Katie Gertrude Meredith was born inToledo, Ohio, daughter of Jesse and Ann Meredith. She graduated from high school inLouisville, 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 marriedDamon Knight in 1963. She and her husband lived inEugene, Oregon, until his death in 2002[2] and she remained there until her own death in 2018.[3]
Her first published short fiction was "The Pint-Size Genie" in the October 1956 issue ofFantastic, edited byPaul W. Fairman (assisted byCele 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 inJohn W. Campbell'sAstounding Science Fiction, and ten of her speculative fiction stories were published during 1958 and 1959.[4] Her debut novel was a murder mystery,More Bitter Than Death (Simon & Schuster, 1963), and her science fiction novel debut,The Clone (1965) co-written with Theodore L. Thomas, was a finalist for the annualNebula Award.[4]
She and her second husband, Damon Knight, mentored many authors and helped to establish theClarion Writers Workshop and theMilford Writer's Workshop. After his death in 2002, Wilhelm continued to host monthly workshops, as well as lecturing at other events, until her death.
In 2009, she received one of three inaugural Solstice Awards from theScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (founded by Knight in 1965), which recognize "significant impact on the science fiction or fantasy landscape".[6][7]
The Nebula Award trophy was designed for the first awards by J. A. Lawrence, based on a sketch by Wilhelm.[8]
She also won a few annual genre awards for particular works:[6]
Hugo Award (best related book) and Locus Award (best nonfiction), both 2006,Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop (Small Beer Press, 2005;ISBN0-7394-5613-X)[6]
The Hugo- and Locus Award-winning novelWhere Late the Sweet Birds Sang was also a finalist for the Nebula Award, winner of the short-lived Jupiter Award from science fiction instructors, and third place for the academicJohn W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[6]
In 2016, the SFWA renamed the Solstice Award the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award.[10]
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 namedMalice Prepense in hardbound editions (1996)
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"
Forever Yours, Anna (1987) – 1988 Nebula Award winner, Best Short Story
Crazy Time (1988)
Children of the Wind (1989) – contains "Children of the Wind", "The Gorgon Field" (1986 Nebula Award nominee, Best Novella), "A Brother to Dragons, A Companion of Owls", "The Blue Ladies", and "The Girl Who Fell into the Sky" (1987 Nebula Award winner, Best Novelette)[11]
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"
