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Matthew De Abaitua (born 1971) is a British writer. He is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Essex.
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Matthew De Abaitua (born 1971) is a British writer. He is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Essex.
De Abaitua was born in Ormskirk, [1] Liverpool and grew up in Maghull in Merseyside. He was educated at Deyes High Comprehensive. He studied English literature at the University of York and was awarded a British Academy grant to study the creative writing master's degree at the University of East Anglia.
Between July 1994 and January 1995, he lived with the author Will Self in a cottage in Knodishall, Suffolk. He worked as an amanuensis [2] to Self. His transcript of an interview between Will Self and J. G. Ballard was published in Will Self's collection of journalism, Junk Mail (Bloomsbury, 1995). He recounted the story of this whole period in his 2018 literary memoir Self & I, [3] which was described as "erudite yet hilarious" by The Observer [4] and was shortlisted for the New Angle Prize. [5]
He was Deputy Editor of The Idler magazine from 1995-1999. His short story "Inbetween" was published in the bestselling anthology of rave fiction, Disco Biscuits. He adapted the story into a short film script that was filmed and broadcast by Channel 4 in 1999. In 2001, he wrote and presented SF:UK, [6] a low-budget documentary series on the history of science fiction for Channel 4.
He was editor of Channel 4's film website and producer of the Film4 show Movie Rush. His debut novel The Red Men was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2008. Directors Shynola adapted the first chapter of The Red Men into a short film called Dr. Easy, [7] produced by Film4 and Warp Films. His second novel IF THEN (Angry Robot, 2015) [8] explored the use of social monitoring and algorithms to replace market mechanisms in the administration of the British town of Lewes. The novel also drew upon the First World War experiences of science fiction writer Olaf Stapledon, mathematician Lewis Fry Richardson, philosopher Pierre Teilhard De Chardin and John Hargrave, the founder of the radical interwar camping movement The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift. His third novel, The Destructives (Angry Robot, 2016), [9] completes this loose trilogy of science fiction novels on consciousness and artificial intelligence. After the publication of his history and memoir The Art of Camping: The History and Practice of Sleeping Under the Stars (Hamish Hamilton, 2011), he appeared on Radio 4's The Today Programme, erecting a tent with Evan Davis. The Art of Camping was chosen as one of The Economist 's Books of the Year. [10]
Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books. He also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. Best known for his hard science fiction, Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as popular science and other non-fiction.
Science fiction 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 universes, and extraterrestrial life. It is related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers.
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of non-fiction, including biographies of other fantasy authors. He was a major figure in science fiction in the 1930s and 1940s.
Joe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.
Harry Max Harrison was an American science fiction author, known mostly for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973). Long resident in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, Harrison was involved in the foundation of the Irish Science Fiction Association, and was, with Brian Aldiss, co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin. He is best known for his work in the 1970s as editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre.
Literary fiction, mainstream fiction, non-genre fiction, serious fiction, high literature, artistic literature, and sometimes just literature, are labels that, in the book trade, refer to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre ; or, otherwise, refer to novels that are character-driven rather than plot-driven, examine the human condition, use language in an experimental or poetic fashion, or are simply considered serious art.
Shynola are a London-based directing team who have worked across live-action and animation for over twenty years. Gideon Baws (deceased), Chris Harding, Richard Kenworthy and Jason Groves formed Shynola while at art college and immediately earned recognition for their inventive work.
Science fiction is an important genre of modern Japanese literature that has strongly influenced aspects of contemporary Japanese pop culture, including anime, manga, video games, tokusatsu, and cinema.
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics. Gnome was one of the most eminent of the fan publishers of SF, producing 86 titles in its lifespan — many considered classic works of SF and Fantasy today. Gnome was important in the transitional period between Genre SF as a magazine phenomenon and its arrival in mass-market book publishing, but proved too underfunded to make the leap from fan-based publishing to the professional level. The company existed for just over a decade, ultimately failing due to inability to compete with major publishers who also started to publish science fiction. In its heyday, Gnome published many of the major SF authors, and in some cases, as with Robert E. Howard's Conan series and Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, was responsible for the manner in which their stories were collected into book form.
Lavie Tidhar is an Israeli-born writer, working across multiple genres. He has lived in the United Kingdom and South Africa for long periods of time, as well as Laos and Vanuatu. As of 2013, Tidhar has lived in London. His novel Osama won the 2012 World Fantasy Award—Novel, beating Stephen King's 11/22/63 and George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons. His novel A Man Lies Dreaming won the £5000 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, for Best British Fiction, in 2015. He won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2017, for Central Station.
Mundane science fiction (MSF) is a niche literary movement within science fiction that developed in the early 2000s, with principles codified by the "Mundane Manifesto" in 2004, signed by author Geoff Ryman and "The Clarion West 2004 Class". The movement proposes "mundane science fiction" as its own subgenre of science fiction, typically characterized by its setting on Earth or within the Solar System; a lack of interstellar travel, intergalactic travel or human contact with extraterrestrials; and a believable use of technology and science as it exists at the time the story is written or a plausible extension of existing technology. There is debate over the boundaries of MSF and over which works can be considered canonical. Rudy Rucker has noted MSF's similarities to hard science fiction and Ritch Calvin has pointed out MSF's similarities to cyberpunk. Some commentators have identified science fiction films and television series which embody the MSF ethos of near-future realism.
Artificial intelligence is a recurrent theme in science fiction, whether utopian, emphasising the potential benefits, or dystopian, emphasising the dangers.
House of Meetings, by Martin Amis, is a 2006 novel about two brothers who share a common love interest while living in a Soviet gulag during the last decade of Stalin's rule. This novel was written by Amis during a two-year-long self-imposed exile in Uruguay following the release and tepid reception afforded to his 2003 novel Yellow Dog. The writing of House of Meetings "precipitated (another) creative crisis" for Amis, which Amis reflected upon in 2010:
"You see those Posy Simmonds cartoons of people by the pool having cocktails and saying into the Dictaphone, 'On the second day, the last child died,'" he says. "And I was in Uruguay, with my beautiful wife and beautiful daughters, living a completely stressless life. So I had to do my suffering on the page and, Christ, did I do it. I was very nervous about that book."
Lyuben Dilov Ivanov, occasionally spelled Luben Dilov, Ljuben Dilov or Liuben Dilov was a Bulgarian science fiction writer of the Communist era and the author of acclaimed children's fiction and non-fiction works. He is the father of Bulgarian politician and screenwriter Lyuben Dilov Jr., who currently serves in the 49th National Assembly.
Andrey John "Andy" Remic was a British author of thrillers, science fiction and military science fiction. He was also an indie filmmaker.
Samuel R. "Chip" Delany is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction, memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society. His fiction includes Babel-17, The Einstein Intersection ; Hogg, Nova, Dhalgren, the Return to Nevèrÿon series, and Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders. His nonfiction includes Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, About Writing, and eight books of essays. He has won four Nebula awards and two Hugo Awards, and he was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2002.
Angry Robot is a British-based publishing house dedicated to producing modern adult science fiction and fantasy, or as they call it “SF, F and WTF?!?”. The Nottingham-based company first released books in the UK in 2009, and since September 2010 has simultaneously been publishing its titles in the US as well, as a distributed client of Random House. All titles are released as paperbacks and eBooks.
Clifford Donald Simak was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is associated with the pastoral science fiction subgenre.
A Gun for George is a 2011 short film written, directed by and starring Matthew Holness. It centres on Terry Finch (Holness), a down on his luck pulp-fiction crime writer who is angry at the world and haunted by the murder of his brother George by local gangsters. Finch is the author of a series of violent novelettes featuring Bob Shuter, aka 'The Reprisalizer', an urban vigilante who preys upon the criminals of east Kent.
"Living with Will Self". Review of Self&I: A Memoir of Literary Ambition in the Financial Times
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