| Orson Scott Card  Born: 24-Aug-1951
Birthplace: Richland, WA
Gender: Male
Religion: Mormon
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Novelist
Party Affiliation: Democratic Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Ender's Game Author Orson Scott Card holds the distinction of being the only author thus far to win both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards for best novel two years in a row, a feat he accomplished with his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). In addition to Ender's Game and sequels, Card is known for his popular alternate history fantasies series about Alvin Maker. Card has additionally authored plays, poetry, contemporary fiction, and historical novels about early figures in the Mormon Church, as well as articles and columns on various topics.
Orson Scott Card was born on 24 August 1951 in Richland, Washington. Descended from Mormon pioneers, he was named for his grandfather Orson Rega Card. His namesake was the son of Charles Ora Card, founder of the Mormon colony in Cardston, Canada and husband to Zina Young Card, a daughter of Brigham Young. Orson Scott Card spent his childhood variously in Santa Clara, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah, where his father, Willard, attended college. When Willard Card took a position at Arizona State University, in 1964, the family relocated to Mesa, Arizona.
It was here, during a junior high debate in the heart of Goldwater country that the young Card volunteered to do what no one else would: represent the political views of Lyndon B. Johnson. It was an act which foreshadowed Card's later philosophy: that one's enemy has an agenda and moral belief structure that is good and worthy when looked at from their point of view, although the corollary to this might be that the cruelty and ferocity of one's enemy (and indeed their very enmity) can take us by surprise if we have failed to glimpse their point of view. Examples of these principles can be found throughout the Ender saga as well as in his Homecoming series.
Another shaping influence dating from this same period was his burgeoning interest in history -- fueled by reading about the Mormon pioneers, the lives and times depicted in the Bible stories, and various other texts from American and European history. His interest in history eventually led him to Brigham Young University where, entering on a Presidential Scholarship, he began studying archaeology. But Card's family had a long involvement with stage plays, performed under the auspices of the Church, and he himself soon was spending enough time in the theatre department to warrant a change in major.
His impetus to write came while observing another student's adaptation of a story from the Book of Mormon. When Card realized that he had a better idea of how to capture the crux of the story, he realized that he should try writing his own script. The idea proved successful, leading to a number of locally popular plays. It was writing for the stage, or more to the point, writing for an audience, that Card credits with helping him develop his craft and certainly he stands out for his ability to develop interesting scenes and interesting relationships among its characters. Also, the emphasis on moral themes and the struggle to make moral choices amidst chaos, upheaval, and persecution has developed into another strong thread in Card's work -- an emphasis well grounded in the tales of early Mormon pioneers, and thus in his early plays.
In addition to his numerous novels, plays, and other works Orson Scott Card is the author of two books on the craft of writing: Character and Viewpoint and the Hugo Award winning How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Card can be found online at his Hatrack River site as well as through his online column for the Ornery American, Civilization Watch (previously published in the Rhinoceros Times, Greensboro, NC).He is also the publisher of the online poetry magazine Strong Verse. Card has been involved in various writing courses and workshops, including Clarion and Clarion West, and he currently teaches writing and literature at Southern Virginia University.
Orson Scott Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card, and their youngest child, Zina Margaret. They have a son, Michael Geoffrey and another daughter, Emily Janice. Another son, Charles Benjamin, died soon after his seventeenth birthday. He is buried beside their third daughter, Erin Louisa, who died at birth.
Wife: Kristine (three daughters, two sons)
Daughter: Emily
Daughter: Zina Margaret
Daughter: Erin Louisa
Son: Charles "Charlie Ben"
Son: Geoffrey
University: Brigham Young University (1975)
University: University of Utah (1981)
Hugo 1986 Best Novel, for Ender's Game
Nebula 1986 Best Novel, for Ender's Game
Hugo 1987 Best Novel, for Speaker for the Dead
Nebula 1987 Best Novel, for Speaker for the Dead
World Fantasy Award 1987 Best Novella, for Hatrack River
Hugo 1988 Best Novella, for Eye for Eye
Hugo 1991 Best Non-Fiction Book, for How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
John McCain 2008
National Organization for Marriage Board of Directors (2009-)
Religious Mission: Mormon Brazil
Risk Factors: Homophobia
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Terms and Conditions May Apply (22-Jan-2013) · Himself
The Nature of Existence (Apr-2009)
Official Website:
http://www.hatrack.com/
Author of books:
Songmaster (1979, Dell)
Hart's Hope (1983, Berkley)
The Worthing Chronicle (1983, Ace)
Woman of Destiny (1984, Berkley)
Saints (1988, Tor)
Ender's Game (1985, Tor)
Speaker for the Dead (1986, Tor)
Seventh Son (1987, Tor)
Wyrms (1987, Tor)
Red Prophet (1988, Tor)
Treason (1988, St. Martin's Press)
Prentice Alvin (1989, Tor)
The Folk of the Fringe (1989, Tor)
The Abyss (1989, Pocket:with James Cameron)
Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card (1990, Tor)
Xenocide (1991, Tor)
The Memory of Earth (1992, Tor)
Lost Boys (1992, Harper Collins)
The Call of Earth (1992, Tor)
The Ships of Earth (1994, Tor)
Lovelock (1994, Tor:with Kathryn H. Kidd)
Earthfall (1995, Tor)
Earthborn (1995, Tor)
Alvin Journeyman (1995, Tor)
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996, Tor)
Children of the Mind (1996, Tor)
Treasure Box (1996, Harper Collins)
Stone Tables (1997, Deseret Books)
Homebody (1998, Harper Collins)
Heartfire (1998, Tor)
Ender's Shadow (1999, Tor)
Magic Mirror (1999, Gibbs Smith Publisher)
Sarah (2000, Shadow Mountain)
Shadow of the Hegemon (2001, Tor)
Rebekah (2001, Shadow Mountain)
Shadow Puppets (2002, Tor)
The Crystal City (2003, Tor)
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