Ellen Datlow, a Guest of Honor at Readercon 11, was editor of Sci Fiction, the fiction area of SCIFI.com, the Sci Fi Channel's website for almost six years, editor of Event Horizon: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror for one and a half years, and fiction editor of Omni Magazine and Omni Online for seventeen years.

She is an anthologist who has edited numerous books: volumes one through seven of the Omni Book of Science Fiction, Zebra Blood Is Not Enough (William Morrow, 1989), Alien Sex (Dutton, 1990), A Whisper of Blood (William Morrow, 1991), Omni Best Science Fiction One (Omni Books, 1991), Omni Best Science Fiction Two (Omni Books, 1992), Omni Best Science Fiction Three (Omni Books, 1993), Snow White, Blood Red (with Terri Windling) (Morrow/Avon, 1993), OmniVisions One (Omni Books, 1993), OmniVisions Two (Omni Books, 1994), Black Thorn, White Rose (with Terri Windling) Morrow/Avon, 1994), Little Deaths (Millennium (UK), Dell (US), 1994), Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears (with Terri Windling) AvoNova/Morrow, 1995), Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex (St. Martin's Press, 1996), Twists of the Tale: Stories of Cat Horror (Dell, 1996), Lethal Kisses — Revenge and Vengeance (Orion (UK), 1996), Black Swan, White Raven (with Terri Windling) (Avon Books, 1997), Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers (with Terri Windling) (HarperPrism, 1998), Silver Birch, Blood Moon (with Terri Windling) (Avon Books, 1999), Black Heart, Ivory Bones (with Terri Windling) (Avon Books, 2000), Vanishing Acts (Tor Books, 2000), A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales (with Terri Windling) (Simon & Schuster, 2000), The Green Man (with Terri Windling) (Viking, 2002), Swan Sister (with Terri Windling) (Simon &Schuster, 2003), The Dark: New Ghost Stories (Tor, 2003), The Faery Reel (with Terri Windling) (Viking, 2004), Salon Fantastique (with Terri Windling) (Thunder's Mouth, 2006), The Coyote Road (with Terri Windling) (Viking, 2007), Inferno (Tor, 2007), Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe (Solaris, 2008), Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales (with Terri Windling) (Viking, 2009), Nebula Awards Showcase 2009 (Roc, 2009), and twenty-one annual volumes of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, (the first sixteen with Terri Windling, St. Martin's Press, 1988 — 2002; the last five with Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, 2003 — 2008). Forthcoming works include The Best Horror of the Year, Volume One (Night Shade, 2009), Lovecraft Unbound (Dark Horse, 2009), Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (Tachyon, 2010), Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy (St. Martin's Press, 2010), and The Beastly Bride (with Terri Windling) (Viking, 2010).

Tied (with Terri Windling) for winning the most World Fantasy Awards in the organization's history (eight). She has also won multiple Hugo and Locus Awards for Best Editor, the International Horror Guild Award for The Dark and for Inferno, the Shirley Jackson Award for Inferno, and two Bram Stoker Awards (one with Terri Windling, the other with Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link).

Datlow lives in New York City with two cats: one wonderful, one a bitch.