Allen Mulherin Steele, Jr. became a full-time
science fiction writer in 1988, following publication of his
first short story, "Live From The Mars Hotel" (Asimov's,
mid-Dec. `88). Since then he has become a prolific author of
novels, short stories, and essays, with his work translated
into more than a dozen languages worldwide.
Steele was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He
received his B.A. in Communications from New England College
in Henniker, New Hampshire, and his M.A. in Journalism from
the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Before turning
to SF, he worked for as a staff writer for daily and weekly
newspapers in Tennessee, Missouri, and Massachusetts, freelanced
for business and general-interest magazines in the Northeast,
and spent a short tenure as a Washington correspondent, covering
politics on Capitol Hill.
His novels include Orbital Decay, Clarke County,
Space, Lunar Descent, Labyrinth of Night, The Jericho Iteration,
The Tranquillity Alternative, A King of Infinite Space, Oceanspace,
Chronospace, the Coyote Trilogy -- Coyote, Coyote Rising, and
Coyote Frontier – the Coyote Chronicles – Coyote
Horizon and Coyote Destiny -- Spindrift, Galaxy Blues, and Hex.
He has also published five collections of short fiction: Rude
Astronauts, All-American Alien Boy, Sex and Violence in Zero-G,
American Beauty, and The Last Science Fiction Writer. His work
has appeared in most major American SF magazines, including
Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog, and Fantasy & Science
Fiction, as well as in dozens of anthologies.
His novella "The Death Of Captain Future"
(Asimov's, Oct.`95) received the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novella,
won a 1996 Science Fiction Weekly Reader Appreciation Award,
and received the 1998 Seiun Award for Best Foreign Short Story
from Japan’s National Science Fiction Convention. It was
also nominated for a 1997 Nebula Award by the Science Fiction
and Fantasy Writers of America.
His
novella "`...Where Angels Fear to Tread'" (Asimov's,
Oct./Nov. `97), upon which Chronospace is based, received the
Hugo Award, the Locus Award, the Asimov's Readers Award, and
the Science Fiction Chronicle Readers Award in 1998, and was
also nominated for the Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial, and
Seiun awards.
His novelette, “The Emperor of Mars”
(Asimov’s, June 2010) won the 2011 Hugo Award for Best
Novelette and also the Asimov’s Readers Award.
His novelette "The Good Rat" (Analog,
mid-Dec.`95) was nominated for a Hugo in 1996, and his novelette
"Zwarte Piet's Tale" (Analog, 12/98) won an AnLab
Award from Analog and was nominated for a Hugo in 1999. His
novelette “Agape Among the Robots” (Analog, 5/00)
was nominated for the Hugo in 2001.
His novella “Stealing Alabama”
(Asimov’s 1/01) was nominated for a Hugo in 2002, and
won the Asimov’s Readers’ Award for that year. His
novelette “The Days Between” (Asimov’s 3/01)
was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2002 and a Nebula Award in
2003. His novella “Liberation Day” and novelette
“The Garcia Narrows Bridge” both won the Asimov’s
Readers Awards in 2005. Orbital Decay received the 1990 Locus
Award for Best First Novel, and Clarke County, Space was nominated
for the 1991 Philip K. Dick Award. Steele was First Runner-Up
for the 1990 John W. Campbell Award, received the Donald A.
Wollheim Award in 1993, and the Phoenix Award in 2002. In addition,
he received the 2007 Alumni Achievement Award from New England
College.
Steele serves on the Board of Advisors for the
Space Frontier Foundation and the Science fiction Writers of
America, and he is a former member of the SFWA Board of Directors.
In April, 2001, he testified before the Subcommittee on Space
and Aeronautics of the U.S. House of Representatives, in hearings
regarding space exploration in the 21st century. “Live
from the Mars Hotel” is among the many stories and novels
included on the “Visions of Mars” disk aboard NASA’s
Phoenix lander, which landed on Mars in 2008.
He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife
Linda and their dogs.
