Gwyneth Jones

Gwyneth Jones (born 14 February 1952) is an English science fiction and fantasy writer and critic, and a young adult/children's writer under the pen name Ann Halam.

Biography and writing career Jones was born in Manchester, England. Education at a convent school was followed by an undergraduate degree in European history of ideas at the University of Sussex. She has written for younger readers since 1980 under the pseudonym Ann Halam and, under that name, has published more than twenty novels. In 1984 Divine Endurance, a science fiction novel for adults, was published under her own name and in which she created the term gynoid. She continues to write using these two names for the respective audiences.

Jones' works are mostly science fiction and near future high fantasy with strong themes of gender and feminism. She is the winner of two World Fantasy Awards, BSFA short story award, Children of the Night Award from the Dracula Society, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Philip K. Dick Award and co-winner of the James Tiptree Jr. Award. She also won the 2008 Pilgrim Award for lifetime achievement in Science Fiction criticism. She is generally well-reviewed critically and, as a feminist science fiction writer, is often compared to Ursula K. Le Guin, though the two authors are very much distinct in both content and style of work.

Jones lives in Brighton, England, with her husband and son.