WILDER, Cherry

   Pseudonym of New Zealand-born writer Cherry Barbara Grimm, nee Lockett (1930-), resident in Australia 1954-76 and then in Germany. After publishing short fiction and poetry she turned to sf, and chose the name Wilder. The themes of her first published sf story, "The Ark of JamesCarlyle" in NEW WRITINGS IN SF 24 (anth 1974) ed Kenneth BULMER, are the gradual rapprochement of, and changes in, human and ALIEN after First Contact. These themes recur in the well realized Torin series - THE LUCKOF BRIN'S FIVE (1977 US), The Nearest Fire (1980 US) and The Tapestry Warriors (1983 US), all first published as juveniles - and in the adult novel Second Nature (1982 US), which tells of a castaway society on the planet Rhomary. The Torin books focus on the relationship between the marsupial natives of the planet Torin and the succession of humans who become fruitfully involved with them, though the young protagonists do tend - perhaps rather conventionally - to open not only their own eyes to the wonders of the world but also those of their native hosts. CW's most significant achievements may lie in her complexly achieved short stories like "Something Coming Through" (1983) and "The Decline of Sunshine" (1987), in which a wry mythopoeic vein shines through. Some of her shortfiction returns to Torin and Rhomary. CW's work, notable for its narrative skill, evocative style and rounded characterization, should by now have given her a higher reputation.

   JC/MM/PN

   Other works: The Rulers of Hylor fantasy trilogy, comprising A Princess of the Chameln (1984 US), Yorath the Wolf (1984 US) and The Summer's King (1986 US); Cruel Designs (1988 UK), occult/horror set in contemporary Germany.

   About the author: The CWissue of FOUNDATION, \#54, Spring 1992, contains an autobiographical essay and "The Wilder Alien Shores, or The Colonials are Revolting", a critical assessment by Yvonne Rousseau.

   See also: ANTHROPOLOGY; AUSTRALIA; CHILDREN'S SF; NEW WRITINGS IN SF; NEW ZEALAND; PASTORAL.