P. Djèlí Clark

Dexter Gabriel (born 1971), better known by his pen name Phenderson Djèlí Clark, is an American speculative fiction writer and historian, who is an assistant professor in the department of history at the University of Connecticut. He uses a pen name to differentiate his literary work from his academic work, and has also published under the name A. Phenderson Clark. This pen name, "Djèlí", makes reference to the griots – traditional Western African storytellers, historians and poets.

In 2022, his fantasy novel A Master of Djinn won the Nebula and Locus Awards. He has also won awards for his short fiction, including the Nebula, Locus and British Fantasy Awards for the novella Ring Shout in 2021.

Life and career Dexter Gabriel was born in New York City in 1971, but spent most of his early years living in his parents' original home of Trinidad and Tobago.

In 2011, Gabriel began publishing short stories variously as P. Djèlí Clark, Djèlí A. Clark, Phenderson Djèlí Clark, and A. Phenderson Clark. Phenderson was his grandfather's name, while Clark was his mother's maiden name; Djèlí refers to West African storytellers, known in French as griots. He chose to use a pen name in order to separate his academic and literary work. In 2016, Clark sold his first major work, a novelette titled "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", to Tor.com.

He has been announced as Guest of Honour at the 2027 Eastercon and was a Guest of Honor at Readercon 2025.

Awards

Year Work Award Category Result 2018 Nebula Award Novella Nebula Award Short Story Crawford Award — Hugo Award Novella Locus Award Novella World Fantasy Award Novella Nebula Award Novella Hugo Award Short Story Theodore Sturgeon Award — 2020 Hugo Award Novella Locus Award Novella Mythopoeic Award Adult Literature Ring Shout Goodreads Choice Awards Horror Nebula Award Novella Shirley Jackson Award Novella 2021 Dragon Award Alternate History Novel Goodreads Choice Awards Fantasy Nebula Award Novel Ring Shout British Fantasy Award Novella Hugo Award Novella Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Fiction Ignyte Award Novella Locus Award Novella RUSA Codes Reading List Fantasy 2022 Compton Crook Award — Hugo Award Novel Ignyte Award Adult Novel Locus Award First Novel Mythopoeic Award Adult Literature RUSA CODES Reading List Fantasy World Fantasy Award Novel Ignyte Award Short Story World Fantasy Award Short Fiction 2024 Abeni's Song Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book — Hugo Award Short Story Locus Award Short Story World Fantasy Award Short Fiction Locus Award Novelette Seiun Award Translated Novel

Works

Dead Djinn Universe

For young readers Abeni's Song

Standalone novellas

Other works

"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington". Fireside Fiction. February 2018

As Dexter Gabriel Jubilee’s Experiment: The British West Indies and American Abolitionism. Cambridge University Press, April 2023.