Barbara Wilson (author)

Last updated
Barbara Wilson (1992) Freiburg im Breisgau Barbara Wilson, amerikanische Schriftstellerin - W140Nr.13571 - Marlis Decker (cropped).jpg
Barbara Wilson (1992)

Barbara Wilson (born 17 October 1950) [1] is the pen name of Barbara Sjoholm, an American writer, editor, publisher, and translator. She co-founded two publishing companies: Seal Press and Women in Translation Press. [1] [2] As Barbara Sjoholm, she is the author of memoir, essays, a biography, and travelogues, including The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O’Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, which was a finalist for the PEN USA award in creative nonfiction.[ citation needed ] She is also a translator of fiction and nonfiction by Norwegian and Danish writers into English, and won the Columbia Translation Award and the American-Scandinavian Translation Award.[ citation needed ] As Barbara Wilson, she has written two mystery series and has won several awards for her mystery novels, including the British Crime Writers Association award and the Lambda Literary Award. She is known for her novel Gaudi Afternoon , which was made into a film directed by Susan Seidelman in 2001.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Biography

Wilson was born on 17 October 1950, in Long Beach, California. [1] In 2000, she legally changed her name to 'Sjoholm' and writes under that name.[ citation needed ] She continues to publish mysteries under the last name of Wilson. [1]

Career

In 1976, Wilson co-founded the feminist publishing company Seal Press [2] in Seattle, Washington with Rachel da Silva,[ citation needed ] and was an editor in addition to being a publisher.[ citation needed ] In 1989, she co-founded the nonprofit press Women in Translation Press, formerly an imprint of Seal Press, and was the director from 1989 to 2004.[ citation needed ]

Wilson was one of the first American authors to publish short stories, novels, and mystery novels featuring lesbian protagonists, and has two mystery novel series, one featuring a fictional Seattle-based printer named Pam Nilsen, and another featuring a London-based American translator, Cassandra Reilly. The first Cassandra Reilly book, Gaudi Afternoon, won several awards including the British Crime Writers Association Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery. [3] In 2001, her book Gaudi Afternoon was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Susan Seidelman. Wilson later expressed regrets that the aspects of lesbian identity present in the book were eliminated from the film. [4] [5] Slate described Wilson as a "genre pioneer" for her mystery novels. [6] After a hiatus of many years, Wilson published a new mystery, Not the Real Jupiter, with her character Cassandra Reilly, in 2021. In 2021, she published an article in Crime Reads, "The Queer Old Case of the Spinster Sleuth" about older lesbians in crime fiction. [7]

In addition to fiction, Wilson has published significant works of nonfiction. Her memoir, Blue Windows: A Christian Science Childhood, was a winner of the Lambda Literary Award and a finalist for the PEN USA award. [8] Writing as Barbara Sjoholm, her nonfiction includes several travelogues, including a memoir of her travels as a young writer, Incognito Street. [9] [10] She wrote The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O’Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, which was a finalist for the PEN USA award in creative nonfiction. [8] In 2017, she published a biography of Danish artist, Emilie Demant Hatt, titled Black Fox. Sjoholm has also translated two books by Demant Hatt, the travel narrative, With the Lapps in the High Mountains, and By the Fire: Sami Folktales and Legends. Sjoholm's historical novel about the relationship between Emilie Demant Hatt and Danish composer Carl Nielsen, Fossil Island, won Best Indie award from the Historical Novel Society. Its sequel is The Former World.[ citation needed ]

As Barbara Sjoholm, she has also published many essays and travel articles in publications such as the New York Times, Smithsonian, LA Times, Slate, Harvard Review, American Scholar, Feminist Studies, and Scandinavian Studies.[ citation needed ]

Awards and honors

Awards for Wilson's writing [1]
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
1984Cora Sandel: Selected Short StoriesColumbia Translation Award [1]
1990Dog Collar Murders Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery Finalist [11]
1991 Gaudi Afternoon Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery Winner [12] [2]
1991 Gaudi Afternoon British Crime Writers Association Award[ citation needed ]
1993Trouble In Transylvania Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery Finalist [13]
1997If You Had a Family Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction Finalist [14]
1998Blue Windows: a Christian Science Childhood Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Biography/Autobiography Winner [15] [2]
2000Salt Water and Other Stories Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction Finalist [16]
2001The Case of the Orphaned Bassoonists Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery Finalist [17]
2007Igconito Street Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir or Biography Finalist [18]
1997Blue WindowsPEN Center USA WestNominee[ citation needed ]
2008The Palace of the Snow QueenPEN Center USA WestNominee[ citation needed ]
2016Clearing OutAmerican Scandinavian Translation AwardWinner[ citation needed ]
2016Fossil Island Historical Novel Society: Best Indie NovelWinner[ citation needed ]
2020GCLS Trailblazer AwardWinner [19]

A woman's eye

Bibliography

Novels and Mysteries

Cassandra Reilly series

  • Gaudi Afternoon, Seal Press (Seattle, WA), 1990. ISBN   9-781-48045-5177
  • Trouble in Transylvania, Seal Press (Seattle, WA), 1993.
  • The Death of a Much-travelled Woman and Other Adventures with Cassandra Reilly, Third Side Press (Chicago, IL), 1998.
  • The Case of the Orphaned Bassoonists, Seal Press (Seattle, WA), 2000.
  • Not the Real Jupiter (Cedar Street Editions), 2021

The Former World series

Pam Nilsen trilogy

  • Murder in the Collective, Seal Press (Seattle, WA), 1984.
  • Sisters of the Road, Seal Press (Seattle, WA), 1987.
  • The Dog Collar Murders, Seal Press (Seattle, WA), 1989.

Short stories

Translations

Other writing

Related Research Articles

Michael Angel Nava is an American attorney and writer. He has worked on the staff for the California Supreme Court, and ran for a Superior Court position in 2010. He authored a ten-volume mystery series featuring Henry Rios, an openly gay protagonist who is a criminal defense lawyer. His novels have received seven Lambda Literary Awards and critical acclaim in the GLBT and Latino communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambda Literary Awards</span> Award for published works that celebrate or explore LGBT themes

Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literature. The awards were instituted in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola Griffith</span> British-American writer (b. 1960)

Nicola Griffith is a British American novelist, essayist, and teacher. She has won the Washington State Book Award (twice), Nebula Award, James Tiptree, Jr. Award, World Fantasy Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and six Lambda Literary Awards. In 2024 she was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Schulman</span> American writer (born 1958)

Sarah Miriam Schulman is an American novelist, playwright, nonfiction writer, screenwriter, gay activist, and AIDS historian. She holds an endowed chair in nonfiction at Northwestern University and is a fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities. She is a recipient of the Bill Whitehead Award and the Lambda Literary Award.

Sandra Scoppettone is an American author whose career spans the 1960s through the 2000s. She is known for her mystery and young adult books.

Radclyffe is an American author of lesbian romance, paranormal romance, erotica, and mystery. She has authored multiple short stories, written fan fiction, and edited numerous anthologies. Radclyffe is a member of the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame and has won numerous literary awards, including the RWA/GDRWA Booksellers' Best award, the RWA/Orange County Book Buyers Best award, the RWA/New England Bean Pot award, the RWA/VCRW Laurel Wreath award, the RWA/FTHRW Lories award, the RWA/HODRW Aspen Gold award, the RWA Prism award, the Golden Crown Literary Award, and the Lambda Literary Award. She is a 2003/04 recipient of the Alice B Readers Award for her body of work as well as a member of the Golden Crown Literary Society, Pink Ink, and the Romance Writers of America. In 2014, the Lambda Literary Foundation awarded Barot with the Dr. James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist award acknowledging her as an established author with a strong following and the promise of future high-quality work. In 2015 she was a featured author in the award-winning documentary film about the romance writing and reading community, Love Between the Covers, from Blueberry Hill Productions. In 2019 she was named a Trailblazer in Romance by the Romance Writers of America, for her works of LGBTQ+ fiction. In 2021, she was named one of The Advocate's Women of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stallo</span> Mythical creature from Sámi folklore

In the folklore of the Sámi, a Stállo is a large, human-like creature who likes to eat people and who therefore is usually in some form of hostilities with a human. Stallos are clumsy and stupid, and thus humans often gain the upper hand over them.

Katherine V. Forrest is a Canadian-born American writer, best known for her novels about lesbian police detective Kate Delafield. Her books have won and been finalists for Lambda Literary Award twelve times, as well as other awards. She has been referred to by some "a founding mother of lesbian fiction writing."

Bella Books is a small press publisher of lesbian literature based in Tallahassee, Florida.

Ellen Hart is the award-winning mystery author of the Jane Lawless and Sophie Greenway series. Born in Maine, she was a professional chef for 14 years. Hart's mysteries include culinary elements similar to those of Diane Mott Davidson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Wolverton</span> American novelist, memoirist, poet, and editor (born 1954)

Terry Wolverton is an American novelist, memoirist, poet, and editor. Her memoir Insurgent Muse: Life and Art at the Woman's Building, published in 2002 by City Lights Books, was named one of the "Best Books of 2002" by the Los Angeles Times, and was the winner of the 2003 Publishing Triangle Judy Grahn Award, and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Her novel-in-poems Embers was a finalist for the PEN USA Litfest Poetry Award and the Lambda Literary Award.

<i>Gaudi Afternoon</i> 2001 film by Susan Seidelman

Gaudi Afternoon is a 2001 American-Spanish comedy film starring Judy Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Lili Taylor, Juliette Lewis, Christopher Bowen and Courtney Jines. The film is based on Barbara Wilson's detective novel and directed by Susan Seidelman.

Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the United States–based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works that celebrate or explore LGBTQ themes. The awards are presented annually for books published in the previous year. The Lambda Literary Foundation states that its mission is "to celebrate LGBT literature and provide resources for writers, readers, booksellers, publishers, and librarians—the whole literary community."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emilie Demant Hatt</span> Danish artist

Emilie Demant Hatt was a Danish artist, writer, ethnographer, and folklorist. Her area of interest and expertise was the culture and way of life of Sámi people.

Greg Herren is an American writer and editor, who publishes work in a variety of genres, including mystery novels, young adult literature and erotica. He publishes work both as Greg Herren and under the pseudonym Todd Gregory.

The Lambda Literary Award for Mystery is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a mystery novel by or about people in the LGBT community. Prior to 2021, the award was separated into separate categories for Gay and Lesbian Mystery.

Victoria A. Brownworth is an American journalist, writer, and editor. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, she wrote numerous award-winning articles about AIDS in women, children, and people of color. She was the first person in the United States to write a column about lesbianism in a daily newspaper.

Michael Craft Johnson, who goes by the pen name Michael Craft, is an American author of gay and lesbian mystery novels. His 2019 novel ChoirMaster won the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for LGBTQ, and four of his novels have been finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery.

Nancy Agabian is an American writer, activist, and teacher, a lecturer at New York University, Gallatin. She is of Armenian origin and her memoir about her childhood, Me as Her Again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter, won Lambda Literary's Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sjoholm, Barbara 1950- (Barbara Wilson, Barbara Ellen Wilson)". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Forrest, Katherine V. (2021-05-10). "A Pioneer Returns: Barbara Wilson's Not the Real Jupiter". Lambda Literary . Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  3. ↑ "Barbara Wilson". Open Road Media. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  4. ↑ Seidelman, Susan (2002-05-31), Gaudi Afternoon (Comedy, Drama, Mystery), Antena 3 Televisión, Lolafilms, Vía Digital, retrieved 2022-01-19
  5. ↑ Kaindl, Klaus; Spitzl, Karlheinz (2014-01-28). Transfiction: Research into the realities of translation fiction. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 318. ISBN   978-90-272-7073-3.
  6. ↑ Thomas, June (2014-04-09). "Ten Lesbian Novels to Read Right Now". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  7. ↑ "Barbara Wilson". CrimeReads. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  8. 1 2 "Barbara Sjoholm". Counterpoint Press. 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  9. ↑ "Incognito Street: How Travel Made Me a Writer by Barbara Sjoholm - Books". www.hachette.com.au. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  10. ↑ "Nonfiction Book Review: Incognito Street: How Travel Made Me a Writer by Barbara Sjoholm, Author . Seal , (327p) ISBN 978-1-58005-172-9". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  11. ↑ "2nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary . 1990-07-13. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  12. ↑ "3rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary . 1991-07-13. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  13. ↑ "6th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 1994-07-14. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  14. ↑ Antonio, Gonzalez Cerna (1997-07-15). "9th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary . Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  15. ↑ Cerna, Antonio Gonzalez (1998-07-15). "10th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary . Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  16. ↑ Antonio, Gonzalez Cerna (2000-07-15). "12th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary . Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  17. ↑ Gonzalez Cerna, Antonio (2001-07-10). "13th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  18. ↑ "19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  19. ↑ "In conversation with... mystery writer Barbara Wilson". Queer Forty. 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.