Judith Moffett

Who is Judith Moffett?

Judith Moffett is an American author and academic. She has published poetry, nonfiction, science fiction, and translations of Swedish literature. She has been awarded grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities and presented a paper on the translation of poetry at a 1998 Nobel Symposium.

She began her career writing poetry and about poets, including a 1984 book about James Merrill, who was both her friend and mentor. Moffett still writes for organizations such as the Academy of American Poets. She did not publish science fiction until 1986, but gained almost immediate attention by winning the first Theodore Sturgeon Award in 1987. Her first novel, Pennterra in 1987, further enhanced her reputation. It is noted both for its treatment of alien sexuality and as an example of Quakers in science fiction. In the following year, 1988, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction. In 1989 her novella "Tiny Tango" also received award nominations.