Joan D. Vinge (; born April 2, 1948 as Joan Carol Dennison) is an American

science fiction author This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order): A *Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960) *Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954) *Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926) *Kōbō Abe (1924–1993) * Robert Abernathy (1924–1990) *Dan Abn ...

. She is known for such works as her

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

–winning

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...

'' and its sequels, her series about the

telepath Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

named Cat, and her ''Heaven's Chronicles'' books. She also is the author of ''The Random House Book of Greek Myths'' (1999).

Biography

Vinge studied art in college, but eventually changed to a major in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

, and received a B.A. degree from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

in 1971. Vinge has been married twice: first to fellow science fiction author

Vernor Vinge Vernor Steffen Vinge (; born October 2, 1944) is an American science fiction author and retired professor. He taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. He is the first wide-scale popularizer of the technological singu ...

from 1972 to 1979, and currently to science fiction editor

James Frenkel James Raymond Frenkel (born 1948) is an American editor and agent of science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction, and other books, formerly for Tom Doherty Associates (Tor Books and Forge Books). He has edited numerous pr ...

since 1980. Vinge and Frenkel have two children, and live in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

. She has taught at the

Clarion Workshop Clarion is a six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, United States, it was founded i ...

several times, both East and West. Besides writing, Vinge also makes and sells dolls.

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

in part dedicated his 1982 novel ''

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...

'' to Joan. On March 2, 2002, Vinge was severely injured in a car accident that left her with "minor but debilitating" brain damage that, along with her

fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia (FM) is a medical condition defined by the presence of chronic widespread pain, fatigue, waking unrefreshed, cognitive symptoms, lower abdominal pain or cramps, and depression. Other symptoms include insomnia and a general hyp ...

, left her unable to write. She recovered to the point of being able to resume writing around the beginning of 2007, and her first new book after the accident is the 2011

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the movie ''

Cowboys & Aliens ''Cowboys & Aliens'' is a 2011 American science fiction Western action film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer. The film is based on the 2006 P ...

''.

Works

Vinge's first published story, "

Tin Soldier Tin soldiers are miniature figures of toy soldiers that are very popular in the world of collecting. They can be bought finished or in a raw state to be hand-painted. They are generally made of pewter, tin, lead, other metals or plastic. Of ...

", a novella, appeared in ''

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

14'' in 1974. Her stories have also appeared in ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'', ''

Millennial Women ''Millennial Women'' is a 1978 science fiction anthology, edited by Virginia Kidd, in which all the stories are written by women and have a female character as the primary protagonist. The themes which these stories have in common are those of so ...

'', ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...

'', and several "Best of the Year" anthologies. Several of her stories have won major awards: Her

'' won the 1981

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...

. " Eyes of Amber" won the 1977

Hugo Award for Best Novelette The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of ...

. She has also been nominated for several other Hugo and

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

s, as well as for the

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

. Her novel '' Psion'' was named a Best Book for Young Adults by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

. In March 2007, a new edition of her novel ''Psion'' was released, which includes a sequel novella, "Psiren", together in one volume. At the time of her accident in 2002, Vinge had been working on a new, independent novel called ''Ladysmith'', set in

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Europe; she resumed writing ''Ladysmith'' once she was able to begin writing again in 2007.

Bibliography

Heaven Chronicles

* ''The Outcasts of Heaven Belt'' (1978) * ''Legacy'' (1980)

The Snow Queen Cycle

* ''

'' (1980) * ''World's End'' (1984) * '' The Summer Queen'' (1991) * ''Tangled Up In Blue'' (2000)

Cat

* ''Psion'' (1982) * ''Catspaw'' (1988) * ''Dreamfall'' (1996)

Collections

* ''Fireship / Mother and Child'' (1978) - single-volume collection of two novellas. * ''Eyes of Amber'' (1979) - 6 short stories * ''Phoenix in the Ashes'' (1985) - 6 short stories * ''Alien Blood'' (1988) - single-volume collection of ''Psion'' and its sequel ''Catspaw'' * ''The Heaven Chronicles'' (1991) - single-volume collection of ''The Outcasts of Heaven's Belt'' and its sequel ''Legacy''

Media novelizations and tie-ins

* ''Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – The Storybook Based on the Movie'' (1983) * ''Tarzan, King of the Apes'' (1983) * ''The Dune Storybook '' (1984) * ''Return to Oz'' (1985) * ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' (1985) * ''Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985) * ''Santa Claus: The Movie Storybook'' (1985) * '' Ladyhawke'' (1987) * ''Willow'' (1988) * ''Lost in Space'' (1998) * ''Cowboys & Aliens'' (2011) * ''47 Ronin'' (2013)

Short fiction

* "Tin Soldier" (1974) * "Mother and Child" (1975) * "The Peddler's Apprentice" (with Vernor Vinge) (1975) * "The Crystal Ship" (1976) * "To Bell the Cat" (1977) * "Eyes of Amber" (1977) * "View from a Height" (1978) * "Phoenix in the Ashes" (1978) * "Fireship" (1978) * "Psiren" (1980) * "The Storm King" (1980) * "Voices from the Dust" (1980) * "The Hunt of the Unicorn" (1980) * "Exorcycle" (1982) * "Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones" (as by Billie Randall) (1985) * "Tam Lin" (1985) * "Latter-Day Martian Chronicles" (1990) * "Murphy's Cat" (2000)

Poetry

* "Phoenix" (1978) * "Sun and Chimes Dropping" (1978) * "Alien Lover" (1980) * "There Are Songs" (1980)

References

External links

Official site
on SFF.net (archived 1 March 2017) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinge, Joan D. 1948 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American poets 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American science fiction writers American women novelists American women poets American women short story writers Hugo Award-winning writers Living people 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans Novelists from California Novelists from Maryland Novelists from Wisconsin People from Chula Vista, California San Diego State University alumni Women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers from Baltimore 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans Native American novelists Native American short story writers Native American poets