Barbara Sjoholm

Barbara Wilson (born 17 October 1950) As Barbara Sjoholm, she is the author of memoir, essays, a biography, and travelogues, including The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O’Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, which was a finalist for the PEN USA award in creative nonfiction. She is also a translator of fiction and nonfiction by Norwegian and Danish writers into English, and won the Columbia Translation Award and the American-Scandinavian Translation Award. As Barbara Wilson, she has written two mystery series and has won several awards for her mystery novels, including the British Crime Writers Association award and the Lambda Literary Award. She is known for her novel Gaudi Afternoon, which was made into a film directed by Susan Seidelman in 2001.

Biography Wilson was born on 17 October 1950, in Long Beach, California.

Career In 1976, Wilson co-founded the feminist publishing company Seal Press In 2001, her book Gaudi Afternoon was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Susan Seidelman. Wilson later expressed regrets that the aspects of lesbian identity present in the book were eliminated from the film. Slate described Wilson as a "genre pioneer" for her mystery novels. After a hiatus of many years, Wilson published a new mystery, Not the Real Jupiter, with her character Cassandra Reilly, in 2021. In 2021, she published an article in Crime Reads, "The Queer Old Case of the Spinster Sleuth" about older lesbians in crime fiction.

In addition to fiction, Wilson has published significant works of nonfiction. Her memoir, Blue Windows: A Christian Science Childhood, was a winner of the Lambda Literary Award and a finalist for the PEN USA award. Writing as Barbara Sjoholm, her nonfiction includes several travelogues, including a memoir of her travels as a young writer, Incognito Street. She wrote The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O’Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, which was a finalist for the PEN USA award in creative nonfiction. 1991 Gaudi Afternoon Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery Winner 1997 If You Had a Family Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction Finalist 1998 Blue Windows: a Christian Science Childhood Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Biography/Autobiography Winner 2001 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery Finalist 2007 Incognito Street Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir or Biography Finalist 1997 Blue Windows PEN Center USA West Nominee 2008 PEN Center USA West Nominee 2016 Clearing Out American Scandinavian Translation Award Winner 2016 Fossil Island Historical Novel Society: Best Indie Novel Winner 2020 GCLS Trailblazer Award Winner