Kate Wilhelm (June 8, 1928 – March 8, 2018) was an American author. She wrote novels and stories in the science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres, including the Hugo Award–winning Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. Wilhelm established the Clarion Workshop along with her husband Damon Knight and writer Robin Scott Wilson.

Life

Katie Gertrude Meredith was born in Toledo, Ohio, daughter of Jesse and Ann Meredith. She graduated from high school in Louisville, Kentucky, and worked as a model, telephone operator, sales clerk, switchboard operator, and underwriter for an insurance company.

She married Joseph Wilhelm in 1947 and had two sons. The couple divorced in 1962 and Wilhelm married Damon Knight in 1963. She and her husband lived in Eugene, Oregon, until his death in 2002 and she remained there until her own death in 2018.

Career

Her first published short fiction was "The Pint-Size Genie" in the October 1956 issue of Fantastic, edited by Paul W. Fairman (assisted by Cele Goldsmith, who was responsible for looking at unsolicited submissions to the magazine). The next year, her first accepted story, "The Mile-Long Spaceship", was published in John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction, and ten of her speculative fiction stories were published during 1958 and 1959.

The Nebula Award trophy was designed for the first awards by J. A. Lawrence, based on a sketch by Wilhelm.

She also won a few annual genre awards for particular works:

  • Hugo Award for Best Novel and Locus Award for Best Novel, both 1977, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

Works

Barbara Holloway mysteries

Holloway is an attorney in Eugene, Oregon. She and her semi-retired lawyer father, Frank Holloway, solve mysteries that combine detective fiction with courtroom drama.

  • Death Qualified: A Mystery of Chaos (1991)
  • The Best Defense (1994)
  • For the Defense also named Malice Prepense in hardbound editions (1996)
  • Defense for the Devil (1999)
  • No Defense (2000)
  • Desperate Measures (2001)
  • Clear and Convincing Proof (2003)
  • The Unbidden Truth (2004)
  • Sleight of Hand (2006)
  • A Wrongful Death (2007)
  • Cold Case (2008)
  • Heaven Is High (2011)
  • By Stone, by Blade, by Fire (2012)
  • Mirror, Mirror (2017)

Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn mysteries

Meiklejohn is a former arson detective turned private investigator. His wife, Leidl, is a professional psychologist. Together they solve cases.

  • The Hamlet Trap (1987)
  • The Dark Door (1988)
  • Smart House (1989)
  • Sweet, Sweet Poison (1990)
  • Seven Kinds of Death (1992)
  • Whisper Her Name (2012)

Mystery collections

  • A Flush of Shadows: Five Short Novels (1995) – includes "With Thimbles, With Forks, and Hope", "Torch Song", "All for One", "Sister Alice", and "Gorgon Fields"
  • The Casebook of Constance and Charlie Volume 1 (1999) – includes "The Hamlet Trap", "Smart House", and "Seven Kinds of Death"
  • The Casebook of Constance and Charlie Volume 2 (2000) – includes "Sweet, Sweet Poison" and "The Dark Door", plus shorter stories "Christ's Tears", "Torch Song", and "An Imperfect Gift"

Short stories in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

  • "Christ's Tears" April 1996
  • "An Imperfect Gift" Aug 1999
  • "His Deadliest Enemy" Mar/Apr2004

Standalone mystery/suspense novels

  • More Bitter Than Death (1962)
  • The Clewiston Test (1976)
  • Fault Lines (1977)
  • Oh, Susannah! (1982)
  • Justice for Some (1993)
  • The Good Children (1998)
  • The Deepest Water (2000)
  • Skeletons: A Novel of Suspense (2002)
  • The Price of Silence (2005)
  • Death of an Artist (2012)

Editor

  • Clarion SF – anthology of 15 short stories by authors such as Damon Knight, Robert Crais, and Vonda N. McIntyre
  • Nebula Award Stories 9: anthology of Nebula Award–winning and nominated stories

SF novels, noted stories and collections

  • The Mile-Long Spaceship (1963)
  • The Clone (1965) with Theodore L. Thomas – 1966 Nebula Award nominee, Best Novel
  • The Nevermore Affair (1966)
  • Andover and the Android (1966)
  • Baby, You Were Great (1967) – 1968 Nebula Award nominee, Best Short Story
  • The Killer Thing (1967), aka The Killing Thing (1967)
  • The Planners (1968) – 1969 Nebula Award winner, Best Short Story
  • The Downstairs Room (1968) – collection of 14 SF short stories (Dutch translation Het Anti-Verjaardagsfeest as by Kathleen Curran)
  • Cambio Bay (1990)
  • Naming the Flowers (1992) – 1994 Nebula Award nominee, Best Novella
  • And the Angels Sing (1992) – collection of 12 SF short stories
  • I Know What You're Thinking (1994) – 1995 Nebula Award nominee, Best Short Story
  • Fear is a Cold Black (2010) – collection of Wilhelm's early SF short stories
  • Music Makers (2012) – collection of five stories: "Music Makers", "Shadows on the Wall of the Cave", "Mockingbird", "The Late Night Train", and "An Ordinary Day with Jason"
  • The Bird Cage (2012) – collection of four stories: "The Bird Cage", "Changing the World", "The Fountain of Neptune", and "Rules of the Game"

Poems

  • Alternatives (1980)
  • Four Seasons (1980)
  • No One Listens (1980)
  • The Eagle (1980)

Non-fiction

  • Storyteller: Writing Lessons & More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop (2005)

See also

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References

  • Former official website at the Internet Archive
  • "Baby, You Were Great" (1967) by Wilhelm, LoA reprint including story notes and an illustration by Ed Emshwiller
  • Infinity Box Press, Wilhelm's publishing company
  • Kate Wilhelm at Library of Congress Authorities — with 58 catalog records
  • Guide to the Kate Wilhelm Papers at the University of Oregon
  • Battistella, Maureen Flanagan,Kate Wilhelm (1928-2018), Oregon Encyclopedia

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