Paolo Bacigalupi
Paolo Bacigalupi is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author who has published numerous titles, including Ship Breaker, The Windup Girl, and The Water Knife. His works explore the implications of global warming, poverty, and technological advancement to create story lines exploring a possible not-too-distant future. He is one of the leaders of speculative fiction and is no stranger to award nominations and wins, having taken home the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novella, and the 2010 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel.
Originally hailing from Colorado, the son of two former paper mill workers of Italian descent, Bacigalupi grew up with a keen interest in science fiction, influenced heavily by the works of writers like Ursula K. Le Guin, Carl Sagan, and Philip K. Dick. He attended college at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he first began to publish short stories in 1995. He has since been published in various anthologies and magazines, including Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, and Fantasy & Science Fiction.
In 2005, Bacigalupi released his first novel, The Windup Girl, which won him the Hugo and Nebula awards. This novel takes place in a post-oil, future Thailand and focuses on the story of a bio-Engineered windup girl, whose discovering has a profound effect on the city of Bangkok. The novel is a commentary on how technological advancements can drive people to extremes in their attempts to master or counteract them and unveiled a futuristic, yet plausible world. The story explores mortality and loneliness, as well as corporate greed and a government’s response to the need for control.
2009 brought the release of Ship Breaker, a story set in a post-apocalyptic future of rampant global warming and extreme poverty. The novel follows Nailer, a young boy who works in the dangerous and insalubrious job of ship-breaking, a trade which pays scraps and exposes him to many dangerous and life-threatening items. He meets a girl who reveals vital information regarding the fate of their world and he must synthesize his newfound knowledge with the various quirky survivors and castaways he encounters. The novel won Bacigalupi the Compton Crook Award and was named one of TIME’s Best Young Adult Novels of All Time.
In 2015, Bacigalupi released The Water Knife, a novel set in a near-future southwestern United States dominated by water scarcity and regional governments of powerful corporations. Following the story of three individuals, their loyalties are tested as they navigate a world of intense water politics and violence. The novel underscores the earth’s current climate crisis and serves as a stark warning of how a single resource can determine the fate of a region and its inhabitants.
Paolo Bacigalupi is an award-winning writer of speculative fiction, adept at effortlessly weaving environmentalism, adventure, and complex characters into thought-provoking stories. His works explore the consequences of humanity’s decisions, from our reliance on technology or minimal resources, and how it can shape the future. He is sure to continue to push the boundaries of speculative fiction and twist our perceptions of the world we inhabit.
