Kit Reed, born Lillian Hyde Craig or Lil(l)ian Craig Reed (June 7, 1932 – September 24, 2017), was an

American author American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

of both speculative fiction and literary fiction, as well as psychological thrillers under the pseudonym Kit Craig.

Biography

Reed was born Lillian Hyde Craig on June 7, 1932, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. She was a daughter of schoolteacher Lillian Hyde and US Naval officer John R. Craig. She was nicknamed "Kitten" at an early age and later legally changed her name to Kit Reed. Her father would command the submarine USS ''Grampus'' (SS-207), which was lost with all hands early in 1943, probably sunk by the Japanese. By age 12, she had written a series of books about a stand-up bunny rabbit. At the College of Notre Dame of Maryland (now

Notre Dame of Maryland University Notre Dame of Maryland University is a private Catholic university in Baltimore, Maryland. NDMU offers certificate, undergraduate, and graduate programs for women and men. History The Roman Catholic academic/educational religious congregation ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s let her write short stories instead of a research paper for her senior thesis, allowing her to avoid the research she hated." Reed worked as a journalist for a number of years, including for The

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

and

The New Haven Register The ''New Haven Register'' is a daily newspaper published in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The Register's main office is located at 100 Gando Drive in New Haven. The ''Register'' was established about 1812 and ...

. She won awards for a series of articles about juvenile courts in Connecticut and twice was named "New England Newspaperwoman of the Year."Editor comments to 'Automatic Tiger'" by Judith Merril, The Year's Best S-F, 10th Annual Edition, edited by Judith Merril, Dell Books, 1965, page 23. Reed served as a professor and resident writer at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

for decades. She was married to Joseph Reed and had three children including Kate Maruyama, who is also an author. Reed died on September 24, 2017, at age 85, after being diagnosed with an inoperable

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

.In Memoriam Kit Reed
September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017

Writing

Reed's first short story, "The Wait" (1958), was published by

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...

in ''

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 ...

''. She is a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and recipient of a five-year grant literary from the Abraham Woursell Foundation. ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' said about her short fiction in 2006: "Reed has a prose style that's pure dry ice, displayed in dystopian stories that specialize in bitterness and dislocation." ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' said: "The title of Kit Reed's 013selection of her own short stories, ''The Story Until Now'' (Wesleyan), reminds us that although she has been writing award-winning fiction for some 50 years, she's still accelerating. The scope of these 35 stories is immense, their variety unmatched." Her stories appeared in venues ranging from ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' to ''

The Yale Review ''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on hi ...

'' and ''

The Kenyon Review ''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, US, home of Kenyon College. ''The Review'' was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959. ' ...

'', and are widely anthologized. Many of her stories are published as

feminist science fiction Feminist science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction (abbreviated "SF") focused on theories that include feminist themes including but not limited to gender inequality, sexuality, race, economics, reproduction, and environment. Feminist ...

and she was nominated for the

James Tiptree Jr. Award The Otherwise Award, formerly known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science f ...

three times. In 2005 her novel, '' Thinner Than Thou'', was given the

Alex Award The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Essentially, the award is a listing by the American Library Association parallel to its annual Best Books for Young A ...

by the

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

(YALSA), a division of 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 ...

(ALA).

Bibliography

Notes

References

External links

*
Kit Reed's bibliographyStory Behind Son of Destruction – Online Essay by Kit Reed
* Joseph W. and Kit Reed Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Kit 1932 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American fantasy writers American horror writers American women novelists American women short story writers Asimov's Science Fiction people The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people Wesleyan University faculty Women horror writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers from San Diego Novelists from Connecticut American women academics