Gwendolyn Kiste (1984-) is an American author of both fiction and non-fiction works in the horror genre. She has won multiple awards for her work including three Bram Stoker Awards. The Gwendolyn Kiste Papers document her career as a writer, with manuscript drafts and notes of her published works.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Avery Hoover and Ben Rubin in 2022.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Gwendolyn Kiste on July 14, 2021.
Biographical / Historical
Gwendolyn Margaret Ann Kiste is an American horror author of both fiction and non-fiction works. Born in 1984 in Massillon, Ohio, she grew up in New Philadelphia, Ohio. Kiste received a B.A. in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University and an M.A. in Social-Health Psychology from Kent State University. In 2008, she married Bill Homan after the two met through their work as independent horror filmmakers, and eventually relocated to the Pittsburgh area.
With over one hundred short stories published since 2014, Kiste's fiction and nonfiction have appeared in a wide variety of publications including Nightmare Magazine, Vastarien, Tor Nightfire, LampLight, Daily Science Fiction, Shimmer, and The Dark among many others. Her work employs a neo-Gothic style as well as strong feminist themes. She often explores themes of otherness and being an outsider and centers her stories on female protagonists and highlights the struggles women face in society and culture.
Her debut collection, And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, was released in 2017 from JournalStone Publishing. The collection was nominated for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection at the Bram Stoker Awards. That same year saw the release of Kiste's first novella, Pretty Marys All in a Row, from Broken Eye Books.
Kiste's debut novel, The Rust Maidens, was published in 2018 by Trepidatio Publishing. A coming-of-age set in the dual time period of 1980 and 2008, the story follows Phoebe Shaw who is haunted by the memory of the five girls in her Cleveland, Ohio, neighborhood who slowly transformed into rust and rot, including her best friend Jacqueline. The Rust Maidens won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel as well as the This Is Horror Award for Novel of the Year. It's been translated into multiple languages and the Spanish language translation was nominated for both the 2021 Premios Kelvin and Ignotus Awards.
Kiste received the 2019 Bram Stoker Award for her short story, "The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra's Diary)" which was originally published in Nightmare Magazine in November 2019. The story is a retelling of Dracula from the perspective of the book's first victim Lucy Westenra. The tale has been translated into multiple languages with the Spanish translation receiving a nomination for the Ignotus Award for Best Foreign Story in 2021. Kiste also received the 2019 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Nonfiction, the inaugural year for the award, for her article, "Magic, Madness, and Women Who Creep: The Power of Individuality in the Work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman".
In early 2020, Kiste's novelette, The Invention of Ghosts, was published through Nightscape Press as part of the Charitable Chapbook series, with proceeds benefiting the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. The novelette was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Long Fiction as well as for Best Novella for the Ladies of Horror Fiction Award. In late 2020, Kiste's second novel, Boneset & Feathers, was published from Broken Eye Books and received a starred review from Library Journal.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into the following series:
Series I. Manuscripts
Series II. Event Ephemera and Realia
Series III. Publicity and Press Materials
Scope and Contents
The Gwendolyn Kiste papers document her career as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction works with manuscript drafts and notes of her published works, convention and event ephemera, and publicity and press materials.
Preferred Citation
Gwendolyn Kiste Papers, 2014-ongoing, SC.2021.08, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System.
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Accruals
Further accruals are expected as more projects are completed.
Subjects
Personal Names
Kiste, Gwendolyn
Genres
Fiction (General genre)
Manuscripts (Documents)
Drafts (Documents)
Printed ephemera
Clippings (Information artifacts)
Articles
Other Subjects
Women authors, American -- 21st century
Horror Tales -- Women authors
Gothic fiction (Literary genre), American -- Women authors
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