Sheila Finch (born 29 October 1935) is an author of science fiction and fantasy. She is best known for her sequence of stories about the Guild of Xenolinguists.
Biography Sheila Finch was born on 29 October 1935 in London, England. She attended Bishop Otter College (now Chichester University) from 1954 to 1956, then taught for a year (1956–1957) in a primary school in Hackney, London. Following her marriage to Clare Grill Rayner in 1957 (divorced 1980), she emigrated to the US and completed her BA in English Literature at Indiana University Bloomington in 1959, followed by an MA in linguistics and medieval history in 1962. She has three daughters. From 1963 to 1967, when the family lived in San Luis Obispo, California, she taught part-time at Cuesta College and began publishing poetry. The family moved to Long Beach in 1967. Sheila taught creative writing and science fiction at El Camino College from 1970 to 2005. The family relocated for two years to Munich, Germany in the 1970s, where Sheila studied German and taught English as a second language.
She is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, serving as Vice-President for two years, then Chair of the Grievance Committee for five years. As Western Regional Director, during the 1980s and 1990s she organized activities for the organization aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor. She is also a charter member of the Asilomar Writers Consortium, founded by Jerry Hannah in Monterey, California in 1976.
Besides teaching and publishing, Sheila has been active in the community, serving first as a volunteer in a residential hospice, then for ten years as a volunteer for St Luke's Episcopal Church's program for the homeless. She also served for eight years on the City of Long Beach Mayor's Advisory Committee for Homelessness.
Sheila Finch currently lives in Long Beach, California.
Xenolinguists In her 1986 book Triad, Finch used the term "xenolinguist" to describe the linguists who decode alien languages. The word has gained widespread acceptance in the science fiction industry and was used to describe the character Uhura in the remake of Star Trek.
Finch created a series of tales about communicating with aliens which eventually was consolidated in collection of short stories entitled The Guild of Xenolinguists (Golden Gryphon Press, 2007). The Guild was founded on Earth in the middle of the 22nd century after first contact with a race from somewhere in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. A few early linguists, neurolinguists, ethnographers and computer scientists established the Guild which then took over the responsibility for training xenolinguists to make first contact and to record alien languages in the field. Later, the Guild provided translation services for the expanding commerce and colonization of the following centuries.
Bibliography Novels +Novels Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes 1985Infinity's WebNew York: Bantam Books0-553-25251-8Compton Crook Award for best First Novel1986TriadNew York: Bantam Books0-553-25792-71987The Garden of the ShapedNew York: Bantam Books0-553-26801-51989Shaper's LegacyNew York: Bantam Books0-553-28167-41989Shaping The DawnNew York: Bantam Books14344016011999Tiger in the SkyNew York: Avon Books0-380-79971-5San Diego Book Award for Best Juvenile Fiction2003Reading the BonesTachyon Books1-892391-08-22004BirdsWildside Press0-8095-0056-62017A Villa Far From RomeHadley Rille Books9780997118834AudioBook
Collections +Collections YearTitle Publisher ISBN Notes 2007 The Guild of XenolinguistsGolden Gryphon Press 9781930846487 2014Myths, Metaphors, and Science FictionAqueduct Press97816197605542022Fork PointsAqueduct Press9781619762183
Short stories +Short storiesYear Title Originally Published In Notes 1974Green LiberationGirl Scout Leader, June1977The Confession of MelakosSou'wester, Fall1980Symphony for Sarah AnnMississippi Valley Review1982A Long Way HomeAsimov's Science Fiction, December1983The Man Who Lived on the Queen MaryPandora, Spring1983Darkness Comes RattlingAmazing Stories, July1984The Seventh DragonFantasy Book, June1986Reichs-peaceHitler Victorious, ed. Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg, New York: Garlandtransl: Hitler Victorioso, Ediciones Destino, Spain, 19901987HitchhikerAmazing Stories1988Babel InterfaceAmazing Stories, May1989Ceremony After a RaidAmazing Stories, July1989A World WaitingFantasy and Science Fiction, August1989Rembrandts of Things PastTarot Tales, ed. Rachel Pollack and Caitlin Matthews. London: Century Hutchinson1989PAPPIFoundation's Friends, ed. Martin H. Greenberg. New York: Tor Books, Novembertransl: Selected Short Science Fiction of the World, China, 20171989The Old Man and CAmazing Stories, NovemberDramatic version, arr. by Jason Trucco, NY, NY, 20191990Sequoia DreamsAmazing Stories, July1990CyberellaFantasy and Science Fiction, Augusttransl: Cyberella, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Germany 1995 Millimondi Estate, Mondadori, Italy 1991 Bli-Panika, www.space.ort.org.il, Israel 20031992If There Be CauseAmazing Stories, February1995Firstborn, SeabornSisters in Fantasy, ed. Susan Shwartz. ROC1996Communion of MindsFantasy and Science Fiction, Septembertransl: Der Lincoln Zug, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Germany, 19971997Out of the MouthsFantasy and Science Fiction, November–December1997The Roaring GroundFantasy and Science Fiction, April1997A Flight of WordsFantasy and Science Fiction, Februarytransl. Galaktika XL, Metropolis Media Group Kft, Hungary 20161997The Falcon and the FalconerTomorrow SF1998Reading the BonesFantasy and Science Fiction, JanuaryNebula Award for Best Novella transl: Galaktika XL, Metropolis Media Group Kft, Hungary 20161998The Naked Face of GodFantasy and Science Fiction, June1999No Brighter GloryFantasy and Science Fiction, April2000Nor Unbuild the CageFantasy and Science Fiction, September2002ForkpointsFantasy and Science Fiction, February2002Miles to GoFantasy and Science Fiction, June2003ReachFantasy and Science Fiction, FebruaryAudioBook2004ConfessionalFantasy and Science Fiction, January2004So Good A DayFantasy and Science Fiction, May2007First Was the WordFantasy and Science Fiction, Junetransl: Galaktika XL, Metropolis Media Group Kft, Hungary 20162010Failed HarvestNova SF 252010Where Two or ThreeIs Anybody Out There? ed. Marty Halpern and Nick Gevers, June2010The Persistence of Butterflies2020 Visions, ed. Rick Novy2010Fortune's StepchildLace and Blade 3, ed. Deborah Ross2011The Evening and the MorningFantasy and Science Fiction, March/April2013A Very Small DispensationAsimov's SF Magazine, October/November2014BurdensMythic Delirium, January2016The Language of the SilentFantasy and Science Fiction, March/Aprilcollaboration with Juliette Wade2016First HuntHadley Rille Books, Summer2017HomecomingSeat 14C, X-Prize, June2018SurvivorsAsimov's Science Fiction, September/October2019Talking in PicturesCurrent Features, X-Prize, June2020Not This TideAsimov's Science Fiction, January/February2021Love At First SightInk; Queer Sci-Fi2021Czerny At MidnightAsimov's Science Fiction, November/December2022The Wine - Dark DeepAsimov's Science Fiction, May/June2022Wanton GodsAsimov's Science Fiction,
Articles and non-fiction +Articles and non-fictionYear Title Originally Published In Notes 1982Fantasy as a Super-VitaminPatchin Review, June1985The Unseen Shore: Thoughts on the Popularity of FantasyJournal of Popular Culture, Spring1985Paradise Lost: Prison Imagery at the Heart of Le Guin's UtopiaExtrapolation, Fall1985Oath of Fealty: No Thud, Some BlundersScience Fiction Review, Winter1987Science Fiction's Magical Mystery ToursSFWA Bulletin, Spring1988Berlitz in Outer Space: How Alien Communication Just Might WorkAmazing Stories, May1989Oath of Fealty: A Look at Another Ambiguous UtopiaAustralian Science Fiction Review, Spring1989UntitledSFWA Bulletin, Spring1996The War Zone of Art: Science Fiction Writers, Publishers and the Modern MarketplaceScience Fiction and Market Realities, ed. George Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin. The University of Georgia Press1996Doctor, Will the Patient Survive?Nebula Awards 30, ed. Pamela Sargent. New York: Harcourt Brace1996Teaching Science Fiction: A Writer's Concernsinside english, March1996Being Alien in BeijingSFWA Bulletin, March2000Dispatches From the Trenches: Science Fiction in the College ClassroomExtrapolation, Spring2000Dreams, Truth, and HopeFuture Females, The Next Generation: New Voices and Velocities in Feminist Science Fiction, ed. Marleen Barr. Rowman & Allenheld2003Creativity in the FishbowlSFWA Bulletin, Spring2004Future Tense: Reflecting Language Change in Science FictionSFWA Bulletin, Spring2006How to Rate a Writing ProgramSFWA Bulletin, Winter2012Fantastic Journeys of the Mythic KindJames Gunn's AD ASTRA, July2014Of Myth and MemorySFWA Bulletin, Winter2016Ambiguous UtopiasJames Gunn's AD ASTRA, Summer
Poetry + Poetry Year Title Publisher Notes 1973ChichesterAAUW Journal1973Izaac MizrakiPoet Lore1973Study GroupThe Writer1973The Eagle on the Washing MachineBall State Forum, Summer2nd Place, Steven Vincent Benet Award for Narrative Poetry1974EvensongEncore1975In the Museum at Mesa VerdeEncore, Spring1975The HangoverHyacinths and Biscuits1975Vacation SpecialHartford Courant1975Aubade in Forest Fire SeasonMoving Out1976War GamesTattoes and Other Scars1977Mockingbird MantraEncore1983Message to a Friend in Another Solar SystemAurora, Winter
Awards "Reading the Bones" (1998) Nebula novella award winner Tiger in the Sky (1999) Winner of the San Diego Book Award for Best Juvenile Fiction Infinity's Web (1985) Winner of the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel
Notes
External links
The author's blog site