Catherynne M. Valente

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Catherynne M. Valente
CatherynneMValente.jpg
Born (1979-05-05) May 5, 1979 (age 34)
Seattle, Washington
Occupation Poet, novelist, literary critic
Nationality American
Alma mater UC San Diego, Edinburgh University
Genres Postmodern, fantasy, mythpunk
Notable award(s) James Tiptree, Jr. Award (2006), storySouth Million Writers Award (2007), Rhysling Award (2007), Mythopoeic Award (2008), Andre Norton Award (2009)

www.catherynnemvalente.com

Catherynne M. Valente (born Bethany Thomas; May 5, 1979 in Seattle, Washington) is a Tiptree–, Andre Norton–, and Mythopoeic Award–winning novelist, poet, and literary critic. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, the World Fantasy Award–winning anthologies Salon Fantastique and Paper Cities, along with numerous Year's Best volumes. Her critical work has appeared in the International Journal of the Humanities under the name Bethany L. Thomas as well as in the essay anthology Chicks Dig Time Lords. She currently lives on Peaks Island in the state of Maine with her husband. Valente has also published five books of poetry and won the Rhysling Award for speculative poetry.

Her debut novel, The Labyrinth, was a Locus Recommended Book, and her subsequent novels have been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Locus awards. Her 2009 book, Palimpsest, won the Lambda Award for GLBT Science Fiction or Fantasy. Her two-volume series The Orphan's Tales won the 2008 Mythopoeic Award, and its first volume, The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden won the 2006 James Tiptree, Jr. Award, was nominated for the 2007 World Fantasy Award, and was The Plain Dealer's No. 1 summer reading novel in 2007.

In 2009, she donated her archive to the [8] Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection] in the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.[1]

Contents

Themes [edit]

Valente's work tends to center on folkloric and mythological themes, reimagining fairy tales and genre tropes via feminist, surrealist, and postmodern lenses. Her writing is characterized by stylistic and structural experimentation as well as complex linguistic and poetic techniques.

Multimedia and mythpunk [edit]

Valente tours with singer/songwriter SJ Tucker, who along with her own varied discography composes albums based on Valente's work. The pair perform reading concerts throughout North America, often featuring dancers, aerial artists, art auctions featuring jewelry and paintings based on the novels, and other performances.

Valente is extremely active in the crowdfunding movement of online artists, and her novel The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making was the first online, crowdfunded book to win a major literary award before traditional publication.

Valente coined the term mythpunk as a joke for describing her own and other works of challenging folklore-based fantasy in a blog post in 2006.[2]

Selected works [edit]

Novels [edit]

The Orphan's Tales series (Bantam)

The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden (vol. 1) ISBN 0-553-38403-1 (Oct 2006)

  • Book of the Steppe
  • Book of the Sea

The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice (vol. 2) ISBN 0-553-38404-X (Oct 2007)

  • Book of the Storm
  • Book of the Scald
A Dirge for Prester John series (Night Shade Books)
Fairyland series (Feiwel & Friends)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making started out in 2009 as a crowdfunded middle-grade online novel (originally, a fictional children's book in Palimpsest).[4]

Poetry [edit]

Nonfiction [edit]

Short fiction [edit]

Collections [edit]

  • This Is My Letter to the World: The Omikuji Project, Cycle One [5] (2010)
  • Ventriloquism, short story collection (PS Publishing) (2010)
  • Myths of Origin (Wyrm Publishing) ISBN 1-890464-14-7, Omnibus collection containing The Labyrinth, Yume No Hon: The Book of Dreams, The Grass-Cutting Sword, and Under in the Mere (2011)

Awards [edit]

Year Award Work (if applicable)
2006 James Tiptree, Jr. Award The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden (vol. 1)[6]
2007 storySouth Million Writers Award Urchins, While Swimming, Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 3[7]
2007 World Fantasy Award Nominee (Best Novel) The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden (vol. 1)[8]
2008 Rhysling Award (long poem category) The Seven Devils of Central California, Farrago's Wainscot Summer 2007
2008 Mythopoeic Award (adult literature) The Orphan's Tales (series)[9]
2009 World Fantasy Award Nominee (Best Short Story) A Buyer's Guide to Maps of Antarctica, Clarkesworld Magazine May 2008)[10]
2009 Andre Norton Award The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making[11]
2010 CultureGeek Readers' Choice Award (Best Web Fiction of the 21st Century) The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making[11]
2010 Hugo Award for Best Novel (nominee) Palimpsest[12]
2010 Locus Awards (nominee) Palimpsest[12]
2010 Lambda Literary Awards Palimpsest[12]
2012 Hugo Award for Best Fancast SF Squeecast (with Lynne M. Thomas, Seanan McGuire, Paul Cornell, and Elizabeth Bear)[13]
2012 Time Magazine Top 10 Fiction Books The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There[14]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Thomas, Lynne M. (March 20, 2009). "Hugos, Catherynne Valente Archives, and CLIR Reports". Confessions of a Curator. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 
  2. ^ A Rose in Twelve Names [1]. Retrieved on 2010-08-26
  3. ^ Valente, Catherynne M. (July 27, 2011). "The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland – For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente". Tor.com. Retrieved February 2, 2013. 
  4. ^ The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. [2]. Retrieved on 2009-6-16.
  5. ^ Omikuji Project, Cycle One – Kindle Edition [3]. Retrieved on 2010-08-24.
  6. ^ James Tiptree, Jr. Award 2006 Winners. [4]. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  7. ^ South 2007 Million Writers Award for Fiction. [5]. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  8. ^ World Fantasy Convention (2010). "Award Winners and Nominees". Retrieved February 4, 2011. 
  9. ^ Mythopoeic Awards – 2008. [6]. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  10. ^ 2009 World Fantasy Awards. [7]. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  11. ^ a b Elizabeth Donald, bnd.com (Belleville News Democrat), "CultureGeek Readers' Choice Awards," January 15, 2010, accessed January 31, 2010.
  12. ^ a b c "The 2010 Hugo and John W. Campbell Award Nominees". AussieCon 4. April 4, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  13. ^ The Hugo Awards: 2012 Hugo Award Winners September 2, 2012, Accessed September 3, 2012
  14. ^ "Top 10 Fiction Books". Time Magazine. December 4, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2013. 

External links [edit]