Born on January 24, 1911, Catherine Lucille Moore was one of the first women to write in the science fiction and fantasy genres, helping to pave the way for other female writers of speculative fiction. Her first story, “Shambleau,” was published in the November 1933 issue of Weird Tales and introduced readers to Northwest Smith, an interplanetary adventurer who appeared eleven times in “The Unique Magazine.”
About a year later, Moore’s Jirel of Joiry also debuted in Weird Tales. Appearing in a half-dozen stories between 1934 and 1939, Jirel was one of the first female protagonists of sword-and-sorcery fiction.
In 1936, Catherine met Henry Kuttner, another pulp-era writer. They married in 1940. Afterward, Moore and Kuttner collaborated on many stories, often using the pseudonyms “Lewis Padgett” or “Laurence O’Donnell.” Together, they created such classics as “Clash by Night,” “Mimsy Were the Borogroves,” “The Twonky,” and “Vintage Season.” From 1940 on, most of Moore’s efforts, collaborative or otherwise, appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction.
Gnome Press published C. L. Moore’s first book, Judgment Night, a collection of stories from Astounding, in 1952. Her most recent book, a collection by Moore and Henry Kuttner entitled Detour to Otherness, was published in 2010 by Haffner Press.
Catherine Moore died on April 4, 1987.
C. L. Moore’s first Jirel of Joiry story, “The Black God’s Kiss,” was originally published in the October 1934 issue of Weird Tales, with cover art by Margaret Brundage.
