Karen Joy Fowler

Karen Joy Fowler

Karen Joy Fowler (b. February 7 1950, Bloomington, Indiana) is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the nineteenth century, the lives of women, and alienation.

She is best known as the author of the best-selling novel "The Jane Austen Book Club" that was recently made into a widely distributed [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0866437/ movie] of the same name. Her new book, "Wit's End", came out in April 2008.

Biography and writing career

Fowler spent the first eleven years of her life in Bloomington, Indiana, at which point she moved to Palo Alto, California. Fowler attended the University of California, Berkeley, and majored in political science. After having a child during the last year of her master's program, she spent seven years devoted to child-raising. Feeling restless, Fowler decided to take a dance class, and then a creative writing class at the University of California, Davis. Realizing that she was never going to make it as a dancer, Fowler began to publish science fiction stories, making a name for herself with "Artificial Things" (1986), a collection of short stories.

Her work as a genre writer tended toward eccentric tales of implausible history. Often these tales had a feminist theme or mindset. Her first novel, "Sarah Canary" (1991), was published to critical acclaim. The novel involves a group of people alienated by nineteenth century America experiencing a peculiar kind of first contact. One character is Chinese American, another putatively mentally ill, a third a feminist, and lastly Sarah herself. Fowler also collaborated with Pat Murphy to found the James Tiptree, Jr. Award in 1991, a literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that "expands or explores our understanding of gender."

Her other genre works also tended to focus on odd corners of the nineteenth century experiencing the unexpected or fantastic. Her second novel, "The Sweetheart Season" (1996) is a romantic comedy infused with historical and fantasy elements. However, the genre content of her stories has at times been controversial, most especially in the case of the Nebula Award winning "What I Didn't See." The story is set in 1920s Africa and has no overtly fantastical elements; it is a feminist response to the pulp magazines. Editor David Truesdale has been especially vocal in opposition to the story being considered as science fiction or fantasy in any way or form.

Her 2004 novel "The Jane Austen Book Club" become a critical and popular success including being on "The New York Times" bestsellers list. Although it is not a science fiction or fantasy work, science fiction does play an integral part to the novel's plot.

Fowler was an instructor at the Clarion Workshop 2007 in San Diego. She was one of the two Guests of Honor at Readercon 2007. In 2008, she won the Nebula for Best Short Story for her 2007 story "Always."

Bibliography

Novels

* "Sarah Canary" (1991) - Novel concerning a mysterious nonsense-speaking woman in 1873 Pacific Northwest.
* "The War of the Roses" (1991) - Chapter book publication of the novelette.
* "The Sweetheart Season" (1996) - Fantasy novel about the Sweetwheat Sweethearts, a female baseball team from 1947 Minnesota.
* "Sister Noon" (2001) - Novel set in 1890s San Francisco.
* "The Jane Austen Book Club" (2004) - Six members of an early 21st century book club discuss Jane Austen books.
* "Wit's End" (Putnam, 2008) - A young woman visits her godmother, one of America's most successful mystery writers.

Collections

* "Artificial Things" (1986) - Collection of 13 short stories.
* "Peripheral Vision" (1990) - Collection of 5 stories, 1 original. Author's Choice Monthly #6
* "Letters from Home" (1991) with Pat Cadigan and Pat Murphy. Collection of short fiction by Fowler, Cadigan, and Murphy.
* "Black Glass" (1997) - Collection of 15 short stories, 2 original. Includes the contents from "Artificial Things" and "Letters from Home".

Anthologies edited by Karen Joy Fowler

* "MOTA 3: Courage" (2003) - Anthology of literate short fiction.
* "The James Tiptree Award Anthology 1" (2005) with Debbie Notkin, Pat Murphy and Jeffrey D. Smith. Anthology of winners of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award
* "The James Tiptree Award Anthology 2" (2006) with Debbie Notkin, Pat Murphy and Jeffrey D. Smith.
* "The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3" (2007) with Debbie Notkin, Pat Murphy and Jeffrey D. Smith.

External links

*isfdb name|id=Karen_Joy_Fowler|name=Karen Joy Fowler
* [http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-fowler-karen-joy.asp Book Reporter] , biography
* [http://www.tiptree.org/ The James Tiptree, Jr. Award Home Page]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fowler (surname) — Fowler is an English and/or Irish surname with a linguistic origin in the Old English fugelere , indicative of a person occupied as a bird catcher.cite book last=Seary | first=E. R. | coauthors=Sheila M. P. Lynch | title=Family Names of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Fowler — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Fowler Alfred Fowler (1868 1940), astronome britannique Ally Fowler ; Arthur Fowler ; Bruce Fowler ; Calvin Fowler ; Charles… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Prix Locus de la meilleure nouvelle courte — Les prix Locus sont décernés chaque année, depuis 1971, par les lecteurs du magazine américain mensuel de science fiction Locus lors de la Westercons qui se déroule le quatrième week end de juillet. La catégorie de la meilleure nouvelle courte… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nebula Award for Best Short Story — Winners of the “Nebula Award for Best Short Story” . The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below. Contents 1 Winners and nominees 2 See also 3… …   Wikipedia

  • Prix Nebula de la meilleure nouvelle courte — Les prix Nebula sont attribués chaque année pour les œuvres publiées pendant l année calendaire précédente. La catégorie de la meilleure nouvelle courte (short story) récompense des œuvres de fantasy et de science fiction comportant moins de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • James Tiptree, Jr. Award — The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual literary prize for works of science fiction ( SF ) or fantasy that expand or explore one s understanding of gender. It was initiated in February of 1991 by SF authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler,… …   Wikipedia

  • James Tiptree, Jr — Infobox Person name = Alice B. Sheldon image size = caption = birth date = August 24, 1915 birth place = Chicago, Illinois, USA death date = May 19, 1987 (age 71) death place = McLean, Virginia, USA education = Baccalaureate, American University… …   Wikipedia

  • Pat Murphy (writer) — Pat Murphy (Patrice) is an award winning American science writer and author of science fiction and fantasy novels. Her second novel, The Falling Woman (1986), won the Nebula Award, and she also won a Nebula Award in the same year for her… …   Wikipedia

  • Pat Murphy — Pat Murphy, de son vrai nom Patrice Ann Murphy, née le 9 mars 1955 dans l’État de Washington est une romancière américaine de science fiction et de fantasy. Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Récompenses 3 Œuvres …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Tachyon Publications — is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies. Tachyon published a… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”