''Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers'' is a book by Curtis C. Smith published in October 1981 on

science fiction authors 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 Abne ...

in the 20th century. It is the third in the

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

's ''Twentieth-Century Writers of the English Language'' series with the others being ''Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers'' and ''Twentieth-Century Children's Writers''.

Background

Curtis C. Smith (Associate Professor of Humanities at

University of Houston–Clear Lake The University of Houston–Clear Lake (UHCL) is a public university in Pasadena and Houston, Texas, with branch campuses in Pearland and Texas Medical Center. It is part of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1971, UHCL had ...

Clear Lake City Clear Lake City is a master-planned community located in southeast Harris County, Texas, within the Bay Area of Greater Houston. It is the second-largest master-planned community in Houston – behind Kingwood. The majority of the communit ...

) worked on the book for more than three years assisted by 20 advisers and 146 contributors. All living authors were sent a questionnaire for biographical information and that information was cross-checked.

Content

In the first edition, there are 540 entries for

Anglo-American Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...

writers, 35 additional foreign language writers, and five "major fantasy writers." Anglo-American writer entries contain a biographical sketch besides including the address of the author or sometimes their literary agent. The bibliographies lists SF books, other publications, and published bibliographies of the author.

Reception

''Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers'' was mainly received positively by critics but was critiqued for its bibliographical errors. Likewise, many gawked at its original $65 price. ''Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review''s

Neil Barron Richard Neil Barron (23 March 1934 - 5 September 2010) was a science fiction bibliographer and scholar. His training was as a librarian. He is perhaps best known for his book '' Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction''. He won the ...

reviewed ''Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers'' with "the bibliography which follows is relatively thorough." ''

Foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

''s

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 ...

critiqued it with "I for one feel a sense of complex emotional and intellectual betrayal on contemplating the book." ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award' ...

''s Jeff Frane critiqued the errors as missing, miscategorized, or mistitled entries but reviewed it favorably with "In spite of its flaws, it's a useful volume, one worth gaining access to somehow." ''

Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

''s

Baird Searles William Baird Searles (1934–1993) was a science fiction author and critic. He was best known for his long running review columns for the magazines '' Asimov's'' (reviewing books), '' Amazing'', and ''Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (reviewing films, ...

commented "In all, I judge it to be a source of much information even for the non-academic general reader" but disclaimed that he contributed three articles and was listed as an adviser.

References

External links

*{{isfdb title, id=103357, title=Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers 1981 non-fiction books Books about writers Science fiction books