Steph Swainston

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-11-03

Stephanie Jane Swainston was born in 1974 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. She was educated at St Joseph's Catholic College in Bradford, Girton College, Cambridge, and the University of Wales. Before and between writing she has worked as a bookseller, archaeologist, lock keeper, information scientist and pyrotechnician. Her first novel, The Year of Our War, was published by Gollancz in 2004 and won the Crawford Award in 2005; she was also nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. She has described the Fourlands as a secret childhood paracosm that was later shaped by her adult life, including the competitive academic world. In 2011 she took a break from writing to become a chemistry teacher, and she later returned to writing.

Universe(s)

Books

• The Year of Our War (2004) · The Fourlands Core Canon
• No Present Like Time (2005) · The Fourlands Core Canon
• The Modern World (2007) · The Fourlands Core Canon
• Above the Snowline (2010) · The Fourlands Core Canon
• Fair Rebel (2016) · The Fourlands Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 5 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 won)

← All authors