Jen Fawkes

Jen Fawkes
OccupationWriter
Writing career
GenresLiterary fiction
Fabulism
Historical fantasy
Notable worksMannequin and Wife (2020)
Tales the Devil Told Me (2021)
Daughters of Chaos (2024)
Notable awardsPorter Fund Literary Prize (2021)
Phillip H. McMath Post-Publication Book Award (2023)

Jen Fawkes is an American fiction writer. She has won the Pinch Award in Fiction (2019), John Gardner Memorial Fiction Prize (2019), Press 53 Award for Short Fiction (2020) for Tales the Devil Told Me, and the Phillip H. McMath Post-Publication Book Award (Fiction) for Mannequin and Wife. Her debut story collection, Mannequin and Wife (2020), was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Single-Author Collection.

Career

Fawkes's short fiction has appeared in One Story, Lit Hub, The Iowa Review, Crazyhorse and Best Small Fictions, and has won prizes including the 2019 Pinch Award in Fiction and the 2019 John Gardner Memorial Fiction Prize from Harpur Palate.

Mannequin and Wife, published by LSU Press in September 2020, collects stories that range across psychological and magical realism, examining relationships between mothers and children, spouses, and mentors and protégés. It was a finalist for the 2020 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Single-Author Collection and won the 2023 Phillip H. McMath Post-Publication Book Award in fiction.

Tales the Devil Told Me won the 2020 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction and was published by Press 53 in October 2021. Its stories reimagine fairy tales and literary classics from the perspective of villains and minor characters, including Rumpelstiltskin, Medusa and the witch from "Hansel and Gretel". It was a finalist for the 2022 World Fantasy Award for Single-Author Collection. Reviewing it for Locus, Rich Horton described the stories as witty, dark, extravagant and savage.

Fawkes's debut novel, Daughters of Chaos, was published by the Overlook Press, an imprint of Abrams Books, on July 9, 2024. Set in Nashville during the American Civil War. Kirkus Reviews called it a "dazzling feminist tale" and the novel received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Horton, writing in Black Gate, called it "a first rate first novel".

Awards and honors

Year Award Work Result
2019 Pinch Award in Fiction Won
2019 John Gardner Memorial Fiction Prize (Harpur Palate) Won
2020 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction Tales the Devil Told MeWon
2020 Shirley Jackson Award, Best Single-Author Collection Mannequin and WifeNominated
2021 Porter Fund Literary Prize, Fiction Won
2022 World Fantasy Award, Collection Tales the Devil Told MeNominated
2023 Phillip H. McMath Post-Publication Book Award (Fiction) Mannequin and WifeWon

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 "Jen Fawkes". LSU Press. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  2. ↑ "2020 Shirley Jackson Awards Nominees". Locus. July 2021. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  3. ↑ "World Fantasy Award-finalist and Shirley Jackson Award-nominee Jen Fawkes — Literary Agent Mark Gottlieb". Trident Media Group EVP & Literary Agent Mark Gottlieb. 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  4. ↑ "Press 53 Award for Short Fiction". Press 53. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  5. ↑ "Jen Fawkes". Press 53. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  6. ↑ "World Fantasy Awards℠ 2022 | World Fantasy Convention". Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  7. 1 2 Horton, Rich (2024). "A First Rate First Novel: Daughters of Chaos by Jen Fawkes". Black Gate. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  8. 1 2 "Daughters of Chaos". Kirkus Reviews. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  9. ↑ "Daughters of Chaos". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2026-10-21.