Ursula Vernon (born May 28, 1977) is an American freelance writer, artist and illustrator. She has won numerous awards for her work in various mediums, including Hugo Awards for her graphic novel Digger, fantasy novel Nettle & Bone, and fantasy novella Thornhedge, the Nebula Award for her short story "Jackalope Wives", and Mythopoeic Awards for adult and children's literature. Vernon's books for children include Hamster Princess and Dragonbreath. Under the name T. Kingfisher, she is also the author of books for older audiences. She writes short fiction under both names.

Career

Ursula Vernon grew up in Oregon and Arizona. She studied anthropology at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she first took art classes. She first became known for her webcomics and as a freelance artist, particularly for her works containing anthropomorphic animals. She then moved into writing and illustrating a number of children's books, her first being published in 2008, and then books for adults under the pseudonym T. Kingfisher. She decided to start using the pseudonym in order to avoid confusion amongst parents who were only familiar with her as a children's book author, and chose it because she loves kingfishers (and as an homage to Ursula K. LeGuin, who once joked that the initials "U.K." could stand for "Ulysses Kingfisher"). Vernon has published short fiction under both names, and has won a number of awards for them including the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. She regularly attends conventions to exhibit and sell her work. She has been a guest of honor at Midwest FurFest 2004 and 2009, and the Artist Guest of Honor at Further Confusion 2010. Vernon was the Author Guest of Honor for Mythcon 45 and a Guest of Honor at Eurofurence 20, both in August 2014. In 2017, she was the Author Guest of Honor at Arisia '17. Vernon podcasts with her husband, Kevin Sonney. In June 2023, Vernon announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer; however, by December of that year, she announced that her treatment had been successful and she was "cancer-free".

Works

Books for younger audiences

Vernon is the author and illustrator of the Dragonbreath and Hamster Princess children's book series, published by Dial Books:

Dragonbreath series

Hamster Princess series

Other children's books

Books for older audiences

Written as Ursula Vernon:

Temple of the White Rat books

The following books were written under the name T. Kingfisher and take place in what Vernon calls "the Temple of the White Rat world."

The Sworn Soldier books

Under the pen name T. Kingfisher:

Other books for older audiences

Under the pen name T. Kingfisher:

Webcomics

Vernon is the author of the Eisner Award-nominated and Hugo Award-winning webcomic Digger. A fantasy story featuring an anthropomorphic wombat, it is also available in six paperback books published between 2005 and 2011: Vol. 1 (ISBN 9780976921226), Vol. 2 (ISBN 0-9769212-6-X), Vol. 3 (ISBN 9780979149634), Vol. 4 (ISBN 9780981988337), Vol. 5 (ISBN 9780981988399), and Vol. 6 (ISBN 9781936689064), and as Digger: The Complete Omnibus Edition (ISBN 9781936689323), published in 2013. She is also the writer and illustrator of the webcomic Irrational Fears and the short stories "Little Creature" and "Little Creature and the Redcap".

Illustrations and art

Before becoming a published children's book author Vernon was primarily a freelance artist and illustrator, and she still regularly produces new works of art. Her work includes the creation of digital art as well as the use of more traditional mediums such as watercolour and acrylics, with much of her more recent work being mixed media. Most of her art work is available as prints. Vernon has also taken commercial commissions such as book covers and game art. The game Black Sheep designed by Reiner Knizia and published by Fantasy Flight Games uses art by Vernon on its playing cards. Her artwork titled The Biting Pear of Salamanca became an internet meme in the form of the "LOL WUT pear" and has been made into a resin figurine due to its popularity. She has also designed labels for a series of tea and soap products.

Awards and nominations

Vernon has also received the following accolades: