View source for Ted Chiang

{{Short description|American science fiction writer (born 1967)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Ted Chiang
| image            = Chiang, Ted (Villarrubia) (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Chiang in 2011
| pseudonym        = 
| birth_date       = {{birth_year_and_age|1967}}
| birth_place      = [[Port Jefferson, New York]], U.S.
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| occupation       = {{hlist|Fiction writer|technical writer}}
| period           = 1990–present
| genre            = Science fiction, fantasy
| movement         = 
| notableworks     = ‟[[Tower of Babylon (story)|Tower of Babylon]]” (1990)<br />‟[[Story of Your Life]]” (1998)<br/>‟[[Hell is the Absence of God]]” (2001)<br />''[[Stories of Your Life and Others]]'' (2002)<br />‟[[The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate]]” (2007)<br />''[[Exhalation: Stories]]'' (2019)
| signature        = 
| website          = 
| native_name      = 姜峯楠
| module           = {{Infobox Chinese
| child = yes
| embed = yes
| t = 姜峯楠
| s = 姜峰楠
| p = Jiāng Fēngnán
| bpmf = ㄐㄧㄤㄈㄥㄋㄢˊ
| w = Chiang<sup>1</sup> Feng<sup>1</sup>-nan<sup>2</sup>
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|j|iang|1|-|f|eng|1|n|an|2}}
}}
| awards           = ''[[Ted Chiang#Awards|See list]]''
| alma_mater       = [[Brown University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
}}

'''Ted Chiang''' ({{Lang-zh|t=姜峯楠}}; [[pinyin]]: ''Jiāng Fēngnán''; born 1967) is an American [[science fiction]] writer. His work has won four [[Nebula Award|Nebula awards]], four [[Hugo Award|Hugo awards]], the [[John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer]], and six [[Locus Award|Locus awards]].<ref>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/eaw.cgi?11251 Chiang's awards], ''[[Internet Speculative Fiction Database]]''.</ref> He has published the short story collections ''[[Stories of Your Life and Others]]'' (2002) and ''[[Exhalation: Stories]]'' (2019). His short story "[[Story of Your Life]]" was the basis of the film ''[[Arrival (film)|Arrival]]'' (2016). He was an artist in residence at the [[University of Notre Dame]] from 2020 to 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Chiang |publisher= Institute for Advanced Study, University of Notre Dame |url= https://ndias.nd.edu/fellows/chiang-ted/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Chiang is also a frequent [[non-fiction]] contributor to the ''[[New Yorker Magazine|New Yorker]]'', where he writes on topics related to [[computing]] such as [[artificial intelligence]].

== Early life and education ==
Ted Chiang was born in 1967 to a [[Taiwanese American]] family in [[Port Jefferson, New York]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Ted_Chiang |title = Ted Chiang | type = Summary Bibliography |work = Internet Speculative Fiction Database |access-date = October 4, 2012}}</ref> His Chinese name is Chiang Feng-nan ({{lang|zh|姜峯楠}}; {{Transliteration|cmn|Jiāng Fēngnán}}).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Ezra |author-link=Ezra Klein |date=2023-03-03 |title=人工智能真正的恐怖之处 |trans-title=The Imminent Danger of A.I. Is One We’re Not Talking About |url=https://cn.nytimes.com/opinion/20230301/microsoft-bing-sydney-artificial-intelligence/ |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=[[The New York Times]] |language=zh-cmn-hans}} Translated from [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/opinion/microsoft-bing-sydney-artificial-intelligence.html The Imminent Danger of A.I. Is One We’re Not Talking About].</ref> Both of his parents are Taiwanese ''[[waishengren]]'' who were born in [[mainland China]] and migrated to Taiwan with their families during the [[retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan]] before immigrating to the United States.<ref name=":2">{{cite magazine |url= http://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/ted-chiangs-soulful-science-fiction |title= Ted Chiang's Soulful Science Fiction |last=Rothman |first= Joshua |magazine= [[The New Yorker]] |date= January 5, 2017 |access-date= January 7, 2017}}</ref> His father, Fu-pen Chiang, is a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering at [[Stony Brook University]].<ref>{{Cite journal| url= https://post45.org/2014/11/melancholy-transcendence-ted-chiang-and-asian-american-postracial-form/|title = Melancholy Transcendence: Ted Chiang and Asian American Postracial Form|journal = Post45 |date = November 5, 2014|last1 = Fan|first1 = Christopher T.}}</ref> His mother ({{Abbr|d.|Died}} 2019) was a librarian.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last1=Yeh |first1=James |last2=Millionaire |first2=Tony |date=2019-12-02 |title=An Interview with Ted Chiang |url=https://www.thebeliever.net/an-interview-with-ted-chiang/ |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=[[The Believer (magazine)|The Believer]] |language=en-US |issue=128}}</ref> Chiang also has a sister who is a physician.<ref name=":3" />

Chiang grew up on [[Long Island]] and, at age 15, began submitting [[science fiction]] stories to magazines.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Taylor |date=2015-01-04 |title=The Perfectionist |url=https://story.californiasunday.com/ted-chiang-scifi-perfectionist/ |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=[[The California Sunday Magazine]] |language=en}}</ref> He later recalled, "When I was a kid, my intention was to become a physicist. That was a perfectly respectable career choice for the son of an engineer. I figured I would be a fiction writer on the side, and that, I think, is perfectly acceptable to Asian parents".<ref name=":3" /> In 1989, he graduated from [[Brown University]] with a [[Bachelor of Science]] (B.S.) degree after choosing to study [[computer science]] over physics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002 |title=Ted Chiang interviewed - infinity plus non-fiction |url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/inttchiang.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201225629/http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/inttchiang.htm |archive-date=2022-12-01 |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=[[Infinity Plus]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Andy |date=2020 |title=Alien Worlds: A new book of short stories from award-winning author Ted Chiang '89 |url=https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2020-01-03/alien-worlds |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=[[Brown Alumni Magazine]] |language=en}}</ref> As an undergraduate, Chiang continued to write sci-fi stories, though they were ultimately unpublished.<ref name=":4" />

== Career ==
After attending and graduating from the [[Clarion Workshop]] in 1989 Chiang sold his first story, "The Tower of Babylon", to [[Omni (magazine)|''Omni'']] magazine,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=McCarron |first=Meghan |date=July 18, 2016 |title=The Legendary Ted Chiang on Seeing His Stories Adapted and the Ever-Expanding Popularity of SF |url=https://electricliterature.com/the-legendary-ted-chiang-on-seeing-his-stories-adapted-and-the-ever-expanding-popularity-of-sf/ |website=[[Electric Literature]]}}</ref> and was awarded a Nebula Award for it in 1990.<ref name=":2" /> His later stories have won numerous other awards, making him one of the most-honored writers in contemporary [[science fiction]]. Chiang's first short story collection, ''[[Stories of Your Life and Others]]'' (2002) was published in 2002 by [[Tor Books]] and comprises his first eight stories. The collection was reprinted in 2016 as ''Arrival'' to coincide with the adaptation of "[[Story of Your Life]]" as the film [[Arrival (film)|''Arrival'']].<ref>{{cite web |title=ARRIVAL (STORIES OF YOUR LIFE MTI) |url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/arrival-stories-of-your-life/9780525433675-item.html?ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0 |access-date=30 November 2016 |website=Chapters-Indigo}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Ted Chiang |url=https://archive.org/details/storiesofyourlif0000chia |title=Arrival: originally published as – Stories Of Your Life And Others |publisher=Doubleday |year=2016 |isbn=978-0525433675 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

{{As of|2002|July}}, Chiang was working as a [[technical writer]] in the software industry and resided in [[Bellevue, Washington]], near [[Seattle]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.sfsite.com/09b/tc136.htm |title = An Interview with Ted Chiang |date=July 2002 |work = [[SF Site]] |access-date = October 4, 2012 }}</ref> He was an instructor at the Clarion Workshop at [[University of California, San Diego|UC San Diego]] in 2012 and 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://clarion.ucsd.edu/graduates.html |title = Clarion at UC San Diego Graduates and Instructors |website = Clarion |access-date = December 9, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080427024654/http://clarion.ucsd.edu/graduates.html |archive-date = April 27, 2008 |url-status = dead}}</ref>

Chiang's second short story collection, ''[[Exhalation: Stories]]'' was published in May 2019 by [[Alfred A. Knopf]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Exhalation: Stories |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-101-94788-3 |access-date= |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref> Chiang has published eighteen short stories, novelettes, and novellas {{as of|2019|lc=y|post=.}} In 2022, Chiang became a Miller Scholar in the [[Santa Fe Institute]].<ref>{{cite web |date=30 January 2023 |title=Ted Chiang joins SFI Miller Scholars {{!}} Santa Fe Institute |url=https://www.santafe.edu/news-center/news/ted-chiang-joins-sfi-miller-scholars |access-date=18 June 2023 |website=www.santafe.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=2023 |title=Ted Chiang. Macrocosm in Miniature |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d420e5d999d0200013d33c3/t/63f3a38820595b0cb296b4af/1676911513008/Extraterritorial-Winter_2023.pdf |journal=Extraterritorial |publisher=SFI Press |volume=2 |access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>

In 2023, Chiang was named one of [[Time (magazine)|''Time''{{'}}s]] 100 most influential people in AI.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2023-09-07 |title=TIME100 AI 2023: Ted Chiang |url=https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/6308990/ted-chiang/ |access-date=2023-09-08 |magazine=Time |language=en}}</ref>

== Writing style and influences ==
Chiang has said [[Isaac Asimov]] and [[Arthur C. Clarke]] inspired him when he was young,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ted Chiang, interviewed by Gavin J. Grant |url=http://www.indiebound.org/author-interviews/chiangted |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407032812/http://www.indiebound.org/author-interviews/chiangted |archive-date=2017-04-07 |website=IndieBound}}</ref> while the works of [[Gene Wolfe]], [[John Crowley (author)|John Crowley]] and [[Edward Bryant]] were his creative influences in college.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=McCarron |first=Meghan |date=2016-07-18 |title=The Legendary Ted Chiang on Seeing His Stories Adapted and the Ever-Expanding Popularity of SF |url=https://electricliterature.com/the-legendary-ted-chiang-on-seeing-his-stories-adapted-and-the-ever-expanding-popularity-of-sf/ |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=Electric Literature |language=en-US}}</ref>

Chiang has said that one of the reasons science fiction writing interests him is that it allows him to make philosophical questions "storyable".<ref name=":1" /> He enjoys reading explanatory story notes by authors, and includes them in his own collections. He considers these not the "precise response to 'How did you get the idea?,' but it's a way to answer the reader if they knew what the best question to ask [about the story] was".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Orr |first=Niela |date=2019-12-02 |title=An Interview with Ted Chiang |url=https://www.thebeliever.net/an-interview-with-ted-chiang/ |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=[[Believer Magazine|The Believer (magazine)]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Reception==
Critic [[John Clute]] has written that Chiang's work has a "tight-hewn and lucid style... [which] has a magnetic effect on the reader".<ref>[http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/chiang_ted Chiang], ''SF Encyclopedia''.</ref> Critic and poet [[Joyce Carol Oates]] wrote that Chiang explores "conventional tropes of science fiction in highly unconventional ways" in "teasing, tormenting, illuminating, thrilling" fashion, comparing him favorably to [[Philip K. Dick]], [[James Tiptree Jr.]] and [[Jorge Luis Borges]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Oates |first=Joyce Carol |date=2019-05-06 |title=Science Fiction Doesn't Have to Be Dystopian |language=en-US |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/13/science-fiction-doesnt-have-to-be-dystopian |access-date=2023-05-26 |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> Writer [[Peter Watts (author)|Peter Watts]] has praised Chiang's work, writing: "We share a secret prayer, we writers of short [[Science fiction|SF]]. We utter it whenever one of our stories is about to appear in public, and it goes like this: ''Please, Lord. Please, if it be Thy will, don’t let Ted Chiang publish a story this year.''"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Watts |first=Peter |date=2016-11-30 |title=Changing Our Minds: "Story of Your Life" in Print and on Screen. |url=https://www.rifters.com/crawl/?p=7021 |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=No Moods, Ads or Cutesy Fucking Icons}}</ref>

Former US president [[Barack Obama]] included Chiang's short story collection ''Exhalation'' in his 2019 reading list, praising it as the "best kind of science fiction".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brady |first=Amy |date=2019-08-20 |title=Barack Obama's 2019 Summer Reading List |url=https://chireviewofbooks.com/2019/08/20/barack-obamas-2019-summer-reading-list/ |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=Chicago Review of Books |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Awards===
Ted Chiang has won or been nominated for several awards for several of his works.

Chiang turned down a Hugo nomination for his short story "[[Liking What You See: A Documentary]]" in 2003, on the grounds that the story was rushed due to editorial pressure and did not turn out as he had really wanted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/chiang/full/ |website=fantasticmetropolis.com |title=Chiang |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402235150/http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/chiang/full/ |archive-date=April 2, 2008}}</ref>

Chiang was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2020. In 2024, Chiang won the [[PEN/Malamud Award]] for "excellence in the art of the short story"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-12 |title=Science Fiction Author Ted Chiang Honoured with the PEN/Malamud Award for Short Story Writing |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/lifestyle/books/features/science-fiction-author-ted-chiang-honoured-with-the-pen/malamud-award-for-short-story-writing-article-110937241 |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=Times Now |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-12 |title=Ted Chiang has won the PEN/Faulkner Foundation's short story prize. |url=https://lithub.com/ted-chiang-has-won-the-pen-faulkner-foundations-short-story-prize/ |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-12 |title=Chiang Wins PEN/Malamud Award |url=https://locusmag.com/2024/06/chiang-wins-pen-malamud-award/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=Locus Online |language=en-US}}</ref> and the [[American Humanist Association]]'s Inquiry and Innovation Award.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Humanist |first=The |date=2024-08-22 |title=Meet the 2024 Humanist Awardees |url=https://thehumanist.com/features/profiles/meet-the-2024-humanist-awardees |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=TheHumanist.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Work !! Year & Award!! Category!! Result !! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="6" |''[[Tower of Babylon (story)|Tower of Babylon]]''
|1991 [[Locus Award]]
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sfadb.com/Locus_Awards | title=Sfadb : Locus Awards }}</ref>
|-
|1991 [[Hugo Award]]
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1991 [[Nebula Award]]
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|1991 SF Chronicle Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sfadb.com/Science_Fiction_Chronicle_Readers_Poll_1991 | title=Sfadb: Science Fiction Chronicle Readers Poll 1991 }}</ref>
|-
|1992 [[Astounding Award for Best New Writer]] 
|
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|1998 Premio Ignotus
|Foreign Story
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?71+1998 | title=1998 Premio Ignotus }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="1" |''[[Division by Zero (short story)|Division by Zero]]''
|1992 Locus Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |''[[Understand (story)|Understand]]''
|1991 Asimov's Readers' Poll
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sfadb.com/Asimovs_Reader_Poll_1992 | title=Sfadb: Asimov's Reader Poll 1992 }}</ref>
|-
|1992 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1992 Hugo Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1994 [[Hayakawa's S-F Magazine Reader's Award]]
|Foreign Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="8" |''[[Story of Your Life]]''
|1998 [[Otherwise Award]]
|
|'''Honor'''
|
|-
|1998 HOMer Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sfadb.com/HOMer_Awards_1999 | title=Sfadb: HOMer Awards 1999 }}</ref>
|-
|1999 Locus Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1999 Hugo Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1999 [[Theodore Sturgeon Award]]
|Short Science Fiction
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2000 Nebula Award
|Novella
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2001 Hayakawa's S-F Magazine Reader's Award
|Foreign Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2002 [[Seiun Award]]
|Translated Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="6" |''[[Seventy-Two Letters]]''
|2000 [[Sidewise Award for Alternate History]]
|Short Form
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2001 Theodore Sturgeon Award
|Short Science Fiction
|{{CFinalist}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?41+2001 | title=2001 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award }}</ref>
|-
|2001 [[World Fantasy Award]]
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2001 Hugo Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2001 Locus Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2002 [[Hayakawa's S-F Magazine Reader's Award]]
|Foreign Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |''[[The Evolution of Human Science|Catching Crumbs from the Table (aka: The Evolution of Human Science)]]''
|2001 Locus Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="7" |''[[Hell Is the Absence of God]]''
|2002 Hugo Award
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2002 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2002 Theodore Sturgeon Award
|Short Science Fiction
|{{CFinalist}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?41+2002 | title=2002 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award }}</ref>
|-
|2003 Nebula Award
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2004 Seiun Award
|Translated Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2005 Premio Ignotus
|Foreign Story
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?71+2005 | title=2005 Premio Ignotus }}</ref>
|-
|2013 [[Kurd Laßwitz Award]]
|Foreign Work
(Translated as ''Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes'')
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |''[[Liking What You See: A Documentary]]''
|2002 Otherwise Award
|
|'''Honor'''
|
|-
|2003 Theodore Sturgeon Award
|Short Science Fiction
|{{CFinalist}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?41+2003 | title=2003 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award }}</ref>
|-
|2003 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="6" |''[[The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate]]''
|2007 [[BSFA Award]]
|Short Fiction
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2008 Hugo Award
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2008 Nebula Award
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2008 Theodore Sturgeon Award
|Short Science Fiction
|{{CFinalist}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?41+2008 | title=2008 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award }}</ref>
|-
|2008 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2009 Seiun Award
|Translated Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |''[[Stories of Your Life and Others]]''
|2003 Locus Award
|Collection
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2007 [[Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire]]
|Foreign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?25+2007 | title=2007 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire }}</ref>
|-
|2017 [[Washington State Book Award]]
|Fiction
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="7" |''[[Exhalation (short story)|Exhalation]]''
|2008 [[BSFA Award]]
|Short Fiction
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2009 Hugo Award
|Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2009 Locus Award
|Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2010 [[Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire]]
|Foreign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?25+2010 | title=2010 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire }}</ref>
|-
|2011 Seiun Award
|Translated Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2019 [[Ray Bradbury Prize]]
|
|{{CFinalist}}
|
|-
|2021 Ignotus Awards
|Foreign Short Story
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sfadb.com/Ignotus_Awards_2021 | title=Sfadb: Ignotus Awards 2021 }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="5" |''[[Exhalation: Stories|Exhalation]]'' (Collection)
|2019 [[Bram Stoker Award]]
|Fiction Collection
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2019 [[Goodreads Choice Awards]]
|Science Fiction
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-science-fiction-books-2019 | title=Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Science Fiction! }}</ref>
|-
|2020 Locus Award
|Collection
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2021 Shelley Award
|The Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fictional Work
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?110+2021 | title=2021 the Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fictional Work }}</ref>
|-
|2021 [[Grand prix de l'Imaginaire]]
|Foreign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?25+2021 | title=2021 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="7" |''[[The Lifecycle of Software Objects]]''
|2011 [[RUSA awards|RUSA CODES Reading List]]
|Science Fiction
|{{sho}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.librarything.com/award/748.0.0.2011/RUSA-CODES-Reading-List-2011 | title=RUSA CODES Reading List &#124; 2011 &#124; Awards and Honors &#124; LibraryThing }}</ref>
|-
|2011 Hugo Award
|Novella
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2011 Nebula Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2011 Locus Award
|Novella
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2012 Seiun Award
|Translated Short Story
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|2013 Premio Ignotus
|Foreign Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2014 [[FantLab's Book of the Year Award]]
|Translated Novella/Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |''[[The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling]]''
|2014 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2014 Hugo Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2016 Premio Ignotus
|Foreign Story
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?71+2016 | title=2016 Premio Ignotus }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="1" |''[[Arrival (film)|Arrival]]''
|2017 Hugo Award
|Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |''[[Omphalos (story)|Omphalos]]''
|2020 Hugo Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2020 Theodore Sturgeon Award
|Short Science Fiction
|{{CFinalist}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?41+2020 | title=2020 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award }}</ref>
|-
|2020 Seiun Award
|Translated Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2020: Ignyte Award
|Novelette
|{{CFinalist}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/current-finalists/2020-results/ | title=2020 Results - the Ignyte Awards | date=September 8, 2022 }}</ref>
|-
|2020 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |''[[Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom]]''
|2020 Hugo Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2020 Nebula Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2020 Seiun Award
|Translated Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|2020 Locus Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |''[[It's 2059, and the Rich Kids are Still Winning]]''
|2020 Locus Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |"Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art"
|2024 BSFA
|Short Non-Fiction
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=BSFA - Past Winners | url=https://www.bsfa.co.uk/Past-Winners }}</ref>
|-
|}

==Personal life==
As of 2016, Chiang lives in [[Bellevue, Washington]], with his long-time partner, Marcia Glover,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macdonald |first=Moira |date=November 2, 2016 |title=How a Bellevue writer's short story became a major new film |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/bellevue-writers-work-gets-a-hollywood-translation/ |access-date=June 10, 2019 |website=[[The Seattle Times]] |language=en}}</ref> whom he met while they both were working at Microsoft. She worked as an interface designer and then a photographer.<ref name=":2" />

==Works==
=== Short stories ===
*"[[Tower of Babylon (story)|Tower of Babylon]]", ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'', 1990
* "[[Division by Zero (story)|Division by Zero]]", ''Full Spectrum 3'', 1991<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/division/full|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121100139/http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/division/full|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 21, 2011|title=Fantastic Metropolis » Division by Zero|date=November 21, 2011|access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref>
* "[[Understand (story)|Understand]]", ''[[Asimov's Science Fiction]]'', 1991<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/under.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527121332/http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/under.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 27, 2014|title=Understand - a novelette by Ted Chiang|date=May 27, 2014|access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref>
* "[[Story of Your Life]]", ''[[Starlight (anthology series)|Starlight 2]]'', 1998
* "[[The Evolution of Human Science]]" (also known as "Catching Crumbs from the Table"), ''[[Nature Magazine|Nature]]'', 2000<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chiang|first=Ted|date=June 2000|title=Catching crumbs from the table|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=405|issue=6786|pages=517|doi=10.1038/35014679|pmid=10850694|issn=1476-4687|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* "[[Seventy-Two Letters]]", ''Vanishing Acts'', 2000
* "[[Hell Is the Absence of God]]", ''[[Starlight (anthology series)|Starlight 3]]'', 2001
* "[[Liking What You See: A Documentary]]", ''Stories of Your Life and Others'', 2002
* "[[What's Expected of Us]]", ''[[Nature Magazine|Nature]]'', 2005<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chiang|first=Ted|date=July 2005|title=What's expected of us|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=436|issue=7047|pages=150|doi=10.1038/436150a|bibcode=2005Natur.436..150C|issn=1476-4687|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* "[[The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate]]", [[Subterranean Press]], 2007 and ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]]'', September 2007
* "[[Exhalation (short story)|Exhalation]]", ''Eclipse 2'', 2008 
* "[[The Lifecycle of Software Objects]]", [[Subterranean Press]], July 2010
* "[[Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny]]", ''The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities'' (edited by [[Jeff VanderMeer]] and [[Ann VanderMeer]]) June 2011
* "[[The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling]]", [[Subterranean Press]] Magazine, August 2013<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2013/the_truth_of_fact_the_truth_of_feeling_by_ted_chiang|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222103103/http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2013/the_truth_of_fact_the_truth_of_feeling_by_ted_chiang|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 22, 2014|title=The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling by Ted Chiang — Subterranean Press|date=February 22, 2014|access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref>
* "[[The Great Silence (story)|The Great Silence]]", [[E-flux publications|e-flux Journal]], May 2015 (included in ''[[The Best American Short Stories]]'', 2016)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://supercommunity.e-flux.com/texts/the-great-silence/|title=e-flux journal 56th Venice Biennale — SUPERCOMMUNITY – The Great Silence|website=e-flux Supercommunity|language=en|access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref>
* "[[Omphalos (story)|Omphalos]]", ''Exhalation: Stories'', 2019
* "[[Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom]]", ''Exhalation: Stories'', 2019
* "[[It's 2059, and the Rich Kids are Still Winning]]", ''[[New York Times]]'', 2019

===Collections===
* ''[[Stories of Your Life and Others]]'' ([[Tor Books|Tor]], 2002; republished as ''Arrival'' ([[Picador (imprint)|Picador]], 2016)
* ''[[Exhalation: Stories]]'' ([[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf]], May 2019)<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/538034/exhalation-by-ted-chiang/| title= Exhalation by Ted Chiang |  website = Penguin Random House}}</ref>

===Non-fiction===
* ''"Frankenstein's Daughter" by Maureen McHugh: An Appreciation'', The Ellen Datlow/SCI FICTION Project, December 30, 2005<ref>{{Cite web |title=The ED SF Project: "Frankenstein's Daughter" by Maureen McHugh: An Appreciation by Ted Chiang |url=http://edsfproject.blogspot.com/2005/12/frankensteins-daughter-by-maureen.html |access-date=2023-05-11 |language=en}}</ref>
* ''The Problem of the Traveling Salesman'', [[Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet]] #23, November 2008<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-11-01 |title=Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet No. 23 {{!}} Small Beer Press |url=https://smallbeerpress.com/lcrw/2008/11/01/lady-churchills-rosebud-wristlet-no-23/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Small Beer Press {{!}} Really rather good books.}}</ref>
* ''Reasoning About the Body'', [[Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet]] #26, November 2010<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-11-18 |title=Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet No. 26 {{!}} Small Beer Press |url=https://smallbeerpress.com/lcrw/2010/11/18/lady-churchill%e2%80%99s-rosebud-wristlet-no-26/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Small Beer Press {{!}} Really rather good books.}}</ref>
* ''Introduction to "Particle Theory"'', [[Strange Horizons]], October 31, 2011<ref>{{Cite web |last=words |first=Ted Chiang Issue: 31 October 2011 289 |date=2011-10-31 |title=Introduction to "Particle Theory" |url=http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/introduction-to-particle-theory/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Strange Horizons |language=en}}</ref>
* ''Bad Character'', [[The New Yorker]], May 9, 2016<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2016-05-09 |title=If Chinese Were Phonetic |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/16/if-chinese-were-phonetic |access-date=2023-05-11 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref>
* ''Silicon Valley Is Turning Into Its Own Worst Fear'', [[BuzzFeed]], December 18, 2017<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chiang |first=Ted |date=2017-12-18 |title=Silicon Valley Is Turning Into Its Own Worst Fear |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tedchiang/the-real-danger-to-civilization-isnt-ai-its-runaway |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=BuzzFeed News |language=en}}</ref>
* ''What If Parents Loved Strangers’ Children As Much As Their Own?'', [[The New Yorker]], December 31, 2017<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2017-12-31 |title=What If Parents Loved Strangers' Children As Much As Their Own? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/what-if-parents-loved-strangers-children-as-much-as-their-own |access-date=2023-05-11 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref>
* ''Why Computers Won’t Make Themselves Smarter'', ''[[The New Yorker]]'', March 30, 2021<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/why-computers-wont-make-themselves-smarter |title=Why Computers Won't Make Themselves Smarter |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=March 30, 2021 |first=Ted |last=Chiang}}</ref>
* ''Foreword'' to ''The Art and Science of Arrival'' by Tanya Lapointe, 2022<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publication: The Art and Science of Arrival |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?915284 |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=www.isfdb.org}}</ref>
* ''Foreword'' to ''The History of Science Fiction: A Graphic Novel Adventure'' by Xavier Dollo, 2022<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publication: The History of Science Fiction: A Graphic Novel Adventure |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?913019 |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=www.isfdb.org}}</ref>
* ''ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web'', ''[[The New Yorker]]'', February 9, 2023<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/chatgpt-is-a-blurry-jpeg-of-the-web |title=ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=February 9, 2023 |first=Ted |last=Chiang}}</ref>
* ''Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey?'', ''[[The New Yorker]]'', May 4, 2023<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-artificial-intelligence/will-ai-become-the-new-mckinsey |title=Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey? |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=May 4, 2023 |first=Ted |last=Chiang}}</ref>
* ''Why A.I. Isn't Going to Make Art'', ''[[The New Yorker]]'', August 31, 2024<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Chiang |first=Ted |date=2024-08-31 |title=Why A.I. Isn't Going to Make Art |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/why-ai-isnt-going-to-make-art |access-date=2024-09-07 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

===Lectures===
* ''Ted Chiang on the Future'', [[MoMA PS1]], July 8, 2013<ref>{{Citation |title=Ted Chiang on the Future |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_632pic1PlU |access-date=2023-05-11 |language=en}}</ref>
* ''Imaginary Science and Magic in Fiction'', [[University of Notre Dame|Notre Dame]] Technology Ethics Center, November 2020<ref>{{Citation |title=Ted Chiang "Imaginary Science and Magic in Fiction" | date=February 24, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj6iewy8Ujk |access-date=2023-05-11 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Philosophy ===
* {{Cite book |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-81662-8 |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-81662-8 |title=The Philosophy of Ted Chiang |date=2025 |isbn=978-3-031-81661-1 |editor-last1=Friedell |editor-first1=David }}
** {{Cite web |url=https://www.santafe.edu/news-center/news/book-review-the-philosophy-of-ted-chiang |title=Book review: The Philosophy of Ted Chiang &#124; Santa Fe Institute |date=June 23, 2025 }}

===Film===
{{Main|Arrival (film)}}
The screenwriter [[Eric Heisserer]] adapted Chiang's story "Story of Your Life" into the 2016 film ''[[Arrival (film)|Arrival]]''. Directed by [[Denis Villeneuve]], the film stars [[Amy Adams]] and [[Jeremy Renner]].<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/jeremy-renner-joins-amy-adams-779876| title= Jeremy Renner Joins Amy Adams in Sci-Fi 'Story of Your Life' |  work =The Hollywood Reporter | date=March 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last =Zutter|first = Natalie |title=Your First Look at ''Arrival'', the Adaptation of Ted Chiang's Novella ''Story of Your Life'' |url=http://www.tor.com/2016/08/08/first-look-arrival-amy-adams-jeremy-renner-ted-chiang/|website= TOR |publisher= [[tor.com]] |access-date= August 17, 2016 |date= August 8, 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://medium.com/learning-for-life/694cb3c80d13 Interview] conducted by Avi Solomon
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090201181656/http://www.nebulaawards.com/index.php/interview/ted_chiang/ Interview] conducted by Al Robertson
* [http://www.sfsite.com/09b/tc136.htm Interview] conducted by Lou Anders
* [https://archive.today/20130415004143/http://www.indiebound.org/author-interviews/chiangted Interview] conducted by Gavin J. Grant
* [https://www.thebeliever.net/an-interview-with-ted-chiang/ Interview] conducted by James Yeh
* {{ISFDB name|11251}}
* [https://www.freesfonline.net/authors/Ted_Chiang.html Ted Chiang's online fiction] at Free Speculative Fiction Online
* {{IMDb name|5384213}}
* {{LCAuth|n2001156449|Ted Chiang|3|}}

{{Ted Chiang}}
{{Hugo Award Best Novella}}
{{Hugo Award Best Short Story 2001–2020}}
{{Locus Award Best Novella}}
{{Nebula Award Best Novelette}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Ted}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:American alternate history writers]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American writers of Taiwanese descent]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:American writers of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:Brown University alumni]]
[[Category:Date of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Hugo Award–winning writers]]
[[Category:John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Nebula Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Bellevue, Washington]]
[[Category:People from Port Jefferson, New York]]
[[Category:Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Sidewise Award winners]]
[[Category:University of Notre Dame faculty]]
[[Category:PEN/Malamud Award winners]]