C. L. Clark

C. L. Clark
C. L. Clark
Occupation	Author; Editor;
Education	Indiana University Bloomington (MFA)
Genre	Speculative fiction; fantasy;
Notable works	The Unbroken; "You Perfect, Broken Thing";
Website
	clclarkwrites.com
	Show more

Cherae Clark, also known under the pen name C. L. Clark, is an American author and editor of speculative fiction, a personal trainer, and an English teacher. She^[a] graduated from Indiana University's creative writing MFA and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow. Her debut novel, The Unbroken, the first book of the Magic of the Lost trilogy, was published by Orbit Books in 2021. The Unbroken was a finalist for the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2022 Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel from the British Fantasy Awards, the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel - Adult, and the 2022 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Clark edited, with series editor Charles Payseur, We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020, which won the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Anthology.^[1]

Biography

C. L. Clark earned an MFA in creative writing from Indiana University Bloomington, was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow, and has studied post-colonial literary theory.^[2]

Career

Clark's short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, PodCastle, Tor.com, Uncanny, The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction (2021), and The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy (2022). Her short story "You Perfect, Broken Thing", published in Uncanny Magazine, won the 2021 Ignyte Award for Best Short Story.

Clark served as a co-editor of PodCastle from 2019 to 2021.^[3] With series editor Charles Payseur, Clark edited We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020, an anthology of queer speculative fiction published by Neon Hemlock.^[1] We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020 won both the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Anthology.

Clark's debut novel, The Unbroken, was a finalist for the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel: Adult, the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2022 Locus Award for Best First Novel, and the 2022 British Fantasy Society's Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

Awards and nominations

Awards for Clark's writing
Work	Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2021	The Unbroken	Goodreads Choice Award	Fantasy	Finalist	^[4]
	The Unbroken	Nebula Award	Best Novel	Finalist	^[5]
	"You Perfect, Broken Thing"	Ignyte Award	Best Short Story	Won	^[6]
2022	The Unbroken	British Fantasy Award	Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel	Finalist	^[7]
		Ignyte Award	Best Novel: Adult	Finalist	^[8]
		Locus Award	Best First Novel	Finalist	^[9]
	We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020	Ignyte Award	Best Anthology/Collected Work	Won	^[8]
	We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020	Locus Awards	Best Anthology	Won	^[9]

Other awards
Work	Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2020	PodCastle	Aurora Award	Best Related Work	Finalist	^[10]
2020		Ignyte Award	Best Fiction Podcast	Finalist	^[11]
2021		Aurora Award	Best Related Work	Finalist	^[12]
		Ignyte Award	Best Fiction Podcast	Finalist	^[6]
		Hugo Award	Best Semiprozine	Finalist	^[13]
2022		Ignyte Award	Best Fiction Podcast	Finalist	^[8]
2022		Hugo Award	Best Semiprozine	Finalist	^[14]

Bibliography

Magic of the Lost trilogy

—— (2021). The Unbroken (Illumicrate Signed Edition, Hardcover ed.). Orbit Books. p. 488. ISBN 9780356516790.
—— (2023). The Faithless (Illumicrate Edition, Hardcover ed.). Orbit Books. p. 469. ISBN 9780356521442.

Short fiction

"Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home", first published in Uncanny Magazine, issue #46, 2022
"The Captain and the Quartermaster", first published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, issue #326, 2021
"When the Last of the Birds and Bees Have Gone On", first published in Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, Neon Hemlock Press, 2020
"Forgive Me, My Love, for the Ice and the Sea", first published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, issue #296, 2020
"You Perfect, Broken Thing", first published in Uncanny Magazine, issue #32, 2020
"The Cook", first published in Uncanny Magazine, issue #22, 2018
"Burning Season", first published in PodCastle, #519, 2018
"Sisyphus", first published in FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, issue #4, 2017

Essays

"The Crosses We Bear: The Butch Martyr in SFF", published on Tor.com, 2022
"WWXD: A Warrior's Path of Reflection and Redemption", published in Uncanny Magazine, issue #41
"The Fiction of Peace, the Fantasy of War", published in Fantasy Magazine, issue #66, 2021

Editor

We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020, Neon Hemlock Press, 2021
PodCastle, co-editor 2019-2021^[3]

Notes

^ Clark uses she/her and they/them pronouns. She/her pronouns will be used in this article for consistency.

References

^ ^a ^b "We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ Kirichanskaya, Michele (2021-06-09). "Interview with author C. L. Clark". www.geeksout.org. GeeksOut. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
^ ^a ^b Clark, Cherae (2021-06-01). "One Last Time". podcastle.org. PodCastle. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "Readers' Favorite Fantasy 2021". Goodreads. Retrieved 28 Jul 2025.
^ "2021 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ ^a ^b "2021 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Sep 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ "Announcing the 2022 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Reactor. 19 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "2022 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 19 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ ^a ^b "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 25 Jun 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ "2020 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. 17 Aug 2020. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ "2020 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Oct 2020. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ "2021 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Oct 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ "2021 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Winners". Locus. 18 Dec 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.
^ "2022 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Awards Winners". Locus. 4 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

External links

Interviews

Interview with Author C. L. Clark Michele Kirichanskaya, Geeks Out, 2021
C. L. Clark Tells Us About Her New Fantasy Book, The Unbroken Daniel Roman, winteriscoming.net, 2021
Episode 144 - Interview with CL Clark, Author of The Unbroken Gin Jenny, Reading the End, 2021
Color the Shelves - Interview with C. L. Clark, author of The Unbroken Fadwa, Word Wonders, 2021
Episode 354: Character, Conflict, and World Building in Fantasy - Interview with C. L. Clark Gabriela Pereira, diyMFA, 2021

[1] Clark uses she/her and they/them pronouns. She/her pronouns will be used in this article for consistency.

[PW_WHQSF-2] "We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2022-07-07.

[3] Kirichanskaya, Michele (2021-06-09). "Interview with author C. L. Clark". www.geeksout.org. GeeksOut. Retrieved 2022-07-11.

[PodCastle-4] Clark, Cherae (2021-06-01). "One Last Time". podcastle.org. PodCastle. Retrieved 2022-07-07.

[goodreads2021-5] "Readers' Favorite Fantasy 2021". Goodreads. Retrieved 28 Jul 2025.

[nebula2021-6] "2021 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[ignyte2021-7] "2021 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Sep 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[bfa2022-8] "Announcing the 2022 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Reactor. 19 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[ignyte2022-9] "2022 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 19 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[locus2022-10] "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 25 Jun 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[aurora2020-11] "2020 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. 17 Aug 2020. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[ignyte2020-12] "2020 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Oct 2020. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[aurora2021-13] "2021 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus. 18 Oct 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[hugo2021-14] "2021 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Winners". Locus. 18 Dec 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

[hugo2022-15] "2022 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Awards Winners". Locus. 4 Sep 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2025.

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Authority control databases
International	VIAF WorldCat
National	United States

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C. L. Clark
Occupation	Author Editor
Education	Indiana University Bloomington (MFA)
Genre	Speculative fiction fantasy
Notable works	The Unbroken "You Perfect, Broken Thing"
Website
clclarkwrites.com