P.A. Cornell's "Through the Machine" is a finalist for the 2026 Nebula Award!
About the Author
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P.A. Cornell is an award-winning, Chilean-Canadian, speculative fiction author. In 2024, she became the first ever Chilean-born finalist for the Nebula Award for her story “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont,” later receiving her second Nebula nomination for “Through the Machine,” in 2026. Additionally, Cornell has been a finalist for the Aurora and World Fantasy Awards, and in 2022, her story “Splits” won Canada’s Short Works Prize.
Raised on a steady diet of books, at the age of five, she learned where all these books were coming from and knew then and there that writing was the path for her. She penned her first speculative story as a third-grade assignment: a science fiction piece about shape-shifting aliens. Four decades later, she still has this story, which she keeps in her writing desk to remind her of how far she’s come. Despite her early interest in fiction, Cornell's first publications were in non-fiction as a journalist and copy editor. Since 2015, she’s dedicated herself to writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror full time, and her stories have appeared in seventy magazines and anthologies, including multiple "Best of the Year" anthologies. She has also published two books (with one more forthcoming). When not writing, Cornell can be found reading, drinking various varieties of tea in ridiculous quantities, and building LEGO sets (check out some of her builds on Instagram), among other things. She also enjoys travel and hopes to do more of it in the future. |
All author photos by Michelle Ward Images
Murals by the artists of Concession Street, Hamilton, ON Header image by P.A. Cornell |
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Selected Awards & Accolades:
For all awards & accolades click here. Nebula Award: "Through the Machine" - Finalist for Best Short Story 2026 "Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont" - Finalist for Best Short Story 2024 World Fantasy Award: "Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont" - Finalist for Best Short Fiction 2024 Aurora Award: "Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont" - Finalist for Best Short Story 2024 Short Works Prize: "Splits" - Winner of the Freda Waldon Award for Published Fiction 2022 8 Best of the Year Anthologies: "Through the Machine" - Nebula Awards Showcase 61 and Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 4 (both forthcoming) "Bright Horizons" - Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 3 "Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont" - Nebula Awards Showcase 59, The Long List Anthology 9, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024, and Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 2 "Into the Frozen Wilds" - Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 1 Lost Cargo - Listed as one of 2022's Best Novellas in Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 1 |
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Affiliations:
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (Full) Canadian Science Fiction Fantasy Association ALCiFF Chile (Chilean SFF Association) Odyssey Writing Workshop graduate (2002) Codex online writing group |
Photo by P.A. Cornell
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Land Acknowledgement:
The home in which I live and work is situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas. This land is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, which was an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek to share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. I further acknowledge that this land is covered by the Between the Lakes Purchase, 1792, between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
The home in which I live and work is situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas. This land is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, which was an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek to share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. I further acknowledge that this land is covered by the Between the Lakes Purchase, 1792, between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
Statement on Generative AI:
While the tech industry is currently touting AI as the greatest advancement in recent years, I'd like to make my position clear. I feel that generative AI, in its current form, is detrimental on multiple levels. It has been particularly harmful for the arts, as it has been trained on stolen intellectual property (including mine) and disrupts the proper functioning of various art industries. It has also already cost many human creators (as well as tangential professions) their livelihoods. Not to mention the fact that its use is exceedingly damaging to the environment. I would like to give readers my personal guarantee that I have never (and will never knowingly) use AI as part of my writing process in any capacity. Nor will I ever use it in the promotion of my work, or other writing-related tasks. In fact, I don't use it at all, for any reason. Furthermore, I support my fellow creatives in that, to the best of my ability, I have worked to ensure that my stories aren't accompanied by AI-generated art, or read by non-human audio narrators. Please join me in supporting human creatives.
While the tech industry is currently touting AI as the greatest advancement in recent years, I'd like to make my position clear. I feel that generative AI, in its current form, is detrimental on multiple levels. It has been particularly harmful for the arts, as it has been trained on stolen intellectual property (including mine) and disrupts the proper functioning of various art industries. It has also already cost many human creators (as well as tangential professions) their livelihoods. Not to mention the fact that its use is exceedingly damaging to the environment. I would like to give readers my personal guarantee that I have never (and will never knowingly) use AI as part of my writing process in any capacity. Nor will I ever use it in the promotion of my work, or other writing-related tasks. In fact, I don't use it at all, for any reason. Furthermore, I support my fellow creatives in that, to the best of my ability, I have worked to ensure that my stories aren't accompanied by AI-generated art, or read by non-human audio narrators. Please join me in supporting human creatives.
