Erin Morgenstern (born July 8, 1978) is an American multimedia artist and the author of two fantasy novels. ''

The Night Circus ''The Night Circus'' is a 2011 fantasy novel by Erin Morgenstern. It was originally written for the annual writing competition National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) over the span of three competitions. The novel has a nonlinear narrative wri ...

'' (2011) was published in more than a dozen languages by 2013 and won the annual

Locus Award for Best First Novel The Locus Award for Best First Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus''. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award for Best Firs ...

. She is a 2012 recipient of an

Alex Award The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Essentially, the award is a listing by the American Library Association parallel to its annual Best Books for Young A ...

. Her second book, '' The Starless Sea'', was published in 2019.

Life

Erin Morgenstern was raised in

Marshfield, Massachusetts Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 25,825 at the 2020 census. It includes the census-designated places (CDPs) of Marshfield, Marshfield Hills, Ocean Bluf ...

and studied theater and studio art at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

, graduating in 2000. In addition to writing, she paints, mostly in acrylics, including the ''Phantomwise''

tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

deck. She signed with Inkwell Management in May 2010 after being rejected by thirty literary agents, and sold her debut novel to Doubleday in September 2010; ''The Night Circus'' was published in September 2011. She has participated in

National Novel Writing Month National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo ) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes creative writing around the world. Its flagship program is an annual, international creative writing event in which participants att ...

since 2003, and first wrote about what would become ''The Night Circus'' in November 2005. Morgenstern has since moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

''The Night Circus''

Morgenstern's debut novel, ''

'', was published in September 2011. It is a phantasmagorical fairy tale of magic and romance set in an ahistorical late 19th century London. The book has drawn comparison with the

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

series, as well as the works of

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

Susanna Clarke Susanna Mary Clarke (born 1 November 1959) is an English author known for her debut novel ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' (2004), a Hugo Award-winning alternative history. Clarke began ''Jonathan Strange'' in 1993 and worked on it during her ...

, and

Steven Millhauser Steven Millhauser (born August 3, 1943) is an American novelist and short story writer. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel '' Martin Dressler''. Life and career Millhauser was born in New York City, grew up in Connecticut, ...

; it is not aimed at

young adults A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

, but has been recommended for teens. The first printing runs to 175,000, and the rights have been sold in 30 countries;

Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment is an American film production and distribution company. It is a label of Lionsgate Films, owned by Lionsgate Entertainment and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. History Independent era (1991–2012) Summit E ...

has contracted the film rights.

Jim Dale Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In Britis ...

, who narrates the American edition

audiobooks, also narrates the audiobook of ''The Night Circus''.

Harvill Secker Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

, the UK publisher for ''The Night Circus'', contracted

Failbetter Games Failbetter Games is a British video game developer and interactive fiction studio based in London. History Founded in 2009 by Alexis Kennedy and Paul Arendt, Failbetter is chiefly known for its '' Fallen London'' Victorian Gothic franchise ...

to create an interactive browser-based puzzle game to accompany the book. In an interview with the

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

, Morgenstern describes the short, self-contained chapters as reflecting the myriad tents of the circus, and the black and white with a splash of red motif as showing dangerous passion simmering just below the surface. ''The Night Circus'' won an

from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

, the 2012

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

for Best First Novel, was nominated for the 2011 Goodreads Fantasy Award, and spent seven weeks on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list.

''The Starless Sea''

On November 8, 2018, it was announced that Doubleday would publish a new novel by Morgenstern titled '' The Starless Sea.'' Entertainment Weekly described ''The Starless Sea'' as a "sweeping new novel interweaving romantic and fantastical elements." The book was released on November 5, 2019.

References

External links

* , ''erin's emporium of discount dreams & well-worn wonders''
Twitter feed
*
Interview
with Writer Unboxed
Interview
on

The Diane Rehm Show ''The Diane Rehm Show'' was a call-in show based in the United States that aired nationally on NPR (National Public Radio). In October 2007, ''The Diane Rehm Show'' was named to the Audience Research Analysis list of the top ten most powerful nati ...

Interview
with

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgenstern, Erin 1978 births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American fantasy writers Smith College alumni Novelists from Massachusetts People from Marshfield, Massachusetts Place of birth missing (living people) Women science fiction and fantasy writers American women novelists