Lilith Lorraine
Lilith Lorraine (1894-1967), the pseudonym of Texas-born Mary M. Wright, was an amateur press publisher, writer, crime reporter, and fanzine contributor.
Her pseudonym was chosen as a tribute to Adam's legendary first wife.
Lilith Lorraine began contributing to science fiction fanzines in the 1930s; in fact, she had an article in the first issue of the first fanzine, The Comet. Her first publication as editor began in 1943, with The Raven, "the official quarterly of the Avalon National Poetry Shrine", a poetry zine with a nod to the legacy of Edgar Allan Poe. Next, a few years later, came Different, a periodical mainly devoted to poetry that also included science fiction. In the 1950s, she also published Challenge, credited as the first poetry periodical devoted to the science fiction and weird fiction genre. She followed Challenge with other periodicals, such as The Avalonian and Flame.
At this time, Lorraine and her assistant editor on Challenge and Different, author Stanton Coblentz, publisher of his own poetry quarterly Wings, are credited with beginning the "Stellar Poetry" movement.
Clark Ashton Smith writes of her: "She adds a new dimension to fantasy, a nuance of ultra-violet to the spectrum of poetry".
Lilith Lorraine first began writing as a crime reporter in Texas. She wrote one novelette titled The Brain of the Planet, published in 1929. Starting in 1930, Lilith Lorraine also wrote short science fiction stories for 'pulp' magazines such as Amazing Stories, Astounding Stories of Super Science, Science Wonder, Thrilling Wonder, and Wonder Stories. It was during this time that she also began contributing to fanzines. She also continued to have work published in poetry journals and is the author of a number of books of poetry; her first, released in 1937, is called Banners of Victory. She also published several anthologies for her Different, Avalon and Flame Presses, and has appeared in many anthologies released by others in the U.S. and the UK up to the present day.
After her death, there was a revival of interest in her work. Her poetry was reprinted in literary zines such as Fantasy Macabre, and poetry editor Steve Sneyd (Data Dump) wrote "Lilith Lorraine: Postscript" for Fantasy Commentator #51 in 1999, urging a reappraisal of her work. He also reported to It Goes On The Shelf #19 that he had received the file the F.B.I. had kept on Lilith Lorraine while she was alive.
Zines
Contributions
- The Acolyte
- Asmodeus
- Bizarre
- Cataclysm
- The Comet
- Danse Macabre
- Destiny
- Driftwind
- Epos: A Quarterly of Poetry
- Essence
- Fan-Fare
- Fantastic Worlds
- Fantasy Book
- Fantasy Macabre
- Folio
- Lyric
- Macabre
- The Nekromantikon
- Orb
- Premonitions
- Quandry
- Sierra Heaven
- Snowflakes in the Sun
- Spaceship
- Soma
- Spearhead
- Starlanes
- Utopian
- Wings
- The Zone
Books
- The Brain of the Planet (1929)
- Banners of Victory (1937)
- Beyond Bewilderment (1942)
- Lilith Tells All (1942)
- They (1943)
- The Day Before Judgment (1944)
- Let Dreamers Wake: A Text-Book for Poets (1945) (Avalon Press)
- Character Against Chaos (1947) (Avalon Press)
- Let the Patterns Break (1947)
- The Lost Word (1949)
- Wine of Wonder (1952)
- And Ever the Pyres of the Dead Burned Quick (1957)
- Light from Other Stars (1963)
- Not for Oblivion (1956)
- Indispensable: The Poets' Deskmate (1957) (Different Press)
- And Ever the Pyres of the Dead Burned Thick (1957)
- Answers from Avalon (1967)
- Ape Into Pleiades (1998) [edited by Steve Sneyd]
- Time Grows Thin (2009) [edited by Steve Sneyd]
Anthologies Edited
- Wings Over Chaos (1942) (Avalon)
- Voices from Avalon (1945) (Avalon)
- Conquerors of Tomorrow (1947) (Avalon)
- This Will Endure (1955) (Different)
- With No Secret Meaning (1957) (Different)
- To Each His Song (1958) (Different)
- Sing Loud for Loveliness (1962) (Parthenon)
- Avalon Anthology of Texas Poets (1963) (Different)
