Mary A. Turzillo (born 1940) is an American science fiction writer noted primarily for short stories. She won the

Nebula Award for Best Novelette The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to a science fiction or fantasy Novella#Versus novelette, novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novele ...

in 2000 for her story ''Mars is No Place for Children'', published originally in ''Science Fiction Age'', and her story "Pride," published originally in ''Fast Forward 1'', was a Nebula award finalist for best short story of 2007."Nebula Award Nominees," ''The Bulletin of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America'', Spring 2007 She was formerly a professor of English at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

, where she wrote articles and several books of science fiction criticism under the name Mary T. Brizzi, including ''Reader's Guide to

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...

'' and ''Reader's Guide to

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...

''. She attended 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 ...

in 1985, and she founded the Cajun Sushi Hamsters writing workshop in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Fiction

Although Mary had published poetry and academic works before attending the Clarion Writers workshop, her main publications in science fiction occurred following Clarion, with the publication of the stories “What Do I See In You” in ''Writers of the Future Volume IV'', and “Kings” in '' Pulphouse: the Hardback magazine.'' After this her work appeared regularly in the SF magazines such as ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'' and ''

Analog Science Fiction and Fact ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'', as well as original anthologies such as ''

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...

'' and ''

Fast Forward To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquially ...

''. Her first novel, ''An Old Fashioned Martian Girl'' was serialized in ''Analog'' magazine in 2004, and a revised version, ''Mars Girls'', appeared from Apex in 2017. Her short story collection ''Bonsai Babies'' appeared from Omnium Gatherum in 2016. Her short story collection ''Cosmic Cats and Fantastic Furballs,'' a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories featuring cats, appeared from WordFire Press in 2022.

Poetry

Turzillo is also a poet, published in a number of national publications. Her collection of poetry, ''Your Cat & Other Space Aliens,'' was published by VanZeno Press in 2007. A collaborative collection of poetry and fiction, ''Dragon Soup'' (written with artist and poet

Marge Simon Marge Baliff Simon (born 1942) is an American artist and a writer of speculative poetry and fiction. Biography Early life Marge Simon was born in Bethesda, Maryland, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. Education and career She received her B ...

), appeared from VanZeno in 2008, and another collaboration with Simon, ''The Dragon's Dictionary,'' was published by Sam's Dot in 2010. She has won several Ohio Poetry Day awards. She has won the

Science Fiction Poetry Association The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) is a society based in the United States with the aim of fostering an international community of writers and readers interested in poetry pertaining to the genres of science fiction, fantasy, ...

's Elgin Award for best poetry book twice. In 2013, her collection ''Lovers and Killers'' (Dark Regions, 2012). In 2015, her poetry book ''Sweet Poison,'' a collaboration with Marge Simon (Dark Renaissance Books, 2014) won the award.

Academic work

Turzillo has a Ph.D. in English from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

, where her Ph.D. thesis was "The writer as double agent: essays on the conspiratorial mode in contemporary fiction." She worked as a professor in the English Department of the Trumbull Campus of

. Under the name Mary T. Brizzi, she has published a number of papers in the area of science fiction criticism, and is the author of two books, ''Reader's Guide to

'' and ''Reader's Guide to

''.

Personal life

In her private life, Turzillo is a competitive fencer. In 2016, she was a member of the U.S women's foil team at the Veterans Fencing World Championships in

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...

, Germany. She is married to fellow science fiction writer

Geoffrey A. Landis Geoffrey Alan Landis (; born May 28, 1955) is an American aerospace engineer and author, working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary exploration, interstellar propulsion, solar power and photovoltaics. He ...

Bibliography

Novels

* **

Short fiction

;Collections * * ;Stories

Poetry

;Collections * * * * Trent Walters
Review: Sweet Poison
''SFSite'', 2014 (retrieved November 11, 2015) ;List of poems

External links

Official site
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turzillo, Mary 1940 births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American science fiction writers American women novelists American women short story writers Analog Science Fiction and Fact people Case Western Reserve University alumni Kent State University faculty Nebula Award winners Oberlin College alumni Women science fiction and fantasy writers Novelists from Ohio American women academics