Mary Robinette Kowal (born February 8, 1969 in Raleigh, N.C., as Mary Robinette Harrison) is an American author and puppeteer.She also served as art director for Shimmer Magazine and in 2010 was named art director for Weird Tales.She served as secretary of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for two years, and was elected to the position of SFWA vice-president in 2010.In 2008, her second year of eligibility, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Kowal has worked as a professional puppeteer since 1989. She has performed for the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Productions, and her own production company, Other Hand Productions.She also worked in Iceland on the children's television show LazyTown for two seasons.She was recently accepted as a participant in a Sesame Puppetry Workshop.Her novelette, The Lady Astronaut of Mars was deemed to be ineligible for the 2013 Hugo Awards because it had only been released as part of an audiobook, but was later published in text format and went on to win the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.