Roberta Ann MacAvoy (born December 13, 1949) is an American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 literature and drama ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

author. Several of her books draw on Celtic or

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

themes. She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1984.

Biography

R. A. MacAvoy was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Res ...

and received a B.A. in 1971. She worked from 1975 to 1978 as an assistant to the financial aid officer of

Columbia College of Columbia University Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King's ...

and from 1978 to 1982 as a computer programmer at

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is an American nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The trustees of Stanford University established SRI in 1946 as ...

before turning to full-time writing in 1982. She married Ronald Allen Cain in 1978. R. A. MacAvoy was diagnosed with dystonia (a neuro-muscular disorder causing painful sustained muscle contractions) following the publication of her Lens of the World series in the early 1990s. She now has the disorder under control and has returned to writing.

Bibliography

The Black Dragon series

* ''

Tea with the Black Dragon ''Tea with the Black Dragon'' is a 1983 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. MacAvoy. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1983, the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1984, and the Locus Award for best first novel in 1984; it al ...

'' (1983) * ''Twisting the Rope'' (1986)

The Damiano series

* '' Damiano'' (1983, Bantam) * ''

Damiano's Lute ''Damiano's Lute'' is a fantasy novel by R. A. MacAvoy published in 1984. Plot summary ''Damiano's Lute'' is a novel in which former mage Damiano tries to survive as he wanders through plague-ridden Renaissance Italy. Reception Dave Langford rev ...

'' (1984, Bantam) * ''Raphael'' (1984, Bantam) * omnibus edition titled ''A Trio for Lute'' These books were adapted by Bantam Software into a text adventure, ''I, Damiano: The Wizard of Partestrada'', for MS-DOS and Apple IIe computers.

The Lens of the World series

* ''Lens of the World'' (1990) * ''King of the Dead'' (1991) * ''Winter of the Wolf''

t ''The Belly of the Wolf'' T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is de ...

(1993)

Ewen Young

* ''The Go-Between'' (2005) – Amazon Shorts e-book, republished with editorial changes as ''In Between'' (2009) * ''Death and Resurrection'' (2011,

Prime Books Sean Wallace (born January 1, 1976) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologist, editor, and publisher best known for founding the publishing house Prime Books and for co-editing three magazines, '' Clarkesworld Magazine'', '' ...

) – includes ''The Go-Between/In Between''

Other novels

* ''The Book of Kells'' (1985) * ''The Grey Horse'' (1987) * ''The Third Eagle'' (1989) * ''Albatross'' (with Nancy Palmer) (2016) * ''Shimmer'' (with Nancy Palmer) (2018)

References

External links

*
RAMacavoy.com
– blog

at ''Ansible''.co.uk, by editor

David Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macavoy, R. A. 1949 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American women novelists John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners Living people Women science fiction and fantasy writers