Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Who is Teresa Nielsen Hayden?

Teresa Nielsen Hayden is an American science fiction editor, fanzine writer, essayist, and teacher. She is a consulting editor for Tor Books

. She has also worked for Federated Media Publishing, where in 2007 she revived the comment section for the blog Boing Boing. Nielsen Hayden has been nominated for Hugo Awards five times.

Born Teresa Nielsen, she grew up in a Mormon household in Mesa, Arizona, but was excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1980 for her support of the Equal Rights Amendment. In her youth, she served as a page in the Arizona House of Representatives. She appended Hayden to her name upon marrying the former Patrick Hayden in 1979; he also took her name, becoming Patrick Nielsen Hayden. The two of them were active members of science fiction fandom and collaborated on various fanzines, including the Hugo-nominated Izzard.

In 1985, she and her husband were TransAtlantic Fan Fund delegates to Europe for Eastercon. Over the next few years, the Nielsen Haydens published at least three TAFF trip reports. From 1985 to 1989, she served on the editorial board of The Little Magazine, a poetry magazine.