Jo Walton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jo Walton
Jo Walton in 2014
Born	1964 (age 60–61) Aberdare, Wales, UK
Occupation	Writer
Citizenship	Canadian
Genre	Fantasy, science fiction, alternate history
Spouse	Emmet A. O'Brien
Children	1

Jo Walton, born in 1964, is a talented writer and poet from Wales and Canada. She is famous for her fantasy and science fiction books. Her novel Among Others won two major awards, the Hugo and Nebula Awards, in 2012. Another popular book, Tooth and Claw, which is a story about dragons set in the Victorian era, won the World Fantasy Award in 2004.

Jo Walton has also written the Small Change series, which mixes alternate history with fun mystery stories. This series includes Farthing, Ha'penny, and Half a Crown. Her fantasy novel Lifelode received the Mythopoeic Award in 2010. In 2015, her alternate history book My Real Children won the Tiptree Award.

Besides her novels, Jo Walton writes non-fiction, like book reviews and comments on science fiction for the magazine Tor.com. Many of her articles were put together in a book called What Makes This Book So Great (2014), which won the Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction.

Jo Walton's Early Life and Education

Jo Walton was born in 1964 in Aberdare, a town in Wales. She went to several schools, including Park School and Aberdare Girls' Grammar School. She also studied at Howell's School, Llandaff and finished her education at Oswestry School and Lancaster University.

She lived in London for two years and then in Lancaster until 1997. After that, she moved to Swansea, where she stayed until she moved to Canada in 2002. Jo Walton can speak Welsh. She learned it in school and from her grandmother, who was a well-known Welsh scholar.

Jo Walton's Writing Journey

Jo Walton started writing when she was 13 years old. However, her first novel wasn't published until the year 2000. Before that, she wrote for different role-playing game publications, often working with her husband at the time, Ken Walton. She was also very active in online science fiction fandom communities.

First Novels and Awards

Jo Walton's first three novels were The King's Peace (2000), The King's Name (2001), and The Prize in the Game (2002). These books are fantasy stories set in a world inspired by Arthurian legends and Irish myths. In 2002, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, which is a big honor for new authors.

Her next novel, Tooth and Claw (2003), was written to be like a classic novel by Anthony Trollope, but with dragons instead of people.

The Small Change Series

Farthing was Jo Walton's first science fiction novel. It's a mystery story set in an alternate history where the United Kingdom made peace with Adolf Hitler before the United States joined World War II. This book was nominated for several awards.

The story continued with Ha'penny, published in 2007, and the final book in the series, Half a Crown, in 2008. Ha'penny won the Prometheus Award in 2008.

Online Writing and Columns

In 2008, Jo Walton started writing an online column for Tor.com. She mostly wrote reviews of older books. These articles were later collected in her book What Makes This Book So Great (2014). She also wrote a series of articles looking back at the Hugo Award nominees from 1953 to 2000. These were published as An Informal History of the Hugos in 2018.

Recent Works and Achievements

Her book, Among Others (2012), was very successful, winning both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and Nebula Award for Best Novel. Her more recent books include the alternate history novel My Real Children (2014), which won the Tiptree Award.

She also wrote Thessaly trilogy (2015–2016), a science fiction and fantasy series about the Greek Gods and a new look at Plato's Republic. Her historical fantasy novel Lent (2019) is set in Renaissance Italy. Her 2020 novel Or What You Will is a unique story about being immortal and creative.

In February 2018, Jo Walton was a special guest and speaker at the 36th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything symposium, which celebrates science fiction and fantasy arts. In November 2022, she released an audio drama called Heart's Home, based on a Welsh folk tale, as part of The Other Path podcast.

Awards and Recognitions

Jo Walton has won many awards for her writing. Here are some of them:

Jo Walton's Personal Life

After her first novel was published, Jo Walton moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She is married to Emmet A. O'Brien, and they have one child.

See also

In Spanish: Jo Walton para niños