Sheri Stewart Tepper (July 16, 1929 – October 22, 2016) was an American writer of science fiction, horror and

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

novels. She is primarily known for her

feminist science fiction Feminist science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction (abbreviated "SF") focused on such feminist themes as: gender inequality, sexuality, race, economics, reproduction, and environment. Feminist SF is political because of its tendency to ...

, which explored themes of sociology, gender and equality, as well as theology and ecology. Often referred to as an

eco-feminist Ecofeminism integrates feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyze relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in her 1974 ...

of science fiction literature, Tepper personally preferred the label eco-humanist. Some of her novels fall into the category of

climate fiction Climate fiction (sometimes shortened to cli-fi) is literature that deals with climate change.Glass, Rodge (31 May 2013).Global Warning: The Rise of 'Cli-fi' retrieved 3 March 2016 Generally speculative in nature but inspired by climate science ...

, in which the changing environment of a planet affects the life of its colonists (or vice versa) in the form of a mystery to be solved; examples include ''

Grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

'' (1989), ''

Beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

'' (1991), ''A Plague of Angels'' (1993), ''The Family Tree'' (1997), ''Six Moon Dance'' (1998), and ''Singer from the Sea'' (1999). Though the majority of her works operate in a world of fantastical imagery and metaphor, at the heart of her writing is real-world injustice and pain. She employed several

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s during her lifetime, including A. J. Orde, E. E. Horlak, and B. J. Oliphant.

Early life and education

She was born Shirley Stewart Douglas near Littleton,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. As a child, she read science fiction and fantasy by

A. Merritt Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...

and

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

, as well as Frank Baum's 'Oz' books, William Hope Hodgson's ''

The Night Land ''The Night Land'' is a Horror fiction, horror and fantasy fiction, fantasy novel by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1912. As a work of fantasy it belongs to the Dying Earth subgenre. Hodgson also published a much shorter ...

'' and '' Islandia'' by Austin Tappan Wright. She later commented, "These were the books I went back to again and again."

Career

Tepper recalled that she "spent ten years...working all kinds of different jobs" as a single mother of two. This included time working as a clerical assistant for the international relief agency, CARE. From 1962 to 1986, she worked for Rocky Mountain

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

, eventually as its executive director. She wrote poetry and children's stories as Sheri S. Eberhart, then took a break from writing. By the mid-1980s, she was publishing science fiction novels, including ''The Revenants'' (1984), and the books of the ''True Game'' series, including ''King's Blood Four'' (1983), ''Necromancer Nine'' (1983), and ''Wizard's Eleven'' (1984). Other related works followed, including her ecofeminist novels '' The Gate to Women's Country'' (1988) and ''

'' (1989), which were part of the Arbai Trilogy. Later novels in the 1990s and 2000s included ''

'' (1991), which won a

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...

; ''Shadow's End'' (1994); ''The Family Tree'' (1997); ''Six Moon Dance'' (1998); ''Singer from the Sea'' (1999); ''The Visitor'' (2002); ''The Companions'' (2003); and ''The Margarets'' (2007). As of 1998, she operated a guest ranch near Santa Fe,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. That year saw her first and possibly only appearance at a

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction subgenre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of ex ...

, when she was Guest of Honor at the 25th WisCon, the feminist science fiction convention held annually in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. In November 2015, she received the

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 ...

for Life Achievement.

Personal life

She married at 20, and divorced in her late twenties. She married Gene Tepper in the late 1960s. She died on October 22, 2016 at age 87.

Works

Novels

Series

*'' The True Game'' (a trilogy of trilogies) **The ''Peter'' series was the first published. The ''Mavin'' series takes place earlier. The '' Jinian'' series takes place during and after the same time period as the ''Peter'' series, often giving a different perspective on the same events. ***This series has a crossover with the Plague of Angels series. **The Books of the True Game: Peter ***''King's Blood Four'' (Ace Books, 1983) (first novel) ***''Necromancer Nine'' (Ace Books, 1983) ***''Wizard's Eleven'' (Ace Books, 1984) ****''The True Game'' (omnibus edition) (1985) **The Books of the True Game:

Mavin Manyshaped ''The True Game'' is the collective name for a series of three related trilogies of short novels by Sheri S. Tepper. The novels explore the Lands of the True Game, a portion of a planet explored by humanity somewhere in the future. These nove ...

***''The Song of Mavin Manyshaped'' (Ace Books, 1985) ***''The Flight of Mavin Manyshaped'' (Ace Books, 1985) ***''The Search of Mavin Manyshaped'' (Ace Books, 1985) ****''The Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped'' (omnibus edition) (1985) **The Books of the True Game: Jinian ***''Jinian Footseer'' (Tor Books, 1985) ***''Dervish Daughter'' (Tor Books, 1986) ***''Jinian Star-Eye'' (Tor Books, 1986) ****''The End of the Game'' (omnibus edition) * The Marianne Trilogy **'' Marianne, the Magus, and the Manticore'' (Ace Books, 1985) **'' Marianne, the Madame, and the Momentary Gods'' (Ace Books, 1988) **'' Marianne, the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse'' (Ace Books, 1989) ***''The Marianne Trilogy'' (omnibus edition) * Ettison Duo, featuring Badger Ettison **'' Blood Heritage'' (Tor Books, 1986) **''

The Bones The Bones (), at high, is the seventh-highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin list, or the eighth-highest according to the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam list. It is part ...

'' (Tor Books, 1987) * The Awakeners: **'' Northshore'' (Tor Books, 1987) **'' Southshore'' (Tor Books, 1987) ***''The Awakeners'' (omnibus edition, 1989. A later omnibus edition erroneously claims to be first) * Plague of Angels: **'' A Plague of Angels'' (Bantam, 1993) **'' The Waters Rising'' (Eos, 2010) -

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award ...

nominee, 2010 **'' Fish Tails'' (2014), a crossover into the True Game series * The Arbai Trilogy **''

'' (Doubleday, 1989) – Hugo and Locus Awards nominee, 1990 **'' Raising the Stones'' (Doubleday, 1990) **''

Sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, traveling carnival, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. They historically featured human oddity exhibits (so-called “Freak show, freak shows”), pr ...

'' (Doubleday, 1992) – John W. Campbell Award nominee, 1993

Non-series

*'' The Revenants'' (Berkley Publishing, 1984) *'' After Long Silence'' (1987) (UK: ''The Enigma Score,'' 1989) *'' The Gate to Women's Country'' (1988) *''

'' (Doubleday, 1991; revised UK edition is author's preferred text) – Winner,

Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel is a literary award given annually by ''Locus Magazine'' as part of their Locus Awards. Winners References External links The Locus Award Index: FantasyThe Locus Award: 2011 winnersExcerpts and summaries ...

, 1992 *'' Shadow's End'' (1994) *'' Gibbon's Decline & Fall'' (1996) – Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 1997 *''The Family Tree'' (1997) –

nominee, 1998 *'' Six Moon Dance'' (1998) *''Singer from the Sea'' (1999) *''

The Fresco ''The Fresco'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Sheri S. Tepper, published in 2000. It describes Earth's contact with a confederation of intelligent alien races. ''The Fresco'' was on the shortlist ("honor list") for 2001 James Tip ...

'' (2000) – John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee, 2001 *''The Visitor'' (2002) – John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee, 2003 *''The Companions'' (2003) – John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee, 2004 *''The Margarets'' (released June 1, 2007 by Eos) – John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee, 2008;

nominee, 2009

Short works

*"The Gardener" (novella) in ''Night Visions 6''. Released as ''The Bone Yard'' (1988) in mass market. Collaboration with F. Paul Wilson and Ray Garton.

World Fantasy Award—Long Fiction The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

finalist (1989) *"Someone Like You" in ''The Further Adventures of the Joker'' (ed. Martin Greenberg) (1990) *The "Crazy" Carol Stories **"The Gazebo" in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiv ...

'', October 1990 **"Raccoon Music" in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', February 1991 **"The Gourmet" in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', October/November 1991

Poetry

Extraterrestrial Trilogue on Terran Self-Destruction
in ''Galaxy'', August 1961 (as Sheri S. Eberhart)
Lullaby, 1990
in ''Galaxy'', December 1963 (as Sheri S. Eberhart)
Ballad of the Interstellar Merchants
in ''Galaxy'', December 1964 (as Sheri S. Eberhart)

Essays/articles

Educational pamphlets for Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood: * ''The People Know'' (1968) * ''The Perils of Puberty'' (1974) * ''The Problem with Puberty'' (1976) * ''This Is You'' (1977) * ''So Your Happily Ever After Isn't'' (1977) * ''The Great Orgasm Robbery'' (1977) * ''So You Don't Want to Be a Sex Object'' (1978)

Pseudonymous works

*as E. E. Horlak (horror): **''Still Life'' (Bantam, 1987/1988) *as B. J. Oliphant (mystery): **Shirley McClintock Mysteries, featuring a Colorado rancher and former Washington, DC "advisor": ***''Dead in the Scrub'' (1990) ***''The Unexpected Corpse'' (1990) ***''Deservedly Dead'' (1992) ***''Death and the Delinquent'' (1993) ***''Death Served Up Cold'' (1994) ***''A Ceremonial Death'' (1996) ***''Here's to the Newly Dead'' (1997) *as A. J. Orde (mystery): ** The Jason Lynx Mysteries, featuring a Colorado antiques dealer and his significant other, a female cop: ***''A Little Neighborhood Murder: A Jason Lynx Novel'' (1989) ***''Death and the Dogwalker: A Jason Lynx Novel'' (1990) ***''Death for Old Time's Sake: A Jason Lynx Novel'' (1992) ***''Looking for the Aardvark'' (1993) (also published in paperback as ''Dead on Sunday'', 1994) ***''A Long Time Dead'' (Fawcett, 1994) ***''A Death of Innocents: A Jason Lynx Novel'' (1996, 1997)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tepper, Sheri S. 1929 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American fantasy writers American horror writers American mystery writers American science fiction writers American women essayists American women horror writers American women mystery writers American women novelists American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women short story writers Ecofeminists Environmental fiction writers Novelists from Colorado People from Littleton, Colorado World Fantasy Award–winning writers Writers from Santa Fe, New Mexico