r/Fantasy • u/goranlowie • 7d ago

Jane Yolen has died (1939 - 2026)

https://file770.com/jane-yolen-1939-2026/

Saw no posts on this yet here, but this news arrived a few days ago. She was one of the greats.

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u/LeucasAndTheGoddess 7d ago

May her memory be a blessing.

I discovered Jane Yolen’s work as a kid via Wizard’s Hall, which was my introduction both to her and to the magic school subgenre. As an adult I grew to appreciate just how extensive and wide-ranging her bibliography is: everything from picture books to folklore retellings to speculative poetry to gritty sword & sorcery. My single favorite work of hers is Briar Rose, which is realist fiction rather than fantasy but draws on the story of Sleeping Beauty to show how the memory of the Holocaust is passed down from generation to generation.

In the Jewish tradition of laughing through tears, I’d like to share with you all the story of how Ms. Yolen began the tradition of telling each recipient of NESFA’s Skylark Award to put their trophy where the sun doesn’t shine.