James Gunn (author)
| James Edwin Gunn | |
|---|---|
 2005 photo |
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| Born | 1923 (age 88–89) Kansas City, Missouri, United States |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education | Bachelor of Science in Journalism, Masters of Arts in English |
| Alma mater | University of Kansas |
| Period | 1948 - present |
| Genres | Science fiction |
| Subjects | Isaac Asimov |
| Notable work(s) | The Road to Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction |
| Notable award(s) | Awards |
James Edwin Gunn (born 1923 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work from the 1960s and 70s is considered his most significant fiction, and his Road to Science Fiction collections are considered his most important scholarly books. He won a Hugo Award for a non-fiction book in 1983 for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction.[1] He has been named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
James Gunn is a professor emeritus of English, and the Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, both at the University of Kansas.[2]
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[edit] Biography
Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.
He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America[3] from 1971–1972 and was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980–1982. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.
[edit] Writing
Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.
In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.
[edit] Adaptations
His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
- NBC radio's X Minus One.
- Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night".
- ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series The Immortal in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals.
- An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".[4]
[edit] Bibliography (partial)
[edit] Fiction
- This Fortress World (1955)
- Star Bridge (with Jack Williamson, 1955)
- Station in Space (stories, 1958)
- The Joy Makers (1961)
- The Immortals (1964)
- Future Imperfect (stories, 1964)
- The Witching Hour (stories, 1970)
- The Listeners (1972)
- The Burning (1972)
- Some Dreams Are Nightmares (stories, 1974)
- The End of the Dreams (stories, 1975)
- The Magicians (1976)
- Kampus (1977)
- The Dreamers (1981)
- Crisis! (1986)
- The Millennium Blues (2001)
- Human Voices (2002, Five Star Books)
- The Immortals (revised and expanded edition), (2004, Pocket Books)
- Gift from the Stars (2005, Easton Press)
[edit] Nonfiction
- Alternate worlds: the illustrated history of science fiction (1975) Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-89104-049-8
- Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (1982), Scarecrow Press, 2nd ed (1996) ISBN 0-8108-3129-5[1]
- Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction (with Matthew Candelaria) (2005, Scarecrow Press)
- Inside Science Fiction (2006), Scarecrow Press
- Reading Science Fiction (with Matthew Candelaria and Marleen S. Barr) (2008, Palgrave Macmillan)
Anthologies include The Road to Science Fiction (now a total of 6 volumes, from 1977 to 1998).
[edit] Awards
- 1976 Science Fiction Research Association Pilgrim Award for lifetime achievement in science fiction scholarship
- 1976 World Science Fiction Convention Special Award for Alternate Worlds
- 1983 Hugo Award for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction
- 1992 Eaton Award for lifetime achievement
- 2007 Nebula Awards Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in science fiction
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b "Isaac Asimov Novel Wins a Hugo Award". The New York Times. Associated Press. September 6, 1983. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/06/books/isaac-asimov-novel-wins-a-hugo-award.html. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ Gunn biography at CSSF
- ^ The End of the Dreams, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, Book Club Edition, 1975 (Jacket cover)
- ^ (Russian) State Fund of Television and Radio Programs
[edit] References
- Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. pp. 195–195. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.
[edit] Further reading
James E. Gunn (2004) The Listeners, BenBella Books, ISBN 1-932100-12-1 (Carl Sagan stated about The Listeners: "One of the very best fictional portrayals of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence ever written.")
[edit] External links
- James E. Gunn at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- James Gunn - science fiction Grand Master
- James Gunn's official biography - from the Center for the Study of Science Fiction (CSSF)
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- Essays about science fiction by James Gunn, at CSSF
