5 ratings | 1 review | avg rating:5.00

Ellen Kushner’s Followers (606)

Ellen’s Bookshelves

to-read (0)
currently-reading (0)
read (5)

Ellen’s Friends (39)

Ardyce

3,011 books | 364 friends

Will Shetterly

617 books | 286 friends

Slink

1,848 books | 118 friends

Kristen McDermott

6,175 books | 106 friends

Jeanne Behnke

826 books | 22 friends

Tasha Turner

15,925 books | 1,513 friends

Sarah Smith

373 books | 469 friends

Naomi

1,725 books | 91 friends

More friends…

Ellen Kushner

Goodreads Author

Born

in Washington, DC , The United States

October 06

Website

http://www.ellenkushner.com

Twitter

EllenKushner

Genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Mannerpunk, Gay and Lesbian

Member Since

February 2008

edit data

Ellen Kushner weaves together multiple careers as a writer, radio host, teacher, performer and public speaker.

A graduate of Barnard College, she also attended Bryn Mawr College, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She began her career in publishing as a fiction editor in New York City, but left to write her first novel Swordspoint, which has become a cult classic, hailed as the progenitor of the “mannerpunk” (or “Fantasy of Manners”) school of urban fantasy. Swordspoint was followed by Thomas the Rhymer (World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award), and two more novels in her “Riverside” series. In 2015, Thomas the Rhymer was published in the UK as part of the Gollancz “Fantasy Masterworks” line.

In addition, her short fiction appears regularly Ellen Kushner weaves together multiple careers as a writer, radio host, teacher, performer and public speaker.

A graduate of Barnard College, she also attended Bryn Mawr College, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She began her career in publishing as a fiction editor in New York City, but left to write her first novel Swordspoint, which has become a cult classic, hailed as the progenitor of the “mannerpunk” (or “Fantasy of Manners”) school of urban fantasy. Swordspoint was followed by Thomas the Rhymer (World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award), and two more novels in her “Riverside” series. In 2015, Thomas the Rhymer was published in the UK as part of the Gollancz “Fantasy Masterworks” line.

In addition, her short fiction appears regularly in numerous anthologies. Her stories have been translated into a wide variety of languages, including Japanese, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Latvian and Finnish.

Upon moving to Boston, she became a radio host for WGBH-FM. In 1996, she created Sound & Spirit, PRI’s award-winning national public radio series. With Ellen as host and writer, the program aired nationally until 2010; many of the original shows can now be heard archived online.

As a live stage performer, her solo spoken word works include Esther: the Feast of Masks, and The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer ‘Nutcracker’ for Chanukah (with Shirim Klezmer Orchestra). In 2008, Vital Theatre commissioned her to script a full-scale theatrical version. The Klezmer Nutcracker played to sold-out audiences in New York City, with Kushner in the role of the magical Tante Miriam.

In 2012, Kushner entered the world of audiobooks, narrating and co-producing “illuminated” versions of all three of the “Riverside” novels with SueMedia Productions for Neil Gaiman Presents at Audible.com—and winning a 2013 Audie Award for Swordspoint.

Other recent projects include the urban fantasy anthology Welcome to Bordertown (co-edited with Holly Black), and The Witches of Lublin, a musical audio drama written with Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom (which one Gabriel, Gracie and Wilbur Awards in 2012). In 2015 she contributed to and oversaw the creation of the online Riverside series prequel Tremontaine for Serial Box with collaborators Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Patty Bryant.

A dauntless traveler, Ellen Kushner has been a guest of honor at conventions all over the world. She regularly teaches writing at the prestigious Clarion Workshop and the Hollins University Graduate Program in Children’s Literature.

Ellen Kushner is a co-founder and past president of the Interstitial Arts Foundation, an organization supporting work that falls between genre categories. She lives in New York City with author and educator Delia Sherman, a lot of books, airplane and theater ticket stubs, and no cats whatsoever. ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Ellen Kushner questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Ellen Kushner’s books

Average rating: 3.86 · 44,712 ratings · 5,065 reviews · 139 distinct works • Similar authors

	Swordspoint (Riverside, #1) 3.80 avg rating — 10,993 ratings — published 1987 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Privilege of the Sword (Riverside, #2) 3.93 avg rating — 5,444 ratings — published 2006 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thomas the Rhymer 3.89 avg rating — 3,866 ratings — published 1990 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fall of the Kings (Riverside, #3) by Ellen Kushner (Goodreads Author), Delia Sherman (Goodreads Author) 3.66 avg rating — 2,340 ratings — published 2002	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tremontaine: The Complete Season One (Tremontaine #1.1-1.13) by Ellen Kushner (Goodreads Author), Alaya Dawn Johnson (Goodreads Author), Malinda Lo (Goodreads Author) 3.97 avg rating — 522 ratings — published 2016 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Arrivals (Tremontaine, #1.1) 3.98 avg rating — 237 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Man with the Knives by Ellen Kushner (Goodreads Author), Tom Canty (Illustrator) 4.26 avg rating — 176 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tremontaine: The Complete Season Two (Tremontaine, #2.1-2.13) by Ellen Kushner (Goodreads Author), Joel Derfner (Goodreads Author), Tessa Gratton (Goodreads Author) 4.29 avg rating — 151 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Outlaws of Sherwood Forest (Choose Your Own Adventure, #47) by Ellen Kushner (Goodreads Author), Judith Mitchell (Illustrator) 3.61 avg rating — 136 ratings — published 1985 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Golden Dreydl 3.37 avg rating — 120 ratings — published 2007 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Ellen Kushner…

767 posts
Ellen Kushner's Blog

New Swordspoint Story, Last-Minute Gifts, and a Riddle

I'm not usually much of a short story writer, but I just published a new one in the new anthology "Silk & Steel," edited by Janine A. Southard. It's another in the "family saga" that my first novel, Swordspoint, seems to have spawned. You can get it as a last-minute gift for someone in e-book form.

And speaking of last-minute gifts. . . . Here is my new riddle:

I am the gift that cannot be wrapped.
W Read more of this blog post »

5 likes · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on December 21, 2020 11:16

View all 767 posts »

Holly Black is one of the YA world's premier experts on faeries (she also has the pointy ears to prove it). Her enchanting books include The...

Polls

DECEMBER FANTASY: This poll decides which two books will go on to the run-off poll for the December Fantasy Book-of-the-month.

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

28 votes, 31.1%

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott

25 votes, 27.8%

Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner

10 votes, 11.1%

The Pastel City by M. John Harrison

10 votes, 11.1%

Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure by Michael Chabon

10 votes, 11.1%

The Family Trade/The Bloodline Feud by Charles Stross

7 votes, 7.8%

90 total votes

2 comments

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Fans of Interraci...: Favorite setting?	24	47	Dec 07, 2009 07:00PM
Challenge: 50 Books: Leighann's 50 books in 09	89	318	Dec 30, 2009 01:22PM
Apocalyptic Readi...: Megan's 150 books in 2009	8	110	Dec 30, 2009 05:05PM
Read 150+ Books a...: Megan's Book List for 2009 (151)	46	163	Dec 30, 2009 05:45PM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks	2717	2509	May 31, 2010 09:00PM
SciFi and Fantasy...: Reading club nominations — any feedback?	9	65	Jun 12, 2010 11:08AM
SciFi and Fantasy...: Looking for gritty, fast-paced action fantasy	40	1437	Nov 20, 2010 06:11AM
SciFi and Fantasy...: "Lions of al-Rassan" yes, but how fantasy is it?	21	111	Feb 02, 2011 02:24PM
SciFi and Fantasy...: Which authors are on your "buy on sight" list	46	308	Feb 06, 2011 08:23PM