Joan D. Vinge (; born April 2, 1948, as Joan Carol Dennison) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author. She is known for her

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 (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

–winning novel ''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...

'' and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and her ''Heaven's Chronicles'' books. She also is the author of ''The Random House Book of Greek Myths'' (1999).

Biography

Vinge studied art in college, but eventually changed to a major in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

, and received a B.A. degree from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

in 1971. Vinge has been married twice: first to fellow science fiction author

Vernor Vinge Vernor Steffen Vinge (; October 2, 1944 – March 20, 2024) was an American science fiction author and professor. He taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. He was the first wide-scale popularizer of the technolo ...

from 1972 to 1979, and currently to science fiction editor

James Frenkel James Raymond Frenkel (born 1948) is an American editor and agent of science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction, and other books, formerly for Tom Doherty Associates (Tor Books and Forge Books). He has edited numerous pr ...

since 1980. Vinge and Frenkel have two children, and live in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

. She has taught at the

Clarion Workshop The Clarion Workshop is an American six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writer's Workshop, Milford Writer's Conference, held at their home in Milfo ...

several times, both East and West.

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

dedicated his 1982 novel ''

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...

'' in part to Joan. On March 2, 2002, Vinge was severely injured in a car accident that left her with "minor but debilitating" brain damage that, along with her

fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia (FM) is a functional somatic syndrome with symptoms of widespread chronic pain, accompanied by fatigue, sleep disturbance including awakening unrefreshed, and Cognitive deficit, cognitive symptoms. Other symptoms can include he ...

, left her unable to write. She recovered to the point of being able to resume writing around the beginning of 2007, and her first new book after the accident was the 2011

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

of the movie ''

Cowboys & Aliens ''Cowboys & Aliens'' is a 2011 Space Western, space western Action film, action thriller film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer in his final fil ...

''.

Works

Vinge's first published story, "

Tin Soldier Tin soldiers are miniature toy soldiers that are very popular in the world of collecting. They can be bought finished or in a raw state to be hand-painted. They are generally made of pewter, tin, lead, other metals or plastic. Often very e ...

", a novella, appeared in ''

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

14'' in 1974. Her stories have also appeared in ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'', '' Millennial Women'', ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...

'', and several "Best of the Year" anthologies. Several of her stories have won major awards: Her novel ''

'' won the 1981

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year by the World Science Fiction Society for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is ava ...

. " Eyes of Amber" won the 1977

Hugo Award for Best Novelette The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of ...

. She has also been nominated for several other Hugo and

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of pr ...

s, as well as for the

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

. Her novel ''Psion'' was named a Best Book for Young Adults by 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. History 19th century ...

Bibliography

Heaven Chronicles

* ''The Outcasts of Heaven Belt'' (1978) * ''The Heaven Chronicles'' (1991) (contained novel and related novella "Legacy")

The Snow Queen Cycle

* ''

'' (1980) * ''World's End'' (1984) * '' The Summer Queen'' (1991) * ''Tangled Up In Blue'' (2000)

Cat

* "Psiren" (1980, published as chapbook, reprinted in ''Phoenix in the Ashes'' and 2007 printing of ''Psion'') * ''Psion'' (1982, expanded version published 2007) * ''Catspaw'' (1988) * ''Alien Blood'' (1988, omnibus of ''Psion'' and ''Catspaw'') * ''Dreamfall'' (1996)

Collections

* ''Fireship / Mother and Child'' (1978) - single-volume collection of two novellas. * ''Eyes of Amber'' (1979) * ''Phoenix in the Ashes'' (1985)

Media novelizations and tie-ins

* ''Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – The Storybook Based on the Movie'' (1983) * ''Tarzan, King of the Apes'' (1983) * ''The Dune Storybook '' (1984) * ''Return to Oz'' (1985) * ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' (1985) * ''Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985) * ''Santa Claus: The Movie Storybook'' (1985) * '' Ladyhawke'' (1987) * ''Willow'' (1988) * ''Lost in Space'' (1998) * ''Cowboys & Aliens'' (2011) * ''47 Ronin'' (2013)

Short fiction

* "Tin Soldier" (1974) * "Mother and Child" (1975) * "The Peddler's Apprentice" (with Vernor Vinge) (1975) * "The Crystal Ship" (1976) * "To Bell the Cat" (1977) * "Eyes of Amber" (1977) * "View from a Height" (1978) * "Phoenix in the Ashes" (1978) * "Fireship" (1978) * "Psiren" (1980) * "The Storm King" (1980) * "Voices from the Dust" (1980) * "The Hunt of the Unicorn" (1980) * "Exorcycle" (1982) * "Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones" (as by Billie Randall) (1985) * "Tam Lin" (1985) * "Latter-Day Martian Chronicles" (1990) * "Murphy's Cat" (2000)

Poetry

* "Phoenix" (1978) * "Sun and Chimes Dropping" (1978) * "Alien Lover" (1980) * "There Are Songs" (1980)

References

External links

Official site
on SFF.net (archived 1 March 2017) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinge, Joan D. 1948 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American poets 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American science fiction writers American women novelists American women poets American women short story writers Hugo Award–winning writers Living people 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American people Novelists from California Novelists from Maryland Novelists from Wisconsin People from Chula Vista, California San Diego State University alumni American women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers from Baltimore 21st-century Native American women Native American novelists Native American short story writers Native American poets 21st-century Native American writers