Sean Llewellyn Williams (born 23 May 1967) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

author of

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 ...

who lives in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

. Several of his books have been ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' best-sellers.

Early life and education

Williams was born in

Whyalla, South Australia Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta i ...

on 23 May 1967. He studied sciences and music at

Pulteney Grammar School Pulteney Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, co-educational, private day school. Founded in 1847 by members of the Anglican Church, it is the second oldest independent school in South Australia. Its campuses are located on South Terrace ...

and matriculated third in his year (1984), topping the state for Musical composition. That same year, he won the Young Composer's Award for a theme and three variations for

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

with

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

soloists called "Release of Anger". He then went to

Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and studied a Bachelor of Economics and wrote for the student newspaper ''

On Dit ''On Dit'' is a student newspaper funded by the Adelaide University Union and advertising revenue which is published fortnightly during semester time. Founded in 1932, it is the third oldest student newspaper in Australia along with ''Semper Fl ...

''. He completed a

Master 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 ...

in Creative Writing at

in 2005 and was in 2010 a PhD candidate at the same institution.

Writing career

He is the author of over eighty published short stories and thirty-nine novels, including ''Twinmaker'' and (with

Garth Nix Garth Richard Nix (born 19 July 1963) is an Australian writer who specialises in children's and young adult fantasy novels, notably the ''Old Kingdom'', '' Seventh Tower'' and '' Keys to the Kingdom'' series. He has frequently been asked if his ...

) the '' Troubletwisters'' series. He has co-written three books in the ''Star Wars: New Jedi Order'' series. His novelisation of '' Star Wars: The Force Unleashed'' was the first novelisation of a computer game to debut at #1 on the "New York Times" bestseller list.

Other roles

Williams was Chair of the SA Writers' Centre from 2001 to 2003, and is one of only three lifetime members of that institution. Williams has also tutored for the Clarion South Workshop, was a previous winner of the

Writers of the Future Writers of the Future (WOTF) is a science fiction and fantasy story contest that was established by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s. A sister contest, Illustrators of the Future, presents awards for science fiction art. Hubbard characterized th ...

contest, and is now a judge for the same.

Awards

Williams is a multiple recipient of both the Ditmar and

Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...

Novels

''Evergence'' (with Shane Dix)

*''The Prodigal Sun'' (1999) *''The Dying Light'' (2000) - Winner, Best Long Fiction, 2001

Ditmar Award The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise a ...

*'' The Dark Imbalance'' (2001) - Winner, Best Science Fiction Novel, 2001

''The Books of the Change''

*''The Stone Mage & the Sea'' (2001) *''The Sky Warden & the Sun'' (2002) *'' The Storm Weaver & the Sand'' (2002) - Winner, Best Fantasy Novel, 2002

''Orphans'' (with Shane Dix)

*''Echoes of Earth'' (2002) - Winner, Best Australian Novel, 2002

*''Orphans of Earth'' (2003) *''Heirs of Earth'' (2004)

''Star Wars: New Jedi Order'' (with Shane Dix)

*'' Force Heretic I: Remnant'' (2003) *'' Force Heretic II: Refugee'' (2003) *'' Force Heretic III: Reunion'' (2003)

''Star Wars''

*''

The Force Unleashed ''Star Wars: The Force Unleashed'' is an action-adventure game developed by LucasArts and part of ''The Force Unleashed'' multimedia project. It was initially developed for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles and on ...

'' (2008) *'' Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance'' (2010) *'' The Force Unleashed II'' (2010)

''The Books of the Cataclysm''

*'' The Crooked Letter'' (2004) - Winner, Best Novel, 2004

& Winner, Best Fantasy Novel, 2004

*''The Blood Debt'' (2005) *''The Hanging Mountains'' (2005) *''The Devoured Earth'' (2006)

''Geodesica'' (with Shane Dix)

*''Ascent'' (2005) - Winner, Best Novel, 2005

*''Descent'' (2006)

''The Broken Land''

* ''The Changeling'' (2008) - Shortlisted for Best Young Adult Novel, and Best Children's Novel, in the 2008

. * ''The Dust Devils'' (2008) - Shortlisted for the Best Children's Novel, in the 2008

. * ''The Scarecrow'' (2009)

''Astropolis''

* ''Saturn Returns'' (2007) - Winner, Best Novel, 2008

:* ''Cenotaxis'' (2007) - book 1.5, novella * ''Earth Ascendant'' (2008) * ''The Grand Conjunction'' (2009)

''The Fixers''

* ''Castle of the Zombies'' (2010) * ''Planet of the Cyborgs'' (2010) * ''Last of the Vampires'' (2010) * ''Invasion of the Weird'' (2010)

Troubletwisters series ''Troubletwisters'' is an ongoing series of young adult fantasy novels by Garth Nix and Sean Williams. The first novel in the series, ''Troubletwisters'' was released on May 1, 2011 through Scholastic Press and Allen & Unwin. Williams and Nix h ...
(with
Garth Nix Garth Richard Nix (born 19 July 1963) is an Australian writer who specialises in children's and young adult fantasy novels, notably the ''Old Kingdom'', '' Seventh Tower'' and '' Keys to the Kingdom'' series. He has frequently been asked if his ...
)

* ''The Magic'' (2011) (aka ''Troubletwisters'' in Australia) * ''The Monster'' (2012) * ''The Mystery'' (2013) (aka ''Mystery of the Golden Card'' in Australia) * ''The Missing'' (2014) (aka ''Missing, Presumed Evil'' in Australia and the UK)

''Twinmaker Series''

* ''Twinmaker: Jump'' (2013) (aka ''Twinmaker'' outside of Australia) * ''Twinmaker: Crash'' (2014) (aka ''Crashland'' outside of Australia) * ''Twinmaker: Fall'' (2015) (aka ''Hollowgirl'' outside of Australia)

Others

*''The Unknown Soldier: Book One of the Cogal'' (1995) - (with Shane Dix) Re-imagined and rewritten as ''The Prodigal Sun'' *''

Metal Fatigue In materials science, fatigue is the initiation and propagation of cracks in a material due to cyclic loading. Once a fatigue crack has initiated, it grows a small amount with each loading cycle, typically producing striations on some parts o ...

'' (1996) - Winner, Best Science Fiction Novel, 1996

*''The Resurrected Man'' (1998) - Winner, Best Long Fiction, 1999

* Spirit Animals Book 3: Blood Ties (2014) (with Garth Nix) *''Impossible Music'' (2019) *''Her Perilous Mansion'' (2021) - Shortlisted, 2021 Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature

Collections

* ''Doorways to Eternity'' (

MirrorDanse Books MirrorDanse Books, founded in 1994, is one of Australia's longest running independent book publishers of science fiction and horror. MirrorDanse Books publishes the ''Year's Best Australian SF & Fantasy'' anthology series, edited by Bill Congre ...

, 1994) * ''A View Before Dying'' (

Ticonderoga Publications Ticonderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specializes in collections of science fiction short stories. History and current Tico ...

, 1998) * ''New Adventures in Sci-Fi'' (

, 1999) - Winner, Best Collected Work, 2000

* ''Light Bodies Falling'' (Altair Australia, 2007) * ''Magic Dirt: The Best of Sean Williams'' (

, 2008) - Winner, Best Collection, 2008

Notable short stories

*"The Freezing of Sarah" (1997) in '' Bloodsongs'' #9 *"Entre les Beaux Morts en Vie (Among the Beautiful Living Dead)" (1998) in ''

Dreaming Down-Under ''Dreaming Down-Under'' is a 1998 speculative fiction anthology edited by Jack Dann and Janeen Webb. Background ''Dreaming Down-Under'' was first published in Australia in November 1998 by Voyager Books in trade paperback format. In 1999 and ...

'' (ed.

Jack Dann Jack Dann (born February 15, 1945) is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-edit ...

Janeen Webb Janeen Webb (''née'' Pemberton) is an Australian writer, critic and editor, working mainly in the field of science fiction and fantasy. Biography The daughter of a Second World War Australian Army commando and salesman, Webb was brought up in ...

) *"Hunting Ground" (2003) in '' Southern Blood: New Australian Tales of the Supernatural'' (ed.

Bill Congreve Bill Congreve is an Australian writer, editor and reviewer of speculative fiction. He has also published the work of Australian science fiction and horror writers under his MirrorDanse imprint. Biography Congreve's first work was published in 1 ...

) *"haikaiju" (2005) in ''

Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales ''Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales'' is a 2005 speculative fiction anthology edited by Robert Hood and Robin Pen. Background ''Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales'' was first published in Australia in 2005 by Agog! Press in hardback format. It won the ...

'' (ed.

Robert Hood Robert Hood (born 1965 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of the group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often conside ...

Robin Pen Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') ** Bush-robin **Forest ro ...

) *"daihaiku" (2005) in ''

'' (ed.

, Robin Pen) * "The Tyranny of Distance" (2014) in
SQ Mag, Edition 14
' (ed. Sophie Yorkston) * "The Legend Trap" (2014) in ''Kaleidoscope'' (Twelfth Planet Press) - Winner, Best Novella or Novelette, 2015

* ''Ghosts of the Fall'' * ''White Christmas'' * ''The Jackie Onassis Swamp-Buggy Concerto'' * ''The Soap Bubble'' * ''The Perfect Gun'' * ''The Masque of Agamemnon'' (with Simon Brown) * ''The Girl-Thing'' * '' Star Wars: Or Die Trying'' (with Shane Dix) * ''The Seventh Letter'' * ''Midnight in the Cafe of the Black Madonna'' (

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

)

References

External links

Personal WebsiteBlog
at SFFWorld.com

by

Tobias Buckell Tobias S. Buckell (born 1979) is a New York Times Bestselling author and World Fantasy Award winner born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence much of his work. His novels an ...

for

Clarkesworld Magazine ''Clarkesworld Magazine'' (ISSN 1937-7843) is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It released its first issue October 1, 2006 and has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Elizabet ...

South Australian Writers CentreInterview 1 with www.theforce.netInterview 2 with www.theforce.net
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Sean 1967 births Living people Australian fantasy writers Australian atheists Australian science fiction writers Australian male novelists People from Whyalla Writers from Adelaide University of Adelaide alumni