Mark Clifton (1906–1963) was an American science fiction writer, the co-winner of the second

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 ...

for best novel. He began publishing in May 1952 with the widely anthologized story "What Have I Done?".

Series

About half of his work falls into two series: the "Bossy" series, about a computer with artificial intelligence, was written either alone or in collaboration with Alex Apostolides or Frank Riley; and the "Ralph Kennedy" series, which is more comical, and was written mostly solo, including the novel ''When They Come From Space'', although there was one collaboration with Apostolides. Clifton gained his greatest success with his novel ''

They'd Rather Be Right ''They'd Rather Be Right'' (also known as ''The Forever Machine'') is a science fiction novel by American writers Mark Clifton and Frank Riley. Plot Two professors create an advanced cybernetic brain, which they call "Bossy." Bossy can "optimis ...

'' (also known as ''The Forever Machine''), co-written with Riley, which was serialized in ''

Astounding ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...

'' during 1954, and which was awarded the

"Star Bright"

Clifton's other most popular short story is "Star Bright," the first of three appearances in

Horace Gold Horace Leonard Gold (April 26, 1914 – February 21, 1996) was an American science fiction writer and editor. Born in Canada, Gold moved to the United States at the age of two. He was most noted for bringing an innovative and fresh approach to ...

's ''

Galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

'' (July 1952), about a super-intelligent toddler with psychic powers. From Clifton's correspondence we know that Gold "editorially savaged" the story, which appeared in severely truncated or altered form. The story has been compared favorably to Kuttner and Moore's "

Mimsy Were the Borogoves "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" is a science fiction short story by Lewis Padgett (a pseudonym of American writers Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore), originally published in the February 1943 issue of '' Astounding Science Fiction Magazine''.. It was judge ...

," which was published in ''Astounding'' magazine nine years earlier.

Personal life

Clifton worked for many years as a personnel manager and interviewed "over 200,000" people according to a personal letter he wrote to

Judith Merril Judith Josephine Grossman (January 21, 1923 – September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be wid ...

, quoted in ''The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton''. This experience formed much of Clifton's attitude about the delusions people have of themselves, but also the greatness of which they are capable.

Innovation

Barry N. Malzberg Barry Nathaniel Malzberg (born July 24, 1939) is an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy. Biography Malzberg originated from a Jewish family and graduated from Syracuse University in 1960. He worked as an investi ...

wrote in ''The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton'' that "Clifton was an innovator in the early 1950s and such an impressive innovator that his approach has become standard among science fiction writers. He used the common themes of science fiction -- alien invasion, expanding technology, revolution against political theocracy, and space colonization -- but unlike any writer before him, he imposed upon these standard themes the full range of sophisticated psychological insight." Clifton's fame ebbed quickly, and he received the 2010 Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award for unjust obscurity.

Bibliography

"Do Unto Others"
'' If'', June 1958

References

External links

* * * *
Star Bright
Radio adaptation, as performed on the

X Minus One ''X Minus One'' is an American half-hour science fiction radio drama series that was broadcast from April 24, 1955, to January 9, 1958, in various timeslots on NBC. Known for high production values in adapting stories from the leading American a ...

radio show, available for free download.
Star Bright
The novella Star Bright available for free online reading. *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton, Mark 1906 births 1963 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers American male novelists American science fiction writers American male short story writers Hugo Award-winning writers People from Philadelphia