Amal El-Mohtar

Amal El-Mohtar (born 13 December 1984) is a Canadian poet and writer of speculative fiction, best known for the 2019 novella This Is How You Lose the Time War. She is the editor of Goblin Fruit and reviews science fiction and fantasy books for the New York Times Book Review.

She has published short fiction, poetry, essays and reviews, and has edited the fantastic poetry quarterly magazine Goblin Fruit since 2006.

El-Mohtar began reviewing science fiction and fantasy books for the New York Times Book Review in February 2018. She has worked as a creative writing instructor at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. In 2018, she also served as a host on Brandon Sanderson's creative writing podcast Writing Excuses for Season 13.

Her 2019 novella This Is How You Lose the Time War, co-written with Max Gladstone, won the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2020 Locus Award for Best Novella, the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novella, and several other awards. In 2025, her first solo novella, The River Has Roots, was published.

Selected awards:

This Is How You Lose the Time War was also a finalist for the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award in the Novella category, a finalist for the inaugural Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction at the 2019 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, and a finalist for the 2019 Kitschies in the Novel category. It also achieved second place in the 2020 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. El-Mohtar announced in 2019 that the book has been optioned for television, with scripts to be written by herself and Gladstone.

Amal El-Mohtar, winner of the Best Short Story Hugo, at the Hugo Award Ceremony 2017 at Worldcon in Helsinki

El-Mohtar was born in Ottawa, Ontario to a family of Lebanese descent. She grew up in Ottawa with the exception of two years spent in Lebanon beginning when she was six years old.

She is married and lives in Ottawa. She is bisexual.

El-Mohtar's full bibliography includes an extensive list of short stories, poems, essays, and reviews.

• The Honey Month, collected short fiction, Papaveria Press 2010; .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#bf3c2c)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#bf3c2c)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}ISBN 978-1907881008

• This Is How You Lose the Time War (with Max Gladstone), novella, 2019; ISBN 9781534431003

• The River Has Roots, novella, 2025; ISBN 9781250341082

• Official website

• Amal El-Mohtar at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

• "Seasons of Glass and Iron", winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards in 2016-17