Seanan McGuire
American writer
Seanan McGuire ( SHAWN-in; born January 5, 1978) is an American author and filker. McGuire is known for her urban fantasy novels. She uses the pseudonym Mira Grant to write science fiction/horror and the pseudonym A. Deborah Baker to write the "Up-and-Under" children's portal fantasy series.
In 2010, she was awarded the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her works have garnered numerous awards, including the Alex Award, Hugo Award, Locus Award, and Nebula Award.
Early life and education
McGuire was born on January 5, 1978, in Martinez, California. McGuire has stated that her mother, Micki McGuire, had "primary custody, two other children, no money, and an abusive husband who targeted [Seanan]". During the summer, McGuire traveled with her father, a carnival worker of Romani origin, an experience she described as "Bradbury-esque running wild and unfettered through farmers' fields, building Ferris wheels and living on funnel cake."
At age nine, McGuire was diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder.
McGuire attended University of California, Berkeley, where she studied folklore and herpetology.
Career
Before becoming a full-time writer, McGuire worked at a reptile rescue organization.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3476794. VIAF identifies the subject as 103858307. The Library of Congress control number is no2009183644. 3 of 8 selected statements include explicit references; 5 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978 and 2010.
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This entry incorporates text from “Seanan McGuire” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.