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Erin Bow
Erin Bow photographed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Salon du livre de Montréal 2016.
Erin Bow photographed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Salon du livre de Montréal 2016.
BornErin Noteboom
April 1, 1972 (1972-04) (age 52)
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
CitizenshipDual: American and Canadian[1]
EducationCreighton University
Alma materCreighton University
Period2001–present
GenreYoung adult, Speculative fiction, Science fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian, Historical fiction, Bildungsroman
Notable worksPlain Kate
Notable awards
SpouseJames Bow
Children2 children
Website
erinbow.com

Erin Bow (née Noteboom; born April 1, 1972) is an American-born Canadian author. Among other awards and honors, she won the 2011 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for Plain Kate, the 2014 Monica Hughes Award for Sorrow's Knot, the 2016 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award for The Scorpion Rules, and a 2019 Governor General's Award for Stand on the Sky.

Early life and education[edit]

Erin Noteboom was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in Omaha, Nebraska.[2] She had one sibling, a younger sister named Wendy.[3] As a child, she was interested in science, writing, and exploring the woods.[2][4] 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.[1]

She graduated from Creighton University, where she studied physics as a major and writing as a minor.[1] Noteboom chose physics because she believed that it was "easier to become a self-taught writer rather than a self-taught physicist."[4]

After her undergraduate, Noteboom attended a doctoral program in particle physics in Twin Cities, Minnesota.[1][5] As part of her research, she worked a summer student at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland.[6] During graduate school, Noteboom was diagnosed with a brain tumor.[7] Though doctors initially thought the tumor was fatal, it was ultimately found to be a removable glioma.[1] This diagnosis contributed to a change of priorities for Noteboom, leading her to drop out of graduate school and return full-time to poetry.[7]

Career[edit]

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.[7][8] She also worked as a part-time writer at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics,[3] and participated in the Vancouver Writers Fest Writer-in-Residence program at Rossland Summit School.[9]

As part of St. Jerome University's Reading Series, Bow gave a talk on the intersection between science and literature.[10]

Writing influences and themes[edit]

Bow's novels typically depict young adults in a science fiction and fantasy setting.[11] She has written a defense of young adult fantasy, arguing that fantasy books help young adults to fall in love with reading.[12] Bow also likes to write about unsolvable questions.[13]

She takes inspiration from places, such as the prairies she grew up on, Saskatchewan,[14] and the Black Hills in South Dakota.[3] Bow also draws influence from Lakota[3] and Russian folklore.[11][15] Bow's characters rarely have a default race or sexual orientation.[5] Her themes generally cover the concepts of acting on faith,[16] doing what is right, and being human.[17][18][19]

Awards and honors[edit]

Four of Bow's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Plain Kate (2010),[20] The Scorpion Rules (2015),[21] Stand on the Sky (2019),[22] and Simon Sort of Says (2023).[23]

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.[24][better source needed] Young Adult Library Services Association included it on their 2011 list of Best Fiction for Young Adults.[25][26] In 2013, Kirkus Reviews and Quill & Quire named Sorrow's Know one of the best books of the year.[27][28] In 2015, Chapters and Kirkus Reviews named The Scorpion Rules one of the best books of the year.[29][30] In 2023, Kirkus Reviews named Simon Sort of Says one of the best middle grade books of the year.[31]

Awards for Bow's writing
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2001 Ghost Maps: Poems for Carl Hruska CBC Canadian Literary Award Won [32]
2003 Kitchener Waterloo Arts Award – Literary Award Won [33]
2004 Acorn-Plantos Award for Peoples Poetry, Ontario Poetry Society Won [34][35]
Pat Lowther Memorial Award Shortlisted [8]
2010 Plain Kate Cybils Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction Finalist [36]
2011 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award Shortlisted [37]
CBC Reader's Choice Award Nominated [24]
Sunburst Award for Young Adult Work Shortlisted [38]
TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for English Language Won [39][40][41]
2014 Sorrow's Knot CBC Reader's Choice Award Nominated [42]
Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy Won [43]
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award Shortlisted [44][45]
Sunburst Award for Young Adult Work Shortlisted [46]
2016 The Scorpion Rules Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Young Adults Award Won [19][47]
2017 Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award Shortlisted [48]
2019 Stand on the Sky Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature Won [49]
2023 Simon Sort of Says National Book Award for Young People's Literature Longlisted [50]
Newbery Medal Honor [51]
Schneider Family Book Award for Middle-Grade Honor [52]

Personal life[edit]

In 1997, Noteboom moved to Canada.[7] There, she married fellow author and Canadian James Bow.[2]

In 2005, her younger sister, a painter named Wendy Ewell, drowned.[3][11]

Bow lives with her husband, two children, and two pets in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.[3] She writes in a modified backyard shed[6][13] and enjoys cooking.[2]

Works[edit]

Fiction[edit]

Standalone novels[edit]

  • Plain Kate. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books. 2010. ISBN 978-0-545-16664-5.[a][11][53][54][55]
  • Sorrow's Knot. Arthur A. Levine Books. 2013. ISBN 978-0-545-16666-9.[56]
  • Stand on the Sky. Boston ; New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2019. ISBN 978-1-328-63007-0.[57]
  • Simon Sort of Says. Los Angeles ; New York: Disney-Hyperion. 2023. ISBN 978-1-368-08285-3.[58]

Prisoners of Peace series[edit]

Prisoners of Peace is a book series set in a future dystopia on the prairies of Saskatchewan.[14] 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.

Short fiction[edit]

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[edit]

Under her maiden name Erin Noteboom, Bow published two volumes of poetry:

Her poetry was also published in other collections, including The Malahat Review, PRISM International, Prairie Fire,[8] and online in Rattle.[61]

Memoir[edit]

Other[edit]

In 2013, Bow wrote A Defense of Fantasy: Classical Literature v. Modern YA (2013) for YA Interrobang.[12] She also published short essays for the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics.[3][1]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Plain Kate was published as Wood Angel in the United Kingdom.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Grace, Erin (16 October 2015). "Grace: Forget the false choices, writer and Omaha Mercy alumna says, and do it all". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Bio". Erin Bow. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Samson, Natalie (October 2010). "Erin Bow Coming through shadow". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b Sing, Stewart Ah. "Author Interview with author, editor, and poet Erin Bow". Scribophile. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  5. ^ a b Jones, Michael M. (25 August 2015). "Q & A with Erin Bow". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  6. ^ a b Hicks, Jeff (24 April 2016). "Kitchener sci-fi author Erin Bow finds her muse in backyard shed". The Record. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d "Erin Noteboom". Wolsak and Wynn. 28 May 2007. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "About the Author Erin Noteboom". All Lit Up. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  9. ^ Novak, Chelsea (27 October 2016). "Award-winning YA author is writer-in-residence at Rossland Summit School". Rossland News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Erin Noteboom Bow: Physicist, Poet". The Quarc Issue. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d Posesorski, Sherie (14 January 2011). "Curses in the Air". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  12. ^ a b Bow, Erin (27 October 2013). "A defense of fantasy: classical literature v. modern YA". YA Interrobang. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Erin Bow may be writing in a garden shed right now". CBC Books. 1 October 2016. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Author envisions dystopia with Saskatchewan as the setting". CBC News. 22 September 2016. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  15. ^ Di Gregorio, Vanessa (19 September 2010). "Plain Kate / Erin Bow Blog Tour: Interview and Plain Kate Giveaway!". Let The Words Flow. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  16. ^ Fawcett, Christina (2015). "Speculative Fiction and Faith". Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures. 7 (2): 194–205. doi:10.1353/jeu.2015.0016. S2CID 163062853. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Into the Future with Erin Bow". The Vancouver Writer's Fest. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  18. ^ a b Spisak, April (December 2015). "The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 69 (4): 185. doi:10.1353/bcc.2015.0913. S2CID 201768235. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  19. ^ a b "THE SCORPION RULES WINS CLA'S 2016 BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR YOUNG ADULT AWARD". Canadian Library Association. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Plain Kate". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  21. ^ "The Scorpion Rules". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Stand on the Sky". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Simon Sort of Says". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  24. ^ a b "Plain Kate". Erin Bow. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  25. ^ "2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  26. ^ "Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2011". Booklist. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Best Teen Books of 2013". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  28. ^ "Quill & Quire's Books of the Year 2013". Canadian Children's Book Centre. 5 December 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  29. ^ "Indigo's Best Books of 2015". Indigo. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  30. ^ "Best Teen Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2015". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  31. ^ "Best of 2023". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  32. ^ "Winners and Jurors 2001 – 2010" (PDF). CBC Radio-Canada. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  33. ^ "Previous Arts Awards Recipients". artsawards waterloo region. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  34. ^ "The Acorn-Plantos Award for Peoples Poetry". The Ontario Poetry Society. Archived from the original on 7 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  35. ^ "Acorn-Plantos Award". Geist. 12 March 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  36. ^ "2010 Finalists: Fantasy & Science Fiction (Young Adult)". Cybils Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards. 31 December 2010. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  37. ^ "Shortlists for the 2011 CLA Book Awards Announced". The Canadian Children's Book Centre. 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  38. ^ "2011 Shortlists". The Sunburst Award Society. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  39. ^ "Plain Kate wins $25K children's book award". CBC News. 5 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  40. ^ Baker, Deirdre (4 October 2011). "Plain Kate a beauty of a book". The Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  41. ^ "CCBC Announces the Winners of the 2011 Canadian Children's Literature Awards". The Canadian Children's Book Centre. 5 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  42. ^ "Sorrow's Knot". Erin Bow. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  43. ^ "Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  44. ^ "Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award". Ontario Arts Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  45. ^ "Shortlist for 2014 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Awards Announced". Ontario Arts Council. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  46. ^ "2014 Shortlists". The Sunburst Award Society. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  47. ^ "Kenneth Oppel, Erin Bow and Sydney Smith win Canadian Library Association literary awards". CBC Books. 15 April 2016. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  48. ^ "2017 MYRCA Nominees". Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  49. ^ van Koeverden, Jane (29 October 2019). "Here are the winners of the 2019 Governor General's Literary Awards". CBC Books. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  50. ^ Kantor, Emma (13 September 2023). "2023 NBA Longlist for Young People's Literature Announced". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  51. ^ Roback, Diane; Kantor, Emma; Jones |, Iyana. "Eggers, Harrison, King Win 2024 Newbery, Caldecott, Printz Awards". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  52. ^ "Kitchener author Erin Bow wins major American children's literature award". CBC Books. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  53. ^ "Plain Kate". Publishers Weekly. 16 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  54. ^ Craig, Amanda (19 March 2011). "Bracelet of Bones by Kevin Crossley-Holland, Wood Angel by Erin Bow". The Times. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  55. ^ Hogan, Phil (2 April 2011). "Fiction for older children – reviews". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  56. ^ Quealy-Gainer, Kate (December 2013). "Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 67 (4): 203–204. doi:10.1353/bcc.2013.0892. S2CID 142439297. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  57. ^ "Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow". Publishers Weekly. 24 January 2019. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  58. ^ "Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow". Publishers Weekly. 26 January 2023. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  59. ^ Ozirny, Shannon (30 November 2015). "Review: The Scorpion Rules is the craziest and best book you'll read all year". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  60. ^ Roy, Leila (24 August 2015). "Keeping the Peace". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  61. ^ ""Curie in Love" by Erin Noteboom". Rattle. Rattle #49, Fall 2015. 27 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.

External links[edit]

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