Kij Johnson

Kij Johnson
Born	(1960-01-20) January 20, 1960 Iowa, United States
Occupation	Writer, professor of English
Nationality	United States
Education	B.A., MFA
Alma mater	St. Olaf College, 1982; North Carolina State University, Raleigh 2012
Website
kijjohnson.com

Kij Johnson (born Katherine Irenae Johnson January 20, 1960 in Harlan, Iowa) is an American writer of fantasy. She is a faculty member at the University of Kansas.

Life and career

Kij Johnson was born in Harlan, Iowa. She received her BA from St. Olaf College in 1982, studied creative writing and literature at the University of Minnesota and at University of Kansas, then earned an MFA in Creative Writing from North Carolina State University in 2012. She joined the University of Kansas English Department as Assistant Professor of Fiction Writing in Fall 2012, where she is associate director of the The Center for the Study of Science Fiction.

Johnson has worked extensively in publishing: managing editor for Tor Books and TSR (Wizards of the Coast), collections editor for Dark Horse Comics, and content manager working on the Microsoft Reader. In her time at Wizards of the Coast, she was also continuity manager for Magic: The Gathering and creative director for AD&D settings Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. Johnson serves as a final judge for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award.

Johnson is the author of three novels and more than 50 short works of fiction. She is the winner of the 1994 Theodore Sturgeon Award for "Fox Magic", the 2001 Crawford Award from the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts for best new fantasist, the 2008 World Fantasy Award for "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss", the 2009 Nebula Award for "Spar", the 2010 Nebula (tied) for "Ponies", and the 2012 Nebula and Hugo awards for best novella for "The Man Who Bridged the Mist". She was a finalist for the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 Hugo Awards; the 2008, 2010 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016 Nebula Awards; and the 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013 World Fantasy Awards.

In January 2013, Johnson gave the inaugural Tolkien Lecture at Pembroke College, Oxford, speaking on the topic of fantasy literature.

Bibliography

• "Roadkill" (Tales of the Unanticipated No. 3, 1988)
• "FERATA" (Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine No. 1, Fall 1988)
• "Wolf Trapping" (The Twilight Zone Magazine, April 1989; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
• "Solving the Homeless Problem" (Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine No. 8, Summer 1990)
• "Hera's Madness" (Weird Tales No. 298, Fall 1990)
• "I [heart] my [dogface]" (Tales of the Unanticipated No. 8, 1991)
• "Ursula Redux" (with Phillip C. Jennings) (Amazing Stories, March 1991)
• "Canine Intervention" (Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine No. 11, Spring 1991)
• "Questing" (Tales of the Unanticipated No. 10, 1991)
• "Last Dance at Dante's" (Tales of the Unanticipated No. 11, 1993)
• "The Emperor's New Prose" (Swashbuckling Editor Stories, 1993)
• "Schrödinger's Cathouse" (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1993; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
• "Fox Magic", (Asimov's, December 1993; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
  • Winner, 1994 Theodore Sturgeon Award
• "The Renaissance Fair" (Sirius Visions, 1994)
• "Myths" (Andrew Vachss' Underground, 1994)
• "What Dogs Hunt in Their Dreams" (Buried Treasures, 1996)
• Dragon's Honor (with Greg Cox) (1996)
• "The Heart of a Minotaur" (The Duelist No. 21, January 1998)
• "The Knife's Edge" (The Duelist No. 23, March 1998)
• "Old Wars" (The Duelist No. 25, May 1998)
• "Crovax's Tale" (Rath and Storm, 1998)
• "Chenting, in the Land of the Dead" (Realms of Fantasy, November 1999; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
• "The Horse Raiders" (Analog, May 2000; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
• The Fox Woman (2000)
  • Winner, 2001 Crawford Award
• Tales for the Long Rains (2001)
• "The Snow Wife" (Tales for the Long Rains, 2001)
• "The Knife Birds" (Tales for the Long Rains, 2001)
• "Dia Chjerman's tale" (Tales for the Long Rains, 2001)
• Fudoki (2003)
  • Finalist, 2004 World Fantasy Award
  • Shortlisted, 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award
• "At the Mouth of the River of Bees" (scifi.com; The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2004; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
• "Elfrithe's Ghost" (Realms of Fantasy, August 2004)
• "The Empress Jingū Fishes" (Conqueror Fantastic, 2004; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
• "Coney World" (Coney Island Wonder Stories, 2006)
• "The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change" (The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales, 2007; The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 2008; Nebula Awards Showcase 2009, 2009; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
  • Finalist, 2007 Nebula Award
  • Finalist, 2008 Theodore Sturgeon Award (withdrawn by Johnson, who is a juror for the award)
  • Finalist, 2008 World Fantasy Award
  • Final ten stories, 2008 Hugo Award
• "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" (Asimov's, July 2008; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
  • 2008 Asimov Magazine Reader's Choice
  • Winner, 2008 World Fantasy Award
  • Finalist, 2008 Nebula Award
  • Finalist, 2009 Theodore Sturgeon Award (withdrawn by Johnson, who is a juror for the award)
  • Finalist, 2009 Hugo Award
• "The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles" (tor.com, July 2009; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
• "Spar" (Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2009; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
  • Winner, 2009 Nebula Award for Best Short Story
  • Finalist, 2010 Hugo Award
  • Finalist, 2010 Locus Award
  • Finalist, 2010 Theodore Sturgeon Award (withdrawn by Johnson, who is a juror for the award)
• "Names for Water" (Asimov's, October/November 2010; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
  • Finalist, 2010 Locus Award
• "Ponies" (tor.com; At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories)
  • Winner, 2010 Nebula Award (tie)
• "Story Kit" (Eclipse Four: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2011)
• "The Man Who Bridged the Mist" (Asimov's, October/November 2011)
  • Winner 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novella
  • Winner 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novella
  • Finalist Locus Award
• "Mantis Wives" (Clarkesworld Magazine, August 2012)
  • Finalist 2013 Hugo Award
• At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories (Small Beer Press, 2012)
  • Finalist 2013 World Fantasy Award
• "Spar (Bacon Remix)" (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2013)
• "The Apartment Dweller's Bestiary" (Clarkesworld Magazine, January 2015)
• The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe (Tor.com, August 2016)
  • Finalist 2017 World Fantasy Award in Novel category

Other published works

• Essay, "This I Believe", aired on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, August 31, 2008
• Essay, "Sturgeon and the Sturgeons", afterword for anthology of Sturgeon Award–winning fiction, forthcoming
• Poem, "Why She Howls: A Coyote Love Story", Journal of Mythic Arts, Winter 2006
• Comic script, "The Painted Horse", illus. Mike Dringenberg, in Dark Horse Presents, Dark Horse Comics, 1995
• Essay, "Collections: The Whole Story", Dark Horse Comics Tipsheet #4, April 1993
• Mirage: Oasis (web game for Magic: The Gathering trading card game)
• Battletech: Last Stand at Hanover (web game for Battletech trading card game)
• Weatherlight: Legacy (web game for Magic: The Gathering trading card game)
• Tempest: Into the Storm (web game for Magic: The Gathering trading card game)

Edited

• Nebula Awards Showcase 2014, 2014

External links

• Official website
• 2012 interview at Locus. On writing: "The idea I have had requires a metric fuckton of research...."
• Interview at Clarkesworld Magazine, March 2010
• Kij Johnson profile at Lawrence Journal-World, January 25, 2016
• Kij Johnson at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database