C. S. E. Cooney

C.S.E. Cooney is an American author, poet, and audiobook narrator known for her intricate and lyrical dark fantasy. She won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for Saint Death's Daughter (2023), a sprawling novel drawing on Mexican Day of the Dead mythology and featuring a young woman with a peculiar relationship with Death. Cooney also won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction in 2014. Born in Rhode Island, Cooney works extensively as an audiobook narrator under the name C.S.E. Cooney. Her fiction is known for its dense, poetic prose, elaborate world-building, and its exploration of death, transformation, and love. Saint Death's Daughter was one of the more unusual World Fantasy Award winners for its sheer exuberance and maximalism. She is married to author Carlos Hernandez and lives in New York.