William Alexander

@willalex.bsky.social

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National Book Award-winning author of unrealisms, mostly for young readers. SUNWARD (my first novel for grownups) was a finalist for the 2026 Philip K. Dick Award and is a current finalist for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize. He/him. www.willalex.net

Jane Yolen, Aesop of our era, sits on the left with a big old grin. My kid sits on her lap wearing a fox hoodie and playing with Jane's reading glasses. This is a tremendous act of generosity on her part; Jane is entrusting her vision to a toddler. (The pic was taken in January of 2014 in South Minneapolis.)
A screenshot of Wilson, co-star of the movie Castaway. He is a volleyball.
A single panel of MARCH: BOOK THREE by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, which won the National Book Award in 2016. The art shows a young John Lewis striding forward with clear-eyed purpose. The climax of the book is the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
A copy of the book WORKING ON A SONG: THE LYRICS OF HADESTOWN by Anaïs Michell sits on my desk with a bunch of bookmarks sticking out from favorite pages. The cover art shows a flower in bloom.
A fox looks up at the camera and grins like a wild trickster spirit who just ate your sandwich and will never be sorry.
A single panel of the Mouse Guard comic by David Petersen in which snarling weasels are bravely held at bay by armed mice atop a quail-drawn wagon.
A 17th century plague doctor sports stylish robes, a wide-brimmed hat, and a crow-like mask (supposedly stuffed with sweet-smelling herbs to protect the good doc from vapors and miasma) in this 1656 engraving by Paul Fürst. The illustration is surrounded by writings in fine calligraphy. A plague-stricken city is visible in the background, along with another plague doctor who seems twice as tall as any of the afflicted townsfolk who seem to be running away from him.
This nighttime picture was taken many thousands of feet from the ground, through the window of a jet plane, and some of the landscape below appears to be burning.
A museum display of props and costumes from BLADE RUNNER are dimly visible behind screenwriter Hampton Fanscher's copy of Philip K. Dick's DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?
A selfie of myself and my sister. I am holding cafecito.
Koji Dae and myself stand as honor guard to a poster of OUTLAW PLANET by M.R. Carey, the winner of this year's Philip K. Dick Award.
Three of the seven finalists for this year's Philip K. Dick Award (myself on the left, Thomas Ha in the center, and Koji A. Dae on the right) stand in front of very large posters of our book covers. (There were seven finalists in total, but the three of us were the only ones able to attend.)
This is a selfie of myself holding up the Norwescon 48 convention badge, which features an illustration by artist Guest of Honor Geneva Bowers.
A handmade and palm-sized stuffed animal of a red parrot sits on top of my novel Sunward, which includes a parrot character named Crimson.
Sara Ryan and myself are seated at a table decorated with a fantastical quilt that reads PARALLEL WORLDS (which is the name of the bookstore in Portland, Oregon). Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves serve as backdrop. I am gesturing emphatically. Sara glances at the audience in a knowing and long-suffering sort of way.
This is a selfie and also a side-hug. Both Sara and myself are smiling like this timeline may not be the absolute worst after all. There is Portland foliage and a sunlit blue sky visible behind us.
This poster for an Author Talk between Sara Ryan and myself shows our smiling faces superimposed over the cover of my novel SUNWARD, the date and time of the event (Wednesday, April 1st at 6:30pm pacific) and the address of the hosting bookstore (Parallel Worlds, 2639 NE Alberta Street, Portland, Oregon / www.parallelworldsbookshop.com).
A food truck banner from Puerto Rico reads “TODO SE FRIE AL MOMENTO / EVERYTHING’S FRIED AT MOMENT.”
Flyer text: Aldrich Public Library and the Vermont Humanities Council Present a WRITING WORKSHOP with National Book Award Winner Will Alexander: Thursday, January 29, 2026 from 6 to 8pm. Writers aged 15 and older: Hone your creative writing skills with games and challenges to encourage character creation and plot development. Register now with Young Adult Librarian Juliet Stephens: teen.desk@aldrichpubliclibrary.org.
A screenshot of Emma Thompson's adaptation of Sense & Sensibility. She stands next to Alan Rickman while he gently insists that she put him to work. "Give me an occupation, Miss Dashwood, or I shall run mad."
A remixed illustration of Charlotte’s Web by Karen Hallion (the remix is by Hallion, not the book) in which Wilbur gazes up at the words “FUCK ICE” lovingly woven into a web by his arachnid friend.
A screenshot from the trailer for the next season of Dimension 20 in which Brennan Lee Mulligan roars (in a gravelly voice): “YES. GLORY TO COOPERATION AND KINDNESS.”
Steven Universe grins and makes eye contact through the fourth wall, his face lit from below like he’s holding a flashlight and telling a ghost story. The three Crystal Gems stand behind him: Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet.
This image is somewhat redundant in that it lists the same three titles as the text above—the novel SUNWARD, the anthology STARSTUFF, and the short story CHANGELING—but it does so dramatically, superimposed over a picture of the sun.
The mythical roc illustrated by Edward Julius Detmold. It carries an elephant in each of its massive talons.
This event flyer shows the names and faces of authors Emily Hamilton, M.T. Anderson, Kekla Magoon, and moi. The text at the top says "SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY PANEL" in big black letters. The date and time of the event in question is Thursday, November 13 from 7-8:30pm—which is TONIGHT—and the place is Phoenix Books in Burlington, VT.
Shannon Hale, Eoin Colfer, George O'Conner, Eleonore Fischer, and myself take a silly selfie at an otherwise serious and literary reception for the Twin Cities Book Festival.
This is a screenshot clipped to show only the very first line of the novel SUNWARD, which reads as follows: "Agatha Panza von Sparkles settled into Needle's pilot seat for the very first time."
An upraised hand shows a handmade sign of a big red X over a sloppy yellow crown.
This poster for the Green Mountain Book Festival shows a bunch of beautiful book covers by Craig Alanson, M.T. Anderson, Emily Hamilton, Margo Harrison, Andrew Liptak, Mike Luoma, Brian Staveley, and myself.
The text at the top of this poster announces that I will be IN CONVERSATION with fellow authors C.S.E Cooney and Carlos Hernandez at Kew & Willow Books (8163 Lefferts Blvd, Kew Gardens NY 11415) on Thursday, October 23rd at 7pm. The rest of the poster shows the front cover of SUNWARD (by artist Owen Gent) and also my face.
The front cover of SUNWARD, gorgeously illustrated by Owen Gent, shows the title of the book hovering between the sun and the moon. (Something bad seems to have happened on the moon.)
A stack of several copies of SUNWARD stand in a stylish way. The cover sports a gorgeous illustration of the sun and the moon by Owen Gent.
The box for the TTRPG game NEGOCIOS INFERNALES by C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez sits rakishly atop the unfurled play-mat, daring players to disrupt the Spanish Inquisition.
This poster shows the front cover of SUNWARD (which features a fantastic illustration by Owen Gent) hovering next to the words "STARRED REVIEW" and the brief quote "A delight" from the Booklist review.
The front cover of SUNWARD, gorgeously illustrated by Owen Gent, shows the title of the book hovering between the sun and the moon. (Something bad seems to have happened on the moon.)
This is the front cover of the book ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS by Omar El Akkad, because we need to see it again. The text is still black against a background of solid red. The only image is still a charcoal sketch of a small girl standing beneath a descending missile. She has flowers in her hand. The petals are falling. The bomb is falling. You are reading this book, and you are falling in love with language while falling out of love with every broken promise ever made in the shadow of the word genocide.
This is the front cover of the book ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS by Omar El Akkad. The text is black against a background of solid red. The only image is a charcoal sketch of a small girl standing beneath a descending missile. She has flowers in her hand. The petals are falling. The bomb is falling. To read this book is to fall in love with language while falling out of love with every broken promise ever made under the shadow of the word genocide.
The gorgeous front cover of SUNWARD, which was illustrated by Owen Gent and shows Luna & Sol in much closer proximity to each other than will actual happen for several billion years, takes center stage on a poster advertising a preorder sale at Barnes & Noble (July 8-11).
This is a poster for a Goodreads giveaway of SUNWARD. It shows the book cover (which gorgeously shows the sun and the moon getting much too close to each other) and notes that the giveaway will end on 6/25.
A photograph of a fox. He's looking up at you and grinning. His tongue is out, licking his chops as though he just ate your favorite chicken, and he probably did, and you can't even be mad about it.
The front cover of STARSTUFF shows a gorgeous science fictional cityscape in shades of orange and green. It hovers above this quote from the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: "This diverse set of intentionally hopeful science fiction stories collectively represents ways that optimism, genius, and activism can change the trajectory of a possible future for a better world. There is significant variety here in formatting, tone, and pace in the ten offerings, resulting in an overall buoyant read."
These lines hover above the front cover of STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES: "November 19-20, 2028. Shackleton Station. Mr. Gupta gave Lucy and her classmates the news on the Monday before Thanksgiving. The day of the week named, in so many Earth languages, for the Moon."
The first two sentences of Fran's contribution to the anthology hover above the front cover of STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES, and they read as follows: "Olli Vere sat outside Talulah Station's fifth-grade classroom, kicking her space unicorn graviton sneakers against the console of her piloting training pod and biting her lip. She was in so much trouble."
Dialogue in script format appears above the front cover of STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES. STACY: Denominators sound like mean dinosaurs or something. ADAM: Yes, it really does, doesn't it? STACY: Don't be so agreeable. You were never agreeable. ADAM: ...
The front cover of STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES stands proudly alongside this paragraph: "The following conversation between AI animal congress representatives Hawk01 and Rabbit01 has been modified from its original version. it has been made intelligible to the 1,210 humans who live in a colony within the territory shared by these two animal species in conflict."
The 6th story in STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES begins thusly: "Two hours to epic nap time," said the soothing voice from my watch. "You are not on the correct ship. That's going to be a problem soon."
The first two panels of the comic "Zabrina Meets the Retro Club" by Maddi Gonzalez (in which we meet Zabrina, who wears glasses and is gleefully excited about the events of the day) appears above the cover of STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES.
The front cover of STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES stands alongside the first line of my own contribution: "You live in an elevator, and you love it here."
The cover of STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES (which shows a beautiful and ever-so-slightly retro cityscape of the future) stands proudly alongside the first few lines of Kekla Magoon's contribution: "Zinn lay flat on her stomach in the ventilation duct and stuck her head down through the hole where the grate used to be. The air was cold in the hallway below. She looked left. She looked right."
The front cover of STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES proudly stands alongside the first line of Carlos Hernandez's contribution: "My favorite counselor at space camp (Camp Sedna Summer 2089 represent!) would always say, 'What bee got up your butt?'"
A banner for STARSTUFF: TEN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES TO CELEBRATE NEW POSSIBILITIES, featuring the science fictional cityscape of the book cover and the first line of Fran Wilde's story: "Olli Vere sat outside Talulah Station's fifth-grade classroom, kicking her space unicorn graviton sneakers against the console of her piloting training pod and biting her lip. She was in so much trouble."
This banner shows the cover of the #kidlit science fiction anthology STARSTUFF and the very first line of the very first story, which reads as follows: "There's an asteroid headed straight for Earth, on a head-on collision course, and yet my parents still decided to get a divorce." - Jenn Reese
The cover of the anthology STARSTUFF, which depicts a beautiful and science fictional cityscape, sits alongside this quote from the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: "This diverse set of intentionally hopeful science fiction stories collectively represents ways that optimism, genius, and activism can change the trajectory of a possible future for a better world. There is significant variety here in formatting, tone, and pace in the ten offerings, resulting in an overall buoyant read."
This is a screenshot from the first season of Andor. The character Maarva, played by the incomparable Fiona Shaw, sits in her living room and listens the sound of a reckoning.
This is a screenshot from "Rix Road," the finale of the first season of Andor. A blue hologram of Maarva Carassi Andor delivers her own eulogy at the crossroads of a public funeral. Pay close attention whenever the dead speak at a crossroads.
Pepper, Prince of Cats, stands on a ledge in the sunlight and gazes into the middle distance. His shadow seems to be looking in the opposite direction, into lands unknown.
A surrealist painting by Jonathan Wolstenholme in which a book sprouts arms and reads another, smaller book. One hand holds the smaller book. The other hand holds a glass of red wine. Note that the anthropomorphic tome doesn’t have eyes or a mouth, and seems to be absorbing both wine and text through their own open pages.