Meg Elison

Meg Elison is an American author and feminist essayist whose writings often incorporate the themes of female empowerment, body positivity, and gender flexibility. Her debut novel, The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, won the 2014 Philip K. Dick Award, and her second novel, The Book of Etta, was nominated for the award in 2017.[1] Elison's work has appeared in several markets, including Fantasy & Science Fiction,[2] Terraform,[3] McSweeney's Internet Tendency,[4] Catapult,[5] and Electric Literature.[6]

Meg Elison
Elison, at the San Francisco pop-up art exhibit Color Factory, 2017.
Elison, at the San Francisco pop-up art exhibit Color Factory, 2017.
Born (1982-05-10) May 10, 1982
OccupationWriter
EducationMt. San Jacinto College
University of California, Berkeley (BS)
Website
megelison.com

Elison "grew up a military brat with the United States ARMY" where she "lived all over the country." At fourteen she began working to support herself. Elison has lived in Missouri, Savannah, Nevada, North Carolina, Utah, Southern California, and New York, contributing to her vast ability for distinct settings.[7]

Background

A high school dropout, Elison advanced through the California community college system and ultimately graduated from UC Berkeley (2014) with a B.S. in English. Before becoming a professional writer, non-fiction editor, and essayist, she had an interest in opera and medicine as possible vocations.[7] She has written and spoken extensively on the poverty and early queer identity that came to inform much of her work.[8]

Between 2014 and 2019, she published a trilogy of novels known as The Road to Nowhere, which detail the post-apocalyptic plight of women in the fallout of a global epidemic. Written primarily in a journal format, the first entry of the series, The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (June 2014), follows one surviving medical worker as she struggles to find civilization and to provide birth control and medical care to the women that she meets.[9] The Book of Etta (February 2017) revisits the community of plague survivors several generations later as a female protagonist strikes out against an oppressive male-dominated regime.[10] The third and final book of the series, The Book of Flora (April 2019), continues the story through the memories of Flora, a woman who was a sex slave.[11]

Elison's first Young Adult novel, Find Layla (September 2020), centers on a teen suffering from neglect at home. Filming a video to shine a spotlight on the bitter truth of her treatment, the footage goes viral online, prompting Child Protective Services to investigate.[12]

She is also winner of the 2021 Locus Award for best novelette "The Pill", as well as earning a nomination for its published collection Big Girl Plus....

Bibliography

Fictional Novels

The Road to Nowhere Trilogy:

  • —— (2014). The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (paperback ed.). Sybaritic Press. pp. 1–190. ISBN 978-1495116360.
  • —— (2017). The Book of Etta (paperback 1st ed.). 47North. pp. 1–314. ISBN 978-1503941823.
  • —— (2019). The Book of Flora (paperback 1st ed.). 47North. pp. 1–332. ISBN 978-1542042093.

Other novels:

  • —— (2020). Find Layla (hardcover 1st ed.). Skyscape. pp. 1–188. ISBN 978-1542019804.

Collections
  • —— (2020). Big Girl Plus... (paperback ed.). PM Press. pp. 1–128. ISBN 978-1629637839.
    • "The Pill", a novelette, and the collection's centerpiece (previously unpublished)
    • "Big Girl", the eponymous short story
    • "Such People In It", speculative short fiction with alternative history elements (previously unpublished)
    • "Gone with Gone with the Wind", a non-fiction essay and discussion on revisiting and reassessing classic literature
    • "Guts", a short story about weight loss surgery
    • "El Hugé", a short story centering around a group of small-town teens requisitioning an overgrown pumpkin and destroying it
    • "Afterimage", an exploration of a VR world

Short fiction
  • Next of Kin (2016)
  • Personal Trainer (2016)
  • Nobody Told Me (2016)
  • El Hugé (2017)
  • In Loving Memory (2017)
  • The Middle Child (2017)
  • Big Girl (2017)
  • Hysteria (2017)
  • Matchmaker (2017)
  • Safe Surrender (2018)
  • Rapture (2018)
  • Endor House (2019)
  • Hey Alexa (2019)
  • Come on Down (2019)
  • Familiar Face (2020)
  • Dresses Like White Elephants (2020)
  • Such People in It (2020)
  • The Pill (2020)
  • Guess (2020)
  • The Pizza Boy (2021)
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Served with Fries (2021)
  • Mother Dough (2021)

Essays
  • Writing With My Keys Between My Fingers, published in Uncanny (#32), Jan/Feb 2020

Awards/Nominations
Year Work Award title, category Category Result Refs
2014 The Book of the Unnamed Midwife Otherwise Award – Long List [13]
2015 Philip K. Dick Award (sci-fi novel) Won [14]
2017 The Book of Etta Otherwise Award – Nominated [15]
2018 Philip K. Dick Award (sci-fi novel) Nominated [16]
"Big Girl" Otherwise Award – Honor List [17]
2019 The Book of Flora – Honor List [18]
2020 "The Pill" Nebula Award Nebula–Novelette Finalist [19]
2021 Hugo Award Hugo–Novelette Finalist [20]
Locus Award Locus–Novelette Won [21]
Big Girl Locus Award Locus–Collection 3rd [21]
"Dresses Like White Elephants" Locus Award Locus–Short Story 8th [21]

References
  1. "Gender and the Apocalypse - Los Angeles Review of Books".
  2. "Interview: Meg Elison on "Big Girl" : The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction". www.sfsite.com.
  3. "Meg Elison". Motherboard.
  4. "Meg Elison - McSweeney's Internet Tendency". McSweeney's Internet Tendency.
  5. "Catapult - Meg-Elison". Catapult.
  6. "Meg Elison – Electric Literature". electricliterature.com.
  7. Elison, Meg (19 November 2019). "Bi-Plus with Elizabeth and Meg". Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  8. "Meg Elison's singular, feminist sci-fi - The Daily Californian". 17 October 2016.
  9. Bosch, Torie (28 January 2016). "This 2014 Sci-Fi Novel Eerily Anticipated the Zika Crisis" – via Slate.
  10. "THE BOOK OF ETTA".
  11. "The Book of Flora [review]". Kirkus. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  12. "Find Layla[review]". Kirkus. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  13. "2014 Otherwise Award « Otherwise Award". Otherwise Award. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  14. "Philip K. Dick Award: 2015 Philip K. Dick Award Winner Announced". Philip K. Dick Award. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  15. "2017 Otherwise Award « Otherwise Award". Otherwise Award. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  16. "Philip K. Dick Award: Philip K. Dick Award Nominees Announced". Philip K. Dick Award. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  17. "2018 Otherwise Award « Otherwise Award". Otherwise Award. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  18. "2019 Otherwise Award « Otherwise Award". Otherwise Award. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  19. "SFWA Announces the 56th Annual Nebula Award® Finalists - The Nebula Awards®". The Nebula Awards. 2021-03-15. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  20. "2021 Hugo Awards | The Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  21. "2021 Locus Awards Winners – Locus Online". Locus Online – The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field. 2021-06-26. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
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