Kate Wilhelm
BornKatie Gertrude Meredith
(1928-06-08)June 8, 1928
Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMarch 8, 2018(2018-03-08) (aged 89)
Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
Period1956–2018
GenreScience fiction, mystery, fantasy
Spouse
Joseph Wilhelm
(m. 1947; div. 1962)
(m. 1963; died 2002)
Children2

Kate Wilhelm (June 8, 1928 – March 8, 2018[1]) was an American author. She wrote novels and stories in the science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres, including the Hugo Award–winning Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. Wilhelm established the Clarion Workshop along with her husband Damon Knight and writer Robin Scott Wilson.

Life

Katie Gertrude Meredith was born in Toledo, Ohio, daughter of Jesse and Ann Meredith. She graduated from high school in Louisville, Kentucky, and worked as a model, telephone operator, sales clerk, switchboard operator, and underwriter for an insurance company.

She married Joseph Wilhelm in 1947 and had two sons. The couple divorced in 1962 and Wilhelm married Damon Knight in 1963. She and her husband lived in Eugene, Oregon, until his death in 2002[2] and she remained there until her own death in 2018.[3]

Career

Her first published short fiction was "The Pint-Size Genie" in the October 1956 issue of Fantastic, edited by Paul W. Fairman (assisted by Cele Goldsmith, who was responsible for looking at unsolicited submissions to the magazine). The next year, her first accepted story, "The Mile-Long Spaceship", was published in John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction, and ten of her speculative fiction stories were published during 1958 and 1959.[4] Her debut novel was a murder mystery, More Bitter Than Death (Simon & Schuster, 1963), and her science fiction novel debut, The Clone (1965) by Wilhelm and Theodore L. Thomas, was a finalist for the annual Nebula Award.[4]

Her work has been published in Quark/, Orbit, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov's Science Fiction, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Redbook and Cosmopolitan.

She and her second husband, Damon Knight, mentored many authors and helped to establish the Clarion Writers Workshop and the Milford Writer's Workshop. After his death in 2002, Wilhelm continued to host monthly workshops, as well as lecturing at other events, until her death.

Recognition

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted Wilhelm in 2003, its eighth class of two deceased and two living writers.[5]

In 2009, she received one of three inaugural Solstice Awards from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (founded by Knight in 1965), which recognize "significant impact on the science fiction or fantasy landscape".[6][7]

The Nebula Award trophy was designed for the first awards by J. A. Lawrence, based on a sketch by Wilhelm.[8]

She also won a few annual genre awards for particular works:[6]

The Hugo- and Locus Award-winning novel Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang was also a finalist for the Nebula Award, winner of the short-lived Jupiter Award from science fiction instructors, and third place for the academic John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[6]

In 2016, the SFWA renamed the Solstice Award the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award.[10]

Works

Main article: Kate Wilhelm bibliography

Barbara Holloway mysteries

Holloway is an attorney in Eugene, Oregon. She and her semi-retired lawyer father, Frank Holloway, solve mysteries that combine detective fiction with courtroom drama.

Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn mysteries

Meiklejohn is a former arson detective turned private investigator. His wife, Leidl, is a professional psychologist. Together they solve cases.

Collections

Short stories in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Standalone mystery/suspense novels

Non-fiction

Poems

Editor

SF novels, noted stories and collections

See also

References

  1. ^ Roberts, Sam (16 March 2018). "Kate Wilhelm, Prolific Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 89". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Literally Eugene". The Register-Guard. Eugene, OR. Dec 7, 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  3. ^ Sam Roberts (March 16, 2018). "Kate Wilhelm, Prolific Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 89". New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Kate Wilhelm at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2013-04-18.
  5. ^ "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame" Archived 2013-05-21 at the Wayback Machine. Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc. Retrieved 2013-03-26. This was the official website of the hall of fame to 2004.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Wilhelm, Kate" Archived 2011-08-02 at the Wayback Machine. The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees. Locus Publications. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  7. ^ Nebula Awards Ceremony 2009. Los Angeles, CA: SFWA. 2009. p. 13.
  8. ^ Bova, Ben, ed. (2008). Nebula Awards Showcase 2008. Penguin. ISBN 9781101212813. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  9. ^ a b c "SFWA Nebula Awards". Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  10. ^ "Sir Terry Pratchett to Receive the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award". 14 March 2016.
  11. ^ https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?57858 Retrieved 17 December 2022.