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Cherry Wilder Cherry Wilder i(A3265 works by) (birth name: Cherry Barbara Lockett) (a.k.a. Cherry Barbara Lockett Grimm; Cherry Wilder Grimm; Cherry Barbara Grimm)
Also writes as: Cherry Grimm ; Cherry Anderson
Born: Established: 3 Sep 1930 Auckland, Auckland (Region), North Island,
c
New Zealand,
c
Pacific Region,
; Died: Ceased: 14 Mar 2002 Wellington, Wellington (Region), North Island,
c
New Zealand,
c
Pacific Region,

Gender: Female
Expatriate assertion Arrived in Australia: 1953 Departed from Australia: 1976
Heritage: New Zealander
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BiographyHistory

'Cherry Wilder' was the daughter of Marmari and Alan Lockett, teachers in primary schools in remote areas of the North Island, New Zealand. Wilder began to write at the age of six and in 1941 won second prize for a Christmas story competition in the Auckland Herald Children's Pages. Her father died in the same year during the Battle of Crete. She attended Nelson Girls College and Canterbury University College, Christchurch, graduating with a B.A. in 1952. Her major subject was English and she wrote poetry and short stories while in high school and at university. Wilder also produced and acted in plays.

In 1952 Wilder married A. J. Anderson and they moved to Newcastle, New South Wales, in 1954. Wilder produced plays for a local theatre company while writing short stories for women's and men's magazines. In 1962 Wilder moved to Sydney. She married Horst Grimm, already known to science fiction fans, in 1963. She wrote reviews for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian as well as short stories published in Australian Letters, Southerly, Westerly and Meanjin. The family relocated to West Germany in 1976 where Wilder lived until returning to New Zealand in 1997. Her husband had died in 1992.

Wilder started writing science fiction in 1974 after a positive response to her story, 'The Ark of James Carlyle'. It was reprinted about seven times and appeared in The Reader's Digest's Great Short Stories of Australasia. She wrote: 'I was definitely inspired to write SF in Australia and will always be, in some way, an Australian SF writer.' Wilder published over fifty short stories and novels using the 'Wilder' pseudonym, which was derived from Laura Ingalls Wilder, Thornton Wilder and Sir John Wilder in the television show The Power Game.

(Source: The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy ed. Paul Collins (1998): 181-182).

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

Way Out West 1982 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Galaktika , no. 43 1982; (p. 3-11)
1976 shortlisted Ditmar Awards Australian Fiction
y separately published work icon The Luck of Brin's Five New York (City) : Atheneum , 1977 Z924330 1977 single work novel young adult science fiction On a cold winter night in the ancient land of Torin, a messenger from Earth fell from the sky. Discovered by Dorn, eldest son of the family of Brin's Five, earthling astronaut Scott Gale was taken under the wing of Dorn's family and called Diver, the Luck of Brin's Five.(Publisher's blurb)
1978 winner Ditmar Awards Best Novel
The Ark of James Carlyle 1974 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: New Writings in SF 24 1974; (p. 11-32) Beyond Tomorrow : An Anthology of Modern Science Fiction 1977; (p. 65-83) Galileo : Magazine of Science and Fiction , January no. 6 1978; (p. 56-63) Perilous Planets 1980; (p. 137-154) Mortal Fire : Best Australian Science Fiction 1993; (p. 201-220)
1975 shortlisted Ditmar Awards Australian Fiction
Last amended 30 Oct 2008 10:40:44
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