Susan M. Gaines

Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Santa Cruz, CA
California US
Twitter/X: 

Author's Bio

Susan M. Gaines is the author of the novels Accidentals and Carbon Dreams (reissued 2022), and of the science book Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History, as well as stories and essays in many journals and anthologies. Gaines's literary fiction often incorporates natural history and scientific knowledge, and she is known for her pioneering contribution to the genres now variously known as eco-fiction, cli-fi, and lab-lit or science-in-fiction. She holds degrees in chemistry and oceanography. Raised in California, Gaines has spent much of her adult life in South America and Europe. Currently, she divides her time between Santa Cruz, CA and Bremen, Germany, where she was a founding director of the Fiction Meets Science program at the University of Bremen and the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study. 

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Book:
Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History (Oxford University Press, 2009)
Journals: ,
Nature

Fiction

Anthologies:
Sacred Ground: Writings About Home (Milkweed Editions, 1996)
,
Best of the West V (Norton, 1992)
Books:
Accidentals (Torrey House Press, 2020)
,
Carbon Dreams (Creative Arts Book Company, Inc., 2001)
Prizes won: 

Visiting Writer, American Academy in Rome

2018 Suffrage Science Award (for writing that inspires women in science)

Hanse Institute of Advanced Study Art in Science Fellowship

Pushcart Prize nominations, 1996, 1991

Squaw Valley Community of Writers Workshop Scholarship

Napa Valley Writers Workshop Scholarship

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English, German, Spanish
Born in: 
CA
California
Raised in: 
CA
California
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jan 24, 2024