P. Djèlí Clark

Dexter Gabriel (born 1971), better known by his pen name Phenderson Djèlí Clark, is an American speculative fiction writer and historian, who is an assistant professor in the department of history at the University of Connecticut. He uses a pen name to differentiate his literary work from his academic work, and has also published under the name A. Phenderson Clark. This pen name, "Djèlí", makes reference to the griots – traditional Western African storytellers, historians and poets.

P. Djèlí Clark
Born	Dexter Gabriel 1971 (age 53–54) Queens, New York, U.S.
Pen name	Phenderson Djèlí Clark
Occupation	Writer, historian
Nationality	American
Education	Texas State University (BA, MA) Stony Brook University (Ph.D)
Period	2011–present
Genre	Fantasy, science fiction
Notable works	A Master of Djinn (2021) Ring Shout (2020)
Academic background
Thesis	A West Indian Jubilee in America: British Emancipation and the American Abolition Movement (2016)
Doctoral advisor	April Masten
Academic work
Discipline	African American History
Institutions	University of Connecticut
Website
pdjeliclark.com

In 2022, his fantasy novel A Master of Djinn won the Nebula and Locus Awards. He has also won awards for his short fiction, including the Nebula, Locus and British Fantasy Awards for the novella Ring Shout in 2021.

Life and career

Dexter Gabriel was born in New York City in 1971, but spent most of his early years living in his parents' original home of Trinidad and Tobago.^[1][2] At age eight, he returned to the United States and lived in Staten Island and Brooklyn before moving to Houston, when he was 12.^[3][1] Gabriel went to college at Texas State University, San Marcos, earning a B.A. and then an M.A. in history. He then earned a doctorate in history from Stony Brook University. Gabriel is currently assistant professor in the department of history at the University of Connecticut.^[4]

In 2011, Gabriel began publishing short stories variously as P. Djèlí Clark, Djèlí A. Clark, Phenderson Djèlí Clark, and A. Phenderson Clark.^[2] Phenderson was his grandfather's name, while Clark was his mother's maiden name; Djèlí refers to West African storytellers, known in French as griots.^[1][5] He chose to use a pen name in order to separate his academic and literary work. In 2016, Clark sold his first major work, a novelette titled "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", to Tor.com.^[1]

Since then, he has published novellas, short stories, and a novel. Four of his works – "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", "The Angel of Khan el-Khalili", The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and A Master of Djinn – are set in the same world, an alternate-universe Egypt. They are collectively titled the Ministry of Alchemy series^[2] or the Dead Djinn Universe.^[6]

Literary recognition

Novels

Year[a]	Work	Award	Result	Ref.
2021	A Master of Djinn	Compton Crook Award	Won	[7]
		Dragon Award	Shortlisted	[8]
		Goodreads Choice Awards (Fantasy)	Nominated	[9]
		Hugo Award	Shortlisted	[10]
		Ignyte Award	Won	[11]
		Locus Award	Won	[12]
		Mythopoeic Award	Shortlisted	[10]
		Nebula Award	Won	[13]
		RUSA CODES Reading List (Fantasy)	Won	[14]
		World Fantasy Award	Shortlisted	[15]

Novellas

Year[a]	Work	Award	Result	Ref.
2018	The Black God's Drums	Hugo Award	Shortlisted	[16]
		Locus Award	Nominated	[10]
		Nebula Award	Shortlisted	[10]
		World Fantasy Award	Shortlisted	[10]
2019	The Haunting of Tram Car 015	Hugo Award	Shortlisted	[17]
		Locus Award	Nominated	[10]
		Mythopoeic Award	Shortlisted	[10]
		Nebula Award	Shortlisted	[18]
2020	Ring Shout	British Fantasy Award	Won	[10]
		Hugo Award	Shortlisted	[19]
		Ignyte Award	Shortlisted	[20]
		Locus Award	Won	[10]
		Nebula Award	Won	[21]
		Shirley Jackson Award	Shortlisted	[10]
		World Fantasy Award	Shortlisted	[10]

Short stories

Year[a]	Work	Award	Result	Ref.
2018	"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington"	Hugo Award	Shortlisted	[22]
		Locus Award	Won	[23]
		Nebula Award	Won	[24]
		Sturgeon Award	Shortlisted	[25]
2021	"If the Martians Have Magic"	Locus Award	Nominated	[10]
		Sturgeon Award	Shortlisted	[26]
		World Fantasy Award	Shortlisted	[15]
2024	"How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub"	Hugo Award	Shortlisted	[27]

Partial bibliography

Dead Djinn Universe

• "A Dead Djinn in Cairo" (novelette), Tor.com, 2016.^[2]
• "The Angel of Khan el-Khalili" (short story), Clockwork Cairo: Steampunk Tales of Egypt, ed. Matthew Bright, Twopenny Books, 2017.^[28]
• The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (novella), Tor.com, 2019.^[2]
• A Master of Djinn (novel), Tordotcom, 2021.^[6]

Other works

• "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" (short story), Fireside Fiction, 2018
• The Black God's Drums (novella), Tor.com, 2018.
• Ring Shout (novella), Tordotcom, 2020.^[2]
• "If the Martians Have Magic" (short story), Uncanny Magazine, 2021.^[10]
• Jubilee’s Experiment: The British West Indies and American Abolitionism (academic monograph), Cambridge University Press, 2023
• The Dead Cat Tail Assassins (novella), Tordotcom, 2024.

Notes

1. Year of publication