Vonda N. McIntyre (1948-2019)

Vonda N. McIntyre was an award-winning U.S. science fiction author and geneticist. She wrote and published novels, short stories, and media tie-in books.

In 1973, she won her first Nebula Award for the novelette “Of Mist, Grass, and Sand,” and followed it up with the novel Dreamsnake, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 1979. She was the third woman to receive the Hugo Award. Over the course of her career, she penned a huge body of Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon and Tiptree award-nominated work, as well as several well-received Star Trek novels, including one which gave Ensign Sulu his first name, Hikaru. Her Nebula-winning fantasy novel The Moon and the Sun was made into the film, The King’s Daughter, starring Pierce Brosnan. Throughout her life, she was a champion and pioneer in feminist SF, and remained friends with SFF luminaries all around the Pacific Northwest, including a close friendship with Ursula K. Le Guin.

With Susan Janice Anderson, McIntyre edited one of the first feminist science fiction anthologies (Aurora: Beyond Equality, 1976). She was a participant in the Women in Science Fiction Symposium edited by Jeffrey D. Smith (Khatru #3/4, 1975 – reprinted with additional material as by Jeanne Gomoll, lulu.com, 2008) with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel R. Delany, James Tiptree Jr. and others.

McIntyre attended the original Clarion Workshop in 1970, where she was roommates with Octavia E. Butler. She then organized the first incarnation of Clarion West Writers Workshop (1971-1973), and taught several times for the current incarnation (1984-present). In addition to Clarion West, Vonda was an Evans Chair Scholar at The Evergreen State College in 2000 and taught at workshops in Melbourne, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; the Haystack Summer Arts Program, Cannon Beach, OR; and the Willamette Writers Conference in Portland, OR.

McIntyre founded Book View Café, an online publishing collective for member authors to sell their ebooks. She had a lively correspondence with Scientific American columnist Martin Gardner about her beaded sea creatures, beaded with fractal patterns into shapes reminiscent of jellyfish, corals, and nudibranchs, and some of these are on display in the Smithsonian Institution.

It is difficult to express how deeply Vonda contributed to the world of science fiction and fantasy in her 70 years. Through Clarion West alone, she leaves behind 40 years of graduates whose lives and careers have been profoundly inspired and changed by her efforts.

The Seattle science fiction community recalls McIntyre as the “fairy godmother” to hundreds of Clarion West graduates, many of whom have gone on to be bright stars in the publishing world. “Vonda was one of Clarion West’s founders, and has always been our fairy godmother, bringing comfort and whimsy to class after class with her impromptu visits and gifts of crocheted sea creatures,” said novelist Nisi Shawl, a Clarion West board member. “She was the Good Witch of the Northwest, a fearless public reader and a stellar private writer who is missed by all.”