Ted Chiang (born 1967) is an American
speculative fictionSpeculative fiction is a fiction genre speculating about worlds that are unlike the real world in various important ways. In these contexts, it generally overlaps one or more of the following: science fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and...
writer. He was born in
Port Jefferson, New YorkThe Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson is located in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 census, the village population was 7,837...
and graduated from
Brown UniversityBrown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III...
with a
Computer ScienceComputer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems. It is frequently described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe and transform...
degree. He currently works as a technical writer in the software industry and resides in
BellevueBellevue is a rapidly growing city in King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 109,569 at the 2000 census, but by 2007 had grown to an...
, near
Seattle, WashingtonSeattle is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington State on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes...
. He is a graduate of the noted Clarion Writers Workshop (1989).
Although not a prolific author, having published only eleven short stories as of 2009, Chiang has to date won a string of prestigious speculative fiction awards for his works: a
Nebula AwardThe Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years...
for "Tower of Babylon" (1990), the John W.
Ted Chiang (born 1967) is an American
speculative fictionSpeculative fiction is a fiction genre speculating about worlds that are unlike the real world in various important ways. In these contexts, it generally overlaps one or more of the following: science fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and...
writer. He was born in
Port Jefferson, New YorkThe Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson is located in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 census, the village population was 7,837...
and graduated from
Brown UniversityBrown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III...
with a
Computer ScienceComputer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems. It is frequently described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe and transform...
degree. He currently works as a technical writer in the software industry and resides in
BellevueBellevue is a rapidly growing city in King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 109,569 at the 2000 census, but by 2007 had grown to an...
, near
Seattle, WashingtonSeattle is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington State on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes...
. He is a graduate of the noted Clarion Writers Workshop (1989).
Although not a prolific author, having published only eleven short stories as of 2009, Chiang has to date won a string of prestigious speculative fiction awards for his works: a
Nebula AwardThe Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years...
for "Tower of Babylon" (1990), the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992, a Nebula Award and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for "Story of Your Life" (1998), a Sidewise Award for "Seventy-Two Letters" (2000), a Nebula Award,
Locus AwardThe Locus Awards were established in 1971 and are presented to winners of Locus Magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
and
Hugo AwardThe Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories...
for his
noveletteA novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms, like a novella, is usually based upon word count...
"Hell Is the Absence of God" (2002), a Nebula and Hugo Award for his novelette "
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" is a fantasy novelette by Ted Chiang originally published in 2007 by Subterranean Press and reprinted in the September 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction...
" (2007), and a British Science Fiction Association Award, a
Locus AwardThe Locus Awards were established in 1971 and are presented to winners of Locus Magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
, and the
Hugo Award for Best Short StoryThe Hugo Awards are given annually for the best English language science fiction or fantasy works. The awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and given in various categories....
for "
Exhalation"Exhalation" is a science fiction short story published in 2008 by Ted Chiang. It won the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.-Plot summary:...
" (2009).
Chiang turned down a Hugo nomination for his short story "Liking What You See: A Documentary" in 2003, on the grounds that the story was rushed due to editorial pressure and did not turn out as he had really wanted.
http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/chiang/full/
Chiang's first eight stories are collected in
Stories of Your Life, and Others (1st US hardcover ed: ISBN 0-7653-0418-X; 1st US paperback ed.: ISBN 0-7653-0419-8). His novelette
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" is a fantasy novelette by Ted Chiang originally published in 2007 by Subterranean Press and reprinted in the September 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction...
was also published in
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
In a recent interview (May 19, 2008)
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2008/05/starship-sofa-interview-ted-chiang.html, Chiang mentioned that he is currently writing a couple of new stories, with one being a
novellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. While there is disagreement as to what length defines a novella, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count...
that explores the theme of artificial intelligence.
List of works
- "Tower of Babylon
"Tower of Babylon" is a science fiction novelette published in 1990 by Ted Chiang. It won the 1991 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and was nominated for the 1991 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.-Plot summary:...
" (Omni, 1990) (Nebula AwardWinners of the '“Nebula Award for Best Short Story”'. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below.-Winners and nominees:-External links:* *...
winner)
- "Division by Zero" (Full Spectrum 3, 1991)
- "Understand
"Understand" is a science fiction novelette published in 1991 by Ted Chiang. It was nominated for the 1992 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, and won the 1992 Asimov’s Reader Poll. The story has been recorded by Rashan Stone and broadcast as a four-part series on BBC Radio 7.-Plot summary:The story...
" (Asimov's, 1991)
- "Story of Your Life
Story of Your Life is a science fiction short story by Ted Chiang. It was the winner of the 2000 Nebula Award for Best Novella as well as the 1999 Sturgeon award. The major themes explored by this tale are determinism, language and an interesting take on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.-Plot summary:Dr...
" (Starlight 2, 1998) (Nebula AwardWinners of the '“Nebula Award for Best Short Story”'. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below.-Winners and nominees:-External links:* *...
and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner)
- "The Evolution of Human Science" (a.k.a. "Catching Crumbs from the Table") (Nature, 2000)
- "Seventy-Two Letters" (Vanishing Acts, 2000) (Sidewise Award
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year.The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with...
winner)
- "Hell Is the Absence of God" (Starlight 3, 2001) (Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works. The awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and given in various categories....
, Locus AwardThe Locus Awards were established in 1971 and are presented to winners of Locus Magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
and Nebula AwardWinners of the Nebula Award for best Novelette. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below.-External links:* *...
winner)
- "Liking What You See: A Documentary" (Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002)
- Stories of Your Life and Others (Tor
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. Tom Doherty...
, 2002) (Locus AwardThe Locus Awards were established in 1971 and are presented to winners of Locus Magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
for Best Collection)
- "What's Expected Of Us" (Nature, 2006)
- The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" is a fantasy novelette by Ted Chiang originally published in 2007 by Subterranean Press and reprinted in the September 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction...
(Subterranean PressSubterranean Press is a small press publisher in Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction...
, 2007 and F&SFThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, 9/07) (Nebula AwardWinners of the Nebula Award for best Novelette. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below.-External links:* *...
winner, Hugo AwardThe Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works. The awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and given in various categories....
winner)
- "Exhalation
"Exhalation" is a science fiction short story published in 2008 by Ted Chiang. It won the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.-Plot summary:...
" (Eclipse 2, 2008) (BSFA winner, Locus AwardThe Locus Awards were established in 1971 and are presented to winners of Locus Magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
for Short Story, 2009 Hugo Award winner)
External links