Editing Tanith Lee

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Tanith Lee
| image            = Tanith Lee signing.jpg
| imagesize        = 
| alt              = A woman with blonde hair using a sharpie to sign something.
| caption          = Raising money for the [[Alzheimer's Research Trust]] during the 2011 campaign Match It For Pratchett ([[Terry Pratchett]])
| pseudonym        = Esther Garber<ref name="reid" /><br />Judas Garbah
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1947|9|19}}
| birth_place      = London, England
| death_date       = {{death date and age |2015|5|24 |1947|9|19 |df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[East Sussex]], England
| occupation       = Writer
| genre            = [[Speculative fiction]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|John Kaiine|1992}}
| children         = 
| relatives        = 
| awards           = 1980 [[British Fantasy Award]], 1983 & 1984 [[World Fantasy Award]]
| signature        = 
| website          = 
| portaldisp       = 
}}
{{Short description|British science fiction and fantasy writer (1947 – 2015)}}
'''Tanith Lee''' (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award and the [[Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement|Bram Stoker Award]] for Lifetime Achievement in Horror.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/17129/tanith-lee|title=Tanith Lee {{!}} Penguin Random House|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref> She also wrote a children's picture book (''Animal Castle''), and many poems. She wrote two episodes of the [[BBC]] science fiction series ''[[Blake's 7]] (Sand'' and ''Sarcophagus)''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blake's 7 - SARCOPHAGUS - Review |url=https://www.hermit.org/b7/Episodes/Reviews/Sarcoph1.html |access-date=2024-05-15 |website=www.hermit.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Blake's 7 - SAND - Review |url=https://www.hermit.org/b7/Episodes/Reviews/Sand1.html |access-date=2024-05-15 |website=www.hermit.org}}</ref>

She was the first woman to win the [[British Fantasy Award]] best novel award (also known as the [[August Derleth Award]]), for her book ''[[Death's Master]]'' (1980).<ref name="reid" /><ref name="flood">{{cite web|url=http://www.whc2010.org/goh-tanithlee01.html|title=World of fantasy: Death's Master by Tanith Lee|author=Alison Flood|year=2010|work=The Guardian|access-date=25 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630072523/http://www.whc2010.org/goh-tanithlee01.html|archive-date=30 June 2011}}</ref>

== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
Tanith Lee was born on 19 September 1947 in London, to professional dancers Bernard and Hylda Lee.<ref name="schweltzer">{{cite book|author=Darrell Schweitzer|title =Speaking of Horror: Interviews with Writers of the Supernatural|publisher =Wildside Press LLC|year =1994|pages=59–60|isbn =978-1-880448-81-6|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=cbKHtMCHcvkC&pg=PA59}}</ref><ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.daughterofthenight.com/tlbio.html|title=Author Biography: Tanith Lee|author1=Jim Pattison |author2=Paul A. Soanes |author3=Allison Rich |name-list-style=amp |date=17 April 2011|publisher=Daughter of the Night†: An Annotated Tanith Lee Bibliography|access-date=25 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="moran">{{cite journal |author=Moran, Maureen F |title=Tanith Lee |journal=British Fantasy and Science-Fiction Writers Since 1960 in Dictionary of Literary Biography|volume=261 |year=2002}}</ref> Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of [[Bernard Lee]] (the actor who played "M" in the [[James Bond]] series films between 1962 and 1979). According to Lee, although her childhood was happy, she was the "traditional kid that got bullied," and had to move around frequently due to her parents' work.<ref name="moran" /><ref name="carlson">{{cite web|url=http://www.starshipsofa.com/2011/02/08/starshipsofa-no-175-jeff-carlson/|title=StarShipSofa Interrogation: Tanith Lee in StarShipSofa No.175|author=Jeff Carlson|date=2 August 2011|publisher=StarShipSofa|access-date=1 October 2012}} - An audio interview with Tanith Lee</ref> Although her family was poor, they maintained a large paperback collection, and Lee read [[weird fiction]], including "Silken Swift" by [[Theodore Sturgeon]] and "Gabriel Ernest" by [[Saki]], and discussed such literature as ''[[Hamlet]]'' and ''[[Dracula]]'' with her parents.<ref name="WeirdFiction">{{cite web | url= http://weirdfictionreview.com/2012/09/tanith-lee-on-the-weird/ | title= Tanith Lee on the Weird | author= Luis Rodrigues | year= 2011 | publisher= Weird Fiction Review | access-date= 15 October 2012}}</ref> Lee attended many different schools in childhood. She was at first "incapable" of reading due to a mild form of dyslexia, which was diagnosed later in life, but when she was aged 8, her father taught her to read in a few months,<ref>{{Cite web |last=jeffvandermeer |date=2012-09-03 |title=Tanith Lee on The Weird |url=https://weirdfictionreview.com/2012/09/tanith-lee-on-the-weird/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=Weird Fiction Review |language=en-US}}</ref> and she began to write at the age of 9.<ref name="carlson"/>

=== Education ===
Because Lee's parents had to move for jobs, Lee attended numerous primary schools, then the [[Prendergast School|Prendergast Grammar School for Girls]].<ref name="bio" /><ref name="moran" /> After secondary school, Lee attended [[Croydon College|Croydon Art College]] for a year. Realising that was not what she wanted to do, she dropped out of her course and held a number of jobs, including file clerk, waitress, shop assistant, and assistant librarian.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="moran" /><ref name="Gidney">{{cite web|url=http://www.lambdaliterary.org/interviews/09/13/tanith-lee-queer-authors/|title=Tanith Lee: Channeling Queer Authors|author=Craig Gidney|date=13 September 2010|access-date=16 October 2012}}</ref>

=== Writing career ===
She began publishing with ''The Betrothed'' (1968), a short story privately printed by a friend, but started serious writing with several children's fantasies. Of these, ''The Dragon Hoard'' (1971), her first novel, is a comic fantasy, in which an enchantress compels the quest-ridden protagonist to shapeshift into a raven at unpredictable moments. ''Princess Hynchatti & Some Other Surprises'' (collection of linked stories in 1972) puts its cast through various travails. In ''Companions on the Road'' (1975) the companions are the villains, a trio of hellish revenants who kill through their control of Dreams as they search for the holders of a magic chalice. ''The Winter Players'' (1976) – assembled with the previous book as ''Companions on the Road and The Winter Players: Two Novellas'' (1977) – dramatises the interaction between a young woman and the accursed wanderer whom she ultimately redeems. Even in these early works, several characteristic motifs dominate: the Rite of Passage whereby a young protagonist comes to terms – often via Metamorphosis – with his or her extraordinary nature, and strives for Balance in a riven world; vivid, but indeterminate, landscapes serving as almost interchangeable backdrops for psychic dramas; and a fine indifference to any moralistic settling of scores, her tales tending to close with Good and Evil characters settling into uneasy equipoise.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=lee_tanith|title=Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997) – Lee, Tanith|website=sf-encyclopedia.uk|language=en|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref>

Her first professional sale came from "Eustace," a ninety-word vignette at the age of 21 in 1968. She continued to work in various jobs for almost another decade, due to rejection of her books.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="Gidney" /> Her first novel (for children) was ''The Dragon Hoard'', published in 1971 by [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]].<ref name="bio" /> Her career took off with the acceptance in 1975 by DAW Books USA of her adult fantasy epic ''[[The Birthgrave]]'' – a mass-market paperback. Many British publishers rejected ''The Birthgrave'' so she approached [[DAW Books]]. Lee subsequently maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.<ref name="schweltzer" /><ref name="bio" /><ref name="martin">{{cite book|author1=George R. R. Martin |author2=Gardner Dozois |name-list-style=amp |title =Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love|publisher =Simon and Schuster|year =2010|page=361|isbn =978-1-4391-5014-6|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=T71Fraq4P5QC&pg=PA361}}</ref><ref name="whc">{{cite web|url=http://www.whc2010.org/goh-tanithlee01.html|title=Tanith Lee – Author Guest of Honour|year=2010|publisher=World Horror Convention 2010|access-date=25 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630072523/http://www.whc2010.org/goh-tanithlee01.html|archive-date=30 June 2011}}</ref> ''The Birthgrave'' allowed Lee to be a full-time writer and stop doing "stupid and soul-killing jobs."<ref name="carroll">{{cite web|url=http://www.tabula-rasa.info/Horror/TanithLee.html|title=A History of Horror: On the Lee Side|author1=David Carroll |author2=Kyla Ward |year=1994|access-date=16 October 2012}}</ref>

During the nineties her "career went through the doldrums" because of trends in publishing.<ref name="Tanith">{{cite news |last1=Kaveney |first1=Roz |title=Tanith Lee obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/01/tanith-lee |access-date=9 October 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=1 June 2015}}</ref> Major publishing companies were less accepting of Lee's later works.<ref name="Gidney" /><ref name="flood2">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/aug/27/fantasy-death-master-tanith-lee|title=World of Fantasy: Death's Master by Tanith Lee|author=Alison Flood|date=27 August 2010|work=The Guardian |access-date=16 October 2012}}.Contains different text than other Alison Flood article.</ref> The companies which Lee worked with for years refused to look at her proposals.<ref name="schweitzer2">{{cite web|url=http://www.rofmag.com/author-interviews/interview-with-tanith-lee/|title=Interview: Tanith Lee|author=Darrell Schweitzer|year=2011|publisher=Realms of Fantasy|access-date=16 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330021324/http://www.rofmag.com/author-interviews/interview-with-tanith-lee/|archive-date=30 March 2012}}</ref> Smaller companies were publishing just a few of Lee's works. The refusals did not stop her from writing and she had numerous unpublished novels and short stories.<ref name="schweitzer2" /> Letters from fans asked if she were dead because no new work had been published.<ref name="schweitzer2" /> Lee tried changing her genre, but to no success. However, Internet sales succeeded in reviving her writing.<ref name="Tanith"/>

==== Book sales ====
Lee had "quietly phenomenal sales" at certain periods throughout her career.<ref name="schweitzer2" /> When she tried changing genres, some of her works were liked by critics and published by small publishers, but it made no difference. The royalties were good before the publishers went bankrupt.<ref name="schweitzer2"/>

=== Personal life and death ===
In 1987, Lee met artist and writer John Kaiine.<ref name="bio" /> In 1992, the couple married.<ref name="bio" /> They lived in the south of England.<ref name="carlson" />

Lee died at her home in [[East Sussex]] of breast cancer on 24 May 2015.<ref name="LocusObit">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/05/tanith-lee-1947-2015/|title=Locus Obituary|date=26 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="Obituary">{{Cite news |title=Tanith Lee, Fantasy and Horror Novelist, Dies at 67 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/books/tanith-lee-fantasy-and-horror-novelist-dies-at-67.html?ref=obituaries |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=1 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602204640/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/books/tanith-lee-fantasy-and-horror-novelist-dies-at-67.html?ref=obituaries |archive-date=2 June 2015 |access-date=24 August 2023 |url-status=live |work=[[The New York Times]] |author-link=Sam Roberts (newspaper journalist)}}</ref>

== Works ==
Lee often uses the transitional character of the [[bildungsroman]], or coming-of-age stories. For instance, the protagonist of Lee's ''[[The Birthgrave]]'' undertakes a journey to understanding her identity and culture.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmOSHrtlBK8C&q=tanith+lee&pg=PA10|title=The Hidden Library of Tanith Lee: Themes and Subtexts from Dionysos to the Immortal Gene|last=Haut|first=Mavis|date=12 November 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786483686|language=en}}</ref>

Lee's two longest [[werewolf]] stories, "Wolfland" and ''Lycanthia'', follow Lee's custom of reversing the images of popular culture icons. Lee approximates the werewolves' behaviours according to the social and hunting patterns of wild wolves. In altering this trope, she endows werewolf stories with a new and more positive mythos.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Heldreth|first=Lillian M.|date=1989|title=Tanith Lee's Werewolves Within: Reversals of Gothic Traditions|journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts|volume=2|issue=1 (5)|pages=14–23|issn=0897-0521|jstor=43310205}}</ref>

Lee's 1971 debut was the children's book ''The Dragon Hoard''; her first adult book was ''The Birthgrave'' in 1975.<ref name="Locus">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/1998/Issues/04/Lee.html |title=Tanith Lee: Love & Death & Publishers|work=[[Locus Online]] |access-date=17 March 2009 |date=April 1998}}</ref> Lee's prolific output spans a host of different genres, including adult [[fantasy]], children's fantasy, science fiction, [[Horror fiction|horror]], [[Gothic fiction|Gothic]] horror, Gothic romance, and historical fiction. Her series of interconnected tales called ''[[Tales from the Flat Earth|The Flat-Earth Cycle]]'', beginning with ''Night's Master'' and ''Death's Master'', is similar in scope and breadth to [[Jack Vance]]'s ''[[The Dying Earth]]''.<ref name="haut">{{cite book|author=Mavis Haut|title =The hidden library of Tanith Lee: themes and subtexts from Dionysos to the immortal gene|publisher =Wildside Press LLC|year =2001|isbn =978-0-7864-1085-9|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XmOSHrtlBK8C}}</ref>

''Night's Master'' contains allegorical tales involving Azhrarn, a demonic prince who kidnaps and raises a beautiful boy and separates him from the sorrow of the real world. Eventually, the boy wants to know more about the earth, and asks to be returned, setting off a series of encounters between Azhrarn and mankind, some horrific and some positive. Later tales are loosely based on [[Babylonian mythology]]. In the science fiction ''Four-BEE'' series, Lee explores youth culture and identity in a society which grants eternally young teenagers complete freedom. They are even killed and receive new bodies, gender and/or identity over and over again. Lee has also written a historical novel with ''The Gods are Thirsty'', set during the [[French Revolution]].<ref name="haut" /><br />During the late 1980s she published three collections - ''Dreams of Dark and Light'' (1986), ''Women as Demons'' (1989) and ''The Forests of the Night'' (1989).<ref name="Tanith" />

A large part of Lee's output was children's fantasy, which has spanned her career from ''The Dragon Hoard'' in 1971 to the more recent ''The Claidi Journals'' containing ''Wolf Tower'', ''Wolf Star'', ''Wolf Queen'' and ''Wolf Wing'' in the late 1990s and early 2000s.<ref name="holley">{{cite book|author=Pam Spencer Holley|title =Quick and Popular Reads for Teens|publisher =ALA Editions|year =2009|page=146|isbn =978-0-8389-3577-4|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=a1s36QUsvLcC&pg=PA146}}</ref>

Lee was published by various imprints, particularly depending on whether she is offering adult fiction or children's fantasy. Her earlier children's fantasy novels were published in hardcover by Macmillan UK and subsequently printed as paperbacks in the US often by DAW, with occasional hardcovers by St. Martin's Press. Some of her work was only printed in paperback, mainly in the US by DAW in the 1970s to the early 1980s. She has received some small press treatment, such as the Arkham House edition of short stories ''Dreams of Dark and Light: The Great Short Fiction of Tanith Lee'' in 1986, and in the first "Night Visions" instalment published by Dark Harvest.<ref name="schweltzer" />

== Writing style ==
Lee's style is frequently remarked upon for its use of rich [[poetic prose]] and striking [[Imagery (literature)|imagery]].<ref name="haut" /> Critics describe her style as weird, lush, vibrant, exotic, erotic, rich, elegant, perverse, and darkly beautiful.<ref name="Gidney2">{{cite web | url= http://www.morbidoutlook.com/nonfiction/articles/2005_03_tanithlee.html | title= Delirium's Mistress: The Weird & Beautiful Fiction of Tanith Lee | author= Craig L. Gidney| date= March 2005 | publisher= Morbid Outlook | access-date= 15 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="boskovich">{{cite web|url=http://weirdfictionreview.com/2012/09/weirdfictionreview-coms-101-weird-writers-10-tanith-lee/|title=101 Weird Writers: Tanith Lee.|author=Desirina Boskovich|date=3 September 2011|publisher=Weird Fiction Review|access-date=16 October 2012}}</ref> The technique she used is very descriptive and poetic to match the themes she used in her mythical stories.<ref name="review">{{cite web|url=http://nerdredefined.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/two-reviews-thor-2011-and-nights-master-by-tanith-lee/|title=Two Reviews: Thor (2011) and Night's Master by Tanith Lee|date=30 September 2012|publisher=Wordpress|access-date=16 October 2012}}</ref> She was praised for her ability to balance her weird style with the challenges of writing a faraway world,<ref name="Flood">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/aug/27/fantasy-death-master-tanith-lee|title=World of Fantasy: Death's Master by Tanith Lee.|author=Alison Flood|date=27 August 2010|work=The Guardian|access-date=16 October 2012}}</ref> but some critics counter that her style is not always easy on the reader; she sometimes leaves the reader with unanswered questions.<ref name="review"/>

== Themes ==
Lee's writing frequently featured nonconformist interpretations of [[fairy tales]], [[Vampire literature|vampire stories]], [[myth]]s, and the fantasy genre;<ref name="haut" /> as well as themes of [[feminism]] and [[Human sexuality|sexuality]].<ref name="reid">{{cite book|author=Robin Anne Reid|title =Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy: Overviews|publisher =ABC-CLIO|year =2009|pages=38, 199, 219|isbn =978-1-4391-5014-6|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=jKr0jWY8FLkC}}</ref><ref name="fernandez">{{cite web|url=http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/harris/StudentProjects/Student_FairyTales/WebProject/Bios/Tanith%20Lee.htm|title=Tanith Lee|author=Angel Fernandez|year=2003|publisher=Modern and Traditional Fairy Tales, San José State University|access-date=25 July 2011}}</ref> She also wrote [[lesbian fiction]] under the pseudonym Esther Garber.<ref name="haase">{{cite book|author=Donald Haase|title =The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales: G-P|publisher =Greenwood Publishing Group|year =2008|pages=568–569|isbn =978-0-313-33443-6|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=-sj5cJz0_OsC&pg=PA558}}</ref> Other than feminism and sexuality, Lee used a wide range of other themes in her stories. From 1975 to 1980, she began writing Gothic science fiction; her first Gothic novel "Sabella or the Bloodstone" features themes of loneliness and fear.<ref name="Gidney2" /> Lee's most celebrated story "Elle Est Trois", which examines the relationship between self-destruction and creativity "has themes of psychosis and sexuality, the subjugation of women, and the persuasive power of myth interwoven through it". Myth is again apparent (along with [[Race (human classification)|race]]) in her stories "The Storm Lord", "Anackire", and "The White Serpent".<ref name="haut" /> Three unique horror series were produced by Lee in the '90s; the first story, ''[[The Book of the Damned (Tanith Lee)|The Book of the Damned]]'', features themes of body thievery and shape-shifting. Themes of [[homophobia]], [[racism]], and [[sexism]] are seen in Lee's sequence ''The Blood Opera'', and ''The Venus Cycle'' features themes of love, loss, and revenge. Her collection ''Disturbed By Her Song'' features themes of [[eroticism]], despair, isolation, and the pressure of an unforgiving and unwelcoming society.<ref name = "Mandelo">{{cite web| url= http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/09/queering-sff-new-booksdisturbed-by-her-song-by-tanith-lee | title= Queering SFF: New Books-Disturbed by Her Song by Tanith Lee| author= Mandelo, Lee| date= 20 September 2010| publisher= Tor.com| access-date= 15 October 2012}}</ref> These themes reoccur in her 1976 novel ''[[Don't Bite the Sun]]'' where the characters are involved in a very erotic lifestyle and the protagonist experiences despair. Eroticism shows up again in her novel "Death's Master" which examines the childhood origins of eroticism and the "later conflicts that arise from it". The sequel to ''Don't Bite the Sun'', ''[[Drinking Sapphire Wine]]'', is thematically similar to her other works, in that it features themes of Death and renewal, sexuality, and love. The theme of recognition also appears in ''Drinking Sapphire Wine'', where the characters are forced to recognize others and themselves in a world where physical form is so readily alterable.<ref name="haut" />

== Influences ==
Tanith Lee was influenced by multiple genres, including other writers, music, movies, and "small things".<ref name="Innsmouth">{{cite web|url= http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=3360|title= Tanith Lee Interview |author= Administrator |date=17 November 2009|publisher= Innsmouth Free Press|access-date=15 October 2012}} - An interview with Tanith Lee</ref> Her [[Flat Earth Series]] was inspired by a game she played with her mother; some of her other works are influenced by fairy tales her mother told her. Much of her work comes from "small things" rather than major inspirations.<ref name="Spotlight">{{cite web|url= http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/new/new-nonfiction/author-spotlight-tanith-lee-2/|title= Author Spotlight: Tanith Lee |author= T.J. McIntyre |date=March 2011|publisher= Fantasy Magazine |access-date=15 October 2012}} - An interview with Tanith Lee</ref>

=== Authors ===
Lee was inspired by writers and playwrights, including [[Graham Greene]], [[Rebecca West]], [[Elizabeth Bowen]], [[Jack Vance]], [[Fritz Leiber]], [[Theodore Sturgeon]], [[Angela Carter]], [[Jane Gaskell]], [[Charles Dickens]], [[William Shakespeare]], [[William Blake]], [[Anton Chekov]], [[Harold Pinter]], [[Tennessee Williams]], [[Arthur Miller]], [[Henrik Ibsen|Ibsen]], [[August Strindberg]], [[Ivan Turgenev]], [[Ivan Bunin]], [[Henry James|James]], [[Rosemary Sutcliff]], [[Mary Renault]], [[Jean Rhys]], [[John Fowles]], [[John le Carré]], [[Brontë family]], [[E.M. Forster]], [[W. Somerset Maugham]], [[Isabel Allende]], [[Margaret Atwood]], [[Ruth Rendell]], [[Lawrence Durrell]], Elroy Flecker, and [[Ted Hughes]].<ref name="Desire">{{cite web |url= http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/536440-the-object-of-desire-our-interview-with-tanith.html |title= The Object of Desire &ndash; Our Interview with Tanith Lee - Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: Forums |author= Teresa Edgerton |date= November 2004 |publisher= SFF Chronicles |access-date= 15 October 2012 |archive-date= 3 December 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121203072926/http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/536440-the-object-of-desire-our-interview-with-tanith.html |url-status= dead }} - Our interview with Tanith Lee</ref> Lee considered [[Virginia Woolf]] and [[C.S. Lewis]] to be influential on her from a young age.<ref name="Locus" />

=== Other genres ===
Lee was influenced by painters, movies, television, and music. She cites [[Sergei Prokofiev]], [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]], [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (whose symphonies influenced certain scenes in Anackire), [[George Frideric Handel]], [[Annie Lennox]] and [[Johnny Cash]] as musical influences. Film influences include ''[[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben-Hur]]'', ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'' (with [[Vivien Leigh]] and [[Claude Rains]]), Coppola's ''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 film)|Dracula]]'', The ''[[Brotherhood of the Wolf]]'' (subtitled version), Olivier's ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]''. The various [[Bernard Quatermass|Quatermass]] TV series and films inspired Lee, along with the films ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' (1956), [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'' (1957) and ''[[Plunkett & Macleane]]'' (1999). The TV version of [[Georg Büchner]]'s play ''[[Danton's Death]]'' (1978), inspired her to write her French historical novel. The painters that have inspired her include [[Vincent van Gogh]], Cotman, [[J. M. W. Turner]], [[Gustav Klimt]], Rousseau, [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Sandro Botticelli]], [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]], and several pre-Raphaelites.<ref name="Locus" /><ref name="Innsmouth" />

==Bibliography==
{{Main|Tanith Lee bibliography}}

== Awards ==
'''Nebula Awards'''
* 1975: ''The Birthgrave'' (nominated, best novel)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Fictions |first=© 2025 Science |last2=SFWA® |first2=Fantasy Writers Association |last3=Fiction |first3=Nebula Awards® are registered trademarks of Science |last4=America |first4=Fantasy Writers of |last5=SFWA |first5=Inc Opinions expressed on this web site are not necessarily those of |title=Tanith Lee |url=https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nominees/tanith-lee/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=The Nebula Awards® |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 1980: ''Red As Blood'' (nominated, best short story)<ref name=":0" />

'''World Fantasy Awards'''<ref>{{cite web|author=World Fantasy Convention|title=Award Winners and Nominees|url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html/|access-date=4 February 2011|archive-date=1 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201074405/http://worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1979: ''Night's Master'' (nominated, best novel)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nominees {{!}} World Fantasy Convention |url=https://worldfantasy.org/awards/nominees/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 1983: ''The Gorgon'' (winner, best short story)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moreno-Garcia |first=Silvia |date=2025-03-30 |title=The Essential Tanith Lee |url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/tanith-lee-books.html |access-date=2025-04-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* 1984: ''Elle Est Trois, (La Mort)'' (winner, best short story)<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=1984: The 10th World Fantasy Convention℠ {{!}} World Fantasy Convention |url=https://worldfantasy.org/1984-the-10th-world-fantasy-convention/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 1984: ''Nunc Dimittis'' (nominated, best novella)<ref name=":1" />
* 1984: ''Red As Blood, or, Tales From The Sisters Grimmer'' (nominated, best anthology/collection)<ref name=":1" />
* 1985: ''Night Visions 1'' (nominated, best anthology/collection)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Nominees {{!}} World Fantasy Convention |url=https://worldfantasy.org/awards/nominees/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 1987: ''Dreams of Dark And Light'' (nominated, best anthology/collection)<ref name=":2" />
* 1988: ''Night's Sorceries'' (nominated, best anthology/collection)<ref name=":2" />
* 1999: ''Scarlet And Gold'' (nominated, best novella)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The SF Site: World Fantasy Award Nominees |url=https://www.sfsite.com/09a/wfa88.htm |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.sfsite.com}}</ref>
* 2006: ''Uous'' (nominated, best novella)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Locus Online News: World Fantasy Awards finalists |url=https://www.locusmag.com/2006/News/08_WfaFinalists.html |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.locusmag.com}}</ref>
* 2013: Life Achievement Award<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/11/2013-world-fantasy-award-winners |title=Announcing the 2013 World Fantasy Award Winners |publisher=Tor.com |date=3 November 2013 |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref>

'''World Horror Convention''' 
* 2009: Grand Master Award<ref>Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 2 June 2006. Web. 13 October 2015.</ref>

'''British Fantasy Awards'''
* 1979: ''Quest for the White Witch'' (nominated, best novel)<ref>{{Cite web |title=SFE: Lee, Tanith |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/lee_tanith |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=sf-encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
* 1980: ''Death's Master'' (winner, best novel)<ref>Hardy, Graham. "August Derleth Award." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 October 2014. Web. 13 October 2015.</ref>
* 1980: ''Red As Blood'' (nominated, best short story<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=sfadb : Tanith Lee Awards |url=https://www.sfadb.com/Tanith_Lee |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=www.sfadb.com}}</ref>)
* 1981: ''Kill The Dead'' (nominated, best novel)<ref name=":3" />
* 1999: ''Jedella Ghost'' (nominated, best short story)<ref name=":3" />
* 2000: ''Where Does The Town Go at Night?'' (nominated, best short story)<ref name=":3" />

'''[[23rd Lambda Literary Awards|Lambda Awards]]'''
* 2010: ''Disturbed by Her Song'' (nominated, best LGBT speculative fiction)[https://locusmag.com/2011/03/2011-lambda-awards-sffh-shortlist/]

'''[[Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award#Infinity Award|Infinity Award]]'''
* 2024: Posthumous lifetime achievement award<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sfwa.org/2024/03/12/tanith-lee-announced-as-2024-sfwa-infinity-award-recipient/ |title=Tanith Lee Announced as 2024 SFWA Infinity Award Recipient |publisher=SFWA |date=12 March 2024 |access-date=12 March 2024}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|25em}}

==Further reading==
* Barron, Neil, ed. ''[[Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction]]'' (5th ed.). (Libraries Unlimited, 2004) {{ISBN|1-59158-171-0}}.
* [[John Clute|Clute, John]] and Grant, John. ''[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]]'' (2nd US edition). New York: St Martin's Griffin, 1999. {{ISBN|0-312-19869-8}}. (Paperback)
* Clute, John. ''Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia''. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1995. {{ISBN|0-7513-0202-3}}.
* Clute, John, and [[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]], eds., ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]''. St Albans, Herts, UK: Granada Publishing, 1979. {{ISBN|0-586-05380-8}}.
* Clute, John, and Peter Nicholls, eds., ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''. New York: St Martin's Press, 1995. {{ISBN|0-312-13486-X}}.
* [[Thomas M. Disch|Disch, Thomas M.]] ''The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of''. Touchstone, 1998.
* Reginald, Robert. ''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975–1991''. Detroit, MI/Washington, DC/London: Gale Research, 1992. {{ISBN|0-8103-1825-3}}.
* Westfahl, Gary, ed. ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders'' (three volumes). Greenwood Press, 2005.
* Wolfe, Gary K. ''Critical Terms for Science Fiction and Fantasy: A Glossary and Guide to Scholarship''. Greenwood Press, 1986. {{ISBN|0-313-22981-3}}.

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.daughterofthenight.com/ Daughter of the Night] – annotated Tanith Lee bibliography
* [http://voyageronline.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/tanith-lee-on-the-silver-metal-lover Tanith Lee on ''The Silver Metal Lover'' (1981)] – 2009 account by Lee
* [http://www.iblist.com/author.php?id=354 Biography] on the Internet Book List
* {{isfdb name|id=Tanith_Lee|name=Tanith Lee}}
* {{LCAuth|n79041851|Tanith Lee|71|ue}}

{{Tanith Lee}}
{{Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement}}
{{World Fantasy Award Best Short Fiction}}
{{World Fantasy Award Life Achievement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Tanith}}
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