Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. She also wrote a children's picture book (''Animal Castle''), and many poems. She wrote two episodes of the BBC science fiction series '' Blake's 7''. She was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award best novel award (also known as the

August Derleth Award The August Derleth Award is one of the British Fantasy Awards bestowed annually by the British Fantasy Society. The award is named after the American writer and editor August Derleth. It was inaugurated in 1972 for the best novel of the year, was n ...

), for her book ''

Death's Master ''Death's Master'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Tanith Lee, the second book in her series Tales from the Flat Earth. It won the British Fantasy Award for best novel of 1979. Plot summary Unlike ''Night's Master'', which is told as sep ...

'' (1980).

Biography

Early life

Tanith Lee was born on 19 September 1947 in London, to professional dancers Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of Bernard Lee (the actor who played "M" in the James Bond series films between 1962 and 1979). According to Lee, although her childhood was happy, she was the "traditional kid that got bullied," and had to move around frequently due to her parents' work. - An audio interview with Tanith Lee Although her family was poor, they maintained a large paperback collection, and Lee read weird fiction, including "Silken Swift" by Theodore Sturgeon and "Gabriel Ernest" by Saki, and discussed such literature as '' Hamlet'' and ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'' with her parents. Lee attended many different schools in childhood. She was at first incapable of reading due to a mild form of dyslexia, which was diagnosed later in life, but when she was aged 8, her father taught her to read in about a month, and she began to write at the age of 9.

Education

Because Lee's parents had to move for jobs, Lee attended numerous primary schools, then Prendergast Grammar School for Girls. After secondary school, Lee attended

Croydon Art College Croydon College is a large further and higher education college located in Croydon, within the London Borough of Croydon. Its origins can be traced to a School of Art that was established in 1868, which subsequently merged with Croydon Polytechni ...

for a year. Realising that was not what she wanted to do, she dropped out of her course and held a number of occupations, including file clerk, waitress, shop assistant, and assistant librarian.

Writing career

She began publishing with ''The Betrothed'' (1968), a short story privately printed by a friend, but started serious writing with several children's fantasies. Of these, ''The Dragon Hoard'' (1971), her first novel, is a comic fantasy, in which an affronted enchantress compels the quest-ridden protagonist to shapeshift humiliatingly into a raven at unpredictable moments. ''Princess Hynchatti & Some Other Surprises'' (collection of linked stories in 1972) puts its cast through various travails. In ''Companions on the Road'' (1975) the companions are the villains, a trio of hellish revenants who kill through their control of Dreams as they search for the holders of a magic chalice. ''The Winter Players'' (1976) – assembled with the previous book as ''Companions on the Road and The Winter Players: Two Novellas'' (1977) – dramatises the interaction between a young woman and the accursed wanderer whom she ultimately redeems. Even in these early works, several characteristic motifs dominate: the Rite of Passage whereby a young protagonist comes to terms – often via Metamorphosis – with his or her extraordinary nature, and strives for Balance in a riven world; vivid, but indeterminate, landscapes serving as almost interchangeable backdrops for psychic dramas; and a fine indifference to any moralistic settling of scores, her tales tending to close with Good and Evil characters settling into uneasy equipoise. Her first professional sale came from "Eustace," a ninety-word vignette at the age of 21 in 1968. She continued to work in various jobs for almost another decade, due to rejection of her books. Her first novel (for children) was ''The Dragon Hoard'', published in 1971 by

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

. Her career took off with the acceptance in 1975 by DAW Books USA of her adult fantasy epic ''The Birthgrave'' – a mass-market paperback. Many British publishers rejected ''

The Birthgrave ''The Birthgrave'' is a 1975 science fantasy novel by British author Tanith Lee. The novel was Lee's first published novel for adults, and also the first novel in '' The Birthgrave Trilogy''. Inspired by Lee's own personal dreams from her early ...

'' so she approached DAW Books. Lee subsequently maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing. ''The Birthgrave'' allowed Lee to be a full-time writer and stop doing "stupid and soul-killing jobs." During the nineties "career went through the doldrums" because of trends in publishing. Major publishing companies were less accepting of Lee's later works..Contains different text than other Alison Flood article. The companies which Lee worked with for years refused to look at her proposals. Smaller companies were publishing just a few of Lee's works. The refusals did not stop her from writing and she had numerous unpublished novels and short stories. Letters from fans asked if she were dead because no new work had been published. Lee tried changing her genre, but to no success. However, Internet sales succeeded in reviving her writing.

Book sales

Lee had "quietly phenomenal sales" at certain periods throughout her career. When she tried changing genre some of her works were liked by critics and published by small publishers, but it made no difference. The royalties were good before the publishers went bankrupt.

Personal life and death

In 1987, Lee met artist and writer John Kaiine. In 1992, the couple married. They lived in the south of England. Lee died at her home in

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

of breast cancer on 24 May 2015.Obituary:Tanith Lee, Fantasy and Horror Novelist, Dies at 67
By SAM ROBERTS, 1 JUNE 2015, The New York Times

Works

According to Mavis Haut who has written about Lee's books, Lee often uses the transitional character of the bildungsroman, or coming-of-age stories. Haut has commented on Uastis-Karrakaz's journey to understanding her identity and culture in ''Birthgrave''. Lee's two longest werewolf stories, "Wolfland" and ''Lycanthia'', follow Lee's custom of reversing the images of popular culture icons. Lee approximates the werewolves' behaviours according to the social and hunting patterns of wild wolves. In altering this trope, she endows werewolf stories with a new and more positive mythos. Lee's 1971 debut was the children's book ''The Dragon Hoard''; her first adult book was ''The Birthgrave'' in 1975. Lee's prolific output spans a host of different genres, including adult fantasy, children's fantasy, science fiction,

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

horror, Gothic romance, and historical fiction. Her series of interconnected tales called '' The Flat-Earth Cycle'', beginning with ''Night's Master'' and ''Death's Master'', is similar in scope and breadth to Jack Vance's '' The Dying Earth''. ''Night's Master'' contains allegorical tales involving Azhrarn, a demonic prince who kidnaps and raises a beautiful boy and separates him from the sorrow of the real world. Eventually, the boy wants to know more about the earth, and asks to be returned, setting off a series of encounters between Azhrarn and mankind, some horrific and some positive. Later tales are loosely based on

Babylonian mythology Babylonian religion is the religious practice of Babylonia. Babylonian mythology was greatly influenced by their Sumerian counterparts and was written on clay tablets inscribed with the cuneiform script derived from Sumerian cuneiform. The myth ...

. In the science fiction ''Four-BEE'' series, Lee explores youth culture and identity in a society which grants eternally young teenagers complete freedom. They are even killed and receive new bodies, gender and/or identity over and over again. Lee has also written a historical novel with ''The Gods are Thirsty'', set during the French Revolution.
During the late 1980s she published three collections - ''Dreams of Dark and Light'' (1986), ''Women as Demons'' (1989) and ''The Forests of the Night'' (1989). A large part of Lee's output was children's fantasy, which has spanned her career from ''The Dragon Hoard'' in 1971 to the more recent ''The Claidi Journals'' containing ''Wolf Tower'', ''Wolf Star'', ''Wolf Queen'' and ''Wolf Wing'' in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Lee was published by various imprints, particularly depending on whether she is offering adult fiction or children's fantasy. Her earlier children's fantasy novels were published in hardcover by Macmillan UK and subsequently printed as paperbacks in the US often by DAW, with occasional hardcovers by St. Martin's Press. Some of her work was only printed in paperback, mainly in the US by DAW in the 1970s to the early 1980s. She has received some small press treatment, such as the Arkham House edition of short stories ''Dreams of Dark and Light: The Great Short Fiction of Tanith Lee'' in 1986, and in the first "Night Visions" instalment published by Dark Harvest.

Writing style

Lee's style is frequently remarked upon for its use of rich

poetic prose Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form, while preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery, parataxis, and emotional effects. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associat ...

and striking

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory ima ...

. Critics describe her style as weird, lush, vibrant, exotic, erotic, rich, elegant, perverse, and darkly beautiful. The technique she used is very descriptive and poetic to match the themes she used in her mythical stories. She was praised for her ability to balance her weird style with the challenges of writing a faraway world, but some critics counter that her style is not always easy on the reader; she sometimes leaves the reader with unanswered questions.

Themes

Lee's writing frequently featured nonconformist interpretations of

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

, vampire stories,

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

s, and the fantasy genre; as well as themes of feminism and

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. She also wrote

lesbian fiction Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. Fiction that falls into this category may be of any gen ...

under the pseudonym Esther Garber. Other than feminism and sexuality, Lee used a wide range of other themes in her stories. From 1975 to 1980, she began writing Gothic science fiction; her first Gothic novel "Sabella or the Bloodstone" features themes of loneliness and fear. Lee's most celebrated story "Elle Est Trois", which examines the relationship between self-destruction and creativity "has themes of psychosis and sexuality, the subjugation of women, and the persuasive power of myth interwoven through it". You will see myth again (along with race) in her stories "The Storm Lord", "Anackire", and "The White Serpent". Three unique horror series were produced by Lee in the '90s; the first story, ''

The Book of the Damned ''The Book of the Damned'' was the first published nonfiction work by American author Charles Fort (first edition 1919). Concerning various types of anomalous phenomena including UFOs, strange falls of both organic and inorganic materials fro ...

'', features themes of body thievery and shape-shifting. Themes of

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

, racism, and sexism are seen in Lee's sequence The Blood Opera, and ''The Venus Cycle'' features themes of love, loss, and revenge. Her collection ''Disturbed By Her Song'' features themes of eroticism, despair, isolation, and the pressure of an unforgiving and unwelcoming society. These themes reoccur in her 1976 novel ''

Don't Bite the Sun ''Don't Bite the Sun'' is a 1976 science fiction novel by Tanith Lee set in a utopian world which the main character comes to reject. The main character and her friends are wild, crazy "Jang" teenagers whose lifestyle is full of reckless behavi ...

'' where the characters are involved in a very erotic lifestyle and the protagonist experiences despair. Eroticism shows up again in her novel "Death's Master" which examines the childhood origins of eroticism and the "later conflicts that arise from it". The sequel to ''Don't Bite the Sun'', ''

Drinking Sapphire Wine Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime ...

'', is thematically similar to her other works, in that it features themes of Death and renewal, sexuality, and love. The theme of recognition also appears in ''Drinking Sapphire Wine'', where the characters are forced to recognize others and themselves in a world where physical form is so readily alterable.

Influences

Tanith Lee was influenced by multiple genres, including other writers, music, movies, and "small things". - An interview with Tanith Lee Her

Flat Earth Series ''Tales from The Flat Earth'' is a fantasy series by British writer Tanith Lee. The novels take inspiration from '' One Thousand and One Nights'' and are similarly structured as interconnected stories. The series has been well received, and ''D ...

was inspired by a game she played with her mother; some of her other works are influenced by fairy tales her mother told her. Much of her work comes from "small things" rather than major inspirations. - An interview with Tanith Lee

Authors

Lee was inspired by writers and playwrights, including Graham Greene, Rebecca West, Elizabeth Bowen, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber, Theodore Sturgeon, Angela Carter,

Jane Gaskell Jane Gaskell (born July 7, 1941 in Lancaster, EnglandSharon Yntema, ''More Than 100: Women Science Fiction Writers''. Crossing Press, 1988. (pp. 51-52).) is a British fantasy writer. She wrote her first novel, ''Strange Evil'', at age 14. It wa ...

, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, William Blake,

Anton Chekov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller,

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

, August Strindberg, Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Bunin,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, Rosemary Sutcliff, Mary Renault, Jean Rhys, John Fowles, John le Carré, Brontë family,

E.M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

, W. Somerset Maugham, Isabel Allende,

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

, Ruth Rendell, Lawrence Durrell, Elroy Flecker, and Ted Hughes. Lee considered Virginia Woolf and

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

to be influential on her from a young age. - Our interview with Tanith Lee

Other genres

Lee was influenced by painters, movies, television, and music. She cites Sergei Prokofiev,

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

(whose symphonies influenced certain scenes in Anackire),

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

as musical influences. Film influences include ''

Ben-Hur Ben-Hur or Ben Hur may refer to: Fiction *'' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'', an 1880 novel by American general and author Lew Wallace ** ''Ben-Hur'' (play), a play that debuted on Broadway in 1899 ** ''Ben Hur'' (1907 film), a one-reel silent ...

'', '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' (with

Vivien Leigh Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...

and

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man'' (1933), he appeared in such highly regarded films as '' ...

), Coppola's ''

'', The '' Brotherhood of the Wolf'' (subtitled version), Olivier's '' Hamlet''. The various

Quatermass Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the Brit ...

TV series and films inspired Lee, along with the films '' Forbidden Planet'' (1956),

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

's '' The Seventh Seal'' (1957) and '' Plunkett & Macleane'' (1999). The TV version of Georg Büchner's play '' Danton's Death'' (1978), inspired her to write her French historical novel. The painters that have inspired her include Vincent van Gogh, Cotman,

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...

, Rousseau, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and several pre-Raphaelites.

Bibliography

Awards

Nebula Awards * 1975: The Birthgrave (nominated, best novel) * 1980: Red As Blood (nominated, best short story) World Fantasy Awards * 1979: Night's Master (nominated, best novel) * 1983: "The Gorgon" (winner, best short story) * 1984: "Elle Est Trois, (La Mort)" (winner, best short story) * 1984: "Nunc Dimittis" (nominated, best novella) * 1984: ''Red As Blood, or, Tales From The Sisters Grimmer'' (nominated, best anthology/collection) * 1985: ''Night Visions 1'' (nominated, best anthology/collection) * 1987: ''Dreams of Dark And Light'' (nominated, best anthology/collection) * 1988: ''Night's Sorceries'' (nominated, best anthology/collection) * 1999: "Scarlet And Gold" (nominated, best novella) * 2006: "Uous" (nominated, best novella) * 2013: Life Achievement Award World Horror Convention * 2009: Grand Master Award British Fantasy Awards * 1979: ''Quest for the White Witch'' (nominated, best novel) * 1980: ''Death's Master'' (winner, best novel)Hardy, Graham. "August Derleth Award." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 October 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. * 1980: "Red As Blood" (nominated, best short story) * 1981: ''Kill The Dead'' (nominated, best novel) * 1999: "Jedella Ghost" (nominated, best short story) * 2000: "Where Does The Town Go at Night?" (nominated, best short story) Lambda Awards * 2010: ''Disturbed by Her Song'' (nominated, best LGBT speculative fiction)

References

External links

Daughter of the Night
– annotated Tanith Lee bibliography
Tanith Lee on ''The Silver Metal Lover'' (1981)
– 2009 account by Lee
Biography
on the Internet Book List * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Tanith 1947 births 2015 deaths 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century British novelists 21st-century English women writers British fantasy writers British horror writers British science fiction writers English feminist writers English short story writers English women non-fiction writers English women novelists English women poets The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people Weird fiction writers Women horror writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers World Fantasy Award-winning writers