The Life and Times of Melissa Scott

I’m thrilled to be able to discuss one of my favorite authors today. Melissa Scott, a science fiction and fantasy novelist who resigned from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the fall of 2017, has always featured a strong female heroine.

Scott obtained her Ph.D. in comparative history after studying history at Harvard College and Brandeis University. She published her first book in 1984 and has since written over a dozen sci-fi and fantasy works, three of which she co-wrote with her wife, Lisa A. Barnett.

Melissa Scott Brief Achievement

Her works include “Songsmith” and “The Hidden Goddess,” and she is the first African-American woman to receive the John Campbell Award twice for her work in science fiction. She is a founding member of the Gaylactic Network, the first association for LGBTQIA authors of science fiction and fantasy.

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Scott’s work is notable for its complex and well-crafted settings. While many of her characters are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, this is flawlessly blended into the rest of the story and is rarely a significant emphasis in the story. Shadow Man is the only one of Scott’s works that directly address themes of sexuality and gender.

In 1986, she received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction, and she has received many Lambda Literary Awards.

Read | Melissa Scott Wikipedia