Shelley Parker-Chan is anon-binary, Australian fantasy novelist best known for their debut novel,She Who Became the Sun, and its sequel,He Who Drowned the World, which formThe Radiant Emperor Duology.[1]
Parker-Chan was born inNew Zealand to a Malaysian-Chinese mother and a white father.[2] They were raised in Australia, where they felt disconnected with their racial identity and with the stereotypical representation of Asian characters in fiction.[3] They say in interview: "I was raised very much by a tiger parent in a part of Adelaide with a large Chinese, Malaysian and Southeast Asian Chinese population. I was a scholarship kid and I went to a posh private school where my peers were all the offspring of doctors and lawyers, and I was pushed to also become a doctor or lawyer and achieve high results. So I feel I grew up in a very classically second- generation middle-class Asian way, but I was definitely not perceived as Asian."[4]
When they moved to Asia as a young adult, they discovered Asian dramas, and began to understand that "...Asians could be any and every kind of character: the heroes, the villains, the love interests, warriors, scholars."
They did graduate work on the subjects of war crimes and restorative justice,[5] and worked as adiplomat, representing the AustralianDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade inTimor-Leste, and as an international development adviser for gender equality and LGBTQ rights inIndonesia,[6] before becoming a writer. Their interest in writing novels began with romantic fan fiction, and a desire for better queer representation in literature.[7]
In 2021, Mantle Books publishedShe Who Became the Sun, which became aSunday Times Number 1 bestseller, won several awards, and has been translated into 15 languages.[8] This was followed in 2023 byHe Who Drowned the World, which concludes theRadiant Emperor duology.
Parker-Chan usesthey/them pronouns, isqueer andgenderqueer,[9][6] and was named after Romantic poetPercy Bysshe Shelley.[10] As of 2023, they live inMelbourne,Australia.[11] They are married and have a daughter.[2]
Parker-Chan won the 2022Astounding Award for Best New Writer[12] and theBritish Fantasy Award (the Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer).[13]
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | She Who Became the Sun | Aurealis Award | Fantasy Novel | Shortlisted | [14] |
| Goodreads Choice Awards | Debut Novel | Nominated—6th | [15] | ||
| Fantasy | Nominated—4th | [16][17] | |||
| Indie Next List | August | — | [18] | ||
| Otherwise Award | — | Honor List | [19] | ||
| 2022 | Astounding Award | — | Won | [20] | |
| British Book Award | Debut Book of the Year | Shortlisted | [21] | ||
| British Fantasy Award | Fantasy Novel (Robert Holdstock Award) | Won | [13][22] | ||
| Newcomer (Sydney J. Bounds Award) | Won | [13][22] | |||
| Ditmar Award | Novel | Shortlisted | [23] | ||
| Dragon Award | Alternate History Novel | Shortlisted | [24] | ||
| Hugo Award | Novel | Shortlisted | [25] | ||
| Lambda Literary Award | Transgender Fiction | Shortlisted | [26] | ||
| Locus Award | First Novel | Nominated—2nd | [27] | ||
| 2023 | He Who Drowned the World | Indie Next List | ? | — | |
| 2024 | Dragon Award | Fantasy Novel | Shortlisted | ||
| Locus Award | Fantasy Novel | Nominated | [28] |
