Sarah Pinsker is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is a nine-time finalist for the Nebula Award, and her debut novel A Song for a New Day won the 2019 Nebula for Best Novel while her story "Our Lady of the Open Road" won the 2016 Nebula Award for Best Novelette. Her novelette "Two Truths and a Lie" received both the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award. Her fiction has also won the Philip K. Dick Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award and been a finalist for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Tiptree Awards.
Life
Pinsker was born in New York and lived in several parts of the United States including Illinois and Texas. When she was 14, her family settled in Toronto, Canada. She returned to the US to attend Goucher College where she studied history.
In addition to writing fiction she is a singer-songwriter with the band Stalking Horses"" by Jean Marie Ward, Buzzy Mag, February 20, 2015. and has had multiple albums released through independent labels."Destroying Science Fiction: An Interview with Nebula Award Winning Writer, Sarah Pinsker " by Michael B. Tager, What Weekly, September 22, 2016. She also volunteers as director at large for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and hosts the Baltimore Science Fiction Society's Dangerous Voices Variety Hour reading series."Interview with Sarah Pinsker" by Andrea Johnson, Apex Magazine, May 5, 2015.
Writing
Pinsker says her writing is heavily influenced by the science fiction and literary fiction which filled her parents' home, adding she is one of the rare authors who read "short stories as much as novels" when she was young. Among her early influences as an author were the works of Ursula K. Le Guin and Kate Wilhelm. Later influences on her fiction include Octavia Butler, Karen Joy Fowler, Kij Johnson, and Kelly Link.
Pinsker started out publishing her short fiction in magazines such as Asimov's Science Fiction, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Daily Science Fiction, the Journal of Unlikely Cartography, and Fireside. Anthologies containing her stories include Long Hidden, How to Live on Other Planets, Queers Destroy Science Fiction,Summary Bibliography: Sarah Pinsker, ISFDB. Retrieved October 6, 2020. and Whose Future Is It?."Sarah Pinsker" in Cellarius Stories, Volume 1. Cellarius, Ed., New York: 2018, . Retrieved December 17, 2018. Among the collections of the "year's best" stories which include her stories are The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 2, Year's Best Weird Fiction Vol 2, Year's Best Young Adult Speculative Fiction 2015, The Year's Best YA Speculative Fiction and The Year's Best Military and Adventure Fiction 2015.
In 2019, her debut novel A Song for a New Day was published. The novel follows the life of a musician in a future where pandemics and terrorism makes public events such as concerts illegal. In 2020, it won the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 2019.
Pinsker's fiction has been called "thoughtful, subtle","2016 in Review" by Rachel Swirsky, Locus Magazine, February 2017, page 33. "creepy""Interview: Sarah Pinsker" by Deborah Stanish, Uncanny Magazine, Sept./Oct. 2016 and "dreamlike".Gardnerspace: A Short Fiction Column" by Gardner Dozois, Locus Magazine, May 2016, page 12. Speaking of her fiction, Pinsker says "It is a good time to be someone who has something to say about a group or a personal experience that hasn't been touched on before. Science fiction looks at the world through a slightly different lens, so it's fun to put that lens onto new experiences.""Changing the face of diversity in Canadian comics and sci-fi" by Samia Madwar, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, August 30, 2016.
Awards
Year Work Award Category Result Ref. 2013 Nebula Award Novelette 2014 Theodore Sturgeon Award — Nebula Award Short Story 2015 Nebula Award Novelette 2016 Theodore Sturgeon Award— Nebula Award Novelette 2017 And Then There Were (N-One) Nebula Award Novella Nebula Award Novelette 2018 And Then There Were (N-One) Eugie Award — Hugo Award Novella Locus Award Novella Theodore Sturgeon Award — Nebula Award Short Story Hugo Award Novelette Locus Award Novelette 2019 Nebula Award Novelette Hugo Award Short Story Locus Award Short Story World Fantasy Award Short Fiction Nebula Award Novel 2020 Hugo Award Novelette Locus Award Novelette World Fantasy Award Short Fiction A Song for a New Day Compton Crook Award — Locus Award First Novel Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea Locus Award Collection Philip K. Dick Award — World Fantasy Award Collection Bram Stoker Award Long Fiction Nebula Award Novelette 2021 Hugo Award Novelette Locus Award Novelette Nebula Award Short Story 2022 We Are Satellites Locus Award Science Fiction Novel Eugie Award — Hugo Award Short Story Locus Award Short Story World Fantasy Award Short Fiction 2023 Seiun Award Translated Short Story 2024 Lost Places Locus Award Collection Hugo Award Novelette Locus Award Novelette Locus Award Short Story 2025 Haunt Sweet Home Locus Award Novella Signs of Life Hugo Award Novelette 2026 Hugo Award Novelette Locus Award Novelette Seiun Award Translated Short Story
Bibliography
Novels
Chapbooks
Collections
Short fiction Note:Short stories unless otherwise noted. YearTitleFirst publishedReprinted/collectedNotes2012Queen for a DaySmashing BottlesBroken StonesTwenty Ways the Desert Could Kill You2013In Joy, Knowing the Abyss BehindJoin Our Team of Time Travel Professionals2014Monsters, Beneath the Bed and OtherwiseThey Sent Runners OutHeadlongThere Will Be One Vacant ChairHow a Map WorksNo Lonely SeafarerNotes to My Past and/or Alternate Selves2015Beauty & the Baby BeastSongs in the Key of YouWhen the Circus Lights DownLast Thursday at Supervillain Supply DepotRemembery DayToday's Smarthouse in LoveOur Lady of the Open RoadNoveletteIn the Dawns Between HoursPay AttentionAnd We Were Left DarklingWhat Wags the World2016Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the SeaLeft the Century to Sit UnmovedClearanceDown Beneath the Bridge Yet UnbuiltTalking to Dead PeopleUnder One Roof2017And Then There Were (N-One)Wind Will RoveLinkRemember This for Me2018Do As I Do, Sing As I SingI Frequently Hear Music in the Very Heart of NoiseEscape from Caring SeasonsLost and Found2019That Our Flag Was Still ThereEverything is Closed Today2020La Mer DonneBigger FishNoticeTwo Truths and a LieTru Luv2021Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather ——————— Bibliography notes
References
External links