Elizabeth Hand (born March 29, 1957) is an American writer.

Life and career

Hand grew up in Yonkers and

Pound Ridge, New York Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census. The town is located toward the eastern end of the county, bordered to the north and east by the town of Lewisboro, by Stamford, C ...

. She studied drama and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

. Since 1988, Hand has lived in coastal

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

, the setting for many of her stories, and as of 2017 lives in Lincolnville. She also lives part-time in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

which has been the setting for ''Mortal Love'' and the short story "Cleopatra Brimstone". Hand's first story, "Prince of Flowers", was published in 1988 in ''Twilight Zone'' magazine, and her first novel, ''Winterlong'', was published in 1990. With Paul Witcover, she created and wrote

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

' 1990s

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. Thi ...

series ''

Anima Anima may refer to: Animation * Ánima (company), a Mexican animation studio founded in 2002 * Córdoba International Animation Festival – ANIMA, in Argentina Religion and philosophy * Animism, the belief that objects, places, and creatur ...

''. Hand's other works include ''Aestival Tide'' (1992); ''Icarus Descending'' (1993); '' Waking the Moon'' (1994), which won the

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 ...

and the

Mythopoeic Fantasy 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 ...

; the

post-apocalyptic novel Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...

'' Glimmering'' (1997); contemporary

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

''Black Light'' (1999), a ''

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 ...

'' Notable Book; the

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

fantasy ''Mortal Love'' (2004), a ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' Notable Book; the psychological thriller ''Generation Loss'' (2007), and the

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

-winning " The Maiden Flight of McCauley's ''Bellerophon''". Her story collections are '' Last Summer at Mars Hill'' (1998) (which includes the Nebula and World Fantasy award-winning title novella); ''Bibliomancy'' (2002), winner of the World Fantasy Award; and '' Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories'', which includes the Nebula Award-winning "Echo" (2006). ''Mortal Love'' was also shortlisted for the 2005 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. Among Hand's other recent short fiction, "Pavane for a Prince of the Air" (2002) and "Cleopatra Brimstone" (2001) won International Horror Guild Awards. Most recently, she won the Shirley Jackson Award for ''Generation Loss'' and the

in 2008 for ''Illyria''. She also writes movie and television spin-offs, including ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' tie-in novels and novelizations of such films as ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'' and '' 12 Monkeys''. She contributed a ''Bride of Frankenstein'' novel to the recent series of classic movie monster novels published by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

. One of Hand's themes from the ''Winterlong'' saga is the remorseless exploitation of animal and plant species to create what she calls "geneslaves." Examples include a three-hundred-year-old genetically reconstructed and cerebrally augmented '' Basilosaurus'' by the name of Zalophus; the aardmen, hybrids of dog and man; hydrapithecenes, human-fish or human-cuttlefish hybrids somewhat resembling Davy Jones and his crew from the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series; and sagittals, whelks genetically engineered to be worn as a bracelet and, when its host feels threatened or agitated, extrude a spine laced with a deadly neurotoxin. Hand is a longtime reviewer and critic for ''The Washington Post'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Boston Review'', ''Salon'', and ''Village Voice'', among others. She also writes a regula
review column
for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Bibliography

Novels

* 1988 ''Winterlong'' – * 1992 '' Aestival Tide'' – * 1993 ''Icarus Descending'' – * 1994 '' Waking the Moon'' (longer UK edition) – * 1995 ''Waking the Moon'' (US edition preferred by the autho

– * 1997 ''Glimmering'' (second edition 2012) – * 1999 ''Black Light'' – * 2000 "Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol" in '' Sci Fiction'' * 2002 "Cleopatra Brimstone" in ''

Redshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in fr ...

'' * 2003 "The Least Trumps" in Conjunctions 39: The New Wave Fabulists * 2004 ''Mortal Love'' – * 2006 ''Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol'' (illustrated by Judith Clute; originally published December 2000) – . The story is a tribute to entertainers

Sandy Becker George Sanford Becker (February 19, 1922 – April 9, 1996), who was known professionally as Sandy Becker, was an American television announcer, actor, and comedian who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City. The best known ...

and Joey Ramone. A
online edition of ''Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol''
was serialized by Hand on her Livejournal community "theinferior4". * 2006 ''Illyria'' – , * 2007 ''The Bride of Frankenstein'' (media tie-in) – * 2012 ''Radiant Days'' * 2015 ''Wylding Hall'' (novella) * 2019 ''Curious Toys'' * 2020 ''The Book of Lamps and Banners'' * 2022 ''Hokuloa Road''

Cass Neary Crime Novels

* 2007 '' Generation Loss'' – * 2012 ''Available Dark'' – * 2016 ''Hard Light'' – * 2022 ''The Book of Lamps and Banners'' –

Star Wars Expanded Universe

* 2003 ''Boba Fett: Maze Of Deception'' – * 2003 ''Boba Fett: Hunted'' – * 2004 ''Boba Fett: A New Threat'' – * 2004 ''Boba Fett: Pursuit'' –

Adaptations

* 1995 '' 12 Monkeys'' – * 1997 ''

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannus, kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

: The Frenchman'' – * 1998 '' The X-Files: Fight the Future'' – * 1999 ''

Anna and the King ''Anna and the King'' is a 1999 American biographical period drama film directed by Andy Tennant and written by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes. Loosely based on the 1944 novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'', which gives a fictionalized accoun ...

'' – * 2001 ''

The Affair of the Necklace ''The Affair of the Necklace'' is a 2001 American historical drama film directed by Charles Shyer. The screenplay by John Sweet is based on what became known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, an incident that helped fuel the French populace ...

'' – * 2004 ''

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she is ...

'' –

Short fiction

;Collections * 1998 '' Last Summer at Mars Hill'' – * 2003 ''Bibliomancy'' – * 2006 ''Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories'' – * 2012 ''Errantry'' – ;Stories * 1990 "Jangletown" (with Paul Witcover; in ''

The Further Adventures of The Joker ''The Further Adventures of The Joker'' (1990; Bantam Books, 457 pages) is an English paperback anthology of short fiction stories about Batman's archenemy the Joker. The material was written by various authors (see below), and the book was ed ...

'') * 1993 "Lucifer Over Lancaster" (with Paul Witcover; in ''The Further Adventures of Superman'') * 1994 "The Erl-King"

Book reviews

Footnotes

External links

* *
Elizabeth Hand
at Free Speculative Fiction Online
Interview at Strange Horizons

The Fantastic Spectrum of Elizabeth Hand
(interview), '' Clarkesworld Magazine'', November 2009
Interview
at Tor.com, August 24, 2010 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hand, Elizabeth 1957 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American science fiction writers American women short story writers American women novelists American speculative fiction critics Nebula Award winners World Fantasy Award-winning writers Science fiction critics Catholic University of America alumni Women science fiction and fantasy writers Novelists from New York (state) Writers from Maine People from Yonkers, New York People from Pound Ridge, New York 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers People from Lincolnville, Maine American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Weird fiction writers