Kij Johnson

Kij Johnson's award shelf alone makes me sit up: three Nebulas, a Hugo, and multiple World Fantasy Awards is a haul most writers only dream of. What I find telling is the spread across categories, from short story to novella, which suggests a writer who bends form to the story rather than the reverse. A novelist from tiny Harlan, Iowa reaching the very summit of fantasy and science fiction speaks to a real command of language and imagination. I'm especially drawn to the fact that she teaches at the University of Kansas; mastering the craft and then passing it on is the mark of someone who treats writing as a living tradition.

Name (English)

Kij Johnson

Name (Japanese)

キジ・ジョンスン

Reading

きじ・じょんすん

Born

January 20, 1960 (age 66)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Rat

Origin

Harlan, Iowa, United States

Occupation

novelist / writer / essayist / science fiction writer / role-playing game designer

University

North Carolina State University

Awards & achievements

• 2001 Crawford Award
• 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story
• 2011 Nebula Award for Best Short Story
• 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novella
• 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novella
• 2017 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign-Language Short Story
• 2017 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella
• 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://www.kijjohnson.com
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AD%E3%82%B8%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%B3

Tags

• Iowa
• novelist
• writer
• essayist

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.