Norma Kathleen Hemming (born September 1928 in Ilford,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

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, England – d. 4 July 1960 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia) was a British-Australian writer of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

s. She was Australia's first significant female

writer. As N. K. Hemming published twenty stories in the 1950s, and also wrote and appeared in a series of plays that were performed at Australian

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expres ...

s. Under the name Nerina Hilliard, she also wrote 8 romance novels for

Mills & Boon Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd. It was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher. The company moved towards escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. In 1971, the ...

. She is now commemorated by the Australian Science Fiction Foundation through the Norma K. Hemming Award, inaugurated at the World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne in September 2010.

Biography

Norma Kathleen Hemming was born in Ilford,

, in September 1928. After attending a girls' school, she trained as a secretary. In October 1948, she emigrated to Sydney on the

SS Orontes SS ''Orontes'' was a passenger ship owned by Orient Line. The ship was built in 1929 by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, England. Its sister ships were ''Orama'' (II), ''Orford'', '' Oronsay'', and ''Otranto'' (II). Orontes was the la ...

, with her parents and younger brother.Burrows, Toby (ed.), ''Dwellers in Silence: Stories and Plays by Norma Hemming''. ( Nedlands, W.A.: The Hilliard Press, 2010), p. 7. She published her first science fiction story, "Loser Takes All", in the British magazine ''Science Fantasy'' in 1951. Over the next eight years, she published a further nineteen stories, many in the Australian pulp magazine ''Thrills Incorporated'', and others in leading British magazines such as ''

New Worlds New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz Albums and EPs * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...

'', '' Nebula SF'', and ''Science Fiction Adventures''. She also became involved in the Sydney fan scene. She was one of the first female members of the Sydney Futurian Society, joining after the inaugural Australian science fiction convention in 1952. She was a contributor to and editor of ''Vertical Horizons'', a fanzine specifically aimed at female science fiction fans. She wrote and performed in a series of plays performed at national fan conventions between 1954 and 1958. By the later 1950s she had also turned to writing romance novels, under the pseudonym Nerina Hilliard. Her first romance novel, ''The Time is Short'', was published by

in 1958. Another two novels appeared in 1960, and five more were published posthumously. By the late 1950s she was suffering from breast cancer, which spread to her bones and lymph nodes. She died in the Peter MacCallum Clinic in Melbourne on 4 July 1960, at the age of 31. Her themes include mutual attraction between earth women and male aliens, children with unearthly powers, Amazons in outer space, and planets ruled by matriarchies. Her tone is often light and humorous. Her achievements are commemorated by the Norma K. Hemming Award, established by the Australian Science Fiction Foundation to mark excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, class and sexuality by an Australian writer. The Award was launched at the

68th World Science Fiction Convention The 68th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Aussiecon Four, was held on 2–6 September 2010 in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The co-chairs were Perry Middlemiss and R ...

(Aussiecon Four) in Melbourne in September 2010. A collection of archival material relating to Norma Hemming, including several of her letters, is held in the Special Collections in the University of Western Australia Library.

Bibliography

As N. K. Hemming

*''Science Fantasy: Volume 1 Number 3'' (1951) (with F. G. Rayer, E. C. Tubb, J. T. McIntosh, E. R. James,

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names ...

, and

John Carnell Edward John Carnell (8 April 1912 – 23 March 1972) was a British science fiction editor known for editing ''New Worlds'' in 1946 then from 1949 to 1963. He also edited ''Science Fantasy'' from the 1950s. After the magazines were sold to anothe ...

) *''New Worlds 51: Time Will Tell, Report on Earth, Conviction, Mutation, Dwellers in Silence, Creep'' (1956) (with

Lan Wright Lionel Percy Wright, known professionally as Lan Wright (1923–2010) was a British science fiction writer. All of his fiction has been published under the pen name "Lan Wright". During the period 1952 to 1963, Wright was a regular contributor t ...

, Kenneth Johns, and E. R. James *''New Worlds Science Fiction: Volume 17 Number 51'' (1956) (with

and

Brian W. Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for ...

) *''Nebula Science Fiction: Number 33: Talk Not at All, Way Out, Mute Witness, Debt of Lassor, Conflagration, Wisdom of the Gods'' (1958) (With Stuart Allen, Clifford C. Reed, and Robert Lloyd) *''Science Fiction Adventures: Volume 2 Number 10'' (1959) (with E. C. Tubb, and Calvin M. Knox)

As Nerina Hilliard

*''Time is Short'' (1958) (later re-issued as ''Nurse Carol's Secret'') *''The House of Adriano'' (1960) *''Scars Shall Fade'' (1960) *''Teachers Must Learn'' (1968) *''Dark Star'' (1969) *''Dark Intruder'' (1975) *''Land of the Sun'' (1976) *''Sister to Meryl'' (1977)

Notes

External links