Sheila Finch (born October 29, 1935) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy.[1] She is best known for her sequence of stories about the Guild of Xenolinguists.
Sheila Finch | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 29, 1935 London, England |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Bishop Otter College Indiana University (BA, MA) |
| Genres | |
| Spouse |
Clare Grill Rayner
(m. 1957; div. 1980) |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | |
| sheilafinch | |
Biography edit
Sheila Finch was born in London, UK, 29 October 1935. She attended Bishop Otter College (now Chichester University) from 1954 to 1956, then taught for a year (1956-1957) in a primary school in Hackney, London. Following her marriage to Clare Grill Rayner in 1957 (divorced 1980), she emigrated to the US and completed her BA in English Literature at Indiana University in 1959, followed by an MA in linguistics and medieval history in 1962. She has three daughters. From 1963 to 1967, when the family lived in San Luis Obispo, she taught part-time at Cuesta College and began publishing poetry. The family moved to Long Beach, California in 1967. Sheila taught creative writing and science fiction at El Camino College from 1970 to 2005. The family relocated for two years to Munich, Germany in the 1970s, where Sheila studied German and taught English as a second language.
She is a member of SFWA, serving as Vice-President for two years, then Chair of the Grievance Committee for five years. As Western Regional Director, during the 1980s and 1990s she organized activities for the organization aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor. She is also a charter member of the Asilomar Writers Consortium, founded by Jerry Hannah in Monterey, California in 1976.
Besides teaching and publishing, Sheila has been active in the community, serving first as a volunteer in a residential hospice, then for ten years as a volunteer for St Luke’s Episcopal Church’s program for the homeless. She also served for eight years on the City of Long Beach Mayor’s Advisory Committee for Homelessness.
Sheila Finch currently lives in Long Beach, California.
Xenolinguists edit
In her 1986 book Triad, Finch used the term "xenolinguist" to describe the linguists who decode alien languages.[2][3] The word has gained widespread acceptance in the science fiction industry and was used to describe the character Uhura in the remake of Star Trek.[4][5]
Finch created a series of tales about communicating with aliens which eventually was consolidated in collection of short stories entitled The Guild of Xenolinguists (Golden Gryphon Press, 2007). The Guild was founded on Earth in the middle of the 22nd century after first contact with a race from somewhere in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. A few early linguists, neurolinguists, ethnographers and computer scientists established the Guild which then took over the responsibility for training xenolinguists to make first contact and to record alien languages in the field. Later, the Guild provided translation services for the expanding commerce and colonization of the following centuries.[6]
Bibliography edit
I. Novels edit
| Year | Title | Publisher | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Infinity's Web | New York: Bantam Books | 0-553-25251-8 | Compton Crook Award for best First Novel |
| 1986 | Triad | New York: Bantam Books | 0-553-25792-7 | |
| 1987 | The Garden of the Shaped | New York: Bantam Books | 0-553-26801-5 | |
| 1989 | Shaper's Legacy | New York: Bantam Books | 0-553-28167-4 | |
| 1989 | Shaping The Dawn | New York: Bantam Books | 1434401601 | |
| 1999 | Tiger in the Sky | New York: Avon Books | 0-380-79971-5 | San Diego Book Award for Best Juvenile Fiction |
| 2003 | Reading the Bones | Tachyon Books | 1-892391-08-2 | |
| 2004 | Birds | Wildside Press | 0-8095-0056-6 | |
| 2017 | A Villa Far From Rome | Hadley Rille Books | 9780997118834 | AudioBook |
II. Collections edit
| Year | Title | Publisher | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Guild of Xenolinguists | Golden Gryphon Press | 9781930846487 | |
| 2014 | Myths, Metaphors, and Science Fiction | Aqueduct Press | 9781619760554 | |
| 2022 | Fork Points | Aqueduct Press | 9781619762183 |
III. Short Stories edit
| Year | Title | Originally Published In | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Green Liberation | Girl Scout Leader, June | |
| 1977 | The Confession of Melakos | Sou'wester, Fall | |
| 1980 | Symphony for Sarah Ann | Mississippi Valley Review | |
| 1982 | A Long Way Home | Asimov's Science Fiction, December | |
| 1983 | The Man Who Lived on the Queen Mary | Pandora, Spring | |
| 1983 | Darkness Comes Rattling | Amazing Stories, July | |
| 1984 | The Seventh Dragon | Fantasy Book, June | |
| 1986 | Reichs-peace | Hitler Victorious, ed. Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg, New York: Garland | transl: Hitler Victorioso, Ediciones Destino, Spain, 1990 |
| 1987 | Hitchhiker | Amazing Stories | |
| 1988 | Babel Interface | Amazing Stories, May | |
| 1989 | Ceremony After a Raid | Amazing Stories, July | |
| 1989 | A World Waiting | Fantasy and Science Fiction, August | |
| 1989 | Rembrandts of Things Past | Tarot Tales, ed. Rachel Pollack and Caitlin Matthews. London: Century Hutchinson | |
| 1989 | PAPPI | Foundation's Friends, ed. Martin H. Greenberg. New York: Tor Books, November | transl: Selected Short Science Fiction of the World, China, 2017 |
| 1989 | The Old Man and C | Amazing Stories, November | Dramatic version, arr. by Jason Trucco, NY, NY, 2019 |
| 1990 | Sequoia Dreams | Amazing Stories, July | |
| 1990 | Cyberella | Fantasy and Science Fiction, August | transl: Cyberella, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Germany 1995
Millimondi Estate, Mondadori, Italy 1991 Bli-Panika, www.space.ort.org.il, Israel 2003 |
| 1992 | If There Be Cause | Amazing Stories, February | |
| 1995 | Firstborn, Seaborn | Sisters in Fantasy, ed. Susan Shwartz. ROC | |
| 1996 | Communion of Minds | Fantasy and Science Fiction, September | transl: Der Lincoln Zug, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Germany, 1997 |
| 1997 | Out of the Mouths | Fantasy and Science Fiction, November–December | |
| 1997 | The Roaring Ground | Fantasy and Science Fiction, April | |
| 1997 | A Flight of Words | Fantasy and Science Fiction, February | transl. Galaktika XL, Metropolis Media Group Kft, Hungary 2016 |
| 1997 | The Falcon and the Falconer | Tomorrow SF | |
| 1998 | Reading the Bones | Fantasy and Science Fiction, January | Nebula Award for Best Novella
transl: Galaktika XL, Metropolis Media Group Kft, Hungary 2016 |
| 1998 | The Naked Face of God | Fantasy and Science Fiction, June | |
| 1999 | No Brighter Glory | Fantasy and Science Fiction, April | |
| 2000 | Nor Unbuild the Cage | Fantasy and Science Fiction, September | |
| 2002 | Forkpoints | Fantasy and Science Fiction, February | |
| 2002 | Miles to Go | Fantasy and Science Fiction, June | |
| 2003 | Reach | Fantasy and Science Fiction, February | AudioBook |
| 2004 | Confessional | Fantasy and Science Fiction, January | |
| 2004 | So Good A Day | Fantasy and Science Fiction, May | |
| 2007 | First Was the Word | Fantasy and Science Fiction, June | transl: Galaktika XL, Metropolis Media Group Kft, Hungary 2016 |
| 2010 | Failed Harvest | Nova SF 25 | |
| 2010 | Where Two or Three | Is Anybody Out There? ed. Marty Halpern and Nick Gevers, June | |
| 2010 | The Persistence of Butterflies | 2020 Visions, ed. Rick Novy | |
| 2010 | Fortune's Stepchild | Lace and Blade 3, ed. Deborah Ross | |
| 2011 | The Evening and the Morning | Fantasy and Science Fiction, March/April | |
| 2013 | A Very Small Dispensation | Asimov's SF Magazine, October/November | |
| 2014 | Burdens | Mythic Delirium, January | |
| 2016 | The Language of the Silent | Fantasy and Science Fiction, March/April | collaboration with Juliette Wade |
| 2016 | First Hunt | Hadley Rille Books, Summer | |
| 2017 | Homecoming | Seat 14C, X-Prize, June | |
| 2018 | Survivors | Asimov's Science Fiction, September/October | |
| 2019 | Talking in Pictures | Current Features, X-Prize, June | |
| 2020 | Not This Tide | Asimov's Science Fiction, January/February | |
| 2021 | Love At First Sight | Ink; Queer Sci-Fi | |
| 2021 | Czerny At Midnight | Asimov's Science Fiction, November/December | |
| 2022 | The Wine - Dark Deep | Asimov's Science Fiction, May/June | |
| 2022 | Wanton Gods | Asimov's Science Fiction, |
VI. Articles & Non-Fiction edit
| Year | Title | Originally Published In | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Fantasy as a Super-Vitamin | Patchin Review, June | |
| 1985 | The Unseen Shore: Thoughts on the Popularity of Fantasy | Journal of Popular Culture, Spring | |
| 1985 | Paradise Lost: Prison Imagery at the Heart of Le Guin's Utopia | Extrapolation, Fall | |
| 1985 | Oath of Fealty: No Thud, Some Blunders | Science Fiction Review, Winter | |
| 1987 | Science Fiction's Magical Mystery Tours | SFWA Bulletin, Spring | |
| 1988 | Berlitz in Outer Space: How Alien Communication Just Might Work | Amazing Stories, May | |
| 1989 | Oath of Fealty: A Look at Another Ambiguous Utopia | Australian Science Fiction Review, Spring | |
| 1989 | Untitled | SFWA Bulletin, Spring | |
| 1996 | The War Zone of Art: Science Fiction Writers, Publishers and the Modern Marketplace | Science Fiction and Market Realities, ed. George Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin.
The University of Georgia Press |
|
| 1996 | Doctor, Will the Patient Survive? | Nebula Awards 30, ed. Pamela Sargent. New York: Harcourt Brace | |
| 1996 | Teaching Science Fiction: A Writer's Concerns | inside english, March | |
| 1996 | Being Alien in Beijing | SFWA Bulletin, March | |
| 2000 | Dispatches From the Trenches: Science Fiction in the College Classroom | Extrapolation, Spring | |
| 2000 | Dreams, Truth, and Hope | Future Females, The Next Generation: New Voices and Velocities in Feminist Science Fiction,
ed. Marleen Barr. Rowman & Allenheld |
|
| 2003 | Creativity in the Fishbowl | SFWA Bulletin, Spring | |
| 2004 | Future Tense: Reflecting Language Change in Science Fiction | SFWA Bulletin, Spring | |
| 2006 | How to Rate a Writing Program | SFWA Bulletin, Winter | |
| 2012 | Fantastic Journeys of the Mythic Kind | James Gunn's AD ASTRA, July | |
| 2014 | Of Myth and Memory | SFWA Bulletin, Winter | |
| 2016 | Ambiguous Utopias | James Gunn's AD ASTRA, Summer |
V. Poetry edit
| Year | Title | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Chichester | AAUW Journal | |
| 1973 | Izaac Mizraki | Poet Lore | |
| 1973 | Study Group | The Writer | |
| 1973 | The Eagle on the Washing Machine | Ball State Forum, Summer | 2nd Place, Steven Vincent Benet Award for Narrative Poetry |
| 1974 | Evensong | Encore | |
| 1975 | In the Museum at Mesa Verde | Encore, Spring | |
| 1975 | The Hangover | Hyacinths and Biscuits | |
| 1975 | Vacation Special | Hartford Courant | |
| 1975 | Aubade in Forest Fire Season | Moving Out | |
| 1976 | War Games | Tattoes and Other Scars | |
| 1977 | Mockingbird Mantra | Encore | |
| 1983 | Message to a Friend in Another Solar System | Aurora, Winter |
Awards edit
- "Reading the Bones" (1998) Nebula novella award winner
- Tiger in the Sky (1999) Winner of the San Diego Book Award for Best Juvenile Fiction
- Infinity's Web (1985) Winner of the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel
Notes edit
- ^ "Summary Bibliography: Sheila Finch". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
- ^ Wade, Juliette (2009-07-19). "TalkToYoUniverse: Sheila Finch at TTYU!". TalkToYoUniverse. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
- ^ "Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: xenolinguist". Retrieved 2022-11-14.
- ^ "Xenolinguistics. You have no idea what that means | Star Trek quotes". www.subzin.com. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
- ^ "Star Trek Script - transcript from the screenplay and/or the J.J. Abrams reboot". www.script-o-rama.com. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
- ^ "Sheila Finch Bibliography". sff.net. Archived from the original on 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2016-07-30.