Nisi Shawl is best known for their Nebula finalist alternate history novel Everfair, and for Writing the Other: A Practical Approach, a standard text on creating inclusive fiction. They won the 2019 Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award and the 2008 James Tiptree, Jr./Otherwise Award. They had the honor of being dubbed “clever” by Samuel R. Delany, and their work was declared “superbly written” by Ursula K. Le Guin. Shawl lives in Seattle, near a large lake full of dangerous currents.