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Orson Scott Card: Biography, Facts and Career

Who is Orson Scott Card? An evergreen, sourced profile: biography, key facts and career.

By the Pop Culture Files editorial team4 min read✓ Fact-checked
Orson Scott Card
Nihonjoe via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0

Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. As of 2024, he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card coproduced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2026). Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; he has provoked controversy and criticism for his public opposition to homosexuality. Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, nonfiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories. Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps".

Quick facts about Orson Scott Card

  • Full name: Orson Scott Card
  • Born: 1951-08-24
  • Nationality: United States
  • Known as: Author
  • Wikidata ID: Q217110

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Orson Scott Card?

Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works.

What nationality is Orson Scott Card?

Orson Scott Card is United States.

When was Orson Scott Card born?

Orson Scott Card was born on 1951-08-24.

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