Colin Greenland (born 17 May 1954 in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

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 ...

, England) is a British

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 unive ...

writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

competition. His best-known novel is ''

Take Back Plenty ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), is a novel by British writer Colin Greenland, which won both major British science fiction awards, the 1990 British SF Association award and the 1991 Arthur C. Clarke Award,Clute and Nicholls 1995, p. 525. as well a ...

'' (1990), winner of both major British science fiction awards, the 1990 British SF Association award and the 1991

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

, as well as being a nominee for the 1992

Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

for the best original paperback published that year in the United States.

Biography

Colin Greenland attended

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, eventually earning a BA, MA (1978), and

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

(1981). Greenland's first published book, which was based on his DPhil dissertation, was a critical look at the New Wave entitled '' The Entropy Exhibition: Michael Moorcock and the British 'New Wave' in Science Fiction'' (1983). His most successful fictional work is the '' Plenty series'' that starts with ''Take Back Plenty'' and continues with ''Seasons of Plenty'' (1995), ''The Plenty Principle'' (1997) and ''Mother of Plenty'' (1998). Besides his work on fiction, Greenland has continued to write non-fiction books and has been active in the

Science Fiction Foundation The Science Fiction Foundation is a Registered Charity established 1970 in England by George Hay and others. Its purpose is to "promote science fiction and bring together those who read, write, study, teach, research or archive science fiction i ...

, as well as serving on the editorial committee of '' Interzone''. He has been a guest speaker at four separate

Microcon Microcon was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held annually at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, England since 1982, usually over the first weekend in March. It is organised by the Exeter University Science Fiction and ...

s: 1988, 1989, 1993 and 1994. His partner is the novelist

Susanna Clarke Susanna Mary Clarke (born 1 November 1959) is an English author known for her debut novel ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' (2004), a Hugo Award-winning alternative history. Clarke began ''Jonathan Strange'' in 1993 and worked on it during her ...

, with whom he has lived since 1996. He is good friends with

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

, and is frequently cited among Gaiman's acknowledgments pages.

Bibliography

Novels

* Daybreak seriesReginald 1992, p. 410. ** ''

Daybreak on a Different Mountain ''Daybreak on a Different Mountain'' is a novel by Colin Greenland published in 1984. Plot summary ''Daybreak on a Different Mountain'' is a novel in which a fighter and a mystical poet leave their sealed city to go on a quest. Reception Dave La ...

''. London: Unwin Hyman, 1984. ** ''

The Hour of the Thin Ox ''The Hour of the Thin Ox'' is a novel by Colin Greenland published in 1987. Plot summary ''The Hour of the Thin Ox'' is a novel in which balloons, primitive guns, and low-tech biological warfare are used. Reception Dave Langford reviewed ''The H ...

''. London: Unwin Hyman, 1987. ** ''Other Voices''. London: Unwin Hyman, 1988. * Plenty series ** ''

''. London: Unwin Hyman, 1990 (paper). ** ''Seasons of Plenty''. London: HarperCollins, 1995. ** ''Mother of Plenty''. London: HarperCollins Voyager, 1998 (paper). * ''Harm's Way''. London: HarperCollins, 1993. * ''Spiritfeather''. London: Orion, 2000 (paper). * ''Finding Helen''. London: Black Swan, 2002 (paper).

Collections

* ''The Plenty Principle''. London: HarperCollins Voyager, 1997 (paper).

Non-fiction

* '' The Entropy Exhibition: Michael Moorcock and the British 'New Wave' in Science Fiction''. London: Routledge & Keegan, 1983. * ''Storm Warnings: Science Fiction Confronts the Future'', with Eric S. Rabkin and George E. Slusser. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987. * ''Michael Moorcock: Death is No Obstacle''. Manchester: Savoy Books, 1992.

As editor

*''Interzone: The First Anthology'', with

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ...

and

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of ''Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whic ...

. London: Everyman Fiction, 1985.

References

Sources

* Clute, John and Peter Nicholls. ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

''. New York: St. Martin's Griffin 1993 (2nd edition 1995). . * Reginald, Robert. ''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991''. Detroit, Washington DC, London: Gale Research, Inc., 1992. .

External links

Colin Greenland – an infinity plus profile
– retrieved 12 September 2005

– retrieved 12 September 2005 *

– retrieved 12 September 2005
P-CON III: Guest Profile: Colin Greenland
– retrieved 12 September 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenland, Colin 1954 births Living people English science fiction writers People from Dover, Kent English male novelists