Sandra Louise Miesel (born Sandra Louise Schwartz on November 25, 1941) is an American

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, writer, and science fiction and fantasy fan. Her early work was in science fiction and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

criticism, fields in which she has remained active.

Writing career

Miesel was a member of

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

(a connection which sprang from a letter she had published in ''IF'' magazine), with critical articles in the science fiction fanzine ''

Yandro ''Yandro'' was an influential science fiction fanzine published from 1953-1986 by Buck and Juanita Coulson. Over that period, they published 259 issues, the final issue not being distributed until 1991. The headquarters was in North Manchester, Ind ...

'', especially on Anderson and Dickson, as well as other fanzines such as ''

Granfalloon A granfalloon, in the fictional religion of Bokononism (created by Kurt Vonnegut in his 1963 novel ''Cat's Cradle''), is defined as a "false karass". That is, it is a group of people who affect a shared identity or purpose, but whose mutual asso ...

''. She was nominated for the

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 ...

for Best Fan Writer three times (1973–1975) and had two monographs published by Fannish

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

es: ''Myth, Symbol and Religion in ''The Lord of the Rings ( TK Graphics, 1973) and ''Against Time's Arrow: The High Crusade of Poul Anderson'' (

Borgo Press The Borgo Press was a small publishing company founded by Robert Reginald in 1975 funded by the royalties gained from his first major reference work, ''Stella Nova: the contemporary science fiction authors'' (1970). That same year Reginald met Ma ...

, 1978). Miesel has written hundreds of articles for the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

press, chiefly on history, art, and

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

. She wrote regularly for the now-defunct ''Crisis'' Catholic magazine and is a columnist for the diocesan paper of the Diocese of Norwich,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Miesel is also a well-known speaker. She has spoken at religious and academic conferences, appeared on

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic television network in ...

, and given numerous radio interviews. She has co-authored a book, '' The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code'', a detailed critique of the popular novel based on her knowledge of Catholic history and teachings. She is the co-author of ''The Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy'' with Catholic journalist and

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

yer Pete Vere. The book, published by

Ignatius Press Ignatius Press is a Catholic publishing house based in San Francisco, California, US. It was founded in 1978 by Father Joseph Fessio, a Jesuit priest and former pupil of Pope Benedict XVI. Ignatius Press also produces ''Catholic World Report'', ' ...

, offers a detailed critique of Philip Pullman's '' His Dark Materials'' trilogy from a Catholic point of view.

Personal life

She holds master's degrees in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

and medieval history from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. Miesel lives in the

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

area, with her husband John. They were married 42 years until his death in 2006.Silver, Steven H. "News: Obituary" ''SF Site'' September 2006
/ref>

Selected works

* * * Speculative fiction. An earlier version was published as ''Dreamrider'' (

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

, 1982). * "The Fan As Critic" in ''Science fiction fandom'' Joe Sanders, ed. (Contributions to the study of science fiction and fantasy, no. 62) Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994. *

References

External links

Catholics and Science Fiction
a short interview between Miesel and

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miesel, Sandra 1941 births 20th-century American novelists American fantasy writers American literary critics Women literary critics American science fiction writers American women short story writers American women novelists Living people Roman Catholic writers American women journalists Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American medievalists Women medievalists 21st-century American women American women critics