Kate Story is a genderqueer writer, performer, and choreographer originally from Newfoundland. Her first novel Blasted came out with Killick Press in 2008; it received the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic's honourable mention, and was longlisted for the ReLit Awards. Her second novel Wrecked Upon This Shore came out with Killick in 2011; This Insubstantial Pageant ("The Tempest"... in space!) came out with ChiZine Publications, reviewed by The Star as a “top science-fiction read… exotic, funny and very sexy.” Her first young adult fantasy novel Antilia: Sword and Song came out in 2018 and was longlisted for the Sunburst Award. “You know a good book as soon as you start it. It sings to you and makes an immediate connection. That’s what happened to me with Kate Story’s Antilia. I loved everything about the book.” (Charles de Lint, author of The Onion Girl and The Wind in His Heart). Antilia was selected as Highly Recommended by CM: Canadian Review of Materials. 2021 saw the release of YA historical fantasy novel Urchin (Running the Goat Books and Broadsides), tipped by Kirkus Reviews as "A sprawling, lyrical historical fantasy;" Urchin is a Governor General's Literary Awards finalist. In 2022 Exile Editions released Kate’s debut short fiction collection Ferry Back the Gifts, including stories published in World Fantasy Award and Aurora Award-winning collections.
Kate is also a theatre/dance artist who creates performance works, both solo and cross-discipline collaborations with other artists. In 2022 her "cli-fi" story "Animate" was developed as an immersive performance/installation and performed internationally, commissioned and produced by DISK e.V. Berlin; she also wrote and performed "Anxiety" (“A powerful, action packed Beowulf rehash that combines personal revelation with a storytelling alacrity and insight rarely found on stage these days.” -Victoria Ward) to sold-out audiences in Peterborough Ontario, presented by Public Energy. Kate is a recipient of the Ontario Arts Foundation’s K.M. Hunter Artists Award for her work in theatre. As part of Peterborough’s centennial celebrations she was named one of the region’s 100 most important performing artists.
Blasted
Winner of the Sunburst Award’s Honourable Mention
“Kate Story’s debut novel is an unlikely marriage of Newfoundland’s oldest traditional lore with the contemporary urban world of St. John’s and Toronto. The result is raw and strange and hilarious and affecting. Ruby Jones—itinerant waitress, sometime nude model, budding alcoholic—admits early on that tenderness and rage are her “heart language.” Blasted offers both in spades.”
—Michael Crummey, author of River Thieves, The Wreckage, Galore, and Sweetland
“. . . a strange, shining, soaring thing brimming with beauty and terror, pain and love, insight and redemption.” —Ursula Pflug, author of The Alphabet Stones, Green Music, Mountain, and After the Fires
Wrecked Upon This Shore
“I fell in love with these characters: saintly and monstrous, wrecked but not lost —castaways all. Kate Story is one of those rare writers who can plumb the darkness and retrieve from the depths a jewel, a truth, luminous and redemptive. A magical and moving novel. Prepare to be transported.” — Jessica Grant, author of Come, Thou Tortoise
(Note: this one is still in print, and available from Breakwater Books!)
This Insubstantial Pageant
“Exotic, funny and very sexy . . .”
—Alex Good, Science Fiction Book Picks, The Toronto Star
“An ambitious deep space retelling of The Tempest that would have delighted Shakespeare and Sagan in equal measure.” —Eric Choi, Aurora Award-winning author and editor
“Story has penned a sexy, sophisticated future-Shakespearean romp. Ambitious, rich, magical, and a joy to read.” —Kelly Robson, author of Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, A Human Stain, and Waters of Versailles
Antilia: Sword and Song
and
Antilia: Seer and Sacrifice
“You know a good book as soon as you start it. It sings to you and makes an immediate connection. That’s what happened to me with Kate Story’s Antilia. I loved everything about the book.” -– Charles de Lint, author of The Onion Girl and The Wind in His Heart
“I fell in love with Antilia from the first page. With this book, you say to yourself, ‘I’ll just read a bit more,’ and then suddenly it’s three in the morning and you’re sorry because now the story will be over too soon. Kate Story has created an utterly contemporary, exquisitely imagined parallel-world fantasy with a deeply satisfying plot and unforgettable characters (including a few I wish I could forget). Ophelia and Rowan, Pim (oh, Pim!) and Ari, got under my skin and into my heart and stayed there long after the book was done.” —Holly Bennett, author of The Bonemender, Shapeshifter, and Drawn Away
“Sword and Song is a well-written and imaginative story with vivid descriptions. With its descriptive and complicated plot and well-drawn characters, the novel should appeal to readers of adventure and fantasy tales. The ending will leave readers eagerly waiting for the second and final volume, Seer and Sacrifice. Highly recommended.” — Ronald Hore, CM: Canadian Review of Materials Volume XXVI / Issue 35 – May 15 / 2020
Urchin
Governor General's Literary Award finalist
Globe and Mail’s Children’s Book Gift Guide:
“A breathtaking mix of Newfoundland fairy lore and history as readers follow non-binary Dor – spy, adventurer, gender questioner – out into the snowy streets of St. John’s in December, 1901, when Marconi has arrived in Newfoundland to receive the first wireless trans-Atlantic radio signal and Dor’s been hired to find out what Marconi is really up to. But things go awry when the Little Strangers, the fairies, kidnap Dor’s mother and history and magic get all tangled up in this compelling novel.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/…/article-books-are-a…/
CBC ranks it in 22 Canadian YA books to watch out for:
https://www.cbc.ca/books/22-canadian-ya-books-to-watch-for-in-fall-2021-1.6152958
Kirkus Reviews calls it “a sprawling, lyrical historical fantasy”:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-story/urchin/
