Sheri S. Tepper


Sheri Stewart Tepper was an American writer of science fiction, horror and mystery novels. She is primarily known for her feminist science fiction, which explored themes of sociology, gender and equality, as well as theology and ecology. Often referred to as an eco-feminist of science fiction literature, Tepper personally preferred the label eco-humanist. Some of her novels fall into the category of climate fiction, in which the changing environment of a planet affects the life of its colonists in the form of a mystery to be solved; examples include Grass, Beauty, A Plague of Angels, The Family Tree, Six Moon Dance, and Singer from the Sea. Though the majority of her works operate in a world of fantastical imagery and metaphor, at the heart of her writing is real-world injustice and pain. She employed several pen names during her lifetime, including A. J. Orde, E. E. Horlak, and B. J. Oliphant.
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Biography

She was born Shirley Stewart Douglas near Littleton, Colorado. As a child, she read science fiction and fantasy by A. Merritt and C. S. Lewis, as well as Frank Baum's 'Oz' books, William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land and Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright. She later commented, "These were the books I went back to again and again."
Tepper recalled that she "spent ten years ... working all kinds of different jobs" as a single mother of two. This included time working as a clerical assistant for the international relief agency, CARE. From 1962 to 1986, she worked for Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood, eventually as its executive director.
She wrote poetry and children's stories as Sheri S. Eberhart, then took a break from writing. She published her first novels after she turned 50.
By the mid-1980s, she was publishing science fiction novels, including The Revenants, and the books of the True Game series, including King's Blood Four, Necromancer Nine, and Wizard's Eleven. Other related works followed, including her ecofeminist novels The Gate to Women's Country and Grass, which were part of the Arbai Trilogy. Later novels in the 1990s and 2000s included Beauty, which won a Locus Award; Shadow's End ; The Family Tree ; Six Moon Dance ; Singer from the Sea ; The Visitor ; The Companions ; and The Margarets.
As of 1998, she operated a guest ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico. That year saw her first and possibly only appearance at a science fiction convention, when she was Guest of Honor at the 25th WisCon, the feminist science fiction convention held annually in Madison, Wisconsin.
In November 2015, Tepper received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. Her fantasy novel Beauty won a Locus Award in 1992.

Personal life

Tepper married in her 20s and had two children. In the late 1960s, about 10 years after her divorce, she was married to Gene Tepper.
She died on October 22, 2016 at age 87.

Awards

Source
WorkYear & AwardCategoryResult
2015 World Fantasy AwardLife AchievementWon
King's Blood Four1984 Locus AwardsFirst Novel
The Song of Mavin Manyshaped1986 Locus AwardsFantasy NovelNomitated
Marianne, the Magus, and the Manticore1986 Locus AwardsFantasy NovelNomitated
Jinian Star-Eye1987 Locus AwardsFantasy NovelNomitated
The Awakeners1988 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
After Long Silence1988 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
The Gate to Women's Country1989 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
"The Gardener" 1989 World Fantasy AwardsNovellaNomitated
Marianne, the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse1990 Locus AwardsFantasy NovelNomitated
Grass1990 Hugo AwardsNovelNomitated
Grass1990 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
Raising the Stones1991 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
Beauty1992 Locus AwardsFantasy NovelWon
Sideshow1993 John W. [Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel|John W. Campbell Memorial Award]2nd place
Sideshow1993 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
A Plague of Angels1994 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Awardlong list
A Plague of Angels1994 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
Shadow's End1995 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Awardlong list
Shadow's End1995 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
Gibbon's Decline and Fall1997 Arthur C. Clarke Awardshortlist
Gibbon's Decline and Fall1997 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Awardlong list
Gibbon's Decline and Fall1997 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
The Family Tree1998 Arthur C. Clarke Awardshortlist
The Family Tree1998 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
Six Moon Dance1999 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Awardlong list
Six Moon Dance1999 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
Singer from the Sea2000 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Awardlong list
Singer from the Sea2000 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
The Fresco2002 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Awardshort list
The Fresco2001 John W. Campbell Memorial Awardthird place
The Fresco2001 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
The Visitor2003 John W. Campbell Memorial Awardfinalist
The Visitor2003 Locus AwardsScience Fiction NovelNomitated
The Companions2004 John W. Campbell Memorial Awardfinalist
The Margarets2009 Arthur C. Clarke Awardshortlist
The Margarets2008 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Awardhonor list
The Margarets2008 John W. Campbell Memorial Awardfinalist
The Waters Rising2012 Arthur C. Clarke Awardshortlist
The Waters Rising2011 John W. Campbell Memorial Awardfinalist

Works

Novels

Series

Non-series

Short works

Poetry

Essays/articles

Educational pamphlets for Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood:The People Know The Perils of Puberty The Problem with Puberty This Is You So Your Happily Ever After Isn't The Great Orgasm Robbery
  • ''So You Don't Want to Be a Sex Object''

Pseudonymous works

  • as E. E. Horlak :
  • *Still Life
  • as B. J. Oliphant :
  • *Shirley McClintock Mysteries, featuring a Colorado rancher and former Washington, DC "advisor":
  • **Dead in the Scrub
  • **The Unexpected Corpse
  • **Deservedly Dead
  • **Death and the Delinquent
  • **Death Served Up Cold
  • **A Ceremonial Death
  • **Here's to the Newly Dead
  • as A. J. Orde :
  • * The Jason Lynx Mysteries, featuring a Colorado antiques dealer and his significant other, a female cop:
  • **A Little Neighborhood Murder: A Jason Lynx Novel
  • **Death and the Dogwalker: A Jason Lynx Novel
  • **Death for Old Time's Sake: A Jason Lynx Novel
  • **Looking for the Aardvark
  • **A Long Time Dead
  • **''A Death of Innocents: A Jason Lynx Novel''