H. G. Wells Society.
Early life
Priest was born in
Cheadle,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, England in 1943.
As a child, Priest spent some time holidaying in the English county of
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
. Here he explored the ancient hillfort of
Maiden Castle, near
Dorchester, which he would later use as the location for the novel
A Dream of Wessex.
Career
Priest's first story, "The Run", was published in 1966.
Formerly an accountant and audit clerk, he became a full-time writer in 1968.
One of his early novels, ''
The Affirmation
''The Affirmation'' is a 1981 science fiction novel by British writer Christopher Priest. The book follows the story of Peter Sinclair, who begins creating fantasy fiction, only to find his life merging with that of protagonist. The novel even ...
'', concerns a traumatized man who apparently flips into a delusional world in which he experiences a lengthy voyage to an
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
of exotic islands. This setting featured in many of Priest's short stories, which raises the question of whether the Dream Archipelago is actually a fantasy. The state of mind depicted in this novel is similar to that of the delusional fantasy-prone psychoanalytic patient ("Kirk Allen") in Robert Lindner's ''The Fifty-Minute Hour'', or
Jack London
John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
's tortured prisoner in ''
The Star Rover
''The Star Rover'' is a novel by American writer Jack London published in 1915 (published in the United Kingdom as ''The Jacket''). It is science fiction, and involves both mysticism and reincarnation.
Plot summary
A framing story is told in the ...
''.
Priest also dealt with delusional alternate realities in ''
A Dream of Wessex'', in which a group of experimenters for a British government project are brain-wired to a hypnosis machine and jointly participate in an imaginary but as-real-as-real future in a vacation island off the coast of a Sovietized Britain.
His most recent novels are ''
The Islanders'' (2011), set in the Dream Archipelago, and ''The Adjacent'' (2013), a multi-strand narrative with recurring characters.
Of his narrative's plot twists, Priest told an interviewer in 1995, "my shocks are based on a sudden devastating reversal of what the reader knows or believes."
Tie-in work
Priest wrote the
tie-in
A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prop ...
novel to accompany the 1999
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation ...
movie ''
eXistenZ'', which contains themes of the novels ''
A Dream of Wessex'' and ''
The Extremes
''The Extremes'' is a 1998 science fiction novel by the English writer Christopher Priest. The novel received the BSFA Award.
Plot introduction
Teresa Simons is drawn to a quiet English seaside town in the aftermath of an apparently motiveles ...
''. Such themes include the question of the extent to which we can trust what we believe to be reality and our memories.
Priest was approached to write stories for the 18th and 19th seasons of ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''. The first, "Sealed Orders", was a political thriller based on
Gallifrey
Gallifrey () is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the original home world of the Time Lords, the civilisation to which the protagonist, The Doct ...
commissioned by script editor
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...
; it was eventually abandoned due to script problems and replaced with "
Warriors' Gate
''Warriors' Gate'' is the fifth serial of the 18th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was written by Stephen Gallagher and was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1981.
The ...
". The second, "The Enemy Within", was also eventually abandoned due to script problems and what Priest perceived as insulting treatment after he was asked to modify the script to include the death of
Adric
Adric is a fictional character played by Matthew Waterhouse in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was a young native of the planet Alzarius, which exists in the parallel universe of E-Space. A compan ...
. It was replaced by "
Earthshock
''Earthshock'' is the sixth serial of the 19th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 8 to 16 March 1982. This serial marks the final regular appe ...
". Priest received payment while ''Doctor Who'' producer
John Nathan-Turner
John Nathan-Turner (''né'' Turner; 12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002) was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He was also the final producer of the series' firs ...
and script editor
Eric Saward
Eric Saward (; born 9 December 1944) is a British radio scriptwriter who worked for the BBC as a television script editor and screenwriter on the science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' from 1982 until 1986. He wrote the stories '' The Visitation' ...
were forced to pen a letter of apology for the treatment of the writer. This falling-out soured the attitude of the production office to the use of established literary authors, and no more were commissioned until
Neil Gaiman authored the episode "
The Doctor's Wife
"The Doctor's Wife" is the fourth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was broadcast on 14 May 2011 in the United Kingdom, and later the same day in the United States. It was writ ...
" in 2011.
A
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
of his novel ''
The Prestige
''The Prestige'' is a 1995 fantasy novel by British writer Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. It is epistolary in structure; that is, it purports to be a collection of ...
'' was released on 20 October 2006. It was directed by
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&nb ...
and starred
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including ...
and
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
. Despite differences between the novel and screenplay, Nolan was reportedly so concerned the denouement be kept a surprise that he blocked plans for a lucrative US tie-in edition of the book.
Pseudonyms
* Priest uses the pseudonyms John Luther Novak and Colin Wedgelock, usually for movie novelizations. As well as the ''eXistenZ'' novelization (which undermined the pseudonym by including Priest's biography on the pre-title page), he has novelised the movies ''
Mona Lisa
The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...
'' (as John Luther Novak) and ''
Short Circuit
A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...
'' (as Colin Wedgelock).
* Priest has co-operated with fellow British science fiction author
David Langford
David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...
on various enterprises under the Ansible brand.
Other writing
Priest has written for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' since 2002, largely obituaries of such figures as
Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley (July 16, 1928 – December 9, 2005) was an American writer. First published in the science-fiction magazines of the 1950s, his many quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist, and broadly comical.
...
,
Stanislaw Lem Stanislav and variants may refer to:
People
*Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.)
Places
* Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine
* Stanislaus County, Cali ...
,
Jack Williamson
John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American list of science fiction authors, science fiction writer, often called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of t ...
,
Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually d ...
,
John Christopher
Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012), was a British writer, best known for science fiction written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels ''The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ...
and many more.
Awards and honours
Priest has won the
BSFA award
The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, m ...
for the best novel four times: in 1974 for ''Inverted World'';
in 1998 for ''The Extremes'';
in 2002 for ''The Separation''
and in 2011 for ''The Islanders''.
He has won the
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...
for Fiction and the
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...
(for ''The Prestige''
).
He won the BSFA award for short fiction in 1979 for the short story "Palely Loitering";
and has been nominated for
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
s in the categories of
Best Novel,
Best Novella,
Best Novelette, and
Best Non-Fiction Book (this last for ''The Book on the Edge of Forever'' (also known as ''Last Deadloss Visions''), an exploration of the unpublished ''
Last Dangerous Visions'' anthology). ''
The Space Machine
''The Space Machine'', subtitled ''A Scientific Romance'', is a science fiction novel written by English writer Christopher Priest.
First published in 1976, it follows the travels of protagonists Edward Turnbull and Amelia Fitzgibbon. The pair ...
'' won the International SF prize in the 1977
Ditmar Award
The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise a ...
Priest's 1979 essay "The Making of the Lesbian Horse" (published as a
Novacon
Novacon is an annual science fiction convention, usually held each November in the English Midlands. Launched in 1971, it has been hosted by the Birmingham Science Fiction Group since 1972.
History
The first Novacon was organised by the University ...
chapbook) takes a humorous look at the roots of his acclaimed novel ''Inverted World''. He was guest of honour at
Novacon 9 in 1979 and
Novacon 30 in 2000, and at the
63rd World Science Fiction Convention
The 63rd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as ''Interaction'', was held on 4–8 August 2005 at the SEC Centre with the attached SEC Armadillo and Moat House Hotel in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Parties took place at the Hilt ...
in 2005.
In 1983 Priest was named one of the 20
Granta Best of Young British Novelists. In 1988 he won the
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for ''
The Glamour
''The Glamour'' is the ninth and final album by the Comsat Angels, released in 1995 on RPM Records and on Caroline Records in the US. In 2007, Renascent reissued the album as a double CD with seven additional tracks.
This was the Comsat Angel ...
'' as Best Foreign Fiction Book.
Between 7 November and 7 December 2007, the
Chelsea College of Art and Design
Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation.
It offers further education, further ...
had an exhibition in its gallery Chelsea Space inspired by Priest's novel ''
The Affirmation
''The Affirmation'' is a 1981 science fiction novel by British writer Christopher Priest. The book follows the story of Peter Sinclair, who begins creating fantasy fiction, only to find his life merging with that of protagonist. The novel even ...
''. It followed "themes of personal history and memory (which) through the lens of a more antagonistic and critical form of interpretation, aims to point towards an overtly positive viewpoint on contemporary art practice over any traditional melancholy fixation".
Personal life
Priest lived in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, but now lives on
Isle of Bute
The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault.
Formerly a constituent is ...
. He was married to writer
Lisa Tuttle
Lisa Gracia Tuttle (born September 16, 1952) is an American-born science fiction, fantasy, and horror author. She has published more than a dozen novels, seven short story collections, and several non-fiction titles, including a reference book o ...
from 1981 to 1987 and to
Leigh Kennedy from 1988 to 2011,
with whom he had twins. He currently lives with
speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...
writer
Nina Allan
Nina Allan (born 27 May 1966) is a British writer of speculative fiction. She has published four collections of short stories, a novella and two novels. Her stories have appeared in the magazines '' Interzone'', ''Black Static'' and ''Crimewave ...
.
Bibliography
Novels
*''Indoctrinaire''. London: Faber and Faber, 1970.
*''
Fugue for a Darkening Island''. London: Faber and Faber, 1972. Campbell nominee, 1973.
*''
The Inverted World''. London: Faber and Faber, 1974. BSFA winner, 1974,
Hugo Award nominee, 1975.
*''
The Space Machine
''The Space Machine'', subtitled ''A Scientific Romance'', is a science fiction novel written by English writer Christopher Priest.
First published in 1976, it follows the travels of protagonists Edward Turnbull and Amelia Fitzgibbon. The pair ...
''. London: Faber and Faber, 1976.
*''
A Dream of Wessex'' (US title ''The Perfect Lover''). London: Faber and Faber, 1977.
*''
The Affirmation
''The Affirmation'' is a 1981 science fiction novel by British writer Christopher Priest. The book follows the story of Peter Sinclair, who begins creating fantasy fiction, only to find his life merging with that of protagonist. The novel even ...
''. London: Faber and Faber, 1981. BSFA nominee, 1981.
*''
The Glamour
''The Glamour'' is the ninth and final album by the Comsat Angels, released in 1995 on RPM Records and on Caroline Records in the US. In 2007, Renascent reissued the album as a double CD with seven additional tracks.
This was the Comsat Angel ...
''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1984. BSFA nominee, 1984.
*''
Short Circuit
A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...
''. Sphere Books, 1986. (Film tie-in novelisation as Colin Wedgelock)
*''Mona Lisa''. Sphere Books, 1986. (Film tie-in novelisation as John Luther Novak)
*''The Quiet Woman''. London: Bloomsbury, 1990.
*''
The Prestige
''The Prestige'' is a 1995 fantasy novel by British writer Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. It is epistolary in structure; that is, it purports to be a collection of ...
''. London: Simon and Schuster, 1995. BSFA nominee, 1995;
World Fantasy Award winner,
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...
winner, Clarke Awards nominee, 1996.
*''
The Extremes
''The Extremes'' is a 1998 science fiction novel by the English writer Christopher Priest. The novel received the BSFA Award.
Plot introduction
Teresa Simons is drawn to a quiet English seaside town in the aftermath of an apparently motiveles ...
''. London: Simon and Schuster, 1998. BSFA winner, 1998;
Clarke Award nominee, 1999.
*''
eXistenZ''. Harper, 1999. (Film tie-in novelisation)
*''
The Separation''. Scribner, 2002.
Old Earth Books
Old Earth Books is a specialty publisher which specializes in out-of-print and niche books, primarily in the science fiction genre. The name comes from the Cordwainer Smith ''Lords of the Instrumentality'' series. It is located in Baltimore, MD. I ...
2005—BSFA winner, 2002;
Clark Award winner, Campbell Award nominee, 2003.
*''
The Islanders''. Gollancz, 2011. BSFA winner, 2011; Campbell Award winner, 2012.
*''The Adjacent''. Gollancz, 20 June 2013.
*''The Gradual''. Gollancz, 2016.
*''An American Story''. Gollancz, 2018.
*''The Evidence''. Gollancz, 2020.
*''Expect Me Tomorrow''. Gollancz, 2022.
Short story collections
*''Real-time World''. Faber and Faber, 1975. Reissued 2009.
*''
An Infinite Summer''. Faber and Faber, 1979. Three stories reissued in ''The Dream Archipelago''.
*''The Dream Archipelago''. Earthlight, 1999. Reissued 2009.
*''Ersatz Wines – Instructive Short Stories'' GrimGrin Studio, 2008. Anthology of early works.
*''Episodes'', Gollancz, 2019.
Short story in anthology, also as editor
* ''Anticipations''. Faber and Faber, 1978.
:* Watson, Ian. ''Indhold:The Very Slow Time Machine''
:* Sheckley, Robert. ''Is That What People Do?''
:* Shaw, Bob. ''Amphitheatre''
:* Priest, Christopher. ''The Negation''
:* Harrison, Harry. ''The Greening Of The Green''
:* Disch, Thomas M.. ''Mutability''
:* Ballard, J.G.. ''One Afternoon At Utah Beach''
:* Aldiss, Brian W.. ''A Chinese Perspective''
Screenplay
*''The Stooge''. 2010 or 2011.
Selected non-fiction
*''Your Book of Film-Making''. London: Faber and Faber, 1974.
*''The Making of the Lesbian Horse''.
Novacon
Novacon is an annual science fiction convention, usually held each November in the English Midlands. Launched in 1971, it has been hosted by the Birmingham Science Fiction Group since 1972.
History
The first Novacon was organised by the University ...
9 for the
Birmingham Science Fiction Group
The Birmingham Science Fiction Group (BSFG), also known as the "Brum Group", held its first meeting on 25 June 1971. It runs regular meetings in Birmingham, England, where SF fans can meet one another and professionals in the field in a friendly ...
, 1979. Priest attended as the Guest of Honour.
*''The Book on the Edge of Forever''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 1993.
* "Christopher Priest's Top 10 Slipstream Books". 2003. An essay for London's ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', listing ten seminal novels of the
slipstream genre
The slipstream genre is a term denoting forms of speculative fiction that do not remain in conventional boundaries of genre and narrative, directly extending from the experimentation of the New Wave science fiction movement while also borrowing f ...
, including works by
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass med ...
,
Angela Carter
Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...
,
Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...
,
Steve Erickson
Stephen Michael Erickson is an American novelist. The author of influential works such as ''Days Between Stations'', '' Tours of the Black Clock'' and '' Zeroville'', he is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, the American Academy of Arts a ...
, and
Steven Millhauser
Steven Millhauser (born August 3, 1943) is an American novelist and short story writer. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel '' Martin Dressler''.
Life and career
Millhauser was born in New York City, grew up in Connecticut, ...
.
*"Foreword" to Stephen E. Andrews' and Nick Rennison's ''100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels''. London: A&C Black Academic and Professional/Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006. .
*''The Magic – The Story of a Film''. Hastings: GrimGrin Studio, 2008.
*"''
La Jetée
''La Jetée'' () is a 1962 French science fiction featurette directed by Chris Marker and associated with the Left Bank artistic movement. Constructed almost entirely from still photos, it tells the story of a post-nuclear war experiment in tim ...
''". Essay in ''Cinema Futura: Essays on Favourite Science Fiction Movies'', edited by
Mark Morris. PS Publishing, 2010. .
References
External links
*
*
London Calling Interview with Christopher Priest*
* His stor
at
Sci Fiction
''Sci Fiction'' was an online magazine which ran from 2000 to 2005. At one time, it was the leading online science fiction magazine. Published by Syfy and edited by Ellen Datlow, the work won multiple awards before it was discontinued.
History ...
1995 interview by David Langford ''
Ansible
An ansible is a category of fictional devices or technology capable of near-instantaneous or faster-than-light communication. It can send and receive messages to and from a corresponding device over any distance or obstacle whatsoever with no d ...
'' (includes brief summaries and comments by Priest on most of his novels to date)
* Hi
Guest of Honour speechat the 2005
World Science Fiction Convention
Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
Interview de Christopher Priestin Actusf.com, 2000
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Priest, Christopher
1943 births
Living people
English science fiction writers
English horror writers
World Fantasy Award-winning writers
People from Cheadle, Greater Manchester
James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients
20th-century English novelists
21st-century British novelists
English male novelists