Connie Willis

Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than any other writer[2]—most recently the "Best Novel" Hugo and Nebula Awards for Blackout/All Clear (2010).[3] She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009[4][5] and the Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 28th SFWA Grand Master in 2011.[6]

Connie Willis
Connie Willis at WonderCon, 2017
BornConstance Elaine Trimmer
(1945-12-31) December 31, 1945
Denver, Colorado, US
OccupationWriter
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.A., 1967
Alma materColorado State College
Periodc. 1978–present
GenreScience fiction, social satire, comedy of manners, comic science fiction
SubjectTime travel; War, especially World War II; Heroism; Courtship; Mores
Literary movementSavage Humanism[1]
Notable worksDoomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Blackout/All Clear, "The Last of the Winnebagos"
Notable awardsDamon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Locus Award, and others
SpouseCourtney Willis
ChildrenCordelia Willis
Website
conniewillis.net

Several of her works feature time travel by history students at a faculty of the future University of Oxford—sometimes called the Time Travel series.[7] They are the short story "Fire Watch" (1982, also in several anthologies and the 1985 collection of the same name), the novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog (1992 and 1997), as well as the two-part novel Blackout/All Clear (2010).[7] All four won the annual Hugo Award but Doomsday Book and Blackout/All Clear won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.[3]

Early life

Willis is a 1967 graduate of Colorado State College, now the University of Northern Colorado, where she completed degrees in English and Elementary Education.[8][9] She lives in Greeley, Colorado, with her husband Courtney Willis, a former professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. They have one daughter, Cordelia.

Career
Connie Willis at Clarion West, 1998

Willis's first published story was "The Secret of Santa Titicaca" in Worlds of Fantasy, Winter 1970 (December).[10] At least seven stories followed (1978–81) before her debut novel, Water Witch by Willis and Cynthia Felice, published by Ace Books in 1982.[10] After receiving a National Endowment for the Arts grant that year, she left her teaching job and became a full-time writer.[11]

Scholar Gary K. Wolfe has written, "Willis, the erstwhile stand-up superstar of SF conventions—having her as your MC is like getting Billy Crystal back as host of the Oscars—and the author of some of the field's funniest stories, is a woman of considerably greater complexity and gravity than her personal popularity reflects, and for all her facility at screwball comedy knock-offs and snappy parody, she wants us to know that she's a writer of some gravity as well."[12]

Willis is known for writing "romantic 'screwball' comedy in the manner of 1940s Hollywood movies."[13]

Much of Willis's writing explores the social sciences. She often weaves technology into her stories in order to prompt readers to question what impact it has on the world. For instance, Lincoln's Dreams plumbs not just the psychology of dreams, but also their role as indicators of disease. The story portrays a young man's unrequited love for a young woman who might or might not be experiencing reincarnation or precognition, and whose outlook verges on suicidal. Similarly, Bellwether is almost exclusively concerned with human psychology.

Other Willis stories explore the so-called "hard" sciences, following in the classic science fiction tradition. "The Sidon in the Mirror" harks back to the interplanetary and interstellar romanticism of the 1930s and 1940s. "Samaritan" is another take on the theme of Robert A. Heinlein's "Jerry Was a Man", while "Blued Moon" is similarly reminiscent of Heinlein's "The Year of the Jackpot".

2006 Hugo Awards ceremony

At the 2006 Hugo Awards ceremony, Willis presented writer Harlan Ellison with a special committee award. When Ellison got to the podium, Willis asked him "Are you going to be good?" When she asked the question a second time, Ellison put the microphone in his mouth, to the crowd's laughter. He then momentarily put his hand on her left breast.[14][15][16] Ellison subsequently complained that Willis refused to acknowledge his apology.[14]

Religious beliefs

Willis is a Christian. In 1996, Willis wrote, "I sing soprano in a Congregationalist church choir. It is my belief that everything you need to know about the world can be learned in a church choir."[17]

Awards

Hugo Awards
David Hartwell, Charles N. Brown, and Connie Willis pose with the 2008 Hugo Awards

Wins

Nominations

  • Daisy, In the Sun : short story : 1980
  • The Sidon in the Mirror : novelette : 1984
  • Blued Moon : novelette : 1985
  • Spice Pogrom : novella : 1987
  • At the Rialto : novelette : 1990
  • Time-Out : novella : 1990
  • Cibola : short story : 1991
  • In the Late Cretaceous : short story : 1992
  • Jack : novella : 1992
  • Miracle : novelette : 1992
  • Remake : novel : 1996[21]
  • Passage : novel : 2002[22]
  • Just Like the Ones We Used to Know : novella : 2004

Nebula Awards

Wins

Nominations

  • The Sidon in the Mirror : novelette : 1984
  • Schwarzschild Radius : novelette : 1988
  • Jack : novella : 1992
  • Death on the Nile : novelette : 1994
  • Bellwether : novel : 1998
  • To Say Nothing of the Dog : novel : 1999[19]
  • Passage : novel : 2002[22]
  • Just Like the Ones We Used to Know : novella : 2005

Locus Awards

Wins

Nomination

Arthur C. Clarke Awards

Nominations

World Fantasy Awards

Nominations

  • Chance : novella : 1987
  • The Winds of Marble Arch : novella : 2000

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Win

British Science Fiction Association Award

Nomination

Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
  • Lifetime achievement, 2011, presented at the Nebula Awards banquet, May 2012[6]

Bibliography
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Novels and novellas

Short story collections
  • Fire Watch (1984), whose title story won the 1982 Hugo and Nebula Awards
  • Impossible Things (1993) – contains three Nebula Award winners, two of which also won Hugo Awards
  • Futures Imperfect (1996) – omnibus edition of Uncharted Territory, Remake and Bellwether.
  • Even the Queen: And Other Short Stories (1998) – sound recording of five stories read by Connie Willis including "Even the Queen", "Death on the Nile", and "At the Rialto"
  • Willis, Connie (1999). Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. Bantam Spectra.
  • The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories: A Connie Willis Compendium (2007)
  • Time is the Fire: The Best of Connie Willis The Hugo and Nebula award-winning short fiction (2013). ISBN 978-0-575-13114-9
  • A Lot Like Christmas: Stories (2017) – Omnibus edition combining Miracle and Other Christmas Stories, several additional short stories, and the novellas All About Emily and All Seated On The Ground.
  • Terra Incognita (2018) - Collected edition of Uncharted Territory, Remake, and D.A..

Short stories

Other
  • Roswell, Vegas, and Area 51: Travels with Courtney (2002)

Essays
  • On Ghost Stories (1991)
  • Foreword (1998)
  • Introduction (1999)
  • The Nebula Award for Best Novel (1999)
  • The 1997 Author Emeritus: Nelson Bond (1999)
  • The Grand Master Award: Poul Anderson (1999)
  • A Few Last Words to Put It All in Perspective (1999)
  • Bibliography, including a list of all of her SF short stories and "confessions" stories, collected in the "Limited/Lettered Editions" of The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories: A Connie Willis Compendium
  • A Final Word; Twelve Terrific Things to Read... (Christmas stories); And Twelve to Watch (Christmas movies); all collected in Miracle and Other Christmas Stories

Edited

Critical studies and reviews of Willis' work

De Lint, Charles (August 2000). "Review of Miracle and other Christmas stories". Books to Look For. F&SF. 99 (2): 22–25.

References
  1. Sawyer, Robert J. (April 29, 2008). "The Savage Humanists". Robert J. Sawyer. Retrieved June 16, 2013. Meet the Savage Humanists: the hottest science-fiction writers working today. They use SF's unique powers to comment on the human condition in mordantly funny, satiric stories... In these pages, you'll find the top names in the SF field: including...Connie Willis (The Doomsday Book)...
  2. Merrick, Helen. "Nebula Awards Interview: Connie Willis". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  3. "sfadb : Connie Willis Awards". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  4. "EMP|SFM Announces its 2009 Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductions". empsfm.org. August 14, 2009. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  5. Strock, Ian Randal (April 6, 2009). "2009's Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductees". sfscope.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  6. "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  7. "Time Travel – Series Bibliography". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  8. UNC Writers' Conference Features Internationally Renowned Sci Fi Author, retrieved October 11, 2015
  9. "University Archives: RG18 ALUMNI". University of Northern Colorado: University Archives. January 27, 2002. Archived from the original on January 9, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  10. "Connie Willis – Summary Bibliography". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  11. "Connie Willis: The Facts of Death", Locus, January 2003, p. 7.
  12. Wolfe, Gary K. (March 2001). "Passage". Locus. Oakland, California: Charles N. Brown. 46 (3, issue 482): 21. ISSN 0047-4959. OCLC 610386221.
  13. Kathryn Cramer (2006). Hartwell, David G. (ed.). Year's Best Fantasy 6. Tachyon Publications. ISBN 1-892391-37-6.
  14. "Sci-Fi Awards Show Marred By Boorish Groping". August 30, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  15. Larry Sanderson (July 9, 2011). "Hugo Awards – Harlan and Connie – 2006". YouTube.
  16. "Don't Let Harlan Ellison Hear This". Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  17. "Connie Willis answers your questions". scifi.com/sfw. Archived from the original on June 16, 2005. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  18. "1993 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  19. "1999 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  20. 2011 Hugo and Campbell Awards Winners. Locus. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  21. "1996 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  22. "2002 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  23. "2010 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  24. "2001 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  25. "1988 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  26. "1992 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  27. "1997 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  28. "1998 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  29. A Spadeful of Spacetime publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  30. Distress Call publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  31. Distress Call title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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