Wolfgang Jeschke (19 November 1936 – 10 June 2015) was a German

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 ...

author and editor at

Heyne Verlag The Heyne Verlag (formerly Wilhelm Heyne Verlag) is a German publisher based in Munich, which was founded in Dresden in 1934 and sold to Axel Springer in 2000. In 2004 it became part of Random House. Heyne was one of the largest publishing houses ...

. In 1987, he won the Harrison Award for international achievements in science fiction.

Biography

Jeschke was born in 1936 in

Děčín Děčín (; german: Tetschen, 1942–1945: ''Tetschen–Bodenbach'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It is the 7th largest municipality in the country by area. Administrative parts D ...

(then in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, now in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

). After the

expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and deportations of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II. During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, th ...

after World War II, he grew up in

Asperg Asperg () is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Asperg was established by the County Palatine of Tübingen, whose ruling house had a cadet named Asperg, around a preexisting castle. The town and castle ...

near

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

. After graduating from high school, he trained as a

toolmaker Tool and die makers are highly skilled crafters working in the manufacturing industries. Variations on the name include tool maker, toolmaker, die maker, diemaker, mold maker, moldmaker or tool jig and die-maker depending on which area of concent ...

and worked in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

. In 1959, he went back to complete the and studied German, English literature, and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. He completed a publishing internship at the publisher

C.H. Beck Verlag C. H. BECK oHG, doing business as Publishers C. H. Beck (german: Verlag C. H. Beck), is a German publisher with its headquarters in Munich and a branch office in Frankfurt. The company was established in 1763. Historically, its headquarte ...

. In 1969, he was hired as editorial assistant for the Kindler literature encyclopedia, and later became an editor. In 1970, author

Herbert W. Franke Herbert W. Franke (14 May 1927 – 16 July 2022) was an Austrian scientist and writer. ''Die Zeit'' calls him "the most prominent German writing Science Fiction author". He is also one of the important early computer artists (and collectors), cr ...

offered a science fiction novel; the publisher remembered Jeschke's interest in science fiction and asked him for his opinion. The result was ''Science Fiction für Kenner'' (''Science Fiction for Connoisseurs'') under the imprint , which included not only Franke's novel, , but also Jeschke's own

short story 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 ...

collection, . This imprint published a number of important authors in German for the first time, including

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...

Thomas M. Disch Thomas Michael Disch (February 2, 1940 – July 4, 2008) was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nomination ...

, and

Brian W. Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for ...

. In late 1972, Jeschke became science fiction consultant and editor at

. After Franke's departure in 1979, Jeschke was the sole science fiction editor at Heyne, where he remained until his retirement in 2002. He continued to live in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, where he continued to work on the ''Science Fiction Jahrbuch'' (''Science Fiction Yearbook''), with .

Work

Jeschke was one of the first members of the Science Fiction Club Deutschland (SFCD), founded in 1955. His first short stories appeared in

fanzines A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

and semi-professional publications, and together with Peter Noga, he published his own fanzine, ''Ad Astra''. He wrote little during his years as consultant and editor, and his body of work remains relatively small. His science fiction is known for its themes of time travel and paradox.Profile
sf-encyclopedia.com; accessed 19 June 2015. His first novel, '' Der letzte Tag der Schöpfung'' (''The Last Day of Creation''), was widely translated. He also wrote

radio plays Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

Bibliography

Novels

* 1981 Der letzte Tag der Schöpfung (

The Last Day of Creation ''The Last Day of Creation'' (in original german: Der letzte Tag der Schöpfung) is a science fiction novel by German writer Wolfgang Jeschke, first published in 1981. The English translation by Gertrud Mander was published in 1982 by Century in ...

) * 1993 Midas oder Die Auferstehung des Fleisches (''Midas Or The Rising of the Flesh''; UK edition 1990: ''Midas''. ) * 1997 Meamones Auge (''Meamone's Eye'') * 1997 Osiris Land (''Land of Osiris''; US edition ''The Land of Osiris'' in „Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine“, March 1985) * 2005 Das Cusanus-Spiel oder Ein abendländliches Kaleidoskop (''The Cusanus Game'',

Deutscher Science Fiction Preis Deutscher Science Fiction Preis is a German literary award. Together with the Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis, it is one of the most prestigious awards for German science fiction literature. The award was established in 1985 by the , a German Science Fiction ...

) * 2013 Dschiheads

Short fiction

* 1959 Die Anderen (''The Others'') * 1970 Der Zeiter (rev. Edition 1978) * 1993 Schlechte Nachrichten aus dem Vatikan (''Bad News from the Vatican'')

Collected Stories

* 2006 Der Zeiter (expanded edition; foreword by

Andreas Eschbach Andreas Eschbach (born 15 September 1959, in Ulm) is a German writer, primarily of science fiction. His stories that are not clearly in the SF genre usually feature elements of the fantastic. Biography Eschbach studied aerospace engineering ...

) * 2008 Partner fürs Leben (including ''Meamones Auge''; foreword by

Franz Rottensteiner Franz Rottensteiner (born 18 January 1942) is an Austrian publisher and critic in the fields of science fiction and speculative fiction in general. Biography Rottensteiner was born in Waidmannsfeld, Lower Austria. He studied journalism, Englis ...

) * 2011 Orte der Erinnerung (including ''Osiris Land''; foreword by

)

Non-fiction

* 2003 Marsfieber (''Mars Fever'', with

Rainer Eisfeld Rainer Eisfeld (born 4 April 1941, in Berlin) is a German political scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Osnabrück. Education and career Eisfeld received an economics degree from the University of Saarbrücken in 1966 and his P ...

)

Anthologies/Magazines

* Heyne Science Fiction Jahresband. ("Heyne Annual Science Fiction Anthology", 21 volumes published 1980–2000) * Heyne Science Fiction Magazin. ("Heyne Science Fiction Magazine", 12 issues published 1981–1985) * Bibliothek der Science Fiction Literatur. ("Library of Science Fiction Literature", 101 volumes published 1981–2001) * Das Science Fiction Jahr. ("The Science Fiction Year of ...", 34 volumes as of April 2020, on-going (from ...of 1986 to ...of 2019) * Science Fiction Story Reader. (21 issues published 1974–1984, six of them edited by Herbert W. Franke) * Titan. (23 issues published 1976–1985)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeschke, Wolfgang 1936 births 2015 deaths People from Děčín German science fiction writers German male non-fiction writers German speculative fiction critics German speculative fiction editors Czechoslovak people of German descent Naturalized citizens of Germany Writers from Munich Deutscher Fantasy Preis winners