Pat Cadigan

Pat Cadigan (born September 10, 1953) is an American science fiction author, whose work is most often identified with the cyberpunk movement. Her novels and short stories all share a common theme of exploring the relationship between the human mind and technology.

Early years

Cadigan was born in Schenectady, New York, and grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. She was educated at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in theater and the University of Kansas (KU), where she studied science fiction and science fiction writing under author and editor Prof. James Gunn.

Cadigan met her first husband Rufus Cadigan while in college; they divorced shortly after she graduated from KU in 1975. That same year Cadigan joined the convention committee for MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention being held in Kansas City, Missouri, over the 1976 Labor Day weekend; she served on the committee as the convention's guest liaison to writer guest of honor Robert A. Heinlein, while also working for fantasy writer Tom Reamy at his Nickelodeon Graphics typesetting and graphic design firm. Following Reamy's death in 1977, Cadigan went to work as a writer for Kansas City's Hallmark Cards. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she also edited the small press fantasy and science fiction magazines Chacal and later Shayol with her second husband, Arnie Fenner.