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John Kessel

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John Kessel
Born (1950-09-24) September 24, 1950 (age 74)
Buffalo, New York, United States
Occupation
  • Writer
  • editor
  • teacher
Period1978–present
GenreScience fiction; Fantasy literature; Comic science fiction; Metafiction; Satire
SubjectTime travel; the Future; Dinosaurs
Literary movementSavage Humanism[1]
Notable worksAnother Orphan, Good News from Outer Space, "Buffalo", "Pride and Prometheus", Corrupting Dr. Nice
SpouseTherese Anne Fowler
Website
johnjosephkessel.wixsite.com/kessel-website

John Joseph Vincent Kessel (born September 24, 1950) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer, and the author of four solo novels, Good News From Outer Space (1989), Corrupting Dr. Nice (1997), The Moon and the Other (2017), and Pride and Prometheus (2018), and one novel, Freedom Beach (1985) in collaboration with his friend James Patrick Kelly. Kessel is married to author Therese Anne Fowler.

Education

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Kessel obtained a B.A. in Physics and English from the University of Rochester in 1972, followed by a M.A. in English from University of Kansas in 1974,[2] and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 1981, where he studied under science fiction writer and scholar James Gunn.[3] Since 1982 Kessel has taught classes in American literature, science fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University, and helped organize the MFA Creative Writing program at NCSU, serving as its first director.[4][5]

Publications

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Kessel won a Nebula Award in 1982 for his novella "Another Orphan", in which the protagonist finds himself living inside the novel Moby-Dick. His short story "Buffalo" won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and the Locus poll in 1992. He won a second Nebula Award for his 2008 novelette "Pride and Prometheus,"[6] a melding the tales of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The intervening 26 years between his two Nebula Awards was the longest gap between competitive awards in Nebula history.[7] The novelette also won a 2009 Shirley Jackson Award,[5] and was expanded into a novel by the same name in 2018.[8]

His novella "Stories for Men" shared the 2002 James Tiptree Jr. Award (Otherwise Award) for science fiction dealing with gender issues with M. John Harrison's novel Light. He has been nominated three times for a World Fantasy Award: 1993 for the Meeting in Infinity collection, 1999 for the short fiction "Every Angel is Terrifying", and 2009 for the short story "Pride and Prometheus".[9]

Kessel is also a widely published science fiction and fantasy critic. His works of criticism include the 2004 essay on Orson Scott Card's novel Ender's Game, "Creating the Innocent Killer: Ender's Game, Intention, and Morality". With Mark L. Van Name, Kessel created the Sycamore Hill Writer's Workshop. Kessel has also edited, with James Patrick Kelly, three collections of contemporary sf short stories, Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology, and The Secret History of Science Fiction.

In 1994 his play Faustfeathers received the Paul Green Playwrights' Prize. In 2007 his story "A Clean Escape" (previously adapted by Kessel as a one-act play in 1986) was adapted by Sam Egan for ABC's science fiction anthology series Masters of Science Fiction.

Bibliography

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Novels

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Title Year First published Awards/Nominations Notes
Freedom Beach 1985 Kessel, John; Kelly, James Patrick (1985). Freedom Beach. Orion Publishing.
Good News From Outer Space 1989 Kessel, John (1989). Good News from Outer Space. Tor Books. Nebula Award Nominee
Corrupting Dr. Nice 1997 Kessel, John (1997). Corrupting Dr. Nice. Tor Books.
The Moon and the Other 2017 Kessel, John (2017). The Moon and the Other. Simon & Schuster. James Tiptree Jr. Award Long List
Pride and Prometheus 2018 Kessel, John (2018). Pride and Prometheus. Simon & Schuster.

Short fiction

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Collections
Title Year First published Awards/Nominations Notes
Meeting in Infinity 1992 Kessel, John (1992). Meeting in Infinity: Allegories & Extrapolations. Arkham House. World Fantasy Award Nominee
The Pure Product 1997 Kessel, John (1997). The Pure Product: Stories By John Kissel. Tor Books.
The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories 2008 Kessel, John (2008). The Baum Plan for Financial Independence: and Other Stories. Small Beer Press.
The Dark Ride 2022 Kessel, John (2023). The Dark Ride: The Best Short Fiction of John Kessel. Subterranean Press.
The Presidential Papers 2024 Kessel, John (2024). The Presidential Papers (Outspoken Authors #31). PM Press. Forthcoming (October)
Stories[10]
Title Year First published Awards/Nominations Notes
Another orphan 1982 Kessel, John (September 1982). "Another orphan". F&SF. Nebula Award winner
Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner 1988 Kessel, John (June 1988). "Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner". Asimov's SF. Nebula Award Nominee
Another orphan 1989 Novella
Buffalo 1991 Kessel, John (January 1991). "Buffalo". F&SF. Sturgeon Award Winner, Locus Award Winner, Hugo Award Nominee, Nebula Award Nominee[11]
The Franchise 1993 Kessel, John (August 1993). "The Franchise". Asimov's SF. Nebula Award nominee, Hugo Award nominee Novelette
The Miracle of Ivar Avenue 1996 John, Kessel (1996). "The Miracle of Ivar Avenue". In Kessel, John; Van Name, Mark L.; Butner, Richard (eds.). Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology. New York: Tor Books. ISBN 9780312860905. Nebula Award nominee Novelette
Every Angel is Terrifying 1998 Kessel, John (October–November 1998). "Every Angel is Terrifying". F&SF. World Fantasy Award nominee
Ninety Percent of Everything 1999 Kessel, John; Lethem, Jonathan; Kelly, James Patrick (September 1999). "Ninety Percent of Everything". F&SF. Nebula Award nominee Novella
Stories for Men 2002 Kessel, John (October–November 2002). "Stories for Men". Asimov's SF. James Tiptree Jr. Award Winner, Nebula Award Nominee
Pride and Prometheus 2008 Kessel, John (January 2008). "Pride and Prometheus". F&SF. Nebula Award winner, Shirley Jackson Award winner, James Tiptree Jr. Award Honor List Novelette
Spirit level 2020 Kessel, John (July–August 2020). "Spirit level". F&SF. 139 (1&2): 52–77. Novelette

Anthologies and collections (edited)

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Plays

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  • 1986 A Clean Escape
  • 1994 Faustfeathers (Paul Green Playwrights' Prize Winner)

Book reviews

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Year Review article Work(s) reviewed
1994 Kessel, John (February 1994). "Just like real people". Books. F&SF. 86 (2).

References

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  1. ^ Sawyer, Robert J. (April 29, 2008). "The Savage Humanists". Robert J. Sawyer. Retrieved June 16, 2013. Meet the Savage Humanists: the hottest science-fiction writers working today. They use SF's unique powers to comment on the human condition in mordantly funny, satiric stories... In these pages, you'll find the top names in the SF field: including...John Kessel...
  2. ^ "John Kessel: Over the Moon (Interview)". Locus Online. June 11, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Feehan, Ellen; Kessel, John (1993). "An Interview with John Kessel". Science Fiction Studies. 20 (1): 94–107. ISSN 0091-7729. JSTOR 4240217.
  4. ^ "Creating a literary culture". Department of English, North Carolina State University. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Interview With an Author: John Kessel". Los Angeles Public Library. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  6. ^ Smith, Zack (May 8, 2009). "N.C. State teacher and author John Kessel discusses his second Nebula award". INDY Week. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  7. ^ "NC State's John Kessel Wins Nebula Award for 'Pride and Prometheus'". NC State News. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  8. ^ Bourke, Liz (February 15, 2018). "Literary Fusion: Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel". Reactor Magazine. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  9. ^ World Fantasy Convention (2010). "Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  10. ^ Short stories unless otherwise noted.
  11. ^ Reprinted in The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology, ed. Gordon Van Gelder. San Francisco: Tachyon Publications (ISBN 978-1-892391-91-9), 2009.
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