Nalo Hopkinson (born 20 December 1960) is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n-born Canadian

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 ...

writer and editor. Her novels ('' Brown Girl in the Ring'', ''

Midnight Robber ''Midnight Robber'' is a science fiction bildungsroman (coming-of-age novel) by Jamaican-Canadian writer Nalo Hopkinson. Warner Aspect published the novel in 2000. Plot The novel moves between a first-person narrator and a third-person narrator w ...

'', '' The Salt Roads'', ''The New Moon's Arms'') and short stories such as those in her collection '' Skin Folk'' often draw on

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling. Hopkinson has edited two fiction anthologies ('' Whispers From the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction'' and '' Mojo: Conjure Stories''). She was the co-editor with Uppinder Mehan for the anthology '' So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Visions of the Future'', and with

Geoff Ryman Geoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a Canadian writer of science fiction, fantasy, slipstream and historical fiction. Biography Ryman was born in Canada and moved to the United States at age 11. He earned degrees in History and English at UCLA ...

for ''Tesseracts 9''. Hopkinson defended

George Elliott Clarke George Elliott Clarke, (born February 12, 1960) is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015 and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known larg ...

's novel ''

Whylah Falls ''Whylah Falls'' is a long narrative poem (or "verse novel") by George Elliott Clarke, published in book form in 1990. As with much of Clarke's work, the poem is inspired by the history and culture of the Black Canadian community in Nova Scotia ...

'' on the CBC's '' Canada Reads 2002''. She was the curator of ''Six Impossible Things'', an audio series of Canadian fantastical fiction on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...

. As of 2013, she lives and teaches in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. In 2020, Hopkinson was named the 37th Damon Knight Grand Master.

Early life and education

Nalo Hopkinson was born 20 December 1960 in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, to Freda and

Muhammed Abdur-Rahman Slade Hopkinson Slade Hopkinson (1934 – 1993) was a Guyana-born poet, playwright, actor and teacher. Early life Slade Hopkinson was born into a middle-class family in New Amsterdam, Guyana. His father was a barrister-at-law, and his mother a nurse. A few years ...

. She grew up in

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, and Canada.Hopkinson, Nalo. ''The Salt Roads''. New York: Warner Books, 2003. . She was raised in a literary environment; her mother was a library technician and her father a Guyanese poet, playwright and actor who also taught

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

.Mindy Farabee
"Nalo Hopkinson's science fiction and real-life family"
''Los Angeles Times'', 21 March 2013. By virtue of this upbringing, Hopkinson had access to writers like

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

during her formative years, and could read

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

's works by the age of six. Hopkinson's writing is influenced by the fairy and folk tales she read at a young age, which included Afro-Caribbean stories like

Anansi Anansi ( ; literally translates to ''spider'') is an Akan folktale character and the Akan God of Stories, Wisdom, Knowledge, and possibly creation. The form of a spider is the most common depiction of Anansi. He is also, sometimes considered to ...

, as well as Western works like ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

'', the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

'', the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'';"A Conversation With Nalo Hopkinson"
SF Site, 2000. she was also known to have read the works of Shakespeare around the time she was reading Homer.Donna Bailey Nurse
"Nalo Hopkinson: Brown girl in the ring"
''Quill & Quire'', 2003-11. Though she lived in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

briefly during her father's tenure at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, Hopkinson has said that the culture shock from her move to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

from Guyana at the age of 16 was something "to which

he's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

still not fully reconciled". She lived in Toronto from 1977 to 2011 before moving to Riverside, California where she works as Professor of Creative Writing at

University of California Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban dist ...

. Hopkinson has a

Masters of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in Writing

Popular Fiction Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. A num ...

from

Seton Hill University Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Formerly a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students. History The school was founded in 1885 by the Sist ...

, where she studied with her mentor and instructor,

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

writer

James Morrow James Morrow (born March 17, 1947) is an American novelist and short-story writer known for filtering large philosophical and theological questions through his satiric sensibility. Most of Morrow's oeuvre has been published as science fiction ...

. She has learning disabilities.

Career

Before working as a professor, Hopkinson held jobs in libraries, worked as a government culture research officer, and held the position of grants officer at the Toronto Arts Council. She has taught writing at various programs around the world, including stints as writer-in-residence at

Clarion East Clarion is a six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, United States, it was founded i ...

Clarion West Clarion West Writers Workshop is an intensive six-week program for writers preparing for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy. It runs annually from late June through the end of July. The workshop is limited to 18 students per year. ...

and

Clarion South Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch * "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...

. Publishing and writing was stopped for six years due to a serious illness that prevented her from working. Severe

anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...

, caused by fibroids as well as a

vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 (c ...

deficiency, led to financial difficulties and ultimately homelessness for two years prior to being hired by UC Riverside. In 2011, Hopkinson was hired as an associate professor in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism at

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

. She became a full professor in 2014. As an author, Hopkinson often uses themes of Caribbean folklore,

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern African-Caribbeans descend from Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the ...

culture, and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. She is historically conscious and uses knowledge from growing up in

communities in her writing, including the use of Creole and character backgrounds from Caribbean countries including

and

. In addition, Hopkinson consistently writes about subjects including race, class, and sexuality. Through her work, particularly in ''

'', Hopkinson addresses differences in cultures as well as social issues such as child and sexual abuse. Hopkinson has been a key speaker and guest of honor at multiple

science fiction conventions Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

. She is one of the founding members of the

Carl Brandon Society The Carl Brandon Society is a group originating within the science fiction fandom, science fiction community "dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such as science fiction, fantasy and Horror fictio ...

and serves on the board. Hopkinson's favorite writers include

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His ...

, Tobias S. Buckell, and Charles Saunders. In addition, inspiration for her novels often comes from songs or poems with

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

's poem "

Goblin Market ''Goblin Market'' (composed in April 1859 and published in 1862) is a narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. The poem tells the story of Laura and Lizzie who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants. In a letter to her publisher, Rossetti claim ...

" serving as the inspiration for ''

Sister Mine ''Sister Mine'' is a 2007 novel by the American writer Tawni O’Dell. Plot introduction In the coal-mining country of Western Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of ...

''. Personal hobbies include

sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabr ...

cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

, and fabric design.Sofia Samatar (25 February 2013)
"'Write Your Heart Out': An Interview with Nalo Hopkinson"
''Strange Horizons''. Hopkinson designs fabrics based on historical photos and illustrations.

Awards

Hopkinson was the recipient of the 1999

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

and the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

Foundation Award for Emerging Writers. '' Brown Girl in the Ring'' was nominated for the

Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

in 1998, and received the

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 Fi ...

. In 2008 it was a finalist in

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

, produced by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. ''

'' was shortlisted for the James R. Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award in 2000 and nominated for the

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...

in 2001. '' Skin Folk'' received the World Fantasy Award and the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic in 2003. '' The Salt Roads'' received the

Gaylactic Spectrum Award The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards are given to works of science fiction, fantasy and horror that explore LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) topics in a positive way. Established in 1998, the awards were initially presented by the Gaylact ...

for positive exploration of queer issues in

for 2004, presented at the 2005 Gaylaxicon. It was also nominated for the 2004 Nebula Award. In 2008, ''The New Moon's Arms'' received the

Prix Aurora Award The Aurora Awards (french: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lur ...

(Canada's reader-voted award for science fiction and fantasy) and the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, making her the first author to receive the Sunburst Award twice. This book was also nominated for the 2007

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; a ...

. In 2020, Hopkinson was named the 37th Damon Knight Grand Master by the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...

Works

Novels

* '' Brown Girl in the Ring'' (1998) * ''

'' (2000) * '' The Salt Roads'' (2003) * ''The New Moon's Arms'' (2007) * ''The Chaos'' (2012) (

Young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

) * ''Sister Mine'' (2013)

Collections and anthologies

* '' Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction'' (2000, anthology) * '' Skin Folk'' (2001) (short stories) * '' Mojo: Conjure Stories'' (2003, anthology) * ''

So Long Been Dreaming ''So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy'' (2004) is an anthology of short stories by African, Asian, South Asian, and Indigenous authors, as well as North American and British writers of colour,''So Long Been Dreaming'' cov ...

'' (2004, anthology) * ''Report From Planet Midnight'' (2012) (short stories, interview and speech) * '' Falling in Love With Hominids'' (2015) (short stories)

Short fiction (first publications only)

* "Slow Cold Chick" in anthology ''Northern Frights 5'' (1998) * "A Habit of Waste" in anthology ''Women of Other Worlds: Excursions through Science Fiction and Feminism'' (1999) * "Precious" in anthology ''Silver Birch, Blood Moon'' (1999) * "The Glass Bottle Trick" in anthology '' Whispers From the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction'' (2000) * "Greedy Choke Puppy" and "Ganger (Ball Lightning)" in anthology '' Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction From the African Diaspora'' * "

" (excerpt from novel) reprinted in ''Young Bloods: Stories from'' Exile ''1972–2001'' (2001) * "Delicious Monster" in anthology ''Queer Fear II'' (2002) * "Shift" in journal ''Conjunctions: the New Wave Fabulists''. * "Herbal" in ''The Bakkanthology'' * "Whose Upward Flight I Love" reprinted in ''African Voices'' * "The Smile on the Face" in anthology ''Girls Who Bite Back: Witches, Mutants, Slayers and Freaks'' (2004)

Comic book series

* ''The Sandman Universe: House of Whispers'' ( DC/Vertigo) (2018- )

References

External links

* *
Nalo Hopkinson
at ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkinson, Nalo 1960 births Living people Black Canadian writers Canadian fantasy writers Canadian horror writers Canadian science fiction writers Canadian women novelists SFWA Grand Masters John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners Fabulists Jamaican expatriates in Canada Jamaican expatriates in the United States LGBT writers from Jamaica Canadian LGBT novelists Science fiction fans Seton Hill University alumni Women science fiction and fantasy writers Afrofuturist writers Women horror writers World Fantasy Award-winning writers Black Canadian women Black speculative fiction authors Jamaican women novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Jamaican novelists 21st-century Jamaican novelists Black Canadian LGBT people People from Kingston, Jamaica Canadian people of Guyanese descent Guyanese women novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers