Elizabeth Hand (born March 29, 1957) is an American writer.
Life and career Hand grew up in Yonkers and Pound Ridge, New York. She studied drama and anthropology at the Catholic University of America. Since 1988, Hand has lived in coastal Maine, the setting for many of her stories, and as of 2000 lives in Lincolnville.Elizabeth Hand Biography - life, family, children, parents, name, story, history, mother, young, book - Newsmakers Cumulation Retrieved 2017-04-28. She also lives part-time in Camden Town, London which has been the setting for Mortal Love and the short story "Cleopatra Brimstone".
Hand's first published story, "Prince of Flowers", appeared in 1988 in The Twilight Zone Magazine, and her first novel, Winterlong, was published in 1990. With Paul Witcover, she created and wrote DC Comics' 1990s cult series Anima.Elizabeth Hand – SCIFIPEDIA Hand's other works include Æstival Tide (1992); Icarus Descending (1993); Waking the Moon (1994), which won the Tiptree Award and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award; the post-apocalyptic novel Glimmering (1997); contemporary fantasy Black Light (1999), a New York Times Notable Book; the historical fantasy Mortal Love (2004), a Washington Post Notable Book; the psychological thriller Generation Loss (2007), and the World Fantasy Award-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 World Fantasy Award in 2008 for Illyria, and the Inkpot Award in 2018.Inkpot Award
She also writes movie and television spin-offs, including Star Wars tie-in novels and novelizations of such films as The X-Files and 12 Monkeys. She contributed a Bride of Frankenstein novel to a series of classic movie monster novels published by Dark Horse Comics.
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 regular review column for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Bibliography Novels The Winterlong Trilogy: Winterlong (Bantam Spectra, 1988) – Æstival Tide (Bantam Spectra, 1992) – Icarus Descending (Bantam Spectra, 1993) – Waking the Moon (HarperCollins, 1994) – . Revised in 1995 as a shorter 390-page US edition – Glimmering (HarperPrism, 1997). Revised second edition published by Underland Press, 2012 – Black Light (HarperPrism, 1999) – Mortal Love (HarperCollins, 2004) – The Bride of Frankenstein: Pandora's Bride (Dark Horse Books, 2007). Universal Monsters media tie-in – Radiant Days (Viking, 2012) Wylding Hall (PS Publishing, 2015) Curious Toys (Mulholland Books, 2019) Hokuloa Road (Mulholland Books, 2022) A Haunting on the Hill (Mulholland Books, 2023). An authorized sequel to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House.
Cass Neary Crime Novels Generation Loss (Small Beer Press, 2007; Influx Press, 2024) – Available Dark (Minotaur Books, 2012; Influx Press, 2025) – Hard Light (Minotaur Books, 2016; Influx Press, 2027) – The Book of Lamps and Banners (Mulholland Books, 2020) –
Chapbooks
Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol (Beccon Publications, 2006). Illustrated by Judith Clute; originally published on Sci Fiction, December 2000 – . The story is a tribute to entertainers Sandy Becker and Joey Ramone. An online edition of Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol was serialized by Hand on her Livejournal community "theinferior4". Illyria (PS Publishing, 2006) – ,
Star Wars Expanded Universe Boba Fett: Maze Of Deception (Scholastic, 2003) – Boba Fett: Hunted (Scholastic, 2003) – Boba Fett: A New Threat (Scholastic, 2004) – Boba Fett: Pursuit (Scholastic, 2004) –
Novelizations 12 Monkeys (HarperPrism, 1995) – Millennium: The Frenchman (HarperCollins, 1997) – The X-Files: Fight the Future (HarperPrism, 1998) – Anna and the King (HarperEntertainment, 1999) – The Affair of the Necklace (HarperEntertainment, 2001) – Catwoman (Del Rey, 2004) –
Short story collections Last Summer at Mars Hill (HarperPrism, 1998) – Bibliomancy (PS Publishing, 2003) – Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories (M Press, 2006) – Errantry: Strange Stories (Small Beer Press, 2012) – The Best of Elizabeth Hand (Subterranean Press, 2021)
Individual stories 1998 "The Darcy Bee" 2000 "Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol" on Sci Fiction 2002 "Cleopatra Brimstone" in Redshift 2003 "The Least Trumps" in Conjunctions 39: The New Wave Fabulists 2003 "The Girl With No Name" 2004 "The Poet and the Inkmaker's Daughter" 2006 "From Mortal Love" 2018 "Farrow Street" 2021 "For Sale by Owner" 2023 "The Seventh Bride, or Female Curiosity"
Awards
+ Awards for Elizabeth Hand Work Year & AwardCategory Result Ref. 2018 Inkpot Award Winterlong1990 Philip K. Dick Award1991 Locus AwardFirst NovelSnow on Sugar Mountain1992 Locus AwardNoveletteÆstival Tide1992 Philip K. Dick Award1993 Locus AwardSF NovelIn the Month of Athyr1993 Locus AwardNoveletteIcarus Descending1993 Philip K. Dick AwardThe Erl-King1994 World Fantasy AwardNovellaWaking the Moon1995 World Fantasy AwardNovel1995 Otherwise Award1996 Locus AwardFantasy Novel1996 Mythopoeic AwardsAdult LiteratureGlimmering1998 Locus AwardSF Novel1998 Arthur C. Clarke AwardLast Summer at Mars Hill1995 Locus AwardNovella1995 HOMer AwardNovella1995 World Fantasy AwardNovella1996 Nebula AwardNovellaLast Summer at Mars Hill (Collection)1999 World Fantasy AwardCollection1999 Locus AwardCollectionBlack Light2000 Locus AwardFantasy NovelChip Crockett's Christmas Carol2001 World Fantasy AwardNovella2001 Locus AwardNovellaCleopatra Brimstone2001 International Horror Guild AwardLong Fiction2002 World Fantasy AwardNovella2002 Locus AwardNovellaPavane for a Prince of the Air2002 International Horror Guild AwardIntermediate Form2003 Locus AwardNoveletteThe Least Trumps2003 Locus AwardNovella2003 World Fantasy AwardNovellaBibliomancy2003 International Horror Guild AwardCollection2003 Bram Stoker AwardFiction Collection2004 World Fantasy AwardCollection2004 Locus AwardCollectionMortal Love2004 International Horror Guild AwardNovel2005 Locus AwardFantasy Novel2005 Mythopoeic AwardsAdult LiteratureWonderwall2005 Locus AwardShort StoryCalypso in Berlin2006 Locus AwardShort StorySaffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories2007 Locus AwardCollectionThe Saffron Gatherers2007 Locus AwardShort StoryGeneration Loss2007 International Horror Guild AwardNovel2007 Believer Book Award2008 Shirley Jackson AwardNovelEcho2007 Nebula AwardShort StoryIllyria2008 Shirley Jackson AwardNovella2008 Locus AwardNovella2008 World Fantasy AwardNovellaWinter's Wife2008 Locus AwardNoveletteThe Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon2011 Locus AwardNovella2011 World Fantasy AwardNovella2011 Hugo AwardNovella2011 Theodore Sturgeon AwardShort Science FictionNear Zennor2012 Shirley Jackson AwardNovella2012 Locus AwardNovella2012 World Fantasy AwardNovella2012 British Fantasy AwardNovellaAvailable Dark2012 Romantic Times Book ReviewsThe Reviewers' Choice Award - Contemporary MysteryErranty: Strange Stories2012 Bram Stoker AwardFiction Collection2013 Shirley Jackson AwardCollection2013 Locus AwardCollectionRadiant Days2013 Locus Award Young Adult BookWylding Hall2016 Shirley Jackson AwardNovella2016 Locus AwardFantasy NovelHard Light2016 Bram Stoker AwardNovelFire2018 Locus AwardShort StoryCurious Toys2020 Shirley Jackson AwardNovel2020 Locus AwardHorror NovelThe Book of Lamps and Banners2021 Locus AwardFantasy NovelFor Sale by Owner2022 World Fantasy AwardNovella2022 Locus AwardNoveletteThe Best of Elizabeth Hand2022 Locus AwardCollectionA Haunting on the Hill2023 The Dracula SocietyChildren of the Night Award2024 Locus AwardHorror Novel2024 Shirley Jackson AwardSpecial Award
Book reviews YearReview articleWork(s) reviewed2000 2011
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