Hiron Ennes

Hiron Ennes is an American writer, musician, and pathologist.

Early life and education

Ennes wrote constantly as a child, writing Dune fanfiction then later dystopias in high school and poetry in college. "All through childhood I’d fill my school notebooks with fantasy inspired by Diana Wynne Jones. When I was 10 or 11, my grandfather gave me his old office typewriter, on which I clicked away nonstop…"

Ennes studied physics for their undergraduate degree. Between college and medical school, they lived in the basement of a Virginia Woolf professor who encouraged them to take a creative writing course. In a 2024 interview with Vox Vomitus podcast, Ennes confirmed that they had completed their medical degree and work as a pathologist.

Career

Writing career

Ennes began their first novel, Leech, in an online novel-writing course. It was published in 2022 by Tor Books as part of a two-book deal. In a starred review from Publishers Weekly, Leech was described as "Emotionally complex, wildly inventive, and full of squirming terror". The novel won the 2023 British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer.

Their second novel, The Works of Vermin, was published by Tor in 2025. It was shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize. Tobias Carroll at Reactor wrote that the novel "rarely goes where you’d expect. I went in expecting strange creatures and thrilling adventure, and I got both. But Ennes’s book also contains moving scenes of interpersonal interaction and an unsettling lesson in the abuses of power. It’s a haunting read, but not necessarily for the reasons you’d expect."

Pathologist career

Ennes's areas of medical interest include infectious disease, pathology, and anti-capitalist healthcare reform. As of December 2025, Ennes works as a pathologist and plans to move into forensic pathology.

Writing style and influences

Leech has been described as "a combination of Gothic horror and science fiction" and by Ennes themselves as "post-post-apocalyptic soft-sci-fi gothic body horror". Ennes's literary influences include Diana Wynne Jones and Dune from childhood; the horror settings of Gormenghast, Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Phantom of the Opera; novelists Samuel R. Delany, China Miéville, Sofia Samatar, and José Donoso; and the French-language writers Blaise Cendrars, Comte de Lautréamont, and Henri Barbusse.

Personal life

Ennes plays the harp and is very fond of dogs. They consider themself to be "queer in every sense of the word" and use they/them pronouns.

Partial bibliography

Novels

Leech (Tor, 2022)

The Works of Vermin (Tor, 2025)

Short stories

"Our Best Selves", Weird Horror, 2024

"The Breath of Kannask", Northern Nights, 2024

"Lyra, from Many Angles", Escape Pod, 2025