science fiction author
This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order):
A
*Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960)
*Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954)
*Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926)
*Kōbō Abe (1924–1993)
* Robert Abernathy (1924–1990)
*Dan Abn ...
who works primarily in
short fiction
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
. He received the
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...
for Life Achievement in 2021.
Personal life
Though born in
Houston, Mississippi
Houston is a city in and one of two county seats of Chickasaw County, in northern Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,623 at the 2010 census.
History
Native American groups had long used the future Chickasaw County for millennia b ...
, Waldrop has spent most of his life in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. He moved to
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
state for several years, but has since returned to
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
. He is an avid
fly fisherman
Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...
. He is a member of the
Turkey City Writer's Workshop Turkey City Writer's Workshop is a peer-to-peer, professional science fiction writer's workshop in Texas. Founded in 1973 and still ongoing today, it was consciously modeled after the east coast Milford Writer's Workshop.Rio Hondo Writing Workshop, and has taught at the
Clarion Workshop
Clarion is a six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, United States, it was founded i ...
.
Professional life
He is a frequent attendee of
ArmadilloCon
ArmadilloCon is a science fiction convention held annually in Austin, Texas, USA, since 1979. As the second longest running science fiction convention in Texas, it is sponsored by the Fandom Association of Central Texas and is known for its empha ...
, the local science fiction convention held annually in Austin. He was the Toastmaster at the first ArmadilloCon (1979) and again at #29 in 2007; he was Guest of Honor at ArmadilloCon 5 (1983).
Waldrop was one of three writer Guests of Honor at the 1995
World Fantasy Convention
The World Fantasy Convention is an annual science fiction convention, convention of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of fantasy. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the event. Other features include an art sh ...
held in Baltimore and at
Readercon
Readercon is an annual science fiction convention, held every July in the Boston, Massachusetts area, in Burlington, Massachusetts. It was founded by Bob Colby and Eric Van in 1987 with the goal of focusing almost exclusively on science fiction/ ...
15 held in Burlington, Massachusetts, in 2003.
Waldrop was Professional Writer Guest of Honor at
Loscon
The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc., or LASFS, is a science fiction and fantasy fan society that meets in the Los Angeles area. The current meeting place can be found on thLASFS website
LASFS is the oldest continuously operating scienc ...
46 in Los Angeles, California, in 2019.
In 2004 he started writing movie reviews with
Lawrence Person
''Nova Express'' was a Hugo-nominated science fiction fanzine edited by Lawrence Person. ''Nova Express'' is named after William S. Burroughs' ''Nova Express'' and the fictional magazine ''Nova Express'' in Alan Moore's ''Watchmen
''Watchmen' ...
for ''
Locus Online
''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields ...
''.
Style
Waldrop's stories combine elements such as
alternative history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, alter ...
, American
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
, old movies (and
character actor
A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
s),
classical mythology
Classical mythology, Greco-Roman mythology, or Greek and Roman mythology is both the body of and the study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans as they are used or transformed by cultural reception. Along with philosophy and polit ...
, and
rock 'n' roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
music. His style is sometimes obscure or elliptical: ''Night of the Cooters'' is a
pastiche
A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
The War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
'' told from the perspective of a small town
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
sheriff (a homage to
Slim Pickens
Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...
) who faces a Martian cylinder crashing down near his town; "Heirs of the Perisphere" involves robotic
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
characters waking up in the far future; "Fin de Cyclé" describes the
Dreyfus affair
The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...
from the perspective of bicycle enthusiasts.
Waldrop's work is frequently out-of-print, though still available for sale on-line; several of his books have been reprinted in omnibus editions.
Several of his stories have been nominated for the genre's awards; "The Ugly Chickens" — about the extinction of the
dodo
The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The ...
— won a
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
for best novelette in 1980, and also a
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...
for Short Fiction in 1981; this is perhaps his best known work. In 2021, he won the
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...
Jake Saunders
Sir John Anthony Holt Saunders, CBE, DSO, MC (widely known as "Jake") (29 July 1917 – 4 July 2002) was chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (now HSBC Holdings plc), at a time of rapid and turbulent development of the Hong ...
, 1974) (Ballantine mass market, 1986, )
*''
Them Bones
"Them Bones" is a song by American rock band Alice in Chains. It is the opening track and the second single from their second album, ''Dirt'' (1992). "Them Bones" peaked at No. 24 on ''Billboards Mainstream Rock chart and at No. 30 on the A ...
'' (Ace, 1984, )
*'' A Dozen Tough Jobs'' (novella) (Mark V Ziesing hardcover, 1989, )
*''The Search for Tom Purdue'' (announce *''The Moone World'' (announce
Short story collections
*'' Howard Who?'' (Doubleday hardcover, 1986) (2006 trade paperback reprint from
Small Beer Press
Small Beer Press is a publisher of fantasy and literary fiction, based in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was founded by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link in 2000 and publishes novels, collections, and anthologies. It also publishes the zine ''Lady Churc ...
, )
*''All About Strange Monsters of the Recent Past'' (Ursus Imprints, signed/numbered/slipcased hardcover, 1987), (Ace mass market, 1991, ); mass-market UK edition reprinted under the title ''Strange Things In Close-Up'', 1991
*''Night of the Cooters: More Neat Stories'' (Zeising/Ursus Imprints hardcover, 1990) (Ace mass market, 1993, )
*''Going Home Again'' (Eidolon hardcover, 1997, )
*''Dream Factories and Radio Pictures'' (e-book, 2001 at http://www.electricstory.com; printed trade paperback from Wheatland Press, 2003)
*''Custer's Last Jump and Other Collaborations'' (Golden Gryphon hardcover, 2003, ) (includes Waldrop's collaborations with
Steven Utley
Steven Utley (November 10, 1948—January 12, 2013) was an American writer. He wrote poems, humorous essays and other non-fiction, and worked on comic books and cartoons, but was best known for his science fiction stories.
Biography
Utley was bor ...
,
Bruce Sterling
Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre.
Sterling's first ...
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
, and others.)
*''Heart of Whitenesse'' (Subterranean Press, hardcover, 2005, )
*''Things Will Never be the Same: Selected Short Fiction 1980-2005'' ("best of" collection from
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 ...
, 2007, , trade paperback; for 300-copy limited edition hardcover)
*''Other Worlds, Better Lives: Selected Long Fiction 1989-2003'' (
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 ...
, 2008, , trade paperback; for 300-copy signed/limited edition hardcover)
*''Horse of A Different Color: Selected Stories'' (2008-2013)
Small Beer Press
Small Beer Press is a publisher of fantasy and literary fiction, based in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was founded by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link in 2000 and publishes novels, collections, and anthologies. It also publishes the zine ''Lady Churc ...
trade paperback, )
Short stories
*"Thirty Minutes Over Broadway!" lead off story in Wild Cards I: Wild Cards, Bantam, 1986 (multiple volume ongoing series currently in print from
Tor Books
Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...
MonkeyBrain Books
MonkeyBrain Books (MonkeyBrain, Inc.) is an independent American publishing house based in Austin, Texas, specialising in books comprising both new content and reprinting online, international, or out-of-print content, which show "an academic ...
, 2006.
*"The Dead Sea-Bottom Scrolls" in ''
Old Mars
''Old Mars'' is a "retro Mars science fiction"-themed anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, published on October 8, 2013. According to the publisher Tor Books, the collection celebrates the "Golden Age of Science Fiction", an ...
'' (anthology),
Tor Books
Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...
, 2013. Nominated for a
Locus Award
The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...
.
*"
Ike at the Mike
"Ike at the Mike" is an alternate history short story by Howard Waldrop. It was first published in '' Omni'', in June 1982.
Synopsis
Decades after he decided to pursue music rather than attend West Point, an elderly Dwight Eisenhower — now a ...
*''The Soul-Catcher'' (self-published, 1967)
*''You ''Could'' Go Home Again'' ( Cheap Street signed/numbered/tray cased very limited hardcover edition, 1993)
*''Custer's Last Jump'' (with
Steven Utley
Steven Utley (November 10, 1948—January 12, 2013) was an American writer. He wrote poems, humorous essays and other non-fiction, and worked on comic books and cartoons, but was best known for his science fiction stories.
Biography
Utley was bor ...
) (
Ticonderoga Publications
Ticonderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specializes in collections of science fiction short stories.
History and current
Tico ...
, 1996)
*''Flying Saucer Rock and Roll'' ( Cheap Street signed/numbered tray cased very limited hardcover edition, 2001)
*''A Better World's in Birth!'' ( Golden Gryphon, 2003)
*''The Horse of a Different Color (You Rode In On)/The King of Where-I-Go'' (
WSFA
WSFA (channel 12) is a television station in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power, Class A television service, Class A Telemundo affiliate ...
, 2006); saddle-stitched trade paperback given out to members of the 2005
Capclave The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is the oldest science fiction club in the Washington, D.C. area. It is also one of the oldest science fiction clubs, founded in 1947 by seven fans who met at that year's Worldcon in Philadelphia, th ...
, though not printed in time to be distributed there (not available/sold separately after publication)