Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Bohnhoff has written several dozen short stories and novelettes in most of the well known publishing magazines: Analog magazine, Interzone (magazine), Amazing Stories, Realms of Fantasy, Jim Baen's Universe, and others. Many of them have a recognizable relationship to religions — several have a significant basis in relation to the Baháʼí Faith and a few use Pagan (Spirit Gate), Catholic (Infinite Space, Infinite God), and Muslim (The Sons of the Fathers) characters or situations. Two brief examples include "Home is Where..." in which a pair of time traveling historians from the future employ an unusual conflict resolution method when their homesick kids go on strike during a Cold War visit to a US Air Force Base, and "The White Dog" wherein a lady comes to terms with her shocking albino appearance through the allegorical totem used by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá — a little white dog. The story "The White Dog" was a finalist for the 1999 BSFA award. "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" was included in the E-book anthology Infinite Sky, Infinite God which won the 2007 EPPIE award. The story "O, Pioneer" was a finalist for the 2006 Sidewise Award for Alternate History.

The Meri series revolves around the period of transition among the people who live on a peninsula. The chapters are headed with quotes from scripture presented as those of the religion of the people but many are in fact quotes from Baháʼí scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Dhammapada and other Buddhist sacred texts, the Qurʼan and the Bible. The first and second book also carry an acknowledgement of Baháʼu'lláh, a Local Spiritual Assembly and Baháʼí community. The plot involves a progression on the understanding of a people in relation to the role and position of women. Unknown to the people of the story, women have always been instrumental to their religion as agents of God and a chosen few have always acted as the personification of the Spirit of God, or "Meri". The first book focuses on a young girl destined to take on that role. While similar to other stories of the triumph of women it has several unique qualities most particularly a central male character being her benefactor and teacher and not an obstacle she has to overcome. The second book focuses on the return of the prior "Meri" who takes it as her mission as the head of the renewed religion to promulgate the new paradigm of the role of women. The third book focuses on her transition to being a head of state but wrestling with several of the same issues from among as well as beyond her people. Another novel she has written called The Spirit Gate has many of the same features but is written in a different context — a fantasy work set in a historical time and place of roughly AD 1000 in the area today of Poland and Ukraine where two forms of Christianity (Eastern Orthodox and Catholic) and Islam met the pagan older religion. Baháʼí themes, especially in the respect granted other religions, are largely identified with the older religion. Several of these themes are also in Bohnhoff's shorter writings — "Infinite Sky, Infinite God" highlights a Catholic future. Several short stories center on women — like "The Doctor's Wife" and "The White Dog" and both have reference to a religion. Reprints of some of Bohnhoff's works containing references to Baha'i themes are collected in the Juxta Press release, _I Loved Thy Creation_.

Mrs. and Mr. Bohnhoff have given concerts at various science fiction conventions and conference for many years and have won awards doing so. They have attended conventions Norwescon, Worldcon, LepreCon, Consonance, OryCon, the Ohio Valley Filk Fest and others. They have produced a quartet of CDs through their own production company. They also play often at the local Baháʼí events and Centers. Maya also participated in a panel discussion "Intro to Filk - Who are those people sing weird songs?" at the 1997 OryCon and "Steal That Tune - Filkers have borrowed tunes from folk sources, rock singers, Broadway shows, you name it. And not all of the results are parodies...." with her husband and others.

In addition to her shorter works Bohnhoff has written several full-length novels which elaborate on her interests in examining/promoting feminist and religious concepts in science fiction, fantasy and related genres. Her best known novel may be The Meri which became a trilogy and has been published twice (1992 and 2005) and was a finalist for Locus magazine's 1993 award for Best First Novel Bohnhoff has worked with internet development of online content with her editorship of Hackoff.com — a blook by Tom Evslin. In 2018 Pegasus Books published The Antiquities Hunter: A Gina Miyoko Mystery, the first in a series of private detective novels.

Bohnhoff, mother of three, has been married since 1981 to Jeff Bohnhoff. The couple and their children are members of the Baháʼí Faith. She began her interest in science fiction after watching The Day the Earth Stood Still as a child. Her mother was a singer and music was a predominant passion over writing, through her high school and college days.

Though Bohnhoff's interest in music as a career stretches back to her high school years and her mother, her avocation as a musician was started by 1980 when she was a member of a band called "Talisman" playing a mix of original progressive rock and top 40 and got some airtime on KZAP, a radio station in Sacramento, California. The Bonhoffs later reformed as part the band "Syntax" through which they released a cassette tape "Silent Planet" in 1990 — "Syntax" using a substantial amount of MIDI based music. They were introduced to filk music in 1991 and predominantly use acoustic guitars in their live shows. In 1991 the Bohnhoffs had been invited to a science fiction convention for Maya's "Hand-me Down Town" publication in Analog magazine because Maya was up for the Nebula Award. At a party for the event Jeff had the opportunity to a jam session with founding filk musicians Dr. Jane Robinson, Cynthia McQuillin and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. After other conventions mostly for Maya's writing, Jeff and Maya were spontaneously invited to play music at the 1995 Baycon by Kathy Mar. It was after a long evening of music that they wrote "Knights in White Satin". Filk and parody have become their main musical presence, though now they perform through their own production company, MysticFig and as a duo predominantly.

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff (born 1954) is an American sci-fi and fantasy author.