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Lorraine, Lilith

One of at least five pseudonyms of Mary Maude Wright (née Dunn) (1894-1967), US poet, editor, radio lecturer and author, who regularly published sf in the 1930s Pulp magazines. The Brain of the Planet (1929 chap), from Hugo Gernsback's Science Fiction Series, portrays a Feminist Utopia founded after a socialist revolution has released women from the necessity of marriage (see Economics); in similar vein is her "Into the 28th Century" (Winter 1930 Science Wonder Quarterly), a narrative bequeathed to the present by means of Time Travel. Her favourite themes included classless societies, revised Gender roles (see Women in SF) and ESP.

Between 1937 and 1967 she edited little poetry magazines, including Different and the short-lived The Avalonian, whose single issue carried Robert Silverberg's first paid-for story "The Sacred River" in 1952; she founded Avalon, a poetry association, in 1940; she also wrote much verse, including Banners of Victory (coll 1937 chap), Beyond Bewilderment (coll 1942 chap), They (1943 chap), The Day before Judgement (coll 1944 chap) and Trailing Clouds of Glory (coll 1947 chap), all the above titles being assembled as Let the Patterns Break (omni 1947). The later Wine of Wonder (coll 1951 chap) was advertised as being the first volume of Poetry devoted to sf; Time Grows Thin (coll 2009), with an introduction by Steve Sneyd, focuses on this part of her work, and claims that Lorraine had an individual voice; it is certain she did at times effectively translate common poetic idioms into sf terms. [JD/JC]

Mary Maude Dunn Wright

born Corpus Christi, Texas: 19 March 1894

died Corpus Christi, Texas: 9 November 1967

works

• The Brain of the Planet (New York: Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1929) [novelette: chap: in the publisher's Science Fiction Series: illus/Frank R Paul: pb/nonpictorial]

poetry (selected; some titles, though listed variously, have not been traced)

• Banners of Victory (Atlanta, Georgia: Banner Press, 1937) [poetry: coll: chap: hb/]
• Beyond Bewilderment (Atlanta, Georgia: Banner Press, 1942) [poetry: coll: chap: hb/]
• They (San Antonio, Texas: Avalon Press, 1943) [poem: chap: pb/]
• The Day before Judgement (Atlanta, Georgia: Banner Press, 1944) [poetry: coll: chap: hb/]
  • Let the Patterns Break (Rogers, Arkansas: Avalon Press, 1947) [omni assembling all the above: hb/]
• Wine of Wonder (Dallas, Texas: The Book Craft, 1951) [poetry: coll: chap: hb/]
• Not for Oblivion (Alpine, Texas: Different Press, 1956) [poetry: coll: chap: pb/]
• Light from Other Stars (New York: Poets of America, 1963) [poetry: coll: chap: hb/]
• Ape into Pleiades (Huddersfield, West Yorkshire: Hilltop Press, 1988) [poetry: coll: chap: edited and with introduction by Steve Sneyd: pb/Stuart Raymond Scouler]
• Time Grows Thin (Huddersfield, West Yorkshire: Hilltop Press, 2009) [poetry: coll: edited and with critical introduction by Steve Sneyd: pb/Gunter Wessalowski]

about the author

• Steve Sneyd. "Empress of the Stars" (Spring 1992 Fantasy Commentator #43) [pp206-229: mag/]
• Steve Sneyd. Introduction to Time Grows Thin (Huddersfield, West Yorkshire: Hilltop Press, 2009) [poetry: coll: pb/Gunter Wessalowski]

links

• ZineWiki
• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 00:11 am on 10 July 2025.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/lorraine_lilith>