Jo Walton is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She was born on December 1, 1964, in Aberdare, Wales. Walton is best known for her fantasy novel Among Others, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and Tooth and Claw, a Victorian-era novel featuring dragons, which won the World Fantasy Award in 2004.

She has an impressive repertoire of works, including the Small Change series, where she skillfully blends alternate history with the cozy mystery genre. This series includes Farthing, Ha'penny, and Half a Crown. Her fantasy novel Lifelode was awarded the Mythopoeic Award in 2010, and her alternate history novel My Real Children received the Tiptree Award in 2015.

Besides her fiction, Walton is renowned for her non-fiction works, including book reviews and science fiction commentary, which are frequently featured in the magazine Tor.com. A collection of her articles was published in What Makes This Book So Great (2014), earning her the Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction.

Walton currently resides in Montreal, where she continues to write and enjoy great food. She is married and has one son. In her own words, she plans to live to be ninety-nine and write a book every year.