Erin Noteboom was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She had one sibling, a younger sister named Wendy. As a child, she was interested in science, writing, and exploring the woods. In her eighth grade year, Noteboom moved from a suburb in Des Moines to a suburb in Omaha. She then attended Mercy High School and graduated in 1990. In high school, she founded the math club and was the captain of the debate team.
She graduated from Creighton University, where she studied physics as a major and writing as a minor. Noteboom chose physics because she believed that it was "easier to become a self-taught writer rather than a self-taught physicist."
After her undergraduate, Noteboom attended a doctoral program in particle physics in Twin Cities, Minnesota. As part of her research, she worked a summer student at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland. During graduate school, Noteboom was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Though doctors initially thought the tumor was fatal, it was ultimately found to be a removable glioma. This diagnosis contributed to a change of priorities for Noteboom, leading her to drop out of graduate school and return full-time to poetry.
Career
Bow wrote poetry and a memoir before focusing on writing young adult works. During this time, she worked various jobs but all related to her passion as a writer. She was the poetry editor for the New Quarterly and organised writing workshops in Kitchener, Ontario. She also worked as a part-time writer at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and participated in the Vancouver Writers Fest Writer-in-Residence program at Rossland Summit School.
As part of St. Jerome University's Reading Series, Bow gave a talk on the intersection between science and literature.
Writing influences and themes
Bow's novels typically depict young adults in a science fiction and fantasy setting. She has written a defense of young adult fantasy, arguing that fantasy books help young adults to fall in love with reading. Bow also likes to write about unsolvable questions.
She takes inspiration from places, such as the prairies she grew up on, Saskatchewan, and the Black Hills in South Dakota. Bow also draws influence from Lakota and Russian folklore. Bow's characters rarely have a default race or sexual orientation. Her themes generally cover the concepts of acting on faith, doing what is right, and being human.
Awards and honors
Four of Bow's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Plain Kate (2010), The Scorpion Rules (2015), Stand on the Sky (2019), and Simon Sort of Says (2023).
Bow's works have landed on multiple "best-of" lists. In 2010, Kirkus Reviews named Plain Kate one of the best books of the year.[bettersourceneeded]Young Adult Library Services Association included it on their 2011 list of Best Fiction for Young Adults. In 2013, Kirkus Reviews and Quill & Quire named Sorrow's Know one of the best books of the year. In 2015, Chapters and Kirkus Reviews named The Scorpion Rules one of the best books of the year. In 2023, Kirkus Reviews named Simon Sort of Says one of the best middle grade books of the year.
Awards for Bow's writing
Year
Title
Award
Result
Ref.
2001
Ghost Maps: Poems for Carl Hruska
CBC Canadian Literary Award
Won
2003
Kitchener Waterloo Arts Award – Literary Award
Won
2004
Acorn-Plantos Award for Peoples Poetry, Ontario Poetry Society
Stand on the Sky. Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2019. ISBN978-1-328-63007-0.
Simon Sort of Says. Los Angeles; New York: Disney-Hyperion. 2023. ISBN978-1-368-08285-3.
Prisoners of Peace series
Prisoners of Peace is a book series set in a future dystopia on the prairies of Saskatchewan. Children of rulers are hostages to be killed if their country goes to war. The hostages are kept together in a school and must obey the governing AIs who manage it.
Erin Bow is the author of the fantasy series Butter and Owl Adventures, illustrated by Kelly Murphy. Its first volume, Witchward Bound, inspired by the Odyssey, has received a starred review from Kirkus and has been distinguished as a Best Kids' Books of 2026 by Indigo.
Short fiction
Collaborating with her husband James Bow, Erin Bow published a short piece of fiction titled "A Stone of the Heart" in 2001. "A Stone of the Heart" was published in Missing Pieces (2001), a collection of Doctor Who stories.
Poetry
Under her maiden name Erin Noteboom, Bow published two volumes of poetry:
Ghost Maps: Poems for Carl Hruska. Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd. 2003. ISBN978-0-919-89790-8.
In 2013, Bow wrote A Defense of Fantasy: Classical Literature v. Modern YA (2013) for YA Interrobang. She also published short essays for the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics.
Notes
↑Plain Kate was published as Wood Angel in the United Kingdom.
12Jones, Michael M. (25 August 2015). "Q & A with Erin Bow". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
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