Some writers create worlds on the map, others universes, or lands of imagination. Today we’re taking a road trip on the Connie Willis Scenic Parkway, with stops in the Country of Awards, including the states of Nebula, Hugo, and Locus, among others.
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis, commonly known as Connie Willis, is the most decorated, award winning, speculative fiction writer, who happens to be female.
Born in 1945, her first story was published in 1970 (“The Secret of Santa Titicaca”, Worlds of Fantasy), and her first novel in 1982 (Water Witch, with Cynthia Felice). Receiving a National Endowment of the Arts Grant that same year, she left teaching and has been a full-time writer since. Her works cover the gamut of speculative fiction, from slapstick romantic comedy to heart-breaking tragedies, with a strong recurring dose of time travel.
Our first stop on the Connie Willis Scenic Parkway is in the Country of Awards, in the great state of Hugo. Looking out your window to the left and right, please note the numerous historical markers, which include five novellas/novelettes (Fire Watch, The Last of the Winnebagos, The Winds of Marble Arch, Inside Job, and All Seated on the Ground). You can observe the obelisks for three novels, Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Blackout/All Clear (published in two parts). There’s also a scattering of short story cenotaphs: “Even the Queen,” “Death on the Nile,” and “The Soul Selects Her Own Society: Invasion and Repulsion: A Chronological Reinterpretation of Two of Emily Dickinson’s Poems: A Wellsian Perspective” (which is a delightful mouthful of a title) for you to pay attention to.
Next up is the state of Nebula, with monuments for the novelette/novellas Fire Watch, The Last of the Winnebagos, and At the Rialto. Short story stele in this area include “A Letter from the Clearys” and “Even the Queen,” along with shrines for the novels Doomsday Book and Blackout/All Clear.
Moving along through the plains of the map, into the state of Locus, you’ll be able to see the Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Passage, and Blackout/All Clear.
Although she hasn’t (yet) won an Arthur C. Clarke or a World Fantasy Award, she’s been nominated two times for each award, and once for the British Science Fiction Association Award.
Next, if you’ll look out the left side, you’ll see the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Lincoln’s Dreams.
And then, of course, as we reach the end of the Connie Willis Scenic Parkway, you’ll see the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement awarded in 2012 for 2011.
She’s the most decorated writer, who happens to be female, which is a completely different thing then saying “She’s the most decorated speculative fiction writer” as astronaut Helen Sharman recently observed.
People often describe me as the first British woman in space, but I was actually the first British person. It’s telling that we would otherwise assume it was a man. When Tim Peake went into space, some people simply forgot about me. A man going first would be the norm, so I’m thrilled that I got to upset that order. —Helen Sharman
I’m thrilled Connie Willis gets to upset the order as well.
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