Kate Wilhelm was a renowned American author, born in 1928 and recognized for her contributions to science fiction, mystery, and fantasy novels. She was the wife of fellow science fiction author, Damon Knight, with whom she established the Clarion Writers Workshop and the Milford Writer's Workshop. Wilhelm's writing career spanned various genres, including science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy, and magical realism, as well as psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, and family sagas. She also produced a multimedia stage production and radio plays.
Wilhelm's first short story, "The Pint-Sized Genie," was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956, and her first novel, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, a mystery, was published in 1963. She returned to writing mysteries in 1990 with the Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries and the Barbara Holloway series of legal thrillers. Wilhelm's works have been adapted for television and movies in numerous countries and translated into more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to various magazines, such as Quark, Orbit, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov's Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan.
Wilhelm's accomplishments include two Hugo awards, three Nebulas, as well as Jupiter, Locus, Spotted Owl, Prix Apollo, Kristen Lohman awards, among others. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2009, Kate was the recipient of one of the first Solstice Awards presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) in recognition of her contributions to the field of science fiction. Wilhelm's highly popular Barbara Holloway mysteries, set in Eugene, Oregon, opened with Death Qualified in 1990. Mirror, Mirror, released in 2017, is the series’ 14th novel. Born in 1928, Wilhelm authored more than thirty novels, including Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang and The Unbidden Truth. Her work has been adapted for TV and film and translated into twenty languages. She has been awarded the Prix Apollo, Kurd Lasswitz, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. In 2003, she was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Her short fiction appeared in landmark anthologies such as Again Dangerous Visions, Orbit, The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women, and The Norton Book of Science Fiction. A cofounder of the Clarion Writers' Workshops, she continues to host monthly writing workshops in Eugene, Oregon. Unfortunately, Kate Wilhelm passed away on March 8th, 2018.