Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear (born Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky, September 22, 1971) is an American author who works primarily in the speculative and science fiction genres. She is one of a small number of writers who have gone on, after winning Astounding Science Fiction's John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, to win multiple Hugo Awards for their fiction writing. She won the John W. Campbell Award in 2005, going on to receive, for instance, the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Short Story for "Tideline", and the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "Shoggoths in Bloom".

Early life and education

Bear was born Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky, in Hartford, Connecticut on September 22, 1971.

She is regularly referred to as having "attended the University of Connecticut, where she studied English and anthropology, though she did not take a degree."

Career

As Locus magazine states in an introduction to an interview with her in 2006, Bear "has worked as a technical writer, a stable hand, a reporter, and in various office jobs", going on to say that "she sold a few stories to small-press publications in the90s" and "only began writing seriously in 2001".

Fiction writing

Bear's first novel, Hammered, was published in January 2005. It was followed by Scardown in July, and Worldwired in November of the same year. The trilogy features Canadian Master Warrant Officer Jenny Casey, who is also the main character in the short story "Gone to Flowers". Hammered won the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 2006.

The Chains That You Refuse, a collection of her short fiction, was published May 2006 by Night Shade Books. Blood and Iron, the first book in the fantasy series entitled The Promethean Age, debuted June 27, 2006.

Teaching, and other media work and activities

As of this date, Bear was an instructor at the Viable Paradise writer's workshop, and has taught at Clarion West Writers Workshop.

As of this date, she was a writer at the ongoing Shadow Unit website/pseudo-TV series, and she has been a regular panelist on the podcast SF Squeecast.

In 2008, she donated her papers to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.

Reception

Annalee Newitz of io9 wrote that Bear "is famous for combining high-octane military/spy tales with eccentric and subversive subplots".

Awards and recognition

The "Award Bibliography" for Bear at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database lists over a 100 entries for her works that have nominated or received awards in her genre from 2004-2026, awards that include recognition on repeat occasions by Asimov's Reader, Cambell–Astounding Science Fiction, Lambda, Locus, BSFA, Gaylactic Spectrum, Gemmell and Hugo awards.

Bear is one of a small number of writers who have gone on to win multiple Hugo Awards for fiction after winning the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the list of others include C. J. Cherryh, Orson Scott Card, Spider Robinson, Ted Chiang, and Mary Robinette Kowal.

Bear and her fellow contributors' work at the podcast SF Squeecast were recognised in 2012 and 2013 by the Hugo Award for Best Fancast.

Personal life

As of May 2020, Bear had been married twice; she was married to Christopher Kindred from 2000-2007, and after entering into a relationship with Scott Lynch in 2011—a "fantasy writer and firefighter" whose work includes novels—the two married in October 2016. As of that date, Bear was living with Lynch in Western Massachusetts, although it has also been stated that she keeps a home in Connecticut.

In 2021, Bear announced that she had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.