View source for Pat Murphy (writer)

{{short description|American novelist (born 1955)}}
{{For|the writer|Pat Murphy (sports journalist)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name        = Patrice Ann Murphy
| image       = Pat Murphy at Historical Novel Society North America Conference 2025 (cropped).jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = Murphy in 2025
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1955|03|09}}
| birth_place = [[Washington (state)|Washington]], US
| death_date  = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place = 
| nationality = 
| other_names = 
| known_for   = 
| awards = [[Nebula Award]]<br>[[World Fantasy Award—Long Fiction]]
| occupation  = 
}}

'''Patrice Ann "Pat" Murphy''' (born March 9, 1955) is an American science writer and author of [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]] novels.

==Early life==
Murphy was born on March 9, 1955, in [[Washington (state)|Washington]] state.

==Career==
Murphy has used the ideas of the absurdist pseudophilosophy [[pataphysics]] in some of her writings. Along with [[Lisa Goldstein]] and [[Michaela Roessner]], she has formed [[The Brazen Hussies]] to promote their work. Together with [[Karen Joy Fowler]], Murphy co-founded the [[James Tiptree, Jr. Award]] in 1991.

With her second novel, ''[[The Falling Woman]]'' (1986), she won the [[Nebula Award]], and another Nebula Award in the same year for her novelette, "[[Rachel in Love]]."  Her short story collection, ''Points of Departure'' (1990) won the [[Philip K. Dick Award]], and her 1990 novella, ''[[Bones (novella)|Bones]]'', won the [[World Fantasy Award]] in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|author=World Fantasy Convention|title=Award Winners and Nominees|url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html/|access-date=February 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201074405/http://worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html|archive-date=December 1, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

From 1998 through 2018, Pat Murphy and Paul Doherty (a scientist and educator) jointly wrote the recurring 'Science' column in the ''[[Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'' that typically appeared twice each year.  Their last column was in the May/June 2018 issue; Doherty died in August 2017.

==Personal life==
She lives in [[Nevada]] and, for more than 20 years, when she was not writing science fiction, she worked at the [[Exploratorium]], San Francisco's museum of science, art, and human perception.<ref>{{cite web |title=Teen Book Review interview |date= March 2008 |url=http://teenbookreview.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/interview-pat-murphy |publisher=Teenbookreview.wordpress.com }}</ref> There, she published non-fiction as part of the museum staff.

In 2014, Murphy was hired by [[Doug Peltz]] to join Mystery Science (company) as the first employee, creating science curriculum for elementary school teachers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://about.mystery.org/team|title=''Team — Mystery''}}</ref>

She has a [[Black belt (martial arts)|black belt]] in the martial art [[kenpō]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Inkwell: Authors and Artists|date=October 4, 2000|url=http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/90/Wild-Angel-by-Pat-Murphy-page01.html|publisher=www.well.com|access-date=November 3, 2013}}</ref><ref name="MerrickWilliams1999">{{cite book|author1=Helen Merrick|author2=Tess Williams|title=Women of Other Worlds: Excursions Through Science Fiction and Feminism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJtgGYXxaiwC&pg=PA342|year=1999|publisher=University of Western Australia Press|isbn=978-1-876268-32-9|pages=342–}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
{{Incomplete list|date=July 2017}}

=== Novels ===
* ''The Shadow Hunter'' (1982; partially rewritten and republished in 2002)
* ''[[The Falling Woman]]'' (1986)
* ''[[The City, Not Long After]]'' (1989)
* ''Nadya: The Wolf Chronicles'' (1996)
* ''[[There and Back Again (novel)|There and Back Again]]'' (1999)
* ''Wild Angel'' (2001)
* ''Adventures in Time and Space with Max Merriwell'' (2002)
* ''[[The Wild Girls]]'' (children's novel) (2007)
* ''The Adventures of Mary Darling'' (2025)

===Short fiction===
;Collections
* ''Points of Departure'' (1990)
* ''Women Up to No Good'' (2013)
;Stories<ref>Short stories unless otherwise noted.</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* "No Mother Near" (1975)
* "Eyes of the Wolf" (1978)
*"Nightbird at the Window" (1979)
*"A Lingering Scent of Jasmine" (1980)
*"Don't Look Back" (1980)
*"Touch of the Bear" (1980)
*"Wish Hound" (1980)
*"Orange Blossom Time" (1981)
*"Sweetly the Waves Call to Me" (1981)
*"In the Islands" (1983)
*"Art in the War Zone" (1984) '''Novelette'''
*"On the Dark Side of the Station Where the Train Never Stops" (1984)
*"With Four Lean Hounds" (1984) '''Novelette'''
*"On a Hot Summer Night in a Place Far Away" (1985)
*"His Vegetable Wife" (1986)
*"A Falling Star Is a Rock from Outer Space" (1986)
*"In the Abode of the Snows" (1986) '''Novelette'''
*"Clay Devils" (1987)
*"Rachel in Love" (1987) '''Novelette'''
*"Good-Bye, Cynthia" (1988)
*"Dead Men on TV" (1988)
*"Prescience" (1989)
*"How I Spent My Summer Vacation" (1989)
*"Scavenger" (1989)
*"Bones" (1990) '''Novella'''
*"Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates" (1990)
*"Latter-Day Martian Chronicles" (1990)
*"Recycling Strategies for the Inner City" (1990)
*"Women in the Trees" (1990)
*"The Eradication of Romantic Love" (1991)
*"Peter" (1991)
*"Traveling West" (1991) '''Novelette'''
*"Desert Rain" (1991) '''Novella''' ''(with [[Mark L. Van Name]])''
*"South of Oregon City" (1991) '''Novelette'''
*"Going Through Changes" (1992)
*"An American Childhood" (1993) '''Novella'''
*"A Cartographic Analysis of the Dream State" (1993) '''Novelette'''
*"Games of Deception" (1994)
*"A Place of Honor" (1995)
*"Points of Departure" (1995)
*"A Flock of Lawn Flamingos" (1996)
*"Iris Versus the Black Knight" (1996)
*"Exploding, Like Fireworks" (1997)
*"The True Story" (1997)
*"Wonder Worlds" (1997) '''Novelette''' ''(with [[Richard Kadrey]])''
*"Attachments" (1998)
*"Ménage and Menagerie" (1998) '''Novelette'''
*"Green Fire" (1999) '''Novelette''' ''(with [[Andy Duncan (writer)|Andy Duncan]], [[Eileen Gunn]] & [[Michael Swanwick]])''
*"The Wild Girls" (2003)
*"Dragon's Gate" (2003) '''Novelette'''
*"Inappropriate Behavior" (2004) '''Novelette'''
*"One Odd Shoe" (2007)
*"About Fairies" (2012)
*"Cold Comfort" (2016) '''Novelette''' ''(with Paul Doherty)''
*"Crossing the Threshold" (2017)
*"Fix-It Shop" (2017)
*"Motherhood" (2019)
*"A Catalog of 21st Century Ghosts" (2024)
*"Not Alone" (2025)
{{div col end}}

=== Anthologies edited ===
* ''The James Tiptree Award Anthology 1'' (2005) with Debbie Notkin, [[Karen Joy Fowler]]  and Jeffrey D. Smith. [[Tachyon Publications]]<ref name="Tiptree">Anthology of winners of the [[James Tiptree, Jr. Award]].</ref>
* ''The James Tiptree Award Anthology 2'' (2006) with Debbie Notkin, Karen Joy Fowler and Jeffrey D. Smith. [[Tachyon Publications]].<ref name="Tiptree" />
* ''The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3'' (2007) with Debbie Notkin, Karen Joy Fowler and Jeffrey D. Smith. [[Tachyon Publications]].<ref name="Tiptree" />

===Nonfiction===
* {{cite book |author1=Joseph, James |author2=Witold Klawe |author3=Pat Murphy |others=Paintings by George Mattson |title=Tuna and billfish : fish without a country |location=La Jolla, Calif. |publisher=Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission |year=1979 <!--isbn=096030780X-->}}
* ''Imaginary Friends'' (1996 essay)
* ''Before and After'' (1997 travel essay)
* ''Explorabook: A Kid's Science Museum in a Book'' by John Cassidy, Pat Murphy, and Paul Doherty (1991)
* {{cite book |author=Murphy, Pat |title=Bending light : an Exploratorium toolbook |year=1993}}
* ''By Nature's Design'' (1993) by Pat Murphy
* ''The Science Explorer'' (1996) by Pat Murphy, Ellen Klages, and Linda Shore
* ''The Color of Nature'' (1996) by Pat Murphy and Paul Doherty
* ''The Science Explorer Out and About'' (1997) by Pat Murphy, Ellen Klages, and Linda Shore
* ''Zap Science: A Scientific Playground in a Book'' (1997) by John Cassidy, Paul Doherty, & Pat Murphy
* {{cite journal |author1=Murphy, Pat |author2=Paul Doherty |name-list-style=amp |date=March 2000 |title=Nightfall, revisited |department=Science |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]] |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=119–126 |url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2000/pmpd0003.htm <!--|access-date=2021-08-20-->}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Doherty, Paul |author2=Pat Murphy |name-list-style=amp |date=May 2000 |title=General relativity at home |department=Science |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]] |volume=98 |issue=5 |pages=108–116 |url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2000/pmpd0005.htm <!--|access-date=2020-10-19-->}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Doherty, Paul |author2=Pat Murphy |name-list-style=amp |author1-mask=1 |author2-mask=1 |date=Aug 2000 |title=Playing with fire |department=Science |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]] |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=112–120 |url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2000/pmpd0008.htm <!--|access-date=2020-10-19-->}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Doherty, Paul |author2=Pat Murphy |name-list-style=amp |author1-mask=1 |author2-mask=1 |date=Jan 2001 |title=Death rays and other experiments to try at home |department=Science |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]] |volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=114–121 |url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2001/pmpd0101.htm <!--|access-date=2019-02-20-->}}
* {{cite book |author=Murphy, Pat |title=Exploratopia |year=2006 <!--|isbn=0-316-61281-2-->}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Doherty, Paul |author2=Pat Murphy |name-list-style=amp |date=October–November 2008 |title=Rocks in space |department=Science |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]] |volume=115 |issue=4&5 |pages=183–191 |url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2008/pmpd0810.htm <!--|access-date=2020-01-13-->}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Doherty, Paul |author2=Pat Murphy |name-list-style=amp |author1-mask=1 |author2-mask=1 |date=July–August 2011 |title=Pattern recognition, randomness, and Roshambo |department=Science |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]] |volume=121 |issue=1&2 |pages=183–191 |url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2011/pmpd1107.htm <!--|access-date=2021-02-18-->}}

==Awards==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Work  !! Year & Award!!  Category !! Result !! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="1" |''The Shadow Hunter''
|1983 [[Locus Award]]
|First Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=Sfadb : Locus Awards | url=https://www.sfadb.com/Locus_Awards }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="3" |''[[The Falling Woman]]''
|1987 Locus Award
|Fantasy Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1988 [[Mythopoeic Awards]]
|Fantasy
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1988 Nebula Award
|Novel
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="6" |"[[Rachel in Love]]"
|1988 [[Theodore Sturgeon Award]]
|Short Science Fiction
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|1988 [[Hugo Award]]
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1988 [[Nebula Award]]
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|1988 SF Chronicle Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=Sfadb: Science Fiction Chronicle Readers Poll 1988 | url=https://www.sfadb.com/Science_Fiction_Chronicle_Readers_Poll_1988 }}</ref>
|-
|1988 Asimov's Readers' Poll
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=1988 Asimov's Readers' Poll | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?3+1988 }}</ref>
|-
|1988 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |"Dead Men on TV"
|1989 Nebula Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |"Prescience"
|1990 Locus Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |''[[The City, Not Long After]]''
|1990 Mythopoeic Awards
|Fantasy
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1990 Locus Award
|SF Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1991 [[Arthur C. Clarke Award]]
|Science Fiction Novel
|{{CFinalist}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |"Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates"
|1991 Nebula Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1991 Locus Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |''Points of Departure''
|1991 [[Philip K. Dick Award]]
|
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|1991 Locus Award
|Collection
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |"Bones"
|1991 [[World Fantasy Award]]
|Novella
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|1991 Hugo Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1991 Nebula Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1991 Asimov's Readers' Poll
|Novella
|{{CFinalist|8th Place}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=1991 Asimov's Readers' Poll | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?3+1991 }}</ref>
|-
|1991 Locus Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |"Desert Rain"
''(with [[Mark L. Van Name]])''
|1992 Locus Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |"Traveling West"
|1992 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |"An American Childhood"
|1994 Hugo Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1994 Asimov's Readers' Poll
|Novella
|{{CFinalist|7th Place}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=1994 Asimov's Readers' Poll | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?3+1994 }}</ref>
|-
|1994 Locus Award
|Novella
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |''A Place of Honor''
|1996 Asimov's Readers' Poll
|Short Story
|{{CFinalist|8th Place}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=1996 Asimov's Readers' Poll | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?3+1996 }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" |''Nadya''
|1996 [[List of Otherwise Award winners|Otherwise Award]]
|
|{{sho|Honor}}
|
|-
|1997 Locus Award
|Fantasy Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |"Green Fire"
''(with [[Eileen Gunn]], [[Andy Duncan (writer)|Andy Duncan]] & [[Michael Swanwick]])''
|2001 Asimov's Readers' Poll
|Novella
|{{CFinalist|8th Place}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=2001 Asimov's Readers' Poll | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?3+2001 }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="1" |''[[There and Back Again (novel)|There and Back Again]]''
|2002 [[Seiun Award]]
|Translated Long Work
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |"Dragon's Gate"
|2004 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |"Inappropriate Behavior"
|2005 Locus Award
|Novelette
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |''[[The Wild Girls]]''
|2007 [[Cybils Award]]
|Fiction: Middle Grade
|{{CFinalist}}
|
|-
|2008 [[Christopher Award]]
|Books for Young People: Ages 10–12
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |''Exploratopia: More than 400 kid-friendly experiments and explorations for curious minds''
|2008 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books
|Hands-On Science Book
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=2008 | url=https://www.sbfprize.org/2008 }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="1" |''The Klutz Guide to the Galaxy''
|2012 American Institute of Physics
|Science Communication Awards
|{{Won}}
|<ref>https://www.aip.org/news/winners-2012-aip-science-communication-awards-writing-children-and-new-media</ref>
|-
| rowspan="1" |"About Fairies"
|2013 Locus Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.brazenhussies.net/murphy/ Pat Murphy's page at Brazen Hussies]
* {{ISFDB name|id=1033|name=Pat Murphy}}
* [http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/90/Wild-Angel-by-Pat-Murphy-page01.html Pat Murphy interview at The Well]
* [https://mysteryscience.com/ Mystery Science: Open and Go lessons that inspire kids to love science!]

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}{{Nebula Award Best Novel}}{{Nebula Award Best Novelette}}{{World Fantasy Award Best Novella}}{{Philip K. Dick Award}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Pat}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women novelists]]
[[Category:American fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:American women short story writers]]
[[Category:American chapbook writers]]
[[Category:Nebula Award winners]]
[[Category:The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people]]
[[Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers]]
[[Category:World Fantasy Award–winning writers]]