• The Wrong Grave, 2009
• Get in Trouble: Stories , Random House, 2015
• White Cat, Black Dog: Stories, Random House, 2023 ^[29]
• The Book of Love, Random House, 2024 ^{[30] [31] [32] [33]}

As editor

• Trampoline Small Beer Press, 2003
• The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Volumes 17 - 21 (from 2004-2008) (with Ellen Datlow and Gavin J. Grant)
• Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (2011) (with Gavin J. Grant)
• Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales (2014) (with Gavin J. Grant)

In addition, Link and Grant have edited a semiannual small press fantasy magazine: Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet (or LCRW) since 1997. An anthology, The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, was published by Del Rey Books in 2007.

References

1. "About Kelly". Kelly Link. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
2. Grant, Gavin (May 20, 2009). "Small Beer, little baby". Small Beer Press. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
3. Miller, Laura (November 19, 2001). "An interview with Kelly Link". Salon. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008.
4. Miller, Laura (February 4, 2015). ""Get in Trouble": Going back inside the weird and wonderful world of Kelly Link". Salon.
5. Charles, Ron (October 4, 2018). "Short-story writer Kelly Link wins MacArthur 'genius' grant". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
6. "Book Moon". Book Moon. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
7. "About Kelly". kellylink.net.
8. "Salon Book Award | Awards and Honors | LibraryThing". Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
9. "sfadb: SF Site Readers Poll 2002". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
10. "sfadb : Locus Awards". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
11. "2005 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
12. "sfadb: SF Site Readers Poll 2006". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
13. "2006 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
14. "2008 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
15. ":: ihg :: International Horror Guild :: ihg ::". horroraward.org. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
16. "sfadb: Shirley Jackson Awards 2013". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
17. "sfadb: Shirley Jackson Awards 2016". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
18. "2016 Locus Poll Award". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
19. "2024 Fiction - 2025 BOOKTUBE PRIZE". www.booktubeprize.org. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
20. "Compton Crook Award | Nominee | 2025 | Awards and Honors | LibraryThing". LibraryThing.com.
21. Sanford, Karla Marie (April 25, 2025). "At L.A. Times Book Prizes ceremony, winners advocate for hope in the face of uncertainty". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on June 4, 2025. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
22. "Kelly Link - MacArthur Foundation". www.macfound.org.
23. "Speakers & Honorary Degrees | Smith College". www.smith.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
24. World Fantasy Convention (2010). "Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
25. Garrett, Yvonne C. (July 29, 2024). "Kelly Link's The Book of Love | The Brooklyn Rail". brooklynrail.org. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
26. Gould, Emily (February 22, 2024). "How Kelly Link Wrote a Very Good First Novel". The Cut. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
27. Iglesias, Gabino (February 15, 2024). "Kelly Link's debut novel 'The Book of Love' is magical, confusing, heartfelt, strange". NPR. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
28. El-Mohtar, Amal (February 12, 2024). "Book Review: 'The Book of Love,' by Kelly Link". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
29. "White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link". Penguin Random House. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
30. "The Book of Love by Kelly Link". Penguin Random House. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
31. El-Mohtar, Amal (February 12, 2024). "Kelly Link Returns with a Dreamlike, Profoundly Beautiful Novel". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 18, 2024.
32. Link, Kelly (February 16, 2024). "Novelist Kelly Link: 'I was drawn to the monsters and half-naked women on fantasy covers'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved March 18, 2024.
33. Iglesias, Gabino (February 15, 2024). "Kelly Link's debut novel 'The Book of Love' is magical, confusing, heartfelt, strange". NPR.

External links

• Children and Young Adult Literature portal

• Official website
• Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
• Kelly Link at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Kelly Link's awards and nominations at the Science Fiction Awards Database
• Essay on Link's story "Lull" at Fantastic Metropolis
• RealAudio Interview from KCRW's Bookworm show
• An excerpt from Origin Story from the magazine A Public Space
• Reading by Kelly from the Stonecoast MFA program's Winter 2008 residency Archived September 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine