Editing Marion Zimmer Bradley (section)

== Literary career ==

=== Early work ===

Bradley stated that when she was a child she enjoyed reading adventure fantasy authors such as [[Henry Kuttner]], [[Edmond Hamilton]], [[C.L. Moore]], and [[Leigh Brackett]],<ref>[[Edward James (historian) |Edward James]], "Bradley, Marion Zimmer", ''St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers'', ed. [[David Pringle]], St. James Press, 1996, {{ISBN |1-55862-205-5}}, p. 68-71.</ref> especially when they wrote about "the glint of strange suns on worlds that never were and never would be". Her first novel and much of her subsequent work show their influence strongly. At 17, she began her first novel ''[[The Forest House]]'', her retelling of ''[[Norma (opera) |Norma]]''; she finished it before her death.<ref name=":2" />

Bradley made her first sale as an adjunct to an amateur fiction contest in ''[[Amazing Stories]]'' in 1949 with the short story "Outpost". "Outpost" was published in ''Amazing Stories'' Vol. 23, No. 12, the December 1949 issue; it had previously appeared in the fanzine ''Spacewarp'' Vol. 4, No. 3, in December 1948. Her first professional publication was a short story "Women Only", which appeared in the second (and final) issue of ''Vortex Science Fiction'' in 1953.<ref>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?VRTXSCNCFC21953 Publication Listing – Title: Vortex Science Fiction Vol. 1, No. 2], Internet Speculative Fiction Database</ref> Her first published novel-length work was ''[[Falcons of Narabedla]]'', first published in the May 1957 issue of ''[[Other Worlds (magazine) |Other Worlds]]''.

=== Gay and lesbian pulp fiction ===

[[File:Cover of I Am A Lesbian by Lee Chapman - Monarch MB529 1962.jpg |thumb |256x256px |Cover of ''I Am a Lesbian'' published by Bradley under the pseudonym Lee Chapman. [[Monarch Books |Monarch Book]],&nbsp;1962.]]

Early in her career, writing as Morgan Ives, Miriam Gardner, John Dexter, and Lee Chapman, Bradley produced several works outside the [[speculative fiction]] genre, including [[gay]] and [[lesbian pulp fiction]] novels; ''I Am a Lesbian'' was published in 1962. Though relatively tame by today's standards, her novels were considered [[Pornography |pornographic]] when published.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nndb.com/people/068/000044933/ |title=Marion Zimmer Bradley |website=www.nndb.com |access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref>

=== Darkover ===

Her 1958 novel ''[[The Planet Savers]]'' introduced the planet of [[Darkover]], which became the setting of a popular series by Bradley and other authors. The Darkover milieu is a [[science fantasy]] fictional world, with science fiction as well as fantasy overtones: Darkover is a lost human [[colony]] where [[Parapsychology |psi powers]] developed to an unusual degree, and work like magic, while technology has regressed to a more-or-less medieval stage. Bradley wrote many Darkover novels by herself, but in her later years collaborated with other authors for publication; her literary collaborators have continued the series since her death.<ref name="Gotlieb archives"/> 

=== Encouraging fan interaction ===

Bradley took an active role in science fiction and fantasy [[fandom]], promoting interaction with professional authors and publishers and making several important contributions to the subculture. In her teens she wrote letters to the pulp magazines of the time, such as the above-mentioned ''Amazing Stories'' and ''[[Wonder Stories |Thrilling Wonder Stories]]''. Starting in the late 1940s and continuing in the 1950s and 1960s, she published her own fanzines, including ''Astra's Tower'', ''Day*Star'', and ''Anything Box''. She also co-edited fanzines, including ''Ugly Bird'' with [[Redd Boggs]], ''MEZRAB'' with her first husband Robert Bradley, and ''Allerlei'' with her second husband Walter Breen. Bradley contributed to several other fanzines, including ''The Gorgon'' and ''The Nekromantikon''.<ref name="Gotlieb archives"/> 

For many years, Bradley actively encouraged Darkover [[fan fiction]]. She encouraged submissions from unpublished authors and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies. This ended after a dispute with a fan over an unpublished Darkover novel of Bradley's that had similarities to one of the fan's stories. As a result, the novel remained unpublished and Bradley demanded the cessation of all Darkover fan fiction.<ref>[http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/236/191 "The Contraband Incident: The Strange Case of Marion Zimmer Bradley."] Coker, Catherine. 2011. – ''Transformative Works and Cultures'', no. 6. doi:10.3983/twc.2011.0236. Texas A & M University, College Station, TX</ref>

=== Tolkien fandom ===

{{see also |Tolkien fan fiction}}

In the 1970s, as part of the contemporary wave of enthusiasm for [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s fictional world of [[Middle-earth]], she wrote an essay about [[Éowyn]]'s supposed love for the hero [[Aragorn]] called "Of Men, Halflings, and Hero Worship" for the ''Astra's Tower'' fanzine.<ref name="Viars Coker 2015"/> She also penned two short [[fanfic]] stories about [[Arwen]], publishing them in [[chapbook]] format. One story, "The Jewel of Arwen" (originally published in a different form in the fanzine ''I Palantir'' #2, August 1961), appeared in her professional anthology ''The Best of Marion Zimmer Bradley'' (1985), but was dropped from later reprints. She continued to contribute to different science fiction and fantasy fanzines and magazines throughout her career.<ref name="Viars Coker 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Viars |first1=Karen |last2=Coker |first2=Cait |title=Constructing Lothiriel: Rewriting and Rescuing the Women of Middle-Earth from the Margins |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=33 |issue=2 |year=2015 |pages=35–48 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol33/iss2/6/}}</ref><ref name="Gotlieb archives">{{Cite web |url=http://archives.bu.edu/collections/collection?id=121684 |title=Collection - Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center |website=archives.bu.edu |access-date=2019-05-03}}</ref>

=== Other work ===

In 1966, Bradley became a co-founder of the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]] and is credited with coining the name of that group.<ref>[http://www.smithway.org/history/chap6b.html "... Marion Zimmer Bradley, came up with 'Society for Creative Anachronism' which quickly caught on."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727145215/http://www.smithway.org/history/chap6b.html |date=July 27, 2011 }}</ref>

Bradley was the editor of the long-running ''[[Sword and Sorceress series |Sword and Sorceress]]'' [[anthology]] series, which encouraged submissions of fantasy stories featuring original and non-traditional heroines from young and upcoming authors. Although she particularly encouraged young female authors, she was not averse to including stories from men in her anthologies. [[Mercedes Lackey]] was one of many authors who first appeared in the anthologies. Bradley also maintained a large family of writers at her home in [[Berkeley, California]]. Following Bradley's death, the anthology was edited by Elizabeth Waters and continued until 2019.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sutherland |first=Doris V. |title=A Tarnished Legacy: The End of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress |date=24 December 2019 |url=https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2019/12/a-tarnished-legacy-the-end-of-marion-zimmer-bradleys-sword-and-sorceress/ |access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref>

Her most famous single novel may be ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-marion-zimmer-bradley-1123162.html |title=Obituary: Marion Zimmer Bradley |last=Adrian |first=Jack |date=30 September 1999 |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=2018-09-24}}</ref> a retelling of the [[Camelot]] legend from the point of view of [[Morgan Le Fay |Morgaine]] and [[Guinevere |Gwenhwyfar]]. It grew into a series of books and, like the Darkover series, the later novels are written with or by other authors and have continued to appear since Bradley's death.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mzbworks.com/ |title=Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust |access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref>

Bradley was posthumously awarded the [[World Fantasy Award]] for lifetime achievement in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sfadb.com/World_Fantasy_Awards_2000 |title=World Fantasy Awards 2000 |website=www.sfadb.com |access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref>