Kathryn Elizabeth Cramer (born April 16, 1962) is an American

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 uni ...

writer, editor, and literary critic.

Early years

Kathryn Cramer is the daughter of physicist John G. Cramer. She grew up in Seattle and graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with degrees in mathematics and

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Schol ...

Career

Cramer has worked for five

literary agencies A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

, most notably the

Virginia Kidd Virginia Kidd (June 2, 1921 – January 11, 2003) was an American literary agent, writer and editor, who worked in particular in science fiction and related fields. She represented science fiction American authors such as Ursula K. Le Guin, R.A ...

Agency, and for several software companies, including consulting with Wolfram Research in the Scientific Information Group. She co-founded '' The New York Review of Science Fiction'' in 1988 with David G. Hartwell and others, and was its co-editor until 1991 and again since 1996. It has been nominated (as of 2007) for the

Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine The Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine is given each year to a periodical publication related to science fiction or fantasy that meets several criteria having to do with the number of issues published and who, if anyone, receives payment. The awar ...

every year of its existence, fifteen times under her co-editorship. Cramer was the hypertext fiction editor at Eastgate Systems in the early 1990s."Hypertext Horizon: An Interview With Kathryn Cramer"
Altx.com, undated; first published by Sonicnet She was part of the Global Connection Project, a joint project of Carnegie Mellon University,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

, and National Geographic using Google Earth and other tools following the

2005 Pakistan earthquake The 2005 Kashmir earthquake occurred at on 8 October in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad, and also affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Indian-administered Jammu an ...

. Cramer has written a number of essays published in the '' New York Review of Science Fiction''. Book reviews for that journal include such works as '' This is the Way the World Ends'' by

James Morrow James Morrow (born March 17, 1947) is an American novelist and short-story writer known for filtering large philosophical and theological questions through his satiric sensibility. Most of Morrow's oeuvre has been published as science fiction ...

, ''Ellipse of Uncertainty: An Introduction to Postmodern Fantasy'' by

Lance Olsen Lance Olsen (born October 14, 1956) is an American writer known for his experimental, lyrical, fragmentary, cross-genre narratives that question the limits of historical knowledge. Biography Lance Olsen was born in New Jersey. He received a ...

, and '' Amnesia Moon'' by Jonathan Lethem. She is a contributor to the

Encarta ''Microsoft Encarta'' is a discontinued digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft from 1993 to 2009. Originally sold on CD-ROM or DVD, it was also available on the World Wide Web via an annual subscription, although later article ...

article on science fiction and wrote the chapter on

hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...

for the ''Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction'' ed.

Farah Mendlesohn Farah Jane Mendlesohn (born 27 July 1968) is a British academic historian, writer on speculative fiction, and active member of science fiction fandom. Mendlesohn is best-known for their 2008 book '' Rhetorics of Fantasy'', which classifies fanta ...

& Edward James. Several of her essays have been reprinted, for example "Science Fiction and the Adventures of the Spherical Cow" (NYRSF August 1988) in ''Visions of Wonder'', ed. Milton T. Wolf & David G. Hartwell (Tor 1996).

Personal life

Cramer was married to David G. Hartwell from 1997 until his death in January 2016. She lives in

Westport, New York Westport is a town in Essex County, New York, United States overlooking Lake Champlain. The population was 1,312 at the 2010 census. The town is on the eastern border of the county and is south of Plattsburgh and south of Montreal, Quebec, Cana ...

, with their two children.

Bibliography

Anthologies

* '' The Architecture of Fear'' (1987) with Peter D. Pautz – winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology *''Masterpieces of Fantasy and Enchantment'' (1988) with David G. Hartwell *''Spirits of Christmas'' (1989) with David G. Hartwell, Tor Fantasy, . *''Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder'' (1989, GuildAmerica, ; 1994, St. Martin's Press, ) with David G. Hartwell * ''Walls of Fear'' (1990), Avon Books, – a

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

nominee *'' The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF'' (1994) with David G. Hartwell, * ''The Hard SF Renaissance'' (2002) with David G. Hartwell, Orb books, * '' The Space Opera Renaissance'' (2006) with David G. Hartwell, Tor Books, * '' Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future'' (2014) with Ed Finn, William Morrow.

Anthology series

:The ''Year's Best Fantasy'' is a fantasy anthology series edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. * ''Year's Best Fantasy'' 1 through 9 (2001–2009) with David G. Hartwell (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

2001–2005,

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

2006–2007) :The Year's Best SF is a science fiction anthology series edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. Hartwell started the series in 1996, and has been co-editing it with Cramer since 2002. It is published by

under the Eos imprint. The creators of the books are not involved with the similarly titled Year's Best Science Fiction series. * '' Year's Best SF 6'' (2001) * ''

Year's Best SF 7 ''Year's Best SF 7'' is a science fiction anthology edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer that was published in 2002. It is the seventh in the Year's Best SF series. Contents The book itself, as well as each of the stories, has a shor ...

'' (2002) * '' Year's Best SF 8'' (2003) * '' Year's Best SF 9'' (2004) * '' Year's Best SF 10'' (2005) * '' Year's Best SF 11'' (2006) * '' Year's Best SF 12'' (2007) * '' Year's Best SF 13'' (2008) * '' Year's Best SF 14'' (2009) * '' Year's Best SF 15'' (2010) * '' Year's Best SF 16'' (2011) * '' Year's Best SF 17'' (2012)

Short fiction

* "Forbidden Knowledge" in '' Mathenauts: Tales of Mathematical Wonder'', ed.

Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...

(1987, ). * "Speaker for the Reticent", written with Greg Cox, in ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' (December 1988). * "The End of Everything" in ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

'', Vol 14, No 10, Whole No 161 (October 1990), pp. 107–111. * "In Small & Large Pieces" in ''The Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext'', Volume 1, No. 3, Eastgate Systems (1994). (a work of hypertext dark fantasy) *
Disextinction
in ''

Nature Magazine ''Nature'' is a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England. As a multidisciplinary publication, ''Nature'' features peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and technology. It ...

'' (2001, ). *
Sandcastles: a Dystopia
in ''Nature Magazine'' (2005). * "You, in Emulation" in ''Nature Magazine'' (October 20, 2011). *
Am I Free to Go?"
on Tor.com, 2012.

Poems

* "The Mourners" in ''

Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet ''Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet'' (''LCRW'') is a twice-yearly small press zine published by Small Beer Press, edited by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link. It contains an eclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, with an emphasis on speculativ ...

'', #11 (November 2002) * "What Stopped Jack" in ''Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet'', #11 (November 2002)

Selected essays

* "Science Fiction and the Adventures of the Spherical Cow" in '' New York Review of Science Fiction'' (September 1988). Anthologized as: "Science Fiction & the Adventures of the Spherical Cow" in ''Visions of Wonder'' (). * "Democrazy, the Marketplace, and the American Way: Remarks on the Year 1990 in Science Fiction (Nebula Awards 26)" in '' Nebula Awards 26'', ed.

(1992, ). * "Science Fiction for What? Remarks on the Year 1991 (Nebula Awards 27)" in '' Nebula Awards 27'', ed.

(1993, ). * " Philip K. Dick: The Greatest Novels", co-authored with David Alexander Smith, David G. Hartwell,

Paul Di Filippo Paul Di Filippo (born October 29, 1954) is an American science fiction writer. He is a regular reviewer for print magazines ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', '' Science Fiction Eye'', ''The New York R ...

, Alexander Jablokov, and Eric Van, in ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' (June 1994). Transcribed from Panel 1, The First American Philip K. Dick Convention, September 25, 1993.
How Shit Became Shinola: Definition and Redefinition of Space Opera
with David G. Hartwell, ''SFRevu'' (August 2003). * "Hard Science Fiction" in ''The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction'', ed. Edward James,

(2006, ).

Interviews

* "Hypertext Horizon: An Interview With Kathryn Cramer" (ca. 1994) by Harry Goldstein (Transcript of a live on-line interview over Sonicnet) * "Interview With Kathryn Cramer, Co-editor of Hieroglyph" by New Books Network (Podcast on New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy)

References

External links

* *
Kathryn Cramer in the Index of Literary Nominees
in the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards {{DEFAULTSORT:Cramer, Kathryn 1962 births 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers American women bloggers American bloggers American speculative fiction critics American speculative fiction editors Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Living people Writers from Seattle People from Pleasantville, New York People from Westport, New York Science fiction critics Science fiction editors Science fiction fans Women science fiction and fantasy writers World Fantasy Award winners American women short story writers Writers from Washington (state) American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Women speculative fiction editors 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers