Andre Norton

Literary career

In 1934, her first book, The Prince Commands, being sundry adventures of Michael Karl, sometime crown prince & pretender to the throne of Morvania, with illustrations by Kate Seredy, was published by D. Appleton–Century Company (cataloged by the U.S. Library of Congress as by "André Norton"). Quag Keep was excerpted in Issue 12 of The Dragon (February 1978) just prior to the book's release. She and Jean Rabe were collaborating on the sequel to Quag Keep when Norton died. Return to Quag Keep was completed by Rabe and published by Tor Books in January 2006. The fifth and last novel was dedicated "To my late collaborator, Andre Norton, whose vision inspired the NordornLand cycle." ("NordornLand cycle" is another name for this cycle.)

Legacy Often called the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy by biographers such as J. M. Cornwell, and organizations such as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Publishers Weekly, and Time, Andre Norton wrote novels for more than 70 years. She had a profound influence on the entire genre, having more than 300 published titles read by at least four generations of science fiction and fantasy readers and writers. Notable authors who cite her influence include Greg Bear, Lois McMaster Bujold, C. J. Cherryh, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Tanya Huff, Mercedes Lackey, Charles de Lint, Joan D. Vinge, David Weber, K. D. Wentworth, and Catherine Asaro.

On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had honored Norton with its Grand Master Award in 1984, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the young adult literature market, beginning with 2005 publications. While the Norton Award is not a Nebula Award, it is voted on by SFWA members on the Nebula ballot and shares some procedures with the Nebula Awards. Unlike Nebulas, there is a jury whose function is to expand the ballot beyond the six books with most nominations by members.

Norton received the Inkpot Award in 1989.

High Hallack Library The High Hallack Library was a facility that Norton was instrumental in organizing and opening. Designed as a research facility for genre writers, and scholars of "popular" literature (the genres of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, western, romance, gothic, and horror), it was located near Norton's home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The facility, named after one of the continents in Norton's Witch World series, was home to more than 10,000 texts, videos, and various other media. Attached to the facility were three guest rooms, allowing authors and scholars the chance to stay on-site to facilitate their research goals.

General and cited references Bankston, John. (2010). Andre Norton. New York: Chelsea House. . . Schlobin, Roger C. (1980). Andre Norton, a Primary and Secondary Bibliography. Boston: G.K. Hall. . . Wolf, Virginia L. (Summer 1985). "Andre Norton: Feminist Pied Piper in SF". Children's Literature Association Quarterly. Volume 10, Number 2. pp. 66–70. . Yoke, Carl B. . Roger Zelazny and Andre Norton, Proponents of Individualism. Columbus: State Library of Ohio, 1979. . Yoke, Carl B. (1991). "Slaying the Dragon Within: Andre Norton's Female Heroes". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. Vol. 4, No. 3 (15), pp. 79–93. .