View source for John Kessel

{{Short description|American author}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name = John Kessel
| image = John_Kessel_(2017).jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = 
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|9|24}}
| birth_place = [[Buffalo, New York]], United States
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Writer
* editor
* teacher
}}
| period = 1978–present
| genre = [[Science fiction]], [[fantasy literature]], [[comic science fiction]], [[metafiction]], [[satire]]
| subject = [[Time travel]], the [[future]], [[dinosaur]]s
| movement = Savage Humanism<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.sfwriter.com/2008/04/savage-humanists.html |author= Sawyer, Robert J. |date= April 29, 2008 |title= The Savage Humanists  |publisher= [[Robert J. Sawyer]] |quote= Meet the Savage Humanists: the hottest science-fiction writers working today. They use SF's unique powers to comment on the human condition in mordantly funny, satiric stories... In these pages, you'll find the top names in the SF field: including...John Kessel... |access-date= June 16, 2013}}</ref>
| notableworks = ''Another Orphan'', ''[[Good News from Outer Space]]'', "Buffalo", "Pride and Prometheus", ''[[Corrupting Dr. Nice]]''
| spouse = Therese Anne Fowler
| signature =
| website = {{URL|johnjosephkessel.wixsite.com/kessel-website}}
}}

'''John Joseph Vincent Kessel''' (born September 24, 1950) is an [[American literature|American author]] of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer, and the author of four solo novels, ''[[Good News From Outer Space]]'' (1989), ''Corrupting Dr. Nice'' (1997), ''[[The Moon and the Other]]'' (2017), and ''Pride and Prometheus'' (2018), and one novel, ''Freedom Beach'' (1985) in collaboration with his friend [[James Patrick Kelly]]. Kessel is married to author [[Therese Fowler|Therese Anne Fowler]].

==Education==

Kessel earned a B.A. in Physics and English from the University of Rochester in 1972, followed by a M.A. in English from University of Kansas in 1974,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2017-06-11 |title=John Kessel: Over the Moon (Interview) |url=https://locusmag.com/2017/06/john-kessel-over-the-moon/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Locus Online |language=en-US}}</ref> and a Ph.D. in English from the [[University of Kansas]] in 1981, where he studied under science fiction writer and scholar [[James E. Gunn (writer)|James Gunn]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Feehan |first1=Ellen |last2=Kessel |first2=John |date=1993 |title=An Interview with John Kessel |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4240217 |journal=Science Fiction Studies |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=94–107 |doi=10.1525/sfs.20.1.094 |jstor=4240217 |issn=0091-7729}}</ref> Since 1982 Kessel has taught classes in American literature, science fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at [[North Carolina State University]], and helped organize the [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]] Creative Writing program at NCSU, serving as its first director.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Creating a literary culture |url=https://english.chass.ncsu.edu/creating-a-literary-culture-2/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Department of English, [[North Carolina State University]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Interview With an Author: John Kessel |url=https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/interview-author |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=[[Los Angeles Public Library]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Publications==

Kessel won a [[Nebula Award]] in 1982 for his novella ''Another Orphan'', in which the protagonist finds himself living inside the novel ''[[Moby-Dick]].'' His short story "Buffalo" won the [[Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award]] and the Locus poll in 1992. He won a second Nebula Award for his 2008 novelette ''Pride and Prometheus'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Zack |date=2009-05-08 |title=N.C. State teacher and author John Kessel discusses his second Nebula award |url=http://indyweek.com/culture/art/n-c-state-teacher-author-john-kessel-discusses-second-nebula-award/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=INDY Week |language=en-US}}</ref> a melding the tales of [[Jane Austen]]'s ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'' and [[Mary Shelley]]'s ''[[Frankenstein]]''. The intervening 26 years between his two Nebula Awards was the longest gap between competitive awards in Nebula history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NC State's John Kessel Wins Nebula Award for 'Pride and Prometheus' |url=https://news.ncsu.edu/2009/04/john-kessel-wins-nebula-award/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=NC State News |language=en-US}}</ref> The novelette also won a 2009 [[Shirley Jackson Award]],<ref name=":0" /> and was expanded into a novel by the same name in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bourke |first=Liz |date=2018-02-15 |title=Literary Fusion: Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel |url=https://reactormag.com/book-reviews-pride-and-prometheus-by-john-kessel/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Reactor Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> 

His novella "Stories for Men" shared the 2002 [[James Tiptree, Jr. Award|James Tiptree Jr. Award]] (Otherwise Award) for science fiction dealing with gender issues with [[M. John Harrison]]'s novel ''Light''.  He has been nominated three times for a [[World Fantasy Award]]: 1993 for the ''Meeting in Infinity'' collection, 1999 for the short fiction "Every Angel is Terrifying", and 2009 for the short story "Pride and Prometheus".<ref>{{cite web|author=World Fantasy Convention |year=2010 |title=Award Winners and Nominees |url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html/ |access-date=Feb 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201074405/http://worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html |archive-date=December 1, 2010 }}</ref>

Kessel is also a widely published science fiction and fantasy critic. His works of criticism include the 2004 essay on Orson Scott Card's novel ''Ender's Game'', "Creating the Innocent Killer: Ender's Game, Intention, and Morality".<ref>[http://johnjosephkessel.wixsite.com/kessel-website/creating-the-innocent-killer "Creating the Innocent Killer: Ender's Game, Intention, and Morality"]</ref>  With [[Mark L. Van Name]], Kessel created the [[Sycamore Hill Writer's Workshop]]. Kessel has also edited, with James Patrick Kelly, three collections of contemporary sf short stories, ''Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology'', ''Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology'', and ''The Secret History of Science Fiction''.

In 1994 his play ''Faustfeathers'' received the Paul Green Playwrights' Prize. In 2007 his story "[[A Clean Escape]]" (previously adapted by Kessel as a one-act play in 1986) was adapted by Sam Egan for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s science fiction anthology series ''[[Masters of Science Fiction]]''.

==Bibliography==
{{Expand list|date=October 2021}}

===Novels===
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="90%"
|-
! width="25%" |Title
!|Year
!|First published
!|Awards/nominations
!Notes
|-
|''Freedom Beach''
|1985
|{{Cite book |last1=Kessel |first1=John |title=Freedom Beach |last2=Kelly |first2=James Patrick |date=1985 |publisher=[[Orion Publishing]]}}
|
|
|-
|''[[Good News From Outer Space]]''
|1989
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=Good News from Outer Space |date=1989 |publisher=[[Tor Books]]}}
|[[Nebula Award]] nominee
|
|-
|''[[Corrupting Dr. Nice]]''
|1997
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=Corrupting Dr. Nice |date=1997 |publisher=[[Tor Books]]}}
|
|
|-
|''[[The Moon and the Other]]''
|2017
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=The Moon and the Other |date=2017 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]}}
|[[Otherwise Award|James Tiptree Jr. Award]] long list
|
|-
|''Pride and Prometheus''
|2018
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=Pride and Prometheus |date=2018 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]}}
|
|
|}
=== Short fiction ===
;Collections
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="90%"
|-
! width="25%" |Title
!|Year
!|First published
!|Awards/nominations
!Notes
|-
|''[[Meeting in Infinity]]''
|1992
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=Meeting in Infinity: Allegories & Extrapolations |date=1992 |publisher=[[Arkham House]]}}
|[[World Fantasy Award]] nominee
|
|-
|''The Pure Product''
|1997
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=The Pure Product: Stories By John Kissel |date=1997 |publisher=[[Tor Books]]}}
|
|
|-
|''The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories''
|2008
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=The Baum Plan for Financial Independence: and Other Stories |date=2008 |publisher=[[Small Beer Press]]}}
|
|
|-
|''The Dark Ride''
|2022
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=The Dark Ride: The Best Short Fiction of John Kessel |date=2023 |publisher=[[Subterranean Press]]}}
|
|
|-
|''The Presidential Papers''
|2024
|{{Cite book |last=Kessel |first=John |title=The Presidential Papers (Outspoken Authors #31) |date=2024 |publisher=[[PM Press]]}}
|
|
|}
;Stories and other short works<ref>Short stories unless otherwise noted.</ref>
{|class='wikitable sortable' width='90%'
|-
!width=25%|Title
!|Year
!|First published
!|Awards/nominations
!Notes
|-
|"Another orphan"
|1982
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=September 1982 |title=Another orphan |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]}}
|[[Nebula Award]] winner
|
|-
|"Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner"
|1988
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=June 1988 |title=Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner |journal= [[Asimov's Science Fiction ]]}}
|Nebula Award nominee
|
|-
|''Another orphan''
|1989
|
|
|Novella
|-
|"Buffalo"
|1991
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=January 1991 |title=Buffalo |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]}}
|Sturgeon Award winner, [[Locus Award]] winner, [[Hugo Award]] nominee, Nebula Award nominee<ref>Reprinted in ''The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology,'' ed. Gordon Van Gelder.  San Francisco: [[Tachyon Publications]] ({{ISBN|978-1-892391-91-9}}), 2009.</ref>
|
|-
|''The Franchise''
|1993
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=August 1993 |title=The Franchise |journal= [[Asimov's Science Fiction ]]}}
|Nebula Award nominee, Hugo Award nominee
|Novelette
|-
|''The Miracle of Ivar Avenue''
|1996
|{{Cite book |last=John |first=Kessel |title=Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology |publisher=Tor Books |year=1996 |isbn=9780312860905 |editor-last=Kessel |editor-first=John |location=New York |chapter=The Miracle of Ivar Avenue |editor-last2=Van Name |editor-first2=Mark L. |editor-last3=Butner |editor-first3=Richard}}
|Nebula Award nominee
|Novelette
|-
|"Every Angel is Terrifying"
|1998
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=October–November 1998 |title=Every Angel is Terrifying |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]}}
|[[World Fantasy Award]] nominee
|
|-
|''Ninety Percent of Everything''
|1999
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel |date=September 1999 |title=Ninety Percent of Everything |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]|first1=John|last2=Lethem|first2=Jonathan|last3=Kelly|first3=James Patrick}}
|Nebula Award nominee
|Novella
|-
|"Stories for Men"
|2002
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=October–November 2002 |title=Stories for Men |journal= [[Asimov's Science Fiction ]]}}
|[[Otherwise Award|James Tiptree Jr. Award]] winner, [[Nebula Award]] nominee
|
|-
|''Pride and Prometheus''
|2008
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=January 2008 |title=Pride and Prometheus |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]}}
|Nebula Award winner, [[Shirley Jackson Award]] winner, James Tiptree Jr. Award Honor List
|Novelette
|-
|''Spirit level''
|2020
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=July–August 2020 |title=Spirit level |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]] |volume=139 |issue=1&2 |pages=52–77}}
|
|Novelette
|}

=== Anthologies and collections (edited) ===
* 1996 ''Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology'' (with Mark L. Van Name and Richard Butner)
* 1998 ''Memory's Tailor'' (by Laurence Rudner. Kessel was the [[literary executor]] after Rudner's death in 1995.)
* 2006 ''Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology'' (with James Patrick Kelly) Features stories by [[Aimee Bender]], [[Michael Chabon]], [[Ted Chiang]], [[Carol Emshwiller]], [[Jeffrey Ford]], [[Karen Joy Fowler]], [[Theodora Goss]], [[Jonathan Lethem]], [[Kelly Link]], [[M. Rickert]], [[Benjamin Rosenbaum]], [[George Saunders]], [[Bruce Sterling]], [[Jeff VanderMeer]], and [[Howard Waldrop]]
* 2007 ''[[Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology]]'' (coedited with [[James Patrick Kelly]]) ([[Tachyon Publications]])
* 2009 ''The Secret History of Science Fiction'' (coedited with James Patrick Kelly) (Tachyon Publications)
* 2011 ''Kafkaesque: Stories Inspired by Franz Kafka'' (coedited with James Patrick Kelly) (Tachyon Publications)
* 2012 ''[[Nebula Awards Showcase 2012]]'' (coedited with James Patrick Kelly ([[Pyr (publisher)|Pyr]])
* 2012 ''Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology'' (coedited with James Patrick Kelly) (Tachyon Publications)

===Plays===
* 1986 ''[[A Clean Escape]]''
* 1994 ''Faustfeathers'' (Paul Green Playwrights' Prize winner)

===Book reviews===
{|class='wikitable sortable' width='90%'
|-
!|Year
!class='unsortable'|Review article
!class='unsortable'|Work(s) reviewed
|-
|1994
|{{cite journal |author=Kessel, John |date=February 1994 |title=Just like real people |department=Books |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]] |volume=86 |issue=2 |pages=}}
|
* {{cite book |author=Jones, Gwyneth |author-link=Gwyneth Jones (novelist) |title=White Queen}}
* {{cite book |author=Bisson, Terry |author-link=Terry Bisson |title=Bears discover fire}}
* {{cite book |author=Frost, Gregory |author-link=Gregory Frost |title=The pure cold light |location= |publisher=Avonova |year=1993 <!--|isbn=-->}}
* {{cite book |author=Sturgeon, Theodore |author-link=Theodore Sturgeon |title=Argyll |location= |publisher=The Sturgeon Project |year=1993 <!--|isbn=-->}}
* {{cite book |author=Smith, Cordwainer |author-link=Cordwainer Smith |title=The rediscovery of man |location= |publisher= |year= <!--|isbn=-->}}
* {{cite book |author=Oberndorf, Charles |title=Testing |location= |publisher= |year= <!--|isbn=-->}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://johnjosephkessel.wixsite.com/kessel-website John Kessel's home page]
* {{isfdb name|id=John_Kessel|name=John Kessel}}
* [http://hdl.handle.net/10407/3378839623 John Kessel Papers, MS 358] at the [https://spencer.lib.ku.edu Kenneth Spencer Research Library], University of Kansas
* [https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00670 Guide to the John Kessel Collection of Science Fiction Magazines 1951-2011]
* [http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw12963.html An Interview with John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly conducted by John Joseph Adams] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615021123/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw12963.html |date=June 15, 2006 }}
*[http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/interviews/feehan59interview.htm An interview with John Kessel] conducted by [[Fiona Kelleghan]] writing as Ellen Feehan
* [http://smallbeerpress.com/creative-commons/#kessel1 Free download of ''The Baum Plan for Financial Independence'' from the publisher]
*{{IMDb name|0450261}}
* [http://www.vimeo.com/29060172 Talk: "The Future as Mirror: How SF Uses the Tomorrow to Understand Today" - Fractal'11 conference]
* [https://geeksguideshow.com/2017/08/12/ggg269-john-kessel/ A July 2017 podcast with John Kessel conducted by David Barr Kirtley] 
* [http://www.scottedelman.com/2017/09/15/join-john-kessel-for-a-seafood-feast-in-episode-47-of-eating-the-fantastic/#more-23859 A July 2017 podcast with John Kessel conducted by Scott Edelman]

{{Locus Award Best Short Story}}
{{Nebula Award Best Novella}}
{{Nebula Award Best Novelette}}
{{James Tiptree, Jr. Award Winners}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessel, John}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:American male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American male poets]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people]]
[[Category:Nebula Award winners]]
[[Category:North Carolina State University faculty]]
[[Category:Novelists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Novelists from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Writers from Buffalo, New York]]