Judith Merril

Born in 1923, Judith Merril was an American-born writer, editor, and political activist who later made her life in Canada. She became one of the first women to have major influence in science fiction, not only through her own stories and novels but also through her work as an anthologist and critic.

Merril was closely connected with the Futurians, the influential New York science fiction circle of the 1940s, and she published fiction under her own name as well as in collaboration with others. She is especially remembered for her annual "Year's Best" anthologies, which helped widen readers' sense of what science fiction could be by championing more literary, socially aware, and experimental work.

After moving to Toronto in 1968, she became an important figure in Canadian speculative fiction as well. Her personal donation of thousands of books and magazines helped found what became the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy at the Toronto Public Library, extending her influence far beyond her own writing. She died in 1997, but her reputation as a pathfinding editor and champion of imaginative literature remains strong.