Dexter Gabriel (born 1971), better known by his pen name Phenderson Djèlí Clark, is an American speculative fiction writer and historian, who is an assistant professor in the department of history at the University of Connecticut. He uses a pen name to differentiate his literary work from his academic work, and has also published under the name A. Phenderson Clark. This pen name, "Djèlí", makes reference to the griots – traditional Western African storytellers, historians and poets.
In 2022, his fantasy novel A Master of Djinn won the Nebula and Locus Awards. He has also won awards for his short fiction, including the Nebula, Locus and British Fantasy Awards for the novella Ring Shout in 2021.
Life and career Dexter Gabriel was born in New York City in 1971, but spent most of his early years living in his parents' original home of Trinidad and Tobago. At age eight, he returned to the United States and lived in Staten Island and Brooklyn before moving to Houston, when he was 12. Gabriel went to college at Texas State University, San Marcos, earning a B.A. and then an M.A. in history. He then earned a doctorate in history from Stony Brook University. Gabriel is currently assistant professor in the department of history at the University of Connecticut.
In 2011, Gabriel began publishing short stories variously as P. Djèlí Clark, Djèlí A. Clark, Phenderson Djèlí Clark, and A. Phenderson Clark. Phenderson was his grandfather's name, while Clark was his mother's maiden name; Djèlí refers to West African storytellers, known in French as griots. He chose to use a pen name in order to separate his academic and literary work. In 2016, Clark sold his first major work, a novelette titled "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", to Tor.com.
Since then, he has published novellas, short stories, and a novel. Four of his works – "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", "The Angel of Khan el-Khalili", The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and A Master of Djinn – are set in the same world, an alternate-universe Egypt. They are collectively titled the Ministry of Alchemy series or the Dead Djinn Universe.
He has been announced as Guest of Honour at the 2027 Eastercon and was a Guest of Honor at Readercon 2025.
Awards
Year Work Award Category Result 2018 Nebula Award Novella Nebula Award Short Story 2019 Alex Award — Crawford Award — Hugo Award Novella Locus Award Novella World Fantasy Award Novella Nebula Award Novella Hugo Award Short Story Locus Award Short Story Theodore Sturgeon Award — 2020 Hugo Award Novella Ignyte Award Novella Locus Award Novella Mythopoeic Award Adult Literature Ring Shout Goodreads Choice Awards Horror Nebula Award Novella Shirley Jackson Award Novella 2021 Dragon Award Alternate History Novel Goodreads Choice Awards Fantasy Nebula Award Novel Ring Shout British Fantasy Award Novella Hugo Award Novella Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Fiction Ignyte Award Novella Locus Award Novella RUSA Codes Reading List Fantasy World Fantasy Award Novella 2022 Compton Crook Award — Hugo Award Novel Ignyte Award Adult Novel Locus Award First Novel Mythopoeic Award Adult Literature RUSA CODES Reading List Fantasy World Fantasy Award Novel Ignyte Award Short Story Locus Award Short Story Theodore Sturgeon Award — World Fantasy Award Short Fiction 2023 BSFA Award Short Fiction 2024 Abeni's Song Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book — Ignyte Award Middle Grade Book Hugo Award Short Story Locus Award Short Story World Fantasy Award Short Fiction Locus Award Novelette 2025 Locus Award Novella Seiun Award Translated Novel
Works
Dead Djinn Universe
For young readers Abeni's Song
Standalone novellas
Other works
"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington". Fireside Fiction. February 2018
As Dexter Gabriel Jubilee’s Experiment: The British West Indies and American Abolitionism. Cambridge University Press, April 2023.
References
External links Official site Official Blog
Faculty page at the University of Connecticut A Dead Djinn in Cairo at Tor.com