Ted Chiang

About the Author

Ted Chiang, born in Port Jefferson, New York in 1967, studied computer science at Brown University. His first published short story, “Tower of Babylon,” appeared in the science-fiction magazine Omni in 1990. In 1991, “The Tower of Babylon” won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette. He has published two books of science-fiction and fantasy short stories, Stories of Your Life and Others (2002) and Exhalation: Stories (2019). Ted Chiang is considered one of the most accomplished and influential science-fiction writers of the contemporary period. His short stories have won Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, and a British Science Fiction Association Award. They have also been nominated for the World Fantasy Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. In addition to writing short fiction, Ted Chiang has taught fiction writing at the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. In 2016, his 1998 short story “Story of Your Life” was adapted into a film called Arrival.

LitCharts guides for works by Ted Chiang

Explore LitCharts literature guides for works by Ted Chiang. Each guide includes a full summary, detailed analysis, and helpful resources for studying Ted Chiang's writing.

Story of Your Life

In “Story of Your Life,” the linguist Dr. Louise Banks is narrating to her unborn daughter the story of how she will come to be conceived. Louise tells her daughter that the story of her eventual c... view guide