Ada Palmer Information

Author / Blogger
Chicago, IL

Biography:
Ada Palmer's science fiction series Terra Ignota, beginning with the novels Too Like the Lightning (Tor, 2016) and Seven Surrenders (Tor, 2017), explores how humanity's cultural and historical legacies might evolve in a future of borderless nations and globally commixing populations. She is a historian working on the history of ideas, primarily in the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, focusing on the legacy of antiquity, the history of books, publication and reading, and the history of heresy, censorship, and freethought. She teaches in the History Department at the University of Chicago, and researches in Italy, often in Florence or at the Vatican. She is the composer for Sassafrass, an a cappella group performing fantasy, SF and mythology-themed music; her Viking mythology musical play "Sundown: Whispers of Ragnarok" debuted at Balticon 2013 and is now available on CD and DVD. She also researches anime/manga, especially Osamu Tezuka, early post-WWII manga and gender in manga. She has published articles on the history of manga and worked as a consultant for many anime and manga publishers including FUNimation and Tezuka Productions. She blogs for Tor.com, and writes the philosophy & travel blog ExUrbe.com. This year, Palmer won the Compton Crook award.