About

Carina Bissett is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in multiple journals and anthologies including Fantasy Magazine, Upon a Twice Time, Bitter Distillations: An Anthology of Poisonous Tales, Arterial Bloom, Gorgon: Stories of Emergence, Weird Dream Society, Hath No Fury, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V, VI, and VIII. She has also written stories set in shared worlds for RPGs at Green Ronin Publishing and Onyx Path Publishing. In addition to writing, she has edited several projects; the most recent is in the role as co-editor for Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas.

As an educator, Carina has taught at Pikes Peak Community College, Glendale Community College, and Arizona State University. She also participated in the Colorado Writing Project and works with educators to develop writing instruction in college and secondary school classrooms. She currently offers workshops focused on story generation at The Storied Imaginarium. Her fiction has been nominated for the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award and was a finalist for the Ron L. Hubbard Writers of the Future Awards. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award. In her editorial capacity, she’s received recognition as the Winner at the Colorado Book Awards 2022 (Anthology) and as a Finalist in the Fiction: Anthologies category of the 2022 International Book Awards.

AWARDS and NOMINATIONS

• Winner, ANTHOLOGY, Colorado Book Awards. Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas, edited by Carina Bissett, Hillary Dodge, and Joshua Viola. November 2021.
• Finalist, ANTHOLOGY, International Book Awards. Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas, edited by Carina Bissett, Hillary Dodge, and Joshua Viola. November 2021.
• “Fairy Tale Prohibition,” NonBinary Review #25 Prohibition, Zoetic Press. September 2021. *Nominated for Best of the Net.
• “Radiant,” NonBinary Review Issue 24: Industrial Revolution, Zoetic Press, June 2021. *Nominated for Best of the Net Award.
• Silver Hammer Award, Horror Writers Association, 2021.
• Finalist, ANTHOLOGY, Colorado Book Awards. “An Authentic Experience,” WILD: Uncivilized Tales from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, RMFW Press. August 2020.
• Finalist, Superior Achievement in an Anthology, Stoker Awards. “Rotten,” Arterial Bloom, Crystal Lake Publishing. March 2020.
• Honorable Mention, NESFA Short Story Contest, 2020.
• WINNER-Fiction: ANTHOLOGY, The 2020 Best Book Awards. “Gaze with Undimmed Eyes and the World Drops Dead,” Terror at 5280’, Denver Horror Collective. November 2019.
• Finalist, Writers of the Future, 1st quarter, 2019.
• Silver Honorable Mention, Writers of the Future, 4th quarter, 2018.
• “C8 : A Tessellation of Faces, Wings, and other Obscure Things,” NonBinary Review Issue 17: A Wrinkle in Time, Zoetic Press, July 2018. *Nominated for Best of the Net Award.
• “The Sweet Sleep of Roses or, After the Fall,” NonBinary Review Issue 15: We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Zoetic Press, January 2018.*Nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
• Honorable Mention, Writers of the Future, 4th quarter, 2017.
• Honorable Mention, Writers of the Future, 2nd quarter, 2017.
• Horror Writers Association, HWA Scholarship, 2016.
• “Swimming with the Shark Boys,” Mythic Delirium, May 2016. *Honorable mention in Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 9 by Ellen Datlow.
• “The Yellow Press of an Ancient Power,” NonBinary Review Issue 5: The King in Yellow, Zoetic Press, June 2015. *Nominated for Sundress Best of the Net.
• “Wild Girl,” NonBinary Review Issue 1: Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Zoetic Press, June 2014.  *Nominated for Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award and the Pushcart Prize.