Alix E. Harrow (born November 9, 1989) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her short fiction work "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" has been nominated for the Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, and Locus Award, and in 2019 won a Hugo Award. Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019), was widely acclaimed by mainstream critics, lauded by general audiences during voting at Goodreads Choice Awards and Locus Awards, and nominated for multiple first novel literary awards and speculative fiction awards. She has also published under the name Alix Heintzman.
Early life and education Harrow was born in Idaho and grew up in Colorado and Kentucky. She enrolled at Berea College at age sixteen, where she completed a bachelor's degree in history in three years. She then went on to earn a master's degree in history from the University of Vermont.
Career Before working as a full-time writer, Harrow was an academic historian who taught as an adjunct professor of African and African American history at Eastern Kentucky University.
Her first novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019), was received with critical acclaim and nominated for multiple awards, including the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and World Fantasy Award for best novel. A second novel, The Once and Future Witches (2020), won a British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award). A more recent novella, A Spindle Splintered (2021), was nominated for a Hugo Award for best novella.
Harrow has also written short fiction for Shimmer Magazine, Strange Horizons, Tor.com, and Apex Magazine. This has produced a Hugo Award–winning 2018 short story called "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" (published by Apex).
Her fourth novel, The Everlasting, won the 2026 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Personal life Harrow lives in Virginia with her husband and their two children. Retrieved 6 Sept 2026.
Awards YearNomineeAwardCategoryResultRef2019"A Witch's Guide to Escape"Eugie Award— Hugo AwardShort Story Locus AwardShort StoryNebula AwardShort Story World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction WSFA Small Press Award— The Ten Thousand Doors of JanuaryGoodreads Choice AwardsDebut FantasyNebula AwardNovel 2020Audie AwardFantasyFemale NarrationBFA Fantasy Novel Newcomer Compton Crook Award— Crawford Award —Dragon AwardsScience Fiction Novel Hugo AwardNovel KitschiesGolden Tentacle (Debut)Locus AwardFirst NovelMythopoeic AwardsAdult Literature World Fantasy AwardNovel "Do Not Look Back, My Lion"Hugo AwardShort Story The Once and Future WitchesGoodreads Choice AwardsFantasy 2021 BFA Fantasy Novel Dragon AwardsFantasy Novel Locus AwardFantasy Novel"The Sycamore and the Sybil"Eugie Award— Locus AwardShort Story2022A Spindle Splintered BFA Novella Hugo AwardNovella Locus AwardNovella"Mr. Death"Hugo AwardShort Story Locus AwardShort StoryNebula AwardShort Story 2023 A Mirror Mended Hugo Award Novella Locus Award Novella Southern Book Prize Fiction Starling HouseGoodreads Choice AwardsFantasy 2024 Audie Awards Fantasy Locus Award Horror Novel RUSA CODES Reading List Fantasy Southern Book Prize Fiction Virginia Literary Awards People's Choice (Fiction) World Fantasy Award Novel 2025 Goodreads Choice AwardsFantasy2026 Locus Award Fantasy Novel Hugo Award Novel World Fantasy Award Novel
Bibliography
Novels
Novellas
Fractured Fables series
Short fiction "A Whisper in the Weld" (2014) "The Animal Women" (2015) "Dustbaby" (2015) "The Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage" (2016) "Patience and Not-Forsaken" (2016) "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" (2018) "Do Not Look Back, My Lion" (2019) "The Ransom of Miss Coraline Connelly" (2020) "The Sycamore and the Sybil" (2020) "Mr. Death" (2021) "The Long Way Up" (2022) "The Six Deaths of the Saint" (2022) "The Knight and the Butcherbird" (2025)
References
External links Official website
Alix E. Harrow at the Science Fiction Awards Database