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Connie Willis




Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31 , 1945 ) is an America n Science Fiction writer. She is one of the most honored Science Fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s .

She has won, among other awards, eight Hugo Award s and six Nebula Award s. She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia.

Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel and a group of historians based at Oxford in the future. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels '' Doomsday Book '' and '' To Say Nothing Of The Dog '' and the short story "Fire Watch," found in the short story collection of the same name.


WRITING STYLE

Connie Willis' style in writing tends to the '' Comedy Of Manners ''. There is clear influence from P.G. Wodehouse , to the point where readers may be surprised to find that she is not English. Her protagonists are typically beset by single-minded people pursuing illogical agendas, such as attempting to organize a bell-ringing session in the middle of a deadly epidemic ('' Doomsday Book ''), or frustrating efforts to analyze Near-death Experience s by putting words in the mouths of interviewees ('' Passage ''). Spineless administrators and crackpots are staples of Willis' novels. In contrast the protagonists and their allies are strong-willed and well-drawn characters, the better to deal with their tormentors.

Other themes and stylistic devices include:

  • a scientist practicing actual science as protagonists (the main theme of ''Bellwether'', but also present in ''Uncharted Territory'', ''Passage'', and – to a lesser degree – the ''Fire Watch'' universe stories)


  • an aversion to rampant political correctness (notably the over-appreciation of indigenous cultures in ''Uncharted Territory'', anti-smoking stances in ''Bellwether'')


  • the inclusion of meticulously researched, detailed trivia related tangentially or symbolically to the narrative (fads in ''Bellwether'', mating customs in ''Uncharted Territory'', old movies in ''Remake'', the ''Titanic'' disaster in ''Passage'')


Although she is acclaimed as a science-fiction writer, Connie Willis' stories can disappoint those expecting SF themes and plot resolutions. This is particularly true of '' Lincoln's Dreams '', a tale of unrequited love for a woman who may or may not be experiencing reincarnation or precognition, and whose outlook verges on suicidal. Similarly '' Bellwether '' is almost exclusively concerned with human psychology, and '' Passage '' only hints at a foundation in reality for the NDE phenomenon. The prose, however, can be delightful.


SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Novels:

Short story collections:


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