Connie Willis - Grandmaster of Science Fiction

Connie Willis was born on December 31, 1945 in Denver, USA. She graduated from the University of North Colorado. Then she worked as a primary school teacher for a long time. After the birth of her daughter, she decided to take up writing professionally.

     In the 1980s, her first works were published – «Saint Titicaca», «Fire Watch», «A Letter from the Clearys», «Spice Pogrom», «Lincoln's Dreams», «The Last of the Winnebagos». Sharp and full of humor syllable combined with very complex plots bring her rapid popularity and critical acclaim.

     The writer receives a stream of prestigious science fiction awards - two Nebula Awards in 1982, the Hugo Award in 1983, the Asimov's Readers Award in 1987, and many others. The work of Connie Willis in the 1990s was also marked by a bouquet of awards and a large number of works, including the story «Even the Queen», which won the Nebula and Hugo awards, the story «Death on the Nile», which was also awarded the Hugo Award, «To Say Nothing of the Dog», which was awarded the Locus Award.

      Connie participated in the creation of various collections of science fiction, collaborated with other authors. The fruit of her collaboration with Cynthia Felice were novels - «Water Witch», «Light Raid», «Promised Land». She later collaborated with Martin Greenberg in the work on the collection «The New Hugo Winners III».

     In the 21st century, the writer's work was also in demand. In 2006, the novel «Inner Job» was published, which was awarded the «Hugo» prize, and in 2008 the author's collection «For the Winds of the Marble Arch and Other Stories», which was awarded the «Locus» prize.

     In total, the writer has won 9 Hugo Awards, 6 Nebula Awards, a dozen Locus awards and other literary awards. Today, Connie Willis continues her literary work, living and working in the small town of Greeley, Colorado, USA.     

     This writer has an amazing gift to bring humor and lyrics of relationships to the plots of science fiction, to raise acute social issues. One of the favorite subjects of Connie Willis is a variety of temporal paradoxes and time travel.

 

Nazira Artykbayeva, librarian of the International Book Department