Vonda N. McIntyre

(August 28, 1948 – April 1, 2019)

Vonda Neel McIntyre was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She was educated at the University of Washington, Seattle (BS in biology, 1970) and did graduate study in genetics, 1970-1971.

One of the earliest successful graduates of the Clarion SF Writers' Workshop (1970), Vonda Neel McIntyre is an explicit feminist SF and fantasy writer who, before becoming a full-time writer, was a riding instructor, keypunch operator, and writing instructor. She has also been a conference coordinator/organizer (including a Clarion SF Writing Workshop), served as writer in residence at Clarion West (in 1984 and 1990), been a visiting novelist at Humboldt State University, worked for a Summer Arts program at California State University, spent a fellowship year (1994) at a screenwriting workshop in Hollywood, and given readings and talks at numerous places on a variety of subjects including genetic engineering, the women's movement, and the claims of psychics.

First SF publication: "Breaking Point" in Venture (February, 1970); First novel: The Exile Waiting (Doubleday, 1975); First collection: Fireflood and Other Stories (Houghton Mifflin, 1979).

McIntyre has also edited (with Susan Janice Anderson) a collection, Aurora: Beyond Equality (1976), and an anthology of humanist fiction. In addition, she has authored several movie novelizations and "Star Trek" novels (1981-1986); published a YA novel, Barbary (1986); and written The Crystal Star (1994), a "Star Wars" book. Her "Starfarers" series, with another female protagonist (a black physicist from Earth), has resulted in four additional titles: Starfarers (1989), Transition (1990), Metaphase (1992), and Nautilus (1994). She edited Nebula Awards Showcase 2004.

Her The Moon and the Sun (1997) introduced her fans to a sea monster in the court of Louis XIV; the novel won the Nebula Award and was a finalist for the Tiptree Award.

Interviews with McIntyre have appeared in several publications, including Starship/Algol (Spring 1979), Galileo (November 1979), SF Chronicle (May 1993), and Locus (February 1998). After her death, Stephanie A. Smith and Jeanne Gomoll published Remembering Vonda in her honor.

McIntyre was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on February 7, 2019, and passed away on April 1, 2019.

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1973 -- Sampo Award, Nebula Award
• 1974 -- Best Short Story Hugo and Best Novelette Hugo finalist
• 1977 -- Monoclave
• 1978 -- WisCon 2
• 1978 -- Best Novella Hugo finalist, Nebula Award
• 1979 -- Best Novel Hugo
• 1980 -- Penulticon 3, Noncon 3, Best Novelette Hugo finalist
• 1981 -- V-Con 9
• 1983 -- Con 1983, Nebula Award finalist
• 1985 -- Ad Astra V, Keycon 2, Con*Tretemps 4, TM at Coastcon VIII
• 1986 -- Rustycon 3
• 1988 -- Loscon Fifteen
• 1989 -- MisCon 4, Rovacon 14
• 1990 -- Westercon 43
• 1994 -- Lunacon 37
• 1997 -- Nebula Award
• 1995 -- Conquest 1, Finncon 1995, InConJunction XV
• 2006 -- Nebula Award finalist
• 2009 -- Service to SFWA Award
• 2015 -- Sasquan, Science Fiction Research Association's Clareson Award
• 2020 -- Readercon 31 (Memorial GoH)

---

Person

Website

1948—2019

This is a biography page. Please extend it by adding more information about the person, such as fanzines and apazines published, awards, clubs, conventions worked on, GoHships, impact on fandom, external links, anecdotes, etc. See Standards for People and The Naming of Names.