Sonya Dorman (1924–2005), born Sonya Gloria Hess, was an American writer and poet who became a significant figure in the "New Wave" science fiction movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Born in New York City, Dorman published approximately two dozen science fiction short stories between 1961 and 1980. Alongside contemporaries like Joanna Russ and Carol Emshwiller, she was recognized as part of a groundbreaking cohort of women writers who utilized the genre to explore feminist themes and challenge traditional gender roles.\n\nDorman's most celebrated science fiction story, "When I Was Miss Dow" (1966), employs the "woman-as-alien" trope to critique the societal constraints and expectations imposed by gender binaries. The story received a James Tiptree, Jr. retrospective award nomination and has been widely anthologized. Her experimental and often provocative style was also showcased in her story "Go, Go, Go, Said the Bird," which appeared in Harlan Ellison's seminal 1967 anthology Dangerous Visions. In 1978, three of her short stories were compiled into the young adult novel Planet Patrol.\n\nBeyond science fiction, Dorman was an accomplished poet who published several collections, including Poems (1970), Palace of Earth (1984), and Carrying What You Love (1996). Her poetic work often intersected with her speculative fiction interests; her poem "Corruption of Metals" won the Rhysling Award from the Science Fiction Poetry Association in 1978. She also published fiction in mainstream periodicals such as Redbook and The Saturday Evening Post, demonstrating her versatility across literary forms.
