Nalo Hopkinson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nalo Hopkinson
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Hopkinson in 2007
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| Born | 20 December 1960 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Occupation | Writer, editor |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Citizenship | Canada |
| Education | Master of Arts |
| Alma mater | Seton Hill University |
| Genre | Science fiction, fantasy |
| Notable works | Brown Girl in the Ring (1998) Skin Folk (2001) The Salt Roads (2003) |
| Notable awards | Prix Aurora Award; Gaylactic Spectrum Award; Inkpot Award John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Locus Award, Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic; World Fantasy Award |
Nalo Hopkinson (born December 20, 1960) is a famous Canadian writer who was born in Jamaica. She is known for her speculative fiction books, which is a type of story that includes science fiction and fantasy. Her novels and short stories are full of Caribbean history and culture. She often uses the unique ways people talk and tell stories in that part of the world.
Some of her most famous books are Brown Girl in the Ring (1998), Midnight Robber (2000), and The Salt Roads (2003). She also put together collections of stories by other writers, called anthologies.
In 2020, Hopkinson received a very special honor called the Damon Knight Grand Master Award. This award recognized her for a lifetime of amazing work in science fiction and fantasy. She currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she teaches creative writing.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Nalo Hopkinson was born on December 20, 1960, in Kingston, Jamaica. Her parents were Freda and Abdur Rahman Slade Hopkinson. She spent her childhood in Guyana, Trinidad, and Canada.
Hopkinson grew up surrounded by books and stories. Her mother worked in a library, and her father was a famous Guyanese poet and playwright. Because of this, she met famous writers like Derek Walcott when she was young. She was a very advanced reader and read books by authors like Kurt Vonnegut by the time she was six.
Her writing is inspired by the fairy tales and folk stories she heard as a child. These included Afro-Caribbean tales about the trickster spider Anansi, as well as classic stories like Gulliver's Travels and the works of Shakespeare.
When she was 16, she moved from Guyana to Toronto, Canada. She said this was a big change for her. She lived in Toronto for many years before moving to Riverside, California. There, she became a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside. Hopkinson earned a Master of Arts degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.
Career as a Writer and Teacher
Before becoming a professor, Hopkinson had several jobs. She worked in libraries and for the Toronto Arts Council, where she helped give out grants to artists. For six years, she had to stop writing because of a serious illness that made it hard for her to work. This led to difficult times before she was hired by the University of California, Riverside.
In 2011, she began teaching creative writing at the university. She focuses on science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. By 2014, she had become a full professor.
As an author, Hopkinson often writes about Caribbean folklore and Afro-Caribbean culture. She uses her knowledge of growing up in Caribbean communities in her stories. Her characters often come from countries like Trinidad and Jamaica, and they sometimes speak in Creole, a local dialect. Her books also explore important topics like race and class. For example, her novel Midnight Robber deals with difficult social issues.
Hopkinson is a founding member of the Carl Brandon Society, an organization that supports diversity in science fiction and fantasy. Her favorite writers include Samuel R. Delany and Tobias Buckell. Her ideas for books often come from songs or poems. For instance, her novel Sister Mine was inspired by the poem "Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti.
Awards and Recognition
Nalo Hopkinson has won many awards for her writing. In 1999, she received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
- Brown Girl in the Ring: This book won the Locus Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award in 1998.
- Midnight Robber: This novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2001.
- Skin Folk: This collection of short stories won the World Fantasy Award and the Sunburst Award in 2003.
- The Salt Roads: This book won the Gaylactic Spectrum Award in 2004 for its positive exploration of important social themes. It was also nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Novel.
- The New Moon's Arms: In 2008, this novel won the Aurora Award and the Sunburst Award. This made her the first author to win the Sunburst Award twice.
In 2020, she was named the 37th Damon Knight Grand Master, a top honor in the science fiction and fantasy world.
Famous Works
Novels
- Brown Girl in the Ring (1998)
- Midnight Robber (2000)
- The Salt Roads (2003)
- The New Moon's Arms (2007)
- The Chaos (2012) (Young adult fiction)
- Sister Mine (2013)
- Blackheart Man (2024)
Story Collections
- Skin Folk (2001)
- Report From Planet Midnight (2012) (short stories, interview and speech)
- Falling in Love With Hominids (2015)
Anthologies (Story Collections She Edited)
- Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction (2000)
- Mojo: Conjure Stories (2003)
- So Long Been Dreaming (2004)
- Tesseracts Nine with Geoff Ryman (2005)
Comic Book Series
- The Sandman Universe: House of Whispers (DC/Vertigo) (2018–2020)
See also
In Spanish: Nalo Hopkinson para niños
- Works by Nalo Hopkinson
- Nalo Hopkinson papers at the Special Collections and University Archives of University of California, Riverside
