Chelsea Louise Polk (born 1969) is a Canadian author of fantasy fiction, best known for the debut novel '' Witchmark'' which won the World Fantasy Award in 2019. A blend of murder mystery and fantasy, ''Witchmark'' is a set in a

gaslamp Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...

secondary world and is followed by two sequels, ''Stormsong'' and ''Soulstar''.

Life and career

Polk was born in 1969 in New Westminster, British Columbia and grew up in Surrey and Edmonton. Polk is non-binary and has referred to their gender as a " lava lamp." They began writing in their thirties, publishing short fiction in magazines such as '' Abyss & Apex'' in the early 2000s. Polk was influenced by the works of fantasy author Tanith Lee, in particular the ''

Tales from the Flat Earth ''Tales from The Flat Earth'' is a fantasy series by British writer Tanith Lee. The novels take inspiration from '' One Thousand and One Nights'' and are similarly structured as interconnected stories. The series has been well received, and ''D ...

'', the historical mystery and fantasy novels of Barbara Hambly, and the '' Valdemar'' novels by Mercedes Lackey. Polk's first novel '' Witchmark'', featuring a murder mystery set in an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

Edwardian England, was written in 2014 and published in 2018. ''Witchmark'' won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and received nominations for several awards including the

Nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...

and Locus Awards. In 2019, Polk was listed by the '' CBC'' as one of "19 Canadian writers to watch". ''Witchmark'' is the first book of the ''Kingston Cycle'', with the sequel ''Stormsong'' listed by '' CBC Books'' as among the Canadian fiction to watch for in 2020. The third and concluding book of the series, ''Soulstar'', was published in 2021. Other works by Polk include a

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...

set in Regency era England, ''The Midnight Bargain'', which was nominated for several

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

prizes and was a contender in the 2021 edition of Canada Reads. '' Even Though I Knew the End,'' a period novella set in early 1900s Chicago about a damned woman fighting for a chance to be with the woman she loves, was nominated for multiple major awards and won the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

. Polk expressed surprise at the flood of nominations, saying that they didn't think it was "an award book." In 2023, Polk underwent treatment with ketamine and blogged about their experience. Their intent was to manage

Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD; also known as complex trauma disorder) is a psychological disorder that is theorized to develop in response to exposure to a series of traumatic events in a context in which the individual perceive ...

impacting their life and writing career. As of 2020, Polk resides in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta.

Awards

Bibliography

''The Kingston Cycle''

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Other novels and novellas

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Short fiction

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polk, C. L. Living people Canadian fantasy writers Canadian feminist writers People from New Westminster Writers from British Columbia 21st-century Canadian novelists Black Canadian writers 1969 births Canadian non-binary writers Black Canadian LGBT people Canadian LGBT novelists Non-binary novelists 21st-century Canadian LGBT people Nebula Award winners