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Karen Russell

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Karen Russell
Russell in 2011
Born (1981-07-10) July 10, 1981 (age 45)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
EducationNorthwestern University (BA)
Columbia University (MFA)
OccupationWriter
Awards5 under 35 Honoree (2009)
Guggenheim Fellow (2011)
MacArthur Fellow (2013)
Websitekarenrussellauthor.com

Karen Russell (born July 10, 1981) is an American novelist and short story writer. Her debut novel, Swamplandia!, was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 2009, the National Book Foundation named Russell a 5 Under 35 honoree. She is also the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant".

Early life and education

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Russell was born in Miami, Florida, on July 10, 1981.[1] Her brother, Kent Russell, is also a writer.

In 1999, she graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School in Coral Gables, Florida. She received a BA in Spanish and English from Northwestern University in 2003 and an MFA from Columbia University in 2006.[2]

Career

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Russell's stories have been featured in The Best American Short Stories, Conjunctions, Granta, The New Yorker, Oxford American, and Zoetrope.[3]

She was named a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" young writer honoree at the November 2009 ceremony for her first short story collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.[1] The book also won Russell the Bard Fiction Prize in 2011.[4] The book was a finalist for the 2007 Young Lions Fiction Award.[5]

In 2011, Russell was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction.[6]

Russell's second book and first novel, Swamplandia!, about a family of alligator wrestlers and their shabby amusement park in the Everglades, was long-listed for the 2011 Orange Prize.[7] The novel was also included in The New York Times' "10 Best Books of 2011"[8] and won the New York Public Library's 2012 Young Lions Fiction Award.[9] Swamplandia! was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; however, none of the three finalists received enough votes, and no prize was awarded.[10]

Her second short story collection, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, was published by Vintage Contemporaries in February 2013. It received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews: "Here, she returns to that format with startling effect, reinforcing the uniqueness of her fiction, employing situations that are implausible, even outlandish, to illuminate the human condition … Even more impressive than Russell's critically acclaimed novel."[11]

Russell's third short story collection, Orange World and Other Stories, was released in May 2019.

Her short story "The Hox River Window," published in Zoetrope: All-Story, won the 2012 National Magazine Award for fiction.[12] She is the recipient of the Mary Ellen von der Heyden Berlin Prize and was awarded a fellowship at the American Academy in Berlin for Spring 2012.[13] "Reeling for the Empire" won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette of 2012. In 2013, Russell received a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant."[14]

In 2010, Russell was a visiting writer at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.[15] She later served as an artist in residence at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, NY.[16] In Fall 2013, Russell was a distinguished guest teacher of creative writing in the MFA program at Rutgers University-Camden.[17] Russell held the Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at Texas State University’s MFA program from 2017 through 2020.[18] She has also taught at Columbia University, Bryn Mawr College, and University of California, Irvine.[2][19]

In March 2025, her second novel, The Antidote, was released by Random House.[20] Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review: "A singular, haunting vision that fearlessly excavates the past and challenges the reader to face the future head-on. A storytelling tour de force that lives up to the promise of its name."[21] The novel won the 2026 Pacific Northwest Book Award.[22] It was shortlisted for the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction and a finalist for the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.[23][24][25] It has been nominated for the 2025 Endeavour Award for a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book by a Pacific Northwest writer, award ceremony/decision in October 2026.[26]

In 2026, Russell started a job with Stanford University as a creative writing professor.[19]

Personal life

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A Miami native, she later moved to Portland, Oregon, with her husband, editor Tony Perez, and two children.[27][28] She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.[19]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • Swamplandia!. Knopf. 2011. ISBN 9780307263995.[29]
  • The Antidote. Random House. 2025. ISBN 9780593802250.[30][31]

Short fiction

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Collections

Novellas

Stories
Title Year First published Reprinted/collected
St Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves 2006 Russell, Karen (April 3, 2006). "St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves". Granta. Vol. 93.
A family restaurant 2011 Russell, Karen (Fall 2011). "A family restaurant". Conjunctions. 57. Russell, Karen (2013). "A family restaurant". In Henderson, Bill (ed.). The Pushcart Prize XXXVII : best of the small presses 2013. Pushcart Press. pp. 183–206.
The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis 2013 Russell, Karen (February 20, 2013). "The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis". Electric Literature. No. 40. Russell, Karen (2013). Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories. Knopf. ISBN 9780307957238.
The Bad Graft 2014 Russell, Karen (June 2, 2014). "The Bad Graft". The New Yorker.[32] The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015. Mariner Books. 2015.[33][34]
Sleep donation : a novella 2014 Sleep donation : a novella. Atavist Books. 2014.
The Prospectors 2015 Russell, Karen (June 1, 2015). "The Prospectors". The New Yorker.
The Bog Girl 2016 Russell, Karen (June 20, 2016). "The Bog Girl". The New Yorker. Vol. 92, no. 18. pp. 60–69.
Orange World 2018 Russell, Karen (May 28, 2018). "Orange World". The New Yorker.
The Ghost Birds 2021 Russell, Karen (October 4, 2021). "The Ghost Birds". The New Yorker.

Non-fiction

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "Karen Russell, 2009 Honoree". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2026-06-28.
  2. 1 2 "Karen Russell on the Books That Made Her Blush, Weep, and 'Hiccup-Laugh'". ELLE. 2025-03-11. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  3. ↑ "Karen Russell". August 2004. Retrieved 2006-11-24.
  4. ↑ "Karen Russell, 2011 Recipient" Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, Bard Fiction Prize.
  5. ↑ "Young Lions Award List of Winners and Finalists". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  6. ↑ "Karen Russell, 2011". Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  7. ↑ "ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION ANNOUNCES 2011 LONGLIST". Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  8. ↑ "The 10 Best Books of 2011"
  9. ↑ "Finalists Chosen for The New York Public Library’s 2012 Young Lions Fiction Award", New York Public Library, March 8, 2012.
  10. ↑ Flood, Alison (2012-04-17). "Pulitzers 2012: prize for fiction withheld for first time in 35 years". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  11. ↑ "VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  12. ↑ National Magazine Award Archived 2018-10-10 at the Wayback Machine, American Society of Magazine Editors.
  13. ↑ "The American Academy Announces the 2011-2012 Class of Fellows" Archived 2011-09-20 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ "Karen Russell". Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  15. ↑ Writers' Workshop Archived 2010-01-11 at the Wayback Machine, The University of Iowa.
  16. ↑ "MacArthur Fellowships Awarded to Yaddo Guests". Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Pulitzer Prize Nominee to Serve as Guest Teacher for Rutgers-Camden MFA Program", Rutgers Today, January 9, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Endowed Chair". 25 February 2020.
  19. 1 2 3 Feng, Sarah. "Award-winning novelist Karen Russell to teach first Stanford workshop this spring". standforddaily.com. Reference edited 2026-05-15.
  20. ↑ "The Antidote by Karen Russell: 9780593802250 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2025-10-03.
  21. ↑ "The Antidote". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  22. ↑ "2026 Pacific Northwest Book Awards Winners". pnba.org. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  23. ↑ Tsioulcas, Anastasia (7 October 2025). "Here are the finalists for the 2025 National Book Awards". NPR. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  24. ↑ Board, Members Of The National Book Critics Circle (2026-01-20). "NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR PUBLISHING YEAR 2025". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
  25. ↑ "The National Book Critics Circle Awards 2025". bookreporter.com.Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  26. ↑ "Endeavour Award Finalists and Endeavour Writers Conference Announced". File770. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Karen Russell | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  28. ↑ @TonyDPerez (8 April 2019). "My dear, dear wife, Karen Russell, has a new collection coming out next month. Given, I may have recency or spousal…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ↑ "Swamplandia! by Kirkus Reviews". kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  30. ↑ "A new novel from Karen Russell is a sprawling story set during the Dust Bowl". NPR. 2025-03-17. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  31. ↑ LaValle, Victor (2025-03-12). "Amid a Dust Storm and a Depression, 5 Pioneers Reap What They've Sown". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  32. ↑ "The Bad Graft". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  33. ↑ "The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015". joehill.nl. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  34. ↑ "The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015". johnjosephadams.com. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  35. ↑ Title in the online table of contents is "Can video games help stroke victims?".
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Short stories

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