Henry Kenneth Bulmer (14 January 1921 – 16 December 2005) was a British author, primarily of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

Life

Born in London, he married Pamela Buckmaster on 7 March 1953. They had one son and two daughters, and they divorced in 1981. Bulmer lived in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

where he died on 16 December 2005.

Career in science fiction

A prolific writer, Bulmer penned over 160 novels and numerous short stories, both under his real name and various pseudonyms. For instance, his long-running

Dray Prescot series The ''Dray Prescot series'' is a sequence of fifty-two science fiction novels and a number of associated short stories of the subgenre generally classified as sword and planet, written by British author Kenneth Bulmer under the pseudonym of Ala ...

planetary romance Planetary romance is a subgenre of science fiction in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Some planetary romances take place ag ...

s was initially published as Alan Burt Akers, and later as by the first-person protagonist of the series, Prescot himself. Bulmer's works are popular in translation, particularly Germany, to the extent that in some cases they have been published only in German editions, with the original English-language versions remaining unpublished. Bulmer did some work in comics, writing

Jet-Ace Logan Jet-Ace Logan was a British comic strip that appeared in '' The Comet'' (1956–1959) and ''Tiger'' (1959–1968),Denis Gifford, ''Encyclopedia of Comic Characters'', Longman, 1987, p. 111 '' Thriller Picture Library'', and the 1969 and ...

stories for ''

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

'', scripts for ''

War Picture Library ''War Picture Library'' was a British 64-page "pocket library" war comic magazine title published by Amalgamated Press/Fleetway (now owned by IPC Magazines) for 2103 issues. Each issue featured a complete story, beginning on 1 September 1958 wi ...

'', '' Lion'' and '' Valiant'', and helping to create the British comics antihero The Steel Claw.Obituary: Ken Bulmer
''The Independent'', 20 December 2005 Paul Grist's comics series ''

Jack Staff Jack Staff is a British superhero created by comic book writer/artist Paul Grist. Billed as "Britain's Greatest Hero", it is known for being in the style of an anthology title and for its multi-linear plotlines. He first saw print in comics pu ...

'' acknowledges this in the real name of its character The Claw, Ben Kulmer. Bulmer was also active in

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

, including travelling to the United States in 1955 as the

TransAtlantic Fan Fund The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, often known as ''TAFF'', is a crowdfunding project created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular members of science fiction fandom familiar to fans on both sides of the ocean, acro ...

(TAFF) delegate. In the 1970s he edited nine issues of the '' New Writings in Science Fiction'' anthology series in succession to

John Carnell Edward John Carnell (8 April 1912 – 23 March 1972) was a British science fiction editor known for editing '' New Worlds'' in 1946 then from 1949 to 1963. He also edited ''Science Fantasy'' from the 1950s. After the magazines were sold to anoth ...

, who originated the series.

Pen names and imaginary biographies

Bulmer's pseudonyms include Alan Burt Akers, Frank Brandon, Rupert Clinton, Ernest Corley, Peter Green, Adam Hardy, Philip Kent, Bruno Krauss, Karl Maras, Manning Norvil, Chesman Scot, Nelson Sherwood, Richard Silver, H. Philip Stratford and Tully Zetford. Kenneth Johns was a collective pseudonym used for a collaboration with author John Newman. Some of Bulmer's works were published along with the works of other authors under "

house names A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

" (collective pseudonyms) Ken Blake (for a series of tie-ins with the 1970s television programme '' The Professionals''), Arthur Frazier, Neil Langholm, Charles R. Pike, and Andrew Quiller. He also ghost-wrote books for

Barry Sadler Barry Allen Sadler (November 1, 1940 – November 5, 1989) was an American soldier, singer/songwriter, and author. Sadler served as a Green Beret medic, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. He served in the Vietnam War from late December 1964 ...

. In some cases, Bulmer used not only a different name but also included in the books a detailed imaginary biography giving specific personal details substantially different from the true ones. For example, the Viking series published under the name "Neil Langholm" included biographical details intended to create the impression that the series – as appropriate to its subject – was written by a Dane:

Bibliography

References

External links

*
A wiki dedicated to Kenneth Bulmer's Kregen

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060509061057/http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/SF-Archives/Taff/reports/hkb1.html ''TAFF Tales'', Bulmer's report of his 1955 TAFF trip
Obituary
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 20 December 2005
Sword and Planet Fiction, by Charles Allen Gramlich and Stephen James Servello
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulmer, Kenneth 1921 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English novelists British comics writers British male novelists British male short story writers English fantasy writers English historical novelists English science fiction writers Science fiction fans 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English male writers