Tade Thompson

Tade Thompson FRSL is a British psychiatrist and writer of Yoruba descent.^[1] He is best known for his 2016 science fiction novel Rosewater, which won a Nommo Award and an Arthur C. Clarke Award.^[2]

Tade Thompson FRSL
Born	1969 (age 55–56) London, United Kingdom
Occupation	Writer, psychiatrist
Nationality	Nigerian British
Period	2005–present
Genre	Science fiction, Horror
Notable work	Rosewater The Murders of Molly Southbourne
Notable awards	Arthur C. Clarke Award Nommo Award

Life and career

Thompson was born in London, England, to Yoruba parents. His family left the United Kingdom for Nigeria in 1976, when Thompson was seven. He grew up in Nigeria, where he studied medicine and social anthropology. He went on to specialise in psychiatry. He returned to the UK in 1998, where he has remained, except for a year spent working in Samoa.^[3]

As well as being an author, Thompson also works full-time at St James' Hospital, Portsmouth, where he specializes in mental illnesses in people with physical problems. In July 2020, he told The Guardian that he could not imagine leaving medicine, saying: “The hospital work is a calling. I help people.”^[4]

Thompson is also an illustrator and artist.^[5][6]

Reception and awards

Thompson's novels and short stories have been critically well received, with critics commenting on their originality and breadth of vision.^[7] Thompson was a John W. Campbell Award finalist and has been shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award, the BSFA Award, and the Nommo Award. His novel Rosewater won the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award, making Thompson the second writer of black African heritage to win the prize.^[8]

In 2023, Thompson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.^[9]

Awards and honors

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2016	"The Apologists"	BSFA Award	Short Fiction	Shortlisted	[10]
2017	The Last Pantheon[a]	Nommo Award	Novella	Shortlisted	[11]
	The Murders of Molly Southbourne	BSFA Award	Shorter Fiction	Shortlisted	[12]
		Shirley Jackson Award	Novella	Nominated	[13]
	Rosewater	Campbell Memorial Award	—	Finalist	[14]
		Nommo Award	Novel	Won	[11]
2018	The Murders of Molly Southbourne	British Fantasy Award	Novella	Shortlisted	[15]
		Nommo Award	Novella	Won	[16]
	Rosewater	BSFA Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[17]
2019	Rosewater	Arthur C. Clarke Award	—	Won	[2]
	The Rosewater Insurrection	BSFA Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[18]
	The Survival of Molly Southbourne	BSFA Award	Shorter Fiction	Shortlisted	[18]
	"Yard Dog"	Theodore Sturgeon Award	—	Finalist	[19]
2020	The Murders of Molly Southbourne	Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire	Foreign Short Fiction	Won	[20]
	The Rosewater Insurrection	Locus Award[b]	Science Fiction Novel	Finalist	[21]
		Nommo Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[22]
	The Rosewater Redemption	Dragon Award	Science Fiction Novel	Nominated	[23]
		Locus Award[b]	Science Fiction Novel	Finalist	[21]
		Philip K. Dick Award	—	Nominated	[24]
	The Survival of Molly Southbourne	British Fantasy Award	Novella	Shortlisted	[25]
		Ignyte Award	Novella	Finalist	[26]
	The Wormwood Trilogy	Hugo Award	Series	Finalist	[27]
2022	Far from the Light of Heaven	Nommo Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[28]
		Philip K. Dick Award	—	Finalist	[29]
2023	The Legacy of Molly Southbourne	Philip K. Dick Award	—	Special Citation	[30]

Bibliography

Novels

The Wormwood Trilogy

• —— (2016). Rosewater (1st ed.). Apex.^[31]
  • —— (2018). Rosewater (paperback ed.). Orbit. pp. 1–432. ISBN 9780316449052.
• —— (2019). The Rosewater Insurrection (paperback ed.). Orbit. pp. 1–374. ISBN 9780316449083.
• —— (2019). The Rosewater Redemption (paperback ed.). Orbit. pp. 1–416. ISBN 9780316449090.

Stand-alone

• —— (2015). Making Wolf (hardcover 1st ed.). Rosarium Publishing. pp. 1–270. ISBN 9781495607486.
• —— (2021). Far from the Light of Heaven (hardcover 1st ed.). Orbit. pp. 1–384. ISBN 9780759557918.

Novellas and short fiction

The Molly Southbourne Trilogy

• The Murders of Molly Southbourne (2017)
• The Survival of Molly Southbourne (2019)
• The Legacy of Molly Southbourne (2022)

Stand-alone

• "The McMahon Institute for Unquiet Minds" (2005)
• "Slip Road" (2009)
• "Shadow" (2010)
• "Notes from Gethsemane" (2012)
• "Bicycle Girl" (2013)
• "One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sunlight" (2013)
• "Slip Road" (revised) (2014)
• "Budo or, The Flying Orchid" (2014)
• "The Monkey House" (2015)
• "Child, Funeral, Thief, Death" (2015)
• "The Last Pantheon" (2015) (with Nick Wood)
• "Decommissioned" (2016)
• "Household Gods" (2016)
• "The Apologists" (2016)
• "Gnaw" (2016)
• "Bootblack" (2017)
• "Yard Dog" (2018)
• "Jackdaw" (2022)

Poems

• "Komolafe" (2013)

Essays

• The Last Word on the Last Pantheon (2016) (with Nick Wood)
• Please Stop Talking about the 'Rise' of African Science Fiction (2018)

Contributor

• "Wherefore, Nuncle?" in Encounters with James Baldwin: Celebrating 100 Years (2024)

Other work

• Omenana Magazine #4 (September 2015) (cover art)
• In Morningstar's Shadow: Dominion of the Fallen Stories by Aliette de Bodard (2015) (cover art)

Notes

1. Co-authored with Nick Wood
2. The Rosewater Insurrection and The Rosewater Redemption were jointly nominated for the 2020 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.