Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel ''

Among Others ''Among Others'' is a 2011 fantasy novel written by Welsh-Canadian writer Jo Walton, published originally by Tor Books. It is published in the UK by Corsair (Constable & Robinson). It won the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Hugo Award for ...

'', which won the

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

and

Nebula Awards 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 ...

in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian-era novel with dragons which won the

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

in 2004. Other works by Walton include the ''Small Change'' series, in which she blends

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 ...

with the

cozy mystery Cozy mysteries, also referred to as "cozies", are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Cozies thu ...

genre, comprising ''

Farthing Farthing or farthings may refer to: Coinage *Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny ** Half farthing (British coin) ** Third farthing (British coin) ** Quarter farthing (British coin) *Farthing (English coi ...

'', '' Ha'penny'' and '' Half a Crown''. Her fantasy novel ''

Lifelode ''Lifelode'' is a 2009 fantasy novel by Jo Walton, published by NESFA Press, with an introduction by Sharyn November. Setting In a land where the rules governing thought, magic, and even the flow of time are dependent on how far east or west one ...

'' won the 2010

Mythopoeic Award The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Awar ...

, and her alternate history ''

My Real Children ''My Real Children'' is a 2014 alternate history novel by Welsh-Canadian writer Jo Walton, published by Tor Books. It was released on May 20, 2014. Plot In 2015, Patricia is 89 years old and living in a nursing home, with two mutually-exclusiv ...

'' received the 2015

Tiptree Award The Otherwise Award, formerly known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science f ...

. Walton is also known for her non-fiction, including book reviews and SF commentary in the magazine ''

Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...

''. A collection of her articles were published in ''What Makes This Book So Great'' (2014), which won the

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 Non-Fiction.

Background

Walton was born in 1964 in

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

, a town in the

Cynon Valley Cynon Valley () is a former coal mining valley in Wales. Cynon Valley lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash is in the south of t ...

of Wales.Jo Walton's Among Others: 'It's a mythologisation of part of my life'
at

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

; by

David Barnett David or Dave Barnett may refer to: Arts *David Barnett (writer) (born 1970), English journalist and author * David Barnett (composer) (1907–1985), American musician *David Barnett, Scottish musician and author, member of The Boyfriends and Luxem ...

; published 2 October 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2013 She went to Park School in Aberdare, then Aberdare Girls' Grammar School. She lived for a year in Cardiff, went to

Howell's School, Llandaff , image = Ysgol Howell, Llandaf 01.JPG , image_size = , caption = , coordinates = , motto = Nurturing Excellence , established = 1860 , closed = , type = Independent day school , rel ...

and finished her education at

Oswestry School Oswestry School is an ancient public school (English independent day and boarding school), located in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. It was founded in 1407 as a 'free' school, being independent of the church. This gives it the distinction of b ...

in Shropshire and at the

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

. She lived in London for two years and lived in Lancaster until 1997. She then moved to

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, where she lived until she moved to Canada in 2002. Walton speaks

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

: "It's the second language of my family of origin, my grandmother was a well known Welsh scholar and translator, I studied it in school from five to sixteen, I have a ten-year-old's fluency on grammar and vocab but no problem whatsoever with pronunciation."

Writing career

Walton has been writing since she was 13, but her first novel was not published until 2000. Before that, she had been published in a number of

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

publications, such as ''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'', mostly in collaboration with her husband at the time, Ken Walton, co-founder of the

Cakebread & Walton Cakebread & Walton is a British games company that creates and publishes tabletop games. Best known for its ''Clockwork & Chivalry'', ''Renaissance System'' and '' Abney Park's Airship Pirates'' games, they also offer titles covering a range of l ...

games company. Walton was also active in online

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

, especially in the

Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...

groups rec.arts.sf.written and rec.arts.sf.fandom. Her poem "The Lurkers Support Me in E-Mail" is widely quoted on it and in other online arguments, often without her name attached. Walton's first three novels, ''

The King's Peace The King's Peace (387 BC) was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece. The treaty is also known as the Peace of Antalcidas, after Antalcidas, the Spartan diplomat who traveled ...

'' (2000), ''

The King's Name ''The King's Name'' is a fantasy novel by Welsh-Canadian writer Jo Walton, published by Tor Books in October 2001. It was Walton's second novel and a sequel to her first, ''The King's Peace (novel), The King's Peace''. A prequel, ''The Prize i ...

'' (2001) and '' The Prize in the Game'' (2002), were all fantasy and set in the same world, which is based on

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a Legend, legendary king of Great Britain, Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest tradition ...

Britain and the

Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...

's Ireland. She won the

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 ...

in 2002. Her next novel, '' Tooth and Claw'' (2003), was intended as a novel

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

could have written, but about dragons rather than humans. ''

'' was her first science fiction novel, placing the genre of the

firmly inside an

alternative 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, alter ...

in which the United Kingdom made peace with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

before the involvement of the United States in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was nominated for a

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 ...

, a

Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-2007. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was support ...

, the

John W. Campbell Memorial Award The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best science fiction no ...

for best science fiction novel, and the

Sidewise Award for Alternate History The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in wh ...

. A sequel, '' Ha'penny'', was published in October 2007, with the final book in the trilogy, '' Half a Crown,'' published in September 2008. ''Ha'penny'' won the 2008

Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...

(jointly with

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed ...

's novel ''The Gladiator'') and has been nominated for the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

. In April 2007,

Howard V. Hendrix Howard Vincent Hendrix (born 1959) is an American scholar and science fiction writer.. He is the author of the novels '' Lightpaths'' and '' Standing Wave'', '' Better Angels'', '' Empty Cities of the Full Moon'', '' The Labyrinth Key'', and ...

stated that professional writers should never release their writings online for free, as this made them equivalent to scabs.Hendrix's "webscabs" post on LiveJournal
, April 2007 Walton responded to this by declaring 23 April as International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day, a day in which writers who disagreed with Hendrix could release their stories online en masse. In 2008 Walton celebrated this day by posting several chapters of an unfinished sequel to ''Tooth and Claw'', ''Those Who Favor Fire.'' In 2008, Walton began writing an online column for

, mostly retrospective reviews of older books. A collection of these blog posts were published in ''What Makes This Book So Great'' (2014). She also wrote a series of articles revisiting the Hugo award nominees for each year from 1953 to 2000, which were later collected as ''

An Informal History of the Hugos ''An Informal History of the Hugos'' (subtitled ''A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953–2000'' is a 2018 reference work on science fiction and fantasy written by Jo Walton. In it, she asks if the nominees for the Hugo Award for Best ...

'' (2018). Her book, ''

'' (2012), won several awards, including both 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Her recent works include the alternate history ''

'' (2014), which won the

; the ''

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

'' trilogy (2015–16), a science fiction/fantasy series involving the

Greek Gods The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...

and a re-imagining of Plato's ''

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

''; and the historical fantasy ''

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

'' (2019), set in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Italy. Her 2020 novel ''

Or What You Will ''Or What You Will'' is a 2020 metafictional fantasy novel by Jo Walton, about immortality and creativity. It was first published by Tor Books. Synopsis As fantasy author Sylvia Harrison nears the end of her life, her imaginary friend — a sep ...

'' is a

metafictional Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

novel about immortality and creativity, featuring an ageing fantasy novelist writing a book set in Renaissance Florence. In February 2018, Walton was the Literary/Fan Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 36th annual

Life, the Universe, & Everything ''Life, the Universe, & Everything: The Marion K. "Doc" Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy'' is an academic conference held annually since 1983 in Provo, Utah. It is the longest-running science fiction and fantasy convention in Utah, ...

professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium. In November 2022, Walton released her original audio drama ''Heart's Home'', based on a Welsh folk tale, with Odyssey Theatre as part of ''

The Other Path ''The Other Path: The Economic Answer to Terrorism'' is a book by Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto Polar which describes the informal sector and underground economy of Peru in the 1980s. The book was a top seller in both Latin America and the ...

'' podcast.

Awards

Personal life

Walton moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, Canada, after her first novel was published. She is married to Emmet A. O'Brien. She has one child.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' Tooth and Claw'' (November 2003, Tor Books, ) * ''

'' (February 2009,

NESFA Press NESFA Press is the publishing arm of the New England Science Fiction Association, Inc. The NESFA Press primarily produces three types of books: * Books honoring the guest(s) of honor at their annual convention, Boskone, and at some Worldcons and ...

, ) * ''

'' (January 2011, Tor Books ) * ''

'' (May 2014, Tor Books, ) * ''

'' (May 2019, Tor Books, ) * ''

'' (July 2020, Tor Books, )

''Sulien'' series

* ''

'' (2000, Tor Books) * ''

'' (December 2001, Tor Books, ) * '' The Prize in the Game'' (December 2002, Tor Books, )

''Small Change'' trilogy

* ''

'' (August 2006, Tor Books, ) * '' Ha'penny'' (October 2007, Tor Books, ) * '' Half a Crown'' (August 2008, Tor Books, ) * "Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction" (short story) (July 2010, Tor Books) (included in ''Starlings'')

''Thessaly'' trilogy

* ''

The Just City ''The Just City'' is a science fiction/fantasy novel by Jo Walton, published by Tor Books in January 2015. It is the first book of the '' Thessaly trilogy''. The sequel ''The Philosopher Kings'' was published in June 2015, and the final volume, ' ...

'' (January 2015, Tor Books, ) * ''

The Philosopher Kings The Philosopher Kings are a Canadian band. The band was most commercially successful in the late 1990s and have been nominated for five Juno Awards, winning one in 1996 for "Best New Group". Most of the band members, current and former, have also ...

'' (June 2015, Tor Books, ) * ''

Necessity Necessary or necessity may refer to: * Need ** An action somebody may feel they must do ** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment * Necessary and sufficient condition, in logic, something that is ...

'' (July 2016, Tor Books, ) * ''Thessaly, the Complete Trilogy'' (September 2017, Tor Books, )

Other works

* '' GURPS Celtic Myth'' (with Ken Walton) (1995, roleplaying supplement) * ''The End of the World in Duxford'' (1997), a poem inspired by

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...

's short story

Inconstant Moon ''Inconstant Moon'' is a science fiction short story collection by American author Larry Niven that was published in 1973. "Inconstant Moon" is also a 1971 short story that is included in the collection. The title refers to "O, swear not by the ...

* ''Muses and Lurkers'' (2001, poetry chapbook, edited by Eleanor Evans) * ''Realms of Sorcery'' (with Ken Walton) (2001, roleplaying supplement for Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play) * ''Sybils and Spaceships'', poetry chapbook (2009, NESFA Press) * ''What Makes This Book So Great,'' collected essays and book reviews (2014,

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

, ) * ''Starlings'', short story and poetry collection (2018,

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

) * ''

'', collected essays and book reviews (2018,

)

Short stories

* "Sleeper" (2014,

) (included in "Starlings")
"Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction"
(2009,

) (included in "Starlings") * "The Jump Rope Rhyme" (2017,

) * "A Burden Shared" (2017,

) (included in "Starlings")

Essays

* "Story behind ''Ha'Penny'' by Jo Walton" (2013), from ''Story Behind the Book: Volume 1''''Story Behind the Book : Volume 1 – Essays on Writing Speculative Fiction''

References

External links

*
Jo Walton's LiveJournal
(deleted 10 April 2017; see Walton's note a

Jo Walton's page at Tor.com
with links to her reviews
Searchable Index of Jo Walton's Tor.com posts
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Jo 1964 births Living people 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh novelists 21st-century Welsh women writers Alumni of Lancaster University Anglo-Welsh novelists British alternative history writers British science fiction writers British women bloggers Canadian alternative history writers Canadian fantasy writers Canadian science fiction writers Canadian women bloggers Canadian women novelists Chapbook writers Hugo Award-winning writers John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners Nebula Award winners People educated at Howell's School, Llandaff People educated at Oswestry School People from Aberdare Usenet people Welsh bloggers Welsh emigrants to Canada Welsh fantasy writers Welsh science fiction writers Welsh women novelists British women historical novelists Canadian women science fiction and fantasy writers World Fantasy Award-winning writers Writers of modern Arthurian fiction