Phyllis Ann Karr
American author of Arthurian and fantasy fiction.
Phyllis Ann Karr is an American author of fantasy, romance, mystery, and nonfiction, best known for her "Frostflower and Thorn" series and Arthurian works. Born July 25, 1944 in Oakland, California as Phyllis Ann Karmilowicz, she later shortened her surname to Karr, under which she married and writes. She married Clifton Alfred Hoyt on June 2, 1990 in Washburn County, Wisconsin; he died November 4, 2005 in Solon Springs, Wisconsin. She lives in Drummond, Wisconsin. Her primary literary interests include Arthurian legend, William Shakespeare, the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, and L. Frank Baum's Oz books.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Phyllis Ann Karmilowicz
- Born
- 25 July 1944
- Birthplace
- Oakland, California, U.S.
- Occupation
- Author
Facts from the source article.
Career
Phyllis Ann Karr's early works—literary articles, poetry, and fantasy and mystery short stories—began appearing in the 1970s. Her earliest work was under the pen name "Frances Lauren." Her short works have been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Weird Tales, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, The Gilbert & Sullivan Journal, The Savoyard, Library Review, Oziana, The Baum Bugle, and other journals, as well as various anthologies. Karr's first novels were romances, including Lady Susan, an expansion of the work of the same name by Jane Austen.
These were followed by a number of fantasy novels, notably the "Frostflower" books and the Arthurian whodunnit The Idylls of the Queen. Between 1986 and 2001 she published no novels, concentrating instead on shorter works. Some of her early fantasy novels have since been reissued by Wildside Press. Some of her romance novels have also appeared in Italian translation.
Her major nonfiction work is The King Arthur Companion (1983), later expanded as The Arthurian Companion (1997); the first edition the author considered unsatisfactory owing to omissions and errors committed by the publisher, and a corrected edition appeared in 2001.
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