Lilith Lorraine

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. Her first publication as editor began in the 1940s, with Different, a periodical mainly devoted to poetry that also included science fiction. In the 1950s, she began to also publish Challenge, credited as the first poetry periodical devoted to the science fiction and weird fiction genre. She followed Challenge with other poetry periodicals such as The Raven 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 movement "Stellar Poetry".

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 novel 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 1942, was called Beyond Bewilderment. She also published several anthologies for her Flame Press and Avalon Press publishing concerns 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

• Challenge
• Different
• Flame
• The Raven

Contributions

• The Acolyte
• Cataclysm
• Danse Macabre
• Destiny
• Epos: A Quarterly of Poetry
• Essence
• Fan-Fare
• Fantastic Worlds
• Macabre
• The Nekromantikon
• Orb
• Quandry
• Snowflakes in the Sun
• Spaceship
• Soma
• Spearhead
• Starlanes
• Utopian
• Wings

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)
• Light from Other Stars (1963)
• Wine of Wonder (1955)
• 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)

Books 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)
• To Each His Song (1958) (Different)
• Sing Loud for Loveliness (1962) (Parthenon)
• Avalon Anthology of Texas Poets (1963) (Different)

External Links

• Biography for Lilith Lorraine (Mary Wright)
• Review of Time Grows Thin by Lilith Lorraine
• To The Practical Man by Lilith Lorraine