Phyllis Gotlieb

The only child of a father who owned a movie theater, Toronto-born Phyllis Gotlieb (b. Bloom) originally wanted to be a poet, though she is now best-known for her speculative fiction. Writing science fiction in earnest, she ignited her career with the publication of Sunburst (1964). She went on to write Why Should I Have All the Grief? (1969), a novel about the Holocaust and its effects on Jewish life in Canada, as well as several poetry collections and an analysis of the work of poet A. M. Klein. A testament to her achievement, the Sunburst Award for best speculative fiction book of the year was named in honor of Gotlieb’s novel.