Kacen Callender

Notable awardsWebsitekacencallender.com

Kacen Callender (born September 19, 1989) is a Saint Thomian author of children's fiction and fantasy, best known for their Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award—winning middle grade debut Hurricane Child.^[1] Their fantasy novel, Queen of the Conquered, is the 2020 winner of the World Fantasy Award^[2] and King and the Dragonflies won the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Children's / Young Adult Literature.^[3][4]

Personal life

Callender was born in 1989 and raised in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.^[5] Callender has a bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Japanese and Creative Writing and a MFA from The New School's Writing for Children program.^[6]

Prior to becoming an author, Callender was an editor at Little, Brown Book Group.^[7] In 2018, in reaction to Hurricane Irma, Callender launched the online auction #USVIPubFund, under which they and other book publishing professionals raised $104,000 to support the U.S. Virgin Islands.^[8][9][10]

Callender is Black, queer, trans, and uses they/them and he/him pronouns.^[11][12] Callender debuted their new name when announcing their next young adult novel Felix Ever After in May 2019.^[13]

They currently live in St. Thomas.

Critical reception

Their debut novel, Hurricane Child, about a twelve-year-old born during a hurricane who believes herself to be cursed, was published by Scholastic in 2018 and received the Stonewall Book Award in 2019.^[1]

Both Hurricane Child and Callender's young adult debut, This is Kind of an Epic Love Story, were nominated for a 2019 Lambda Literary Award for Children's / Young Adult Literature.^[14] Hurricane Child went on to win the award.^[15]

Their second young adult novel, Felix Ever After, is about a transgender teen who catfishes a classmate for revenge and ends up falling for him.^[13] Felix Ever After was published with Balzer + Bray in 2020 and sold together with This is Kind of an Epic Love Story in November 2017.^[13][16]

King and the Dragonflies, Callender's second middle-grade novel that explores race and sexuality, was published in 2020.^[17] It received a starred review from School Library Journal,^[18] Horn Book,^[19] and Publishers Weekly.^[20]

Their adult debut, Queen of the Conquered, was published by Orbit in 2019. It is set in a Caribbean-inspired fantasy world and tells the story of a biracial black woman who fights to retain power in a society that loathes the idea of her.^[21] It received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews^[22] and School Library Journal.

King and the Dragonflies was named the winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Children's / Young Adult Literature at the 33rd Lambda Literary Awards in 2021.^[23]

Bibliography

Middle Grade

• —— (2018). Hurricane Child (hardcover ed.). Scholastic. pp. 1–214. ISBN 978-1338129304.
• —— (2020). King and the Dragonflies (hardcover ed.). Scholastic Press. pp. 1–272. ISBN 978-1338129335.
• —— (2022). Moonflower (hardcover ed.). Scholastic Inc. pp. 1–272. ISBN 978-1338636598.

Young Adult

• —— (2018). This is Kind of an Epic Love Story (hardcover ed.). Balzer & Bray. pp. 1–290. ISBN 978-0062820228.
• —— (2020). Felix Ever After (hardcover ed.). Balzer & Bray. pp. 1–368. ISBN 978-0062820259.
• —— (2022). Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution (hardcover ed.). Amulet Books. pp. 1–336. ISBN 978-1419756870.
• —— (2023). Stars in Your Eyes (hardcover ed.). Forever Publishing. pp. 1–352. ISBN 978-1538726037.

Adult Fantasy

Islands of Blood and Storm Series

1. —— (2019). Queen of the Conquered (hardcover ed.). Orbit. pp. 1–400. ISBN 978-0316454933.
2. —— (2020). King of the Rising (paperback ed.). Orbit. pp. 1–384. ISBN 978-0316454940.

Audio Novella

• —— (2021). Sunset Springs (audiobook ed.). Audible Originals. ASIN B094Q2LSCF.

Awards

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2019	Hurricane Child	Stonewall Book Award	(Children's and Young Adult Literature)	Won	[24]
		Lambda Literary Award	Children's and Young Adult Literature	Won	[15][25]
	This is Kind of an Epic Love Story			Finalist	[26]
2020	King and the Dragonflies	National Book Award	Young People's Literature	Won	[3]
	Queen of the Conquered	World Fantasy Award	Novel	Won	[27][2]
2021	Felix Ever After	Stonewall Book Award	(Children's and Young Adult Literature)	Won	[24]
	King and the Dragonflies	Coretta Scott King Award	—	Honor	[28]
		Lambda Literary Award	Children's and Young Adult Literature	Won	[29]
		Walter Dean Myers Award	—	Honor	[30][31]

References

External links