Author C.J. Cherryh Bio and Signed Books

You are here: Home > Our Authors > Cherryh, C.J.

VJ Books Presents C.J. Cherryh!

Carolyn Janice Cherry (whose pen name is C.J. Cherryh) was born September 1, 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1964, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin from the University of Oklahoma (Phi Beta Kappa), with academic specializations in archaeology, mythology, and the history of engineering. In 1965, she received a Master of Arts degree in classics from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was a Woodrow Wilson fellow.

After graduation, Cherryh taught Latin, Ancient Greek, the classics, and ancient history at John Marshall High School in the Oklahoma City public school system. During the summers, she would conduct student tours of the ancient ruins in England, France, Spain, and Italy. In her spare time, she would write, using the mythology of Rome and Greece as plots for her stories of the future.

Her breakthrough came in 1975 when Donald A. Wollheim purchased both manuscripts she had submitted to DAW Books, Gate of Ivrel and Brothers of Earth. The books won her immediate recognition and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1977. In 1979, her short story "Cassandra" won the Best Short Story Hugo, and she quit teaching to write full-time. She has since won the Hugo Award for Best Novel twice, first for Downbelow Station in 1982 and then again for Cyteen in 1989.

In addition to developing her own fictional universes, Cherryh has contributed to several shared world anthologies, including Thieves' World, Heroes in Hell, Elfquest, Witch World, Magic in Ithkar, and the Merovingen Nights series, which she edited.

In February 2016, Cherryh was named the 32nd Damon Knight Grand Master for her contributions to the literature of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Cherryh lives in Washington State.