Alix E. Harrow

Alix E. Harrow (born November 9, 1989) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her short fiction work "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" has been nominated for the Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, and Locus Award, and in 2019 won a Hugo Award. Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019), was widely acclaimed by mainstream critics, lauded by general audiences during voting at Goodreads Choice Awards and Locus Awards, and nominated for multiple first novel literary awards and speculative fiction awards. She has also published under the name Alix Heintzman.

Alix E. Harrow
Born	(1989-11-09) November 9, 1989 (age 35) Idaho, United States
Occupation	Writer, professor
Education	Berea College (BA) University of Vermont (MA)
Genre	Science fiction, speculative fiction
Years active	2014–present
Notable works	"A Witch's Guide to Escape" (2018) The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019)
Notable awards	Hugo–Short Story (2019) BFA–Fantasy Novel (2021)
Website
alixeharrow.wixsite.com/author

Life and career

Alix E. Harrow was born on November 9, 1989, in the United States and grew up in Kentucky.^[1] She enrolled at Berea College at age sixteen, where she completed a bachelor's degree in history in three years.^[1][2] She then went on to earn a master's degree in history from the University of Vermont.^[1] Before working as a full-time writer, Harrow was an academic historian who taught as an adjunct professor of African and African American history at Eastern Kentucky University.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Her first novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019), was received with critical acclaim and nominated for multiple awards, including the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and World Fantasy Award for best novel.^[9][10][11] A second novel, The Once and Future Witches (2020), won a British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award).^[12][13][14] A more recent novella, A Spindle Splintered (2021), was nominated for a Hugo Award for best novella.

Harrow has also written short fiction for Shimmer Magazine, Strange Horizons, Tor.com, and Apex Magazine. This has produced a Hugo Award–winning 2018 short story called "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" (published by Apex).

Harrow lives in Virginia.^[15]

Awards

Year	Nominee	Award	Category	Result	Ref
2019	"A Witch's Guide to Escape"	Eugie Award	—	Finalist	[16]
		Hugo Award	Short Story	Won	[16]
		Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated—6th	[16]
		Nebula Award	Short Story	Shortlisted	[16]
		World Fantasy Award	Short Fiction	Shortlisted	[16]
		WSFA Small Press Award	—	Shortlisted	[16]
	The Ten Thousand Doors of January	Goodreads Choice Awards	Debut	Nominated—4th	[17]
			Fantasy	Nominated—11th	[18]
		Nebula Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[16][10]
2020		Audie Award	Fantasy	Won	[19]
			Female Narration	Shortlisted	[20]
		BFA	Fantasy Novel	Shortlisted	[16]
			Newcomer	Shortlisted	[16]
		Compton Crook Award	—	Shortlisted	[21]
		Crawford Award	—	Shortlisted	[22]
		Dragon Awards	Science Fiction Novel	Shortlisted	[16]
		Hugo Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[16][9]
		Kitschies	Golden Tentacle (Debut)	Shortlisted	[16]
		Locus Award	First Novel	Nominated—3rd	[21]
		Mythopoeic Awards	Adult Literature	Shortlisted	[16]
		World Fantasy Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[16][11]
	"Do Not Look Back, My Lion"	Hugo Award	Short Story	Shortlisted	[16]
	The Once and Future Witches	Goodreads Choice Awards	Fantasy	Nominated—6th	[23]
2021		BFA	Fantasy Novel	Won	[12][13][14]
		Dragon Awards	Fantasy Novel	Shortlisted	[16]
		Locus Award	Fantasy Novel	Nominated—5th	[24]
	"The Sycamore and the Sybil"	Eugie Award	—	Finalist	[16]
		Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated—6th	[16]
2022	A Spindle Splintered	BFA	Novella	Shortlisted	[16]
		Hugo Award	Novella	Shortlisted	[16]
		Locus Award	Novella	Nominated—4th	[16]
	"Mr. Death"	Hugo Award	Short Story	Shortlisted	[16]
		Locus Award	Short Story	Nominated—2nd	[16]
		Nebula Award	Short Story	Shortlisted	[16]
2023	A Mirror Mended	Hugo Award	Novella	Shortlisted	[25]
		Locus Award	Novella	Nominated	[26]
		Southern Book Prize	Fiction	Shortlisted	[27]
	Starling House	Goodreads Choice Awards	Fantasy	Nominated—9th	[28]
2024		Audie Awards	Fantasy	Shortlisted	[29]
		Locus Award	Horror Novel	Nominated—3rd	[30]
		RUSA CODES Reading List	Fantasy	Shortlisted	[31]
		Southern Book Prize	Fiction	Shortlisted	[32]
		Virginia Literary Awards	People's Choice (Fiction)	Shortlisted	[33]
		World Fantasy Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[34]

Bibliography

Novels

• —— (2019). The Ten Thousand Doors of January. Redhook. ISBN 9780316421997.^[35]
• —— (2020). The Once and Future Witches. Redhook. ISBN 9780316422048.^[36]
• —— (2023). Starling House. Tor Books. ISBN 9781250765369.^[37]

Fractured Fables series

Novellas

• —— (2021). A Spindle Splintered. Tordotcom. ISBN 9781250765352.^[38]
• —— (2022). A Mirror Mended. Tordotcom. ISBN 9781250766649.^[39]

Short fiction

• "A Whisper in the Weld" (2014)
• "The Animal Women" (2015)
• "Dustbaby" (2015)
• "The Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage" (2016)
• "Patience and Not-Forsaken" (2016)
• "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" (2018)
• "Do Not Look Back, My Lion" (2019)
• "The Sycamore and the Sybil" (2020)
• "Mr. Death" (2021)
• "The Long Way Up" (2022)^[40]
• "The Six Deaths of the Saint" (2022)
• "The Knight and the Butcherbird" (2025)