Patricia A. McKillip
Patricia Anne McKillip | |
---|---|
Born | Salem, Oregon, U.S. | February 29, 1948
Died | May 6, 2022 Coos Bay-North Bend, Oregon, U.S. | (aged 74)
Occupation | Novelist |
Alma mater | San Jose State University |
Genre | Fantasy |
Notable awards | Mythopoeic Awards 1995, World Fantasy Award 1975 and 2003, World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement 2008 |
Patricia Anne McKillip (February 29, 1948 – May 6, 2022) was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. She has been called "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre",[1] and wrote predominantly standalone fantasy novels. Her work won numerous awards, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008.
Personal life[edit]
McKillip was born in Salem, Oregon to Wayne and Helen (née Roth) McKillip. She grew up in Oregon, Great Britain, and Germany. She attended the College of Notre Dame (Belmont, California) and San Jose State University (San Jose, California), where she earned her BA and MA degrees in English in the early 1970s.[2]
McKillip was married to David Lunde, a poet.[3]
Death[edit]
She died on May 6, 2022, at the age of 74 at her home in Coos Bay-North Bend, Oregon. No cause of death was disclosed.[4][5][6]
Career[edit]
McKillip's first publications were two short children's books, The Throme of the Erril of Sherill and The House on Parchment Street.[2] Her first novel, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, was published in 1974, when she was 26 years old, and won the World Fantasy Award in 1975.[7]
McKillip's Riddle-Master trilogy, published from 1976 to 1979, was regarded by scholar Peter Nicholls as "a work of classic stature".[8] It was selected as part of Gollancz's Fantasy Masterworks series.[9] In 2008, she was a recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.[2][10] Most of her recent novels feature cover paintings by Kinuko Y. Craft.
On writing fantasy, McKillip said, "The tropes of mythology and symbolism are the basics. It's like a notation in music; you can change it in really wacky ways, but the sound is always the same, the sound is always there. As long as we need these symbols, then the stories will be written. But if we destroy the old symbols, then we might just have to come up with new ones--who knows?"[7]
Since 1994, McKillip's writing comprised purely standalone novels.[8] Critic Brian Stableford described her as "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre",[1] while Peter Nicholls and John Clute considered her "perhaps the most impressive author of fantasy story still active".[8]
Awards[edit]
McKillip holds the record for the most Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards (four) and nominations (fifteen).[11] She has also won World Fantasy Awards for Best Novel, as well as for Life Achievement.[12]
Award | Work | Result[12] |
---|---|---|
Hugo Award | Harpist in the Wind (1979) | Nominated |
Locus Award | Harpist in the Wind (1979) | Won |
Mythopoeic Award | The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974) | Nominated |
The Changeling Sea (1988) | Nominated | |
The Sorceress and the Cygnet (1991) | Nominated | |
The Cygnet and the Firebird (1993) | Nominated | |
Something Rich and Strange (1994) | Won | |
The Book of Atrix Wolfe (1995) | Nominated | |
Winter Rose (1996) | Nominated | |
Song for the Basilisk (1998) | Nominated | |
Ombria in Shadow (2002) | Won | |
In the Forests of Serre (2003) | Nominated | |
Alphabet of Thorn (2004) | Nominated | |
Solstice Wood (2006) | Won | |
The Bell at Sealey Head (2008) | Nominated | |
The Bards of Bone Plain (2010) | Nominated | |
Kingfisher (2016) | Won | |
Nebula Award | Winter Rose (1996) | Nominated |
The Tower at Stony Wood (2000) | Nominated | |
World Fantasy Award | The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974) | Won |
Harpist in the Wind (1979) | Nominated | |
Ombria in Shadow (2002) | Won | |
Od Magic (2005) | Nominated |
Bibliography[edit]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b Stableford, Brian M. (1997). "McKillip, Patricia A.". In Clute, John; Grant, John (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Archived from the original on 2018-05-06.
- ^ a b c Locus June 2011, p. 7.
- ^ McKillip, Patricia A. The Bell at Sealey Head. New York: Penguin Books, 2008. Back flap of dust jacket.
- ^ "May 13, 2022 Death Notices". The World. May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
- ^ Wang, Amy (May 14, 2022). "Oregon fantasy author Patricia McKillip dies at 74". The Oregonian. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
- ^ "Patricia A. McKillip (1948–2022)". Locus. May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
- ^ a b Locus June 2011, p. 67.
- ^ a b c Nicholls, Peter; Clute, John (October 26, 2021). "McKillip, Patricia A.". In Clute, John; Langford, David (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.).
- ^ Walton, Jo (2018). "1980 Hugo Award Winners and Nominees". An Informal History of the Hugos. Tor Books. Archived from the original on 2020-06-21.
- ^ "2008: World Fantasy Convention 2008". World Fantasy Convention. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ^ "Mythopoeic Awards Tallies". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus Science Fiction Foundation. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
- ^ a b "Patricia A. McKillip Awards". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus Science Fiction Foundation. Archived from the original on 2021-07-28. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
Sources[edit]
- "Patricia McKillip: Fairy Tales Matter". Locus. June 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
Further reading[edit]
- Taylor, Audrey Isabel (2017). Patricia A. McKillip and the Art of Fantasy World-Building. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-3145-5. OCLC 1000521614.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to Patricia A. McKillip. |
- patriciamckillip.com (unofficial)
- McKillip at Fantastic Fiction
- Patricia A. McKillip at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Patricia A. McKillip at the Internet Book List
- Novel synopses, cover art, and reviews at FantasyLiterature.net
- "Vengeance as a theme in the writings of Patricia A. McKillip"
- 1948 births
- 2022 deaths
- 20th-century American novelists
- 21st-century American novelists
- American fantasy writers
- American women short story writers
- American women novelists
- San Jose State University alumni
- World Fantasy Award-winning writers
- Novelists from Oregon
- Women science fiction and fantasy writers
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- 20th-century American short story writers
- 21st-century American short story writers
- Writers from Salem, Oregon