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Jane Yolen

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Jane Yolen
Yolen in 2011
Yolen in 2011
Born(1939-02-11)February 11, 1939
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedJune 11, 2026(2026-06-11) (aged 87)
Hatfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationWriter, poet
Alma materSmith College
Period1960s–2026
GenreFantasy, science fiction, folklore, children's fiction
Notable awardsWorld Fantasy Award for Life Achievement

Website
janeyolen.com

Jane Hyatt Yolen (February 11, 1939 – June 11, 2026) was an American writer of fantasy, science fiction and children's books best known for The Devil's Arithmetic, a Holocaust novella.[1][2] Her other works include the Nebula Award–winning short works "Sister Emily's Lightship" and "Lost Girls", Owl Moon, The Emperor and the Kite, and the Commander Toad series. She also worked as an editor and collaborated on works with all three of her children, most extensively with Adam Stemple.[1]

Yolen delivered the inaugural Alice G. Smith Lecture at the University of South Florida in 1989. In 2012 she became the first woman to give the Andrew Lang lecture.[3] Yolen published her 400th book in early 2021, Bear Outside.[4] Her 450th (and final) book, Terror Birds, is due to be posthumously published on July 14, 2026.[5]

Early life

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Jane Hyatt Yolen was born on February 11, 1939, at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. She was the first child of Isabell Berlin Yolen, a psychiatric social worker who became a full-time mother and homemaker upon Yolen's birth, and Will Hyatt Yolen, a journalist who wrote columns at the time for New York newspapers.[6] Her father, William (Wolf), was born in Katerynoslav (present day Dnipro, Ukraine) into the family of Samson and Mina Iolin, who were engaged in the manufacture of kerosene lamps. In 1914, the Iolin family emigrated to the United States in full, later settling in New Haven.[7]

Both of Yolen's parents were Jewish and raised her secular-Jewish.[8] Isabell also did volunteer work, and wrote short stories in her spare time. However, she was not able to sell them. Because the Hyatts, the family of Yolen's grandmother, Mina Hyatt Yolen, only had girls, a number of the children of Yolen's generation were given their last name as a middle name in order to perpetuate it.[6]

When Yolen was barely one year old, the family moved to California to accommodate Will's new job working for Hollywood film studios, doing publicity on films such as American Tragedy and Knute Rockne, All American. The family moved back to New York City prior to the birth of Yolen's brother, Steve. When Will joined the Army as a Second Lieutenant to fight in England during World War II, Yolen, her mother and brother lived with her grandparents, Danny and Dan, in Newport News, Virginia. After the war, the family moved back to Manhattan, living on Central Park West and 97th Street until Yolen turned 13. She attended PS 93, where she enjoyed writing and singing, and became friends with future radio presenter Susan Stamberg. She also engaged writing by creating a newspaper for her apartment with her brother that she sold for five cents a copy. She was accepted to Music and Art High School. During the summer prior to that semester, she attended a Vermont summer camp, which was her first involvement with the Society of Friends (Quakers). Her family also moved to a ranch house in Westport, Connecticut, where she attended Bedford Junior high for ninth grade, and then Staples High School.[6] She received a BA from Smith College in 1960, majoring in Russian and English literature and minoring in religion,[9] and a master's degree in Education from the University of Massachusetts in 1978.[1] After graduating she moved back to New York City.[6]

Career

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Yolen considered herself a poet and a journalist/nonfiction writer, and she became a children's book writer to her own surprise. She sold her first published book, Pirates in Petticoats, on her 22nd birthday, February 11, 1961.[6]

During the 1960s, Yolen held editorial positions at various magazines and publishers in New York City, including Gold Medal Books, Routledge Books, and Alfred A. Knopf Juvenile Books (from 1963).[1][9] In the mid-1960s, Yolen, her husband, and their infant daughter moved to Hatfield, in western Massachusetts,[10] and Yolen began working at the UMass Amherst computer center.[9] She was an early member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (founded 1971).[9] In the 1980s, she founded the Western Massachusetts Illustrators Group,[9] and she served as president of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1986 to 1988.[10] From 1990 to 1996 she ran her own young adult fiction imprint, Jane Yolen Books, at Harcourt Brace.[1]

Yolen co-wrote two books with her son, the writer and musician Adam Stemple, Pay the Piper and Troll Bridge, both part of the Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale series.[11] She also wrote lyrics for the song "Robin's Complaint," recorded on the 1994 album Antler Dance by Stemple's band Boiled in Lead.[12]

Yolen published her 300th book in 2010,[13] and her 365th and 366th books on the same day in 2018.[9] By 2021, she had written more than 400 books.[4] At the time of Yolen's death, her daughter, children's book writer Heidi Stemple,[14] reported that she had completed her 450th book,[15] and People announced a posthumous release date of July 14, 2026.[5]

Personal life and death

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In 1962, Yolen married David W. Stemple. They had three children—photographer Jason Stemple in addition to Adam the musician and Heidi the author—and six grandchildren. David Stemple died in March 2006.[1][10]

Yolen owned a house in Scotland, where she lived for a few months each year.[1][6] She died at her home in Hatfield, Massachusetts on June 11, 2026, at the age of 87.[16]

Awards

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Nominations

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  • 1984 World Fantasy Award for Anthology/Collection (for Tales of Wonder)[17]
  • 1986 World Fantasy Award for Anthology/Collection (for Dragonfield and Other Stories)[17]
  • 1987 World Fantasy Award for Anthology/Collection (for Merlin's Booke)[17]
  • 1989 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella (for Briar Rose)[17]
  • 1993 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (for The Devil's Arithmetic)[17]
  • 2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award Younger Reader Honor (for Naming Liberty, illustrated by Jim Burke)[19]
  • 2021 Sydney Taylor Book Award Picture Book Honor (for Miriam at the River, illustrated by Khoa Le)[19]

Bibliography

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Main article: Jane Yolen bibliography

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Myman, Francesca (March 12, 2017). "Jane Yolen: Accidental Novelist". Locus. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  2. ^ "A Life in Books: Jane Yolen". The Daily Beast. May 24, 2008. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  3. ^ Adams, John Joseph; Barr Kirtley, David (January 23, 2013). "Author Jane Yolen Talks Book Banning and Harry Potter". Wired. Archived from the original on May 27, 2026. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  4. ^ a b Scalzi, John (March 5, 2021). "Jane Yolen on 400 Books". Whatever. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Jane Yolen, Author of 450 Books Including The Devil's Arithmetic, Dies at 87: The prolific author's final and 450th book, 'Terror Birds,' will be released posthumously on July 14". People.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Yolen, Jane. "A Short Biography". janeyolen.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  7. ^ Кістол, А. (April 21–23, 2025). Образ єврейського Катеринослава в книзі ДжейЙолен [Ekaterinoslav: A one family's passage to America] (PDF). Єврейство Східної Європи: історія, культура, традиції (in Ukrainian). м. Кам'янець-Подільський: матеріали міжнар. наук. конф. pp. 92–94. ResearchGate 399102652. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 6, 2026. Retrieved December 27, 2025.
  8. ^ Yolen, Jane (July 22, 2019). "'If the Muse comes calling': Jane Yolen on Writing". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Maughan, Shannon (June 16, 2026). "Obituary: Jane Yolen". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  10. ^ a b c Brown, Carolyn (June 15, 2026). "'She wrote with joy': Author Jane Yolen, who wrote more than 450 books, dies at 87". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  11. ^ "Pay the Piper, by Jane Yolen". Booklist Online. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  12. ^ Lipsig, Chuck (January 17, 2011). "Boiled in Lead: The Not Quite Complete Recordings". Green Man Review. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  13. ^ Kaufman, Jill (December 5, 2010). "Kids Author Jane Yolen Never Too Old For Comics". NPR. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  14. ^ "Heidi Stemple Official Bio". heidieystemple.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2026. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  15. ^ Stemple, Heidi [@heidieys]; (June 11, 2026). "It is with profound sadness that I, along with my brothers @adamstemplebooks and @jasonstemplephoto , share the news of our mother, Jane Yolen's passing". Retrieved June 12, 2026 – via Instagram.
  16. ^ "Jane Yolen (1939–2026)". Locus. June 11, 2026. Archived from the original on June 12, 2026. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g "Award Winners & Nominees [1975 to present]". World Fantasy Convention. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  18. ^ "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  19. ^ a b c "Sydney Taylor Book Awards (1971-2021" (PDF). The Association of Jewish Libraries. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  20. ^ "Regina Medal". Catholic Library Association. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  21. ^ Carpan, Carolyn (2005). Jane Yolen. Who Wrote That?. Infobase Publishing. p. 112. ISBN 9780791086605. Retrieved June 11, 2013 – via Google Books.
  22. ^ a b "Jane Yolen Awards". Science Fiction Awards Database. Mark R. Kelly and the Locus Science Fiction Foundation. September 25, 2013.
  23. ^ "2006 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online News. Retrieved October 27, 2025.
  24. ^ "SFWA Announces Newest Damon Knight Grand Master – Jane Yolen". SFWA. November 29, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  25. ^ "Winners". World Fantasy Convention. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved October 27, 2025.
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