Lilith Lorraine
Lilith Lorraine was the pen-name of Mary Maude Dunn Wright (March 19, 1894 — November 9, 1967) an American pulp fiction author, poet, journalist and editor.
Early life[edit]
Mary Maude Dunn was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the daughter of John Beamond "Red" Dunn and Lelia Nias Dunn.[1] Her father was a Texas Ranger.[2] She attended the Incarnate Word Academy in Corpus Christi, and earned a teaching certificate at age 16. She taught in a rural Texas school as a young woman.[3]
Career[edit]
Fiction[edit]
Lorraine's feminist utopia novelette, The Brain of the Planet, was published as a chapbook in 1929.[4] Other stories by Lorraine included "Into the 28th Century" (Science and Wonder, 1929),[5] a time-travel story featuring artificial wombs, eugenics, inhaled nutrition, hovercraft, and a woman as President of the United States in 1955;[6][7] "The Jovian Jest" (Astounding Stories, 1930), "The Celestial Visitor" (Wonder Stories, 1935), "The Isle of Madness" (Wonder Stories, 1935), "Books Hold That Line" (1935), "Entropy" (Orb, 1952), and "Ancestors" (The Avalonian, 1952).[3] There may be other stories of hers, under unknown pseudonyms. "Three of my pen-names are masculine," she explained to a reporter in 1965, "and if the editors and publishers knew I was a woman they wouldn't pay me more than half what they do now."[1]
Poetry[edit]
Lorraine was an editor of poetry magazines and early zines.[8] She published several collections of her poetry in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.[9] In the 1940s she was billed as the "founder-director of the Avalon National Poetry Shrine",[10][11] later known as the Avalon World Arts Academy.[12] In connection with Avalon, she wrote a textbook, Character against Chaos (1947).[13] Her Wine of Wonder (1951) was billed as the first volume of science fiction poetry.[14]
Personal life[edit]
Mary Maude Dunn married Cleveland Lamar Wright in 1912. Both Wrights died in 1967, Mary Maude a few months after her husband, in Corpus Christi. After she died, the Odessa Poetry Society named an annual prize "The Lilith Lorraine Memorial Award".[15]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Georgia Nelson, "Retirement Busy for Local Poet" Corpus Christi Caller-Times (November 7, 1965): 22. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Funeral Services for J. B. Dunn are Held This Morning" The Corpus Christi Caller-Times (November 4, 1940): 1. via Newspapers.com
- ^ a b Jane Donawerth, "Lilith Lorraine: Feminist Socialist Writer in the Pulps" Science Fiction Studies 17(2)(July 1990): 252-258.
- ^ Lilith Lorraine, The Brain of the Planet (Stellar, 1929).
- ^ "Miss Lorraine Writes Story for Quarterly" Arizona Republic (January 12, 1930): 17. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Lisa Yaszek, Patrick B. Sharp, eds., Sisters of Tomorrow: The First Women of Science Fiction (Wesleyan University Press 2016): 106-108. ISBN 9780819576255
- ^ Jane L. Donawerth, "Science Fiction by Women in the Early Pulps" in Jane L. Donawerth, Carol A. Kolmerten, eds., Utopian and Science Fiction by Women: Worlds of Difference (Syracuse University Press 1994): 139-140. ISBN 9780815626190
- ^ Everett Franklin Bleiler, Richard Bleiler, Science-fiction: The Gernsback Years (Kent State University Press 1998): 260-261. ISBN 9780873386043
- ^ Lilith Lorraine, Beyond Bewilderment (Banner Press 1942).
- ^ Vivian Yeiser Laramore, "Miami Muse" Miami Daily News (November 14, 1943): 27. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Press and Authors Club to Present Lilith Lorraine" The Montgomery Advertiser (March 10, 1946): 33. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Sid Porter, "Noted Writer Visits in Deland" Orlando Sentinel (November 21, 1957): 20. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Lilith Lorraine, Character against Chaos (Avalon Press 1947).
- ^ JD/JC, Lilith Lorraine, SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (August 12, 2018).
- ^ "Poetry Awards" The Odessa American (March 8, 1970): 24. via Newspapers.com
External links[edit]
- Lilith Lorraine at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Works by Lilith Lorraine at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- "Lilith Lorraine as a Fortean" From an Oblique Angle (February 10, 2015), a blogpost about the life of Mary Maude Dunn Wright, with photographs.
- Jane Donawerth, Frankenstein's Daughters: Women Writing Science Fiction (Syracuse University Press 1997): 114. ISBN 9780815603955
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
