Stephen Graham Jones

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Stephen Graham Jones
SGJ office 2019.jpg
Stephen Graham Jones, late 2019
Born (1972-01-22) January 22, 1972 (age 53)
Midland, Texas, U.S.
OccupationWriter, Ineva Baldwin Professor of English at University of Colorado
Education
Genre Horror fiction
Notable works The Only Good Indians
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Night of the Mannequins
Don't Fear the Reaper
SpouseNancy Jones
Children2

Stephen Graham Jones (born January 22, 1972) is a Blackfeet Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction, [1] crime fiction, and science fiction. [2] [3] [4] His works include the horror novels The Only Good Indians , My Heart Is a Chainsaw , and Night of the Mannequins .

Contents

Jones is the Ineva Baldwin Professor of English at the University of Colorado where he has been a faculty member since 2008. [5] [6]

Background

Stephen Graham Jones was born in Midland, Texas, on January 22, 1972, to Dennis Jones and Rebecca Graham. [7] He is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana. [8]

Jones's enthusiasm for reading began at the early age of 11; however, as a boy he had aspirations to be a farmer, never a teacher or a writer. After completing a semester of college, Jones decided to continue to pursue his degree while still having the intention to return to a manual labor job post-grad. [9]

Jones received his Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy from Texas Tech University in 1994, a Master of Arts in English from the University of North Texas in 1996, and his Ph.D. in 1998 from Florida State University. [10]

After graduating with his Ph.D. in 1998, Jones worked in a warehouse in Texas until a back injury sentenced him to a desk job. Jones worked at the Texas Tech Library until going on to teach at Texas Tech University and the University of West Texas. [11]

Writing career

Jones at a 2014 book signing Stephen Graham Jones.JPG
Jones at a 2014 book signing

While he was attending Florida State University, Jones's dissertation director introduced him to Houghton-Mifflin editor Jane Silver at the Writers' Harvest conference. Jones pitched her a novel which he had not yet written, and Silver liked the idea. Jones then wrote the book, The Fast Red Road , as his dissertation. It was published as his debut novel in 2000. [12] It was followed by All the Beautiful Sinners in 2003.

In 2002, Jones won a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in fiction. [13] In 2006, he won the Jesse Jones Award for Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters for his 2005 short story collection Bleed into Me . [14] He won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction for Mapping the Interior in 2017. [15]

The Only Good Indians , a horror novel, was published on July 14, 2020, through Saga Press and Titan Books. It won the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction in 2020. [16] Jones won two 2020 Bram Stoker Awards for Night of the Mannequins and The Only Good Indians. [17]

Jones contributed an X-Men story to Marvel Comics' Marvel's Voices: Indigenous Voices #1 anthology, release in November 2020. Joining him was artist David Cutler. [18]

Themes and style

Jones has acknowledged a debt to Native American Renaissance writers, especially Gerald Vizenor. [19] Scholar Cathy Covell Waegner describes Jones's work as containing elements of "dark playfulness, narrative inventiveness, and genre mixture." [19] Jones also cites the novels of Louis L'Amour as an influence on his development as a writer, stating that "For better or worse, those pulp westerns are now part of my DNA as a writer." [20]

Joseph Gaudet cited Jones' writing as "post-ironic" or representative of David Foster Wallace's "New Sincerity", a literary approach "emerging in response to the cynicism, detachment, and alienation that many saw as defining the postmodern canon," seeking instead "to more patently embrace morality, sincerity, and an 'ethos of belief'. [21] His eighth novel, Ledfeather, which Jones stated was the most widely taught of his books, [22] is used as Gaudet's primary example.

Jones has a natural inclination towards the sentimental and speculates that the dark and chilling nature of his writing is an overcorrection on his part. Jones enjoys the constant escalation of the bizarre but uses humor to release building pressure in order to build anticipation once more for the reader. Jones’ novels can be described as Native American Gothic, or Rez Gothic: a niche publishing genre characterized as using fantasy, science fiction, and horror to shed light on racial inequalities such as the one referenced through Jones’ novel title The Only Good Indians. [23]

Personal life

Jones and his wife Nancy married on May 20, 1995. They have two children together.

Jones resides in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, son, and daughter. He teaches at the University of Colorado as the Ineva Reilly Baldwin Endowed Chair. Jones enjoys returning to northern Montana in July to attend the Blackfeet Nation Pow Wow and in November for the annual Montana Blackfeet elk hunt. This annual elk hunt inspired Jones’ novel The Only Good Indians. [24]

Awards

Awards for Jones's writing
YearTitleAwardCategoryResultRef.
2008The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti Shirley Jackson Award NovellaFinalist [25]
2009"Lonegan's Luck" Shirley Jackson Award NoveletteFinalist [26]
2010The Ones That Got Away Bram Stoker Award Fiction Collection Finalist [27]
Shirley Jackson Award Single-Author CollectionFinalist [28]
2014After the People Lights Have Gone Off Bram Stoker Award Fiction Collection Finalist [29]
Shirley Jackson Award Single-Author CollectionFinalist [30]
2016Mongrels Bram Stoker Award Novel Finalist [31]
Shirley Jackson Award NovelFinalist [32]
"The Night Cyclist" Shirley Jackson Award NoveletteFinalist [32]
2017Mapping the Interior Bram Stoker Award Long Fiction Won [33]
Shirley Jackson Award NovellaFinalist [34]
Mongrels Locus Award Horror Novel Finalist [35]
2018Mapping the Interior World Fantasy Award Novella Finalist [36]
2020 Night of the Mannequins Bram Stoker Award Long Fiction Won [37]
Shirley Jackson Award Novella Won [38]
The Only Good Indians Bram Stoker Award Novel Won [37]
Goodreads Choice Award HorrorFinalist [39]
Ray Bradbury Prize —Won [40]
Shirley Jackson Award NovelWon [38]
2021 My Heart Is a Chainsaw Bram Stoker Award Novel Won [41]
The Only Good Indians Alex Award —Won [42]
Audie Award Thriller/SuspenseFinalist [43]
British Fantasy Award Horror NovelFinalist [44]
Dragon Award Horror NovelNominated [45]
Ignyte Award Adult NovelFinalist [46]
Locus Award Horror Novel Finalist [47]
Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award —Won [48]
World Fantasy Award Novel Finalist [49]
"Wait for Night" Locus Award Short Story Finalist [47]
2022 My Heart Is a Chainsaw British Fantasy Award Horror NovelFinalist [50]
Dragon Award Horror NovelNominated [51]
Locus Award Horror Novel Won [52]
Shirley Jackson Award NovelWon [53]
2023 Don't Fear the Reaper Bram Stoker Award Novel Finalist [54]
Shirley Jackson Award NovelFinalist [55]
"Men, Women, and Chainsaws" Ignyte Award NoveletteFinalist [56]
2024 Don't Fear the Reaper British Fantasy Award Horror Novel Won [57]
Locus Award Horror Novel Finalist [58]
I Was a Teenage Slasher Bram Stoker Award Novel Finalist [59]
2025 The Angel of Indian Lake Locus Award Horror Novel Finalist [60]
"Parthenogenesis" Ignyte Award Short StoryPending [61]
Locus Award Short Story Finalist [60]

Selected works

Books

  • The Fast Red Road: A Plainsong. Fiction Collective 2. 2000. ISBN   9781573660884.
  • All the Beautiful Sinners. Rugged Land. 2003. ISBN   9781590710081.
  • The Bird Is Gone: A Manifesto. Fiction Collective 2. 2003. ISBN   9781573661096.
  • Seven Spanish Angels. Dzanc. 2005. ASIN   B005D7V6NA.
  • Bleed into Me: A Book of Stories. Native Storiers: A series of American Narratives. University of Nebraska Press. 2005. ISBN   9780803226050.
  • Demon Theory. MacAdam/Cage. 2006. ISBN   9781596921641.
  • The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti. Chiasmus Press. 2008. ISBN   9780981502748.
  • Ledfeather. Fiction Collective 2. 2008. ISBN   9781573661461.
  • It Came from Del Rio. Trapdoor Books. 2010. ISBN   9781936500017.
  • The Ones that Got Away. Prime Books. 2011. ISBN   9781607013211.
  • The Last Final Girl. Lazy Fascist Press. 2012. ISBN   9781621050513.
  • Growing Up Dead in Texas. MP Publishing Ltd. 2012. ISBN   9781849821544.
  • Zombie Bake-Off. Lazy Fascist. 2012. ISBN   9781621050193.
  • Zombie Sharks with Metal Teeth. Lazy Fascist. 2013. ISBN   9781621050995.
  • Three Miles Past. Nightscape. 2013. ISBN   9781938644078.
  • The Least of My Scars. Broken River Books. 2013. ISBN   9781940885001.
  • States of Grace. SpringGun Press. 2014. ISBN   9780983221883.
  • Flushboy. Dzanc Books. 2013. ISBN   9781938604171.
  • Not for Nothing. Dzanc Books. 2014. ISBN   9781938604539.
  • After the People Lights Have Gone Off. Dark House Press. 2014. ISBN   9781940430256.
  • The Gospel of Z. Samhain. 2014. ISBN   9781619218116.
  • My Hero. Hex Publishers. 2016. ISBN   9780998666709.
  • Mongrels. HarperCollins Publishers. 2016. ISBN   9780062412690.
  • Mapping the Interior. Tor Books. 2017. ISBN   9780765395108.
  • Night of the Mannequins . Tor.com. 2020. ISBN   9781250752079. [62]
  • The Only Good Indians . Saga, Simon & Schuster. 2020. ISBN   9781982136451.
  • The Indian Lake Trilogy
  • I Was a Teenage Slasher. Saga Press, Simon & Schuster. 2024. ISBN   9781668022245.
  • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Saga Press, Simon & Schuster. 2025. ISBN   9781668075081.

Under the pseudonym P. T. Jones

Short stories

Comics

References

  1. ↑ "Stephen Graham Jones on writing horror and its inverse, romance". Los Angeles Times. April 11, 2014. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  2. ↑ Alexandra Alter (August 14, 2020). "'We've Already Survived an Apocalypse': Indigenous Writers Are Changing Sci-Fi". The New York Times . p. C1. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Interview: Stephen Graham Jones on The Weird - Weird Fiction Review". Weird Fiction Review. January 16, 2012. Archived from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Jones, Stephen Graham. "Stephen Graham Jones – doesn't understand milk-drinking". Demon Theory.net. Archived from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Stephen Graham Jones". English. June 19, 2018. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Texas Archival Resources Online". txarchives.org. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Jones, Stephen Graham 1972-". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  8. ↑ Cosel, Pamela (October 22, 2020). "Texas Book Festival names Midland native Stephen Graham Jones winner of the Texas Writer Award". Round Rock Living. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  9. ↑ MacDonald, Jay (April 20, 2021). "Rez Gothic: Stephen Graham Jones". The Montana Review.
  10. ↑ "Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library". Texas Tech University . Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  11. ↑ Press, Montana (April 20, 2021). "Rez Gothic: Stephen Graham Jones". Montana Press. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Interview with Stephen Graham Jones by Amy Patterson". October 8, 2018. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Meet the Creative Writing Fellows: Stephen Jones". National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  14. ↑ "1936-2021 Texas Institute of Letters: Awards" (PDF). Texas Institute of Letters. March 3, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  15. ↑ "2017 Bram Stoker Award® Winners & Nominees – The Bram Stoker Awards". Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  16. ↑ Pineda, Dorany (April 17, 2021). "Winners of the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prizes announced". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  17. ↑ "The Bram Stoker Awards 2020". Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Marvel's Voices Expands with 'Marvel's Voices: Indigenous Voices' #1". Marvel Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  19. 1 2 Waegner, Cathy Covell (2017). "View of Consuming, Incarcerating, and "Transmoting" Misery: Border Practice in Vizenor's Bearheart and Jones's the Fast Red Road | Transmotion". Transmotion. 3 (2): 1–29. doi:10.22024/UniKent/03/tm.218. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  20. ↑ Bas, Borja (November 20, 2023). "Stephen Graham Jones: The horror novel helps settle scores for the massacre of American Indians". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  21. ↑ Gaudet, Joseph (2016). "I Remember You: Postironic Belief and Settler Colonialism in Stephen Graham Jones's Ledfeather". Studies in American Indian Literatures. 28 (1): 21. doi:10.5250/studamerindilite.28.1.0021. S2CID   156727460. Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  22. ↑ Wilson, Michael. "One Month of Reading Stephen Graham Jones: A Primer". LitReactor. Archived from the original on October 8, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Wonderbook Interview with Stephen Graham Jones". Wonderbook. October 11, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  24. ↑ Press, Montana (April 20, 2021). "Rez Gothic: Stephen Graham Jones". Montana Press. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  25. ↑ "2008 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". The Shirley Jackson Awards. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  26. ↑ "2009 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". The Shirley Jackson Awards. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  27. ↑ "2010 Bram Stoker Award Winners & Nominees". The Bram Stoker Awards. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  28. ↑ "2010 Shirley Jackson Award Winners". Locus. July 18, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  29. ↑ "2014 Bram Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. May 9, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  30. ↑ "2014 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". Locus. July 12, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  31. ↑ "2016 Bram Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. April 29, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  32. 1 2 "2016 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". Locus. July 16, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  33. ↑ "2017 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. March 5, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  34. ↑ "2017 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". Locus. July 16, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  35. ↑ "2017 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 24, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  36. ↑ "2018 World Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. November 4, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  37. 1 2 "2020 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. May 24, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  38. 1 2 Andrew Liptak (August 16, 2021). "Announcing the Winners of the 2020 Shirley Jackson Awards!". Tor.com . Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  39. ↑ "Readers' Favorite Horror 2020". Goodreads . Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  40. ↑ "2020 Ray Bradbury Prize Winner". Locus. April 19, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  41. ↑ "2021 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. May 15, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  42. ↑ Young Adult Library Services Association (February 27, 2012). "Alex Awards". American Library Association. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  43. ↑ "2021 Audie Awards Finalists". Locus. February 23, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  44. ↑ "2021 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. September 27, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  45. ↑ "2021 Dragon Awards Winners". Locus. September 7, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  46. ↑ "2021 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. September 18, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  47. 1 2 "2021 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 26, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  48. ↑ "Mark Twain Award Goes to Stephen Graham Jones". Publishers Weekly. November 8, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  49. ↑ "2021 World Fantasy Award Winners". Locus. November 7, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  50. ↑ "Announcing the 2022 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Tor.com. September 19, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  51. ↑ "2022 Dragon Awards Winners". Locus. September 7, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  52. ↑ "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 25, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  53. ↑ "2021 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". Locus. October 31, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  54. ↑ "2023 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. June 3, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  55. ↑ "2023 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". Locus. July 13, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  56. ↑ "2023 Ignyte Awards Finalists". Locus. May 24, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  57. ↑ "2024 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. October 14, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  58. ↑ "2024 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 22, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  59. ↑ "2024 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. June 16, 2025. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  60. 1 2 "2025 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 21, 2025. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  61. ↑ "2025 Ignyte Awards Finalists". Locus. June 9, 2025. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  62. ↑ Liptak, Andrew (February 22, 2021). "Here Are the 2020 Bram Stoker Award Nominees". Tor.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  63. ↑ Gayen, Sayantan (August 25, 2022). "Review: IDW Publishing's Earthdivers #1". CBR . Valnet Inc. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  64. ↑ "Dear Final Girls". jolyonbyates.com.

Further reading

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