Sharon N. Farber is a Hugo Award–nominated US writer who also uses the pen name “S. N. Dyer” and is best known for stories written in the 1970s and 1980s. She has written in many different genres, publishing mystery fiction as well. Farber has also collaborated with several writers, including James Killus, David Stout, and Susanna Jacobson. Her birth date is unknown.
Her first published story, “The Great Dormitory Mystery,” appeared in 1976 in the anthology Sherlock Holmes Through Time and Space, and her work has appeared frequently in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, including her most recent story, “My Cat” (2001). She also has written two story series, each with a female protagonist: Ann Atomic and Billy Jean. She has been a finalist four times for the Hugo Award, in the category of Best Fan Writer, with her most recent nomination in 1997. Little more is known about Farber.
“Passing as a Flower in the City of the Dead” (1984) is an excellent example of mideighties Humanist science fiction—and a forgotten gem from an underrated writer.