Nina Allan Explained

Nina Allan
Birth Date:27 May 1966
Birth Place:Whitechapel, London, England
Occupation:Writer
Nationality:British
Alma Mater:University of Exeter
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Genre:Speculative fiction
Notableworks:The Silver Wind
The Harlequin
Spouses:-->
Partner:Christopher Priest
Website:The Spider's House

Nina Allan (born 27 May 1966) is a British writer of speculative fiction. She has published five collections of short stories, multiple novella-sized works, and five novels. Her stories have appeared in the magazines Interzone, Black Static and Crimewave and have been nominated for or won a number of awards, including the Grand prix de l'Imaginaire and the BSFA Award.

Early life and education

Allan was born in Whitechapel, in the East End of London, and grew up in the Midlands and in West Sussex. She studied Russian language and literature at the University of Reading and the University of Exeter, and then did an MLitt at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

After leaving Oxford she worked as a buyer for an independent chain of record stores based in Exeter, and then as a bookseller in London.[1] Her first published story appeared in the British Fantasy Society journal Dark Horizons in 2002. She lived in the Taw Valley area of North Devon but now lives on Isle of Bute.

Her column "Nina Allan's Time Pieces" appears in Interzone.

Critical reception

Allan's story Darkroom appeared in Subtle Edens: An Anthology of Slipstream Fiction edited by Allen Ashley Elastic Press in 2008.[2] In a review of the collection Andy Hedgecock wrote that Nina Allan is developing into "one of the finest stylists of modern genre fiction." He went on to say that very few writers had her talent to uncover, "the strange within the ordinary with such clarity and precision."[3]

Paul Kincaid in reviewing The Silver Wind asks when a series of stories can turn into a novel. He wrote that this was when, "the congeries of stories tell us more than any individual stories can." He suggests that this has been achieved and outlines the links between the stories before concluding that the sum of the parts is greater than the individual stories.[4] One of the links is the viewpoint character Martin who appears in different parallel realities. Sofia Samatar however in her review questioned whether or not there is a danger in Allan's experiment of the emotional force being, "more likely to be lost than gained in the leaps between parallel realities."[5]

In Peter Tennant's 2014 review of The Race he wrote that this was "one of the finest books" he had read that year, but also wrote that he did not know what it was about and could "only hazard guesses." Although a novel, it is, "four self-contained sections that form a greater whole."[6] Sofia Samatar agrees that "The Race guards its secrets." She writes that, this is "a distancing novel about drawing in, a science fiction novel aware of its own artifice, a literary fiction impatient with mimesis."[7]

In Stuart Conover's 2017 review of The Rift he stated "There are a lot of fun concepts here and a fully crafted alien world which could easily have a completely separate tale told in. Actually, I'd love to Nina revisit this world without even mentioning Selena, Julie, or the events from this book and just have it as connective tissue."[8]

In Ian Sansom's review of Conquest he wrote "Nina Allan belongs to that small set of writers whom you probably haven’t heard of, but who is really famous among certain readers and also really good."[9]

Nominations and awards

Allan's story Angelus won the Aeon Award in 2007. It was announced at the European Science Fiction Convention in Copenhagen, Denmark in September 2007. The Grand Judge Ian Watson commented that it was “beautifully written and paced and enigmatic yet in an entirely lucid way."[10]

Year Work Award Category Result Ref
2007"Angelus"Aeon Award—
2010Flying in the Face of God Short Fiction
2013The GatewayShirley Jackson AwardNovella[11]
SpinShort Fiction [12]
2014Novella [13]
The RaceBSFA AwardNovel
KitschiesRed Tentacle (Novel)
2015John W. Campbell Memorial Award—[14]
The HarlequinNovella Award—
2017"The Art of Space Travel"Hugo Award[15]
Novelette[16]
Theodore Sturgeon Award— [17]
The Rift BSFA AwardNovel [18]
KitschiesRed Tentacle (Novel)[19]
2018—
Locus AwardScience Fiction Novel
The Gift of Angels BSFA AwardShort Fiction [20]

In translation

Publications

Novels

Novellas

Collections

Short stories

Allan's stories have appeared in various publications and six "Best of" collections:

Allan has said that all her short fiction to date has been, "a kind of apprenticeship in novel-writing". Her first novel is The Race, which uses the town of Hastings for its landscape, where she was living for most of the time she was writing it.[27]

Notes

Notes and References

  1. http://www.risingshadow.net/articles/245-an-interview-with-nina-allan Interview in Rising Shadow
  2. Book: Subtle Edens : an anthology of slipstream fiction . 2008 . Elastic Press . 9780955318191 . Ashley . Allen . Norwich, UK.
  3. [Interzone (magazine)|Interzone]
  4. [Interzone (magazine)|Interzone]
  5. http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2011/10/the_silver_wind.shtml Review in Strange Horizons
  6. [Interzone (magazine)|Interzone]
  7. http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2014/08/the_race_by_nin.shtml Review in Strange Horizons
  8. Web site: Conover . Stuart . 6 August 2017 . Book Review: 'The Rift' By Nina Allan . 2017-08-06 . ScienceFiction.com.
  9. Ian Sansom, "Art really is important," Times Literary Supplement, June 2, 2023.
  10. Web site: Socolive - Trực tiếp bóng đá HD miễn phí, xem bd Socolive TV . 2024-10-27 . socolivekc.cc . vi.
  11. Web site: 2013 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners – The Shirley Jackson Awards . 2024-10-27 . en-US.
  12. Web site: BSFA - Awards . 2024-10-27 . www.bsfa.co.uk.
  13. http://news.ansible.uk/a332.html/ Ansible 332
  14. Web site: Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction News and Events .
  15. Web site: 31 December 2016 . 2017 Hugo Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170812030011/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2017-hugo-awards/ . 2017-08-12 . 2017-08-11 . World Science Fiction Society.
  16. Web site: 2017-06-24 . 2017 Locus Awards Winners . 2024-10-31 . Locus Online . en-US.
  17. Web site: 2017-06-19 . 2017 Campbell and Sturgeon Awards Winners . 2024-10-31 . Locus Online . en-US.
  18. Web site: BSFA Awards . 3 April 2018 . British Science Fiction Association.
  19. Web site: The Rift . 10 April 2018 . Worlds Without End.
  20. Web site: 2019-02-17 . 2018 BSFA Awards Shortlist . 2024-10-31 . en.
  21. http://www.noosfere.org/gpi/2014.php GPI Palmares 2014
  22. http://scifiportal.eu/the-writer-nina-allan-uk-interviewed-by-europa-sf-cristian-tamas/ Interview in Europa SF
  23. Book: Horton. Rich. The year's best science fiction & fantasy 2012. 2012. Prime Books. Rockville, Md.. 9781607013440. 2012.
  24. Book: Jakubowski. Maxim. The mammoth book of best British crime.. 2013. Robinson. London. 9781780337937.
  25. Book: Horton. Rich. The year's best science fiction & fantasy 2013. 2013. Prime Books. 9781607013921. 2013.
  26. Book: Finch. Paul. Terror tales of london.. 2013. Gray Friar Press. [S.l.]. 9781906331399.
  27. As note 1

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