1.
Thomas M. Disch
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Thomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction author and poet. Campbell Memorial Award, a Rhysling Award, and two Seiun Awards, among others, in the 1960s, his work began appearing in science-fiction magazines. His critically acclaimed science fiction novels, The Genocides, Camp Concentration,334, among his other nonfiction work, he wrote theatre and opera criticism for The New York Times, The Nation, and other periodicals. He also published volumes of poetry as Tom Disch. Disch committed suicide by gunshot on July 42008 in his apartment in Manhattan and his last book, The Word of God, which was written shortly before Naylor died, had just been published a few days before Dischs death. Disch was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on February 2,1940, because of a polio epidemic in 1946, his mother Helen home-schooled him for a year. As a result, he skipped from kindergarten to second grade, Dischs first formal education was at Catholic schools, which is evidenced in some of his works which contain scathing criticisms of the Catholic Church. The family moved in 1953 to St. Paul in Minnesota, in the Saint Paul public schools, Disch discovered his long-term loves of science fiction, drama, and poetry. He describes poetry as his stepping-stone to the literary world, a teacher at St. Paul Central, Jeannette Cochran, assigned 100 lines of poetry to be memorized, Disch wound up memorizing ten times as much. His early fascination continued to influence his work with poetic form, after graduating from high school in 1957, he worked a summer job as a trainee steel draftsman, just one of the many jobs on his path to becoming a writer. Saving enough to move to New York City at the age of 17, he found a Manhattan apartment and began to cast his energies in many directions. He worked as an extra at the Metropolitan Opera House in productions of Spartacus for the Bolshoi Ballet, Swan Lake for the Royal Ballet and he found work at a bookstore, then at a newspaper. At the age of 18, a penniless, friendless, gay teenager, he attempted suicide by gas oven, later that year, he enlisted in the army. Dischs incompatibility with the forces quickly resulted in a nearly three-month commitment to a mental hospital. After his discharge, Disch returned to New York and continued to pursue the arts in his own indirect way and he worked, again, in bookstores, and as a copywriter. Some of these paid off later, working as a cloak room attendant in New York theater culture allowed him to both pursue his lifelong love of drama and led to work as a magazine theater critic. Eventually, he got job with an insurance company and went to school. A brief flirtation with architecture led him to apply to Cooper Union, where he was told he got the highest score ever on their entrance exam, but dropped out after a few weeks
2.
Science fiction
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Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a literature of ideas. Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a range of subgenres and themes. Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying science fiction is what we point to when we say it, a definition echoed by author Mark C. Glassy, who argues that the definition of science fiction is like the definition of pornography, you do not know what it is, in 1970 or 1971William Atheling Jr. According to science fiction writer Robert A, rod Serlings definition is fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possible worlds or futures. Science fiction elements include, A time setting in the future, in alternative timelines, a spatial setting or scenes in outer space, on other worlds, or on subterranean earth. Characters that include aliens, mutants, androids, or humanoid robots, futuristic or plausible technology such as ray guns, teleportation machines, and humanoid computers. Scientific principles that are new or that contradict accepted physical laws, for time travel, wormholes. New and different political or social systems, e. g. utopian, dystopian, post-scarcity, paranormal abilities such as mind control, telepathy, telekinesis Other universes or dimensions and travel between them. A product of the budding Age of Reason and the development of science itself. Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Keplers work the first science fiction story and it depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earths motion is seen from there. Later, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon, more examples appeared throughout the 19th century. Wells The War of the Worlds describes an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians using tripod fighting machines equipped with advanced weaponry and it is a seminal depiction of an alien invasion of Earth. In the late 19th century, the scientific romance was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella Flatland, the term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Olaf Stapledon. In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine. In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs published A Princess of Mars, the first of his series of Barsoom novels, situated on Mars
3.
Fantastic (magazine)
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Fantastic was an American digest size fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1952 to 1980. It was founded by Ziff Davis as a companion to Amazing Stories. Early sales were good, and Ziff Davis quickly decided to switch Amazing from pulp format to digest, within a few years sales fell, and Howard Browne, the editor, was forced to switch the focus to science fiction rather than fantasy. Browne lost interest in the magazine as a result and the magazine generally ran poor quality fiction in the mid-1950s, under Browne and his successor and she helped to nurture the early careers of writers such as Roger Zelazny and Ursula K. Le Guin, but was unable to increase circulation, and in 1965 the magazines were sold to Sol Cohen and this was financially successful, but brought Cohen into conflict with the newly formed Science Fiction Writers of America. After a turbulent period at the end of the 1960s, Ted White became editor, White worked hard to make the magazine successful, introducing artwork from artists who had made their names in comics, and working with new authors such as Gordon Eklund. His budget for fiction was low, but he was able to find good stories from well-known writers which had been rejected by the other markets. Circulation continued to decline and in 1978 Cohen sold out his half of the business to his partner, in 1938, Ziff-Davis, a Chicago-based publisher looking to expand into the pulp magazine market, acquired Amazing Stories. Ziff-Davis agreed to back the new magazine, and Browne put together a copy, but when the Korean War broke out Ziff-Davis cut their budgets. Browne did not give up, and in 1952 received the go-ahead to try a new magazine instead, focused on high-quality fantasy, the first issue of Fantastic, dated Summer 1952, appeared on March 21 of that year. The experiment with quality fiction did not last, circulation dropped, which led to budget cuts, and in turn the quality of the fiction fell. Browne had wanted to separate Fantastic from Amazings pulp roots, but now found he had to print more science fiction, Fantastics poor results were probably a consequence of the overloaded sf magazine market, far more magazines appeared in the early 1950s than the market was able to support. In May 1956 Browne left Ziff-Davis to become a screenwriter, Paul W. Fairman took over as editor of both Fantastic and Amazing. In 1957 Bernard Davis left Ziff-Davis, it had been Davis who had suggested the acquisition of Amazing in 1939, with his departure Amazing and Fantastic stagnated, they remained monthly but drew no attention from Ziff-Daviss management. In November 1955, Ziff-Davis hired an assistant, Cele Goldsmith and she also read the slush piles for all the magazines, and was quickly given more responsibility. Goldsmith stayed as editor for six and a half years, circulation dropped for both Amazing and Fantastic, in 1964 Fantastic had a paid circulation of only 27,000. In 1965 Sol Cohen, who at time was Galaxys publisher, set up his own publishing company, Ultimate Publishing. Cohen had decided to make the magazines as profitable as possible by filling them only with reprints, using reprints in this way saved Cohen about $8,000 a year between the two magazines
4.
Amazing Stories
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Amazing Stories is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsbacks Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction, Science fiction stories had made regular appearances in other magazines, including some published by Gernsback, but Amazing helped define and launch a new genre of pulp fiction. Amazing was published, with interruptions, for almost eighty years, going through a half-dozen owners. Gernsback was forced into bankruptcy and lost control of the magazine in 1929, and by 1938 it was purchased by Ziff-Davis, Palmer made the magazine successful though it was not regarded as a quality magazine within the science fiction community. Amazing switched to a digest size format in 1953, shortly before the end of the pulp-magazine era. Ted White took over as editor in 1969, eliminated the reprints and made the magazine respected again, several other owners attempted to create a modern incarnation of the magazine in the following decades, but publication was suspended after the March 2005 issue. A new incarnation appeared in July 2012 as an online magazine, Gernsbacks initial editorial approach was to blend instruction with entertainment, he believed science fiction could educate readers. His audience rapidly showed a preference for implausible adventures, however, despite this, Gernsback had an enormous impact on the field, the creation of a specialist magazine for science fiction spawned an entire genre publishing industry. The letter columns in Amazing, where fans could make contact with other, led to the formation of science fiction fandom. Writers whose first story was published in the magazine include John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Howard Fast, Le Guin, Roger Zelazny, and Thomas M. Disch. Overall, though, Amazing itself was rarely an influential magazine within the genre after the 1920s, by the end of the 19th century, stories centered on scientific inventions, and stories set in the future, were appearing regularly in popular fiction magazines. The market for short stories lent itself to tales of invention in the tradition of Jules Verne, Magazines such as Munseys Magazine and The Argosy, launched in 1889 and 1896 respectively, carried a few science fiction stories each year. In 1908, Hugo Gernsback published the first issue of Modern Electrics and it was an immediate success, and Gernsback began to include articles on imaginative uses of science, such as Wireless on Saturn. In 1920 Gernsback retitled the magazine Science and Invention, and through the early 1920s he published much scientific fiction in its pages, Gernsback had started another magazine called Practical Electrics in 1921. However, in 1926 he decided to go ahead, and ceased publication of The Experimenter to make room in his schedule for a new magazine. The editor of The Experimenter, T. OConor Sloane, became the editor of Amazing Stories, the first issue appeared on 10 March 1926, with a cover date of April 1926. Initially the magazine focussed on reprints, the first original story was “The Man From the Atom ” by G. Peyton Wertenbaker in the May 1926 issue, in the August issue, new stories were noted with an asterisk in the table of contents. The editorial work was largely done by Sloane, but Gernsback retained final say over the fiction content, Two consultants, Conrad A. Brandt and Wilbur C
5.
If (magazine)
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If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. The magazine was successful, though it was never considered to be in the first tier of science fiction magazines. It achieved its greatest success under editor Frederik Pohl, winning the Hugo Award for best professional magazine three years running from 1966 to 1968. If published many award-winning stories over its 22 years, including Robert A. Heinleins novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, the most prominent writer to make his first sale to If was Larry Niven, whose story The Coldest Place appeared in the December 1964 issue. If was merged into Galaxy Science Fiction after the December 1974 issue, by the end of the 1930s the field was undergoing its first boom, but World War II and its attendant paper shortages led to the demise of several titles. By the late 1940s the market began to recover again, from a low of eight active magazines in 1946, the field expanded to 20 in 1950, and a further 22 had commenced publication by 1954. If was launched in the middle of this publishing boom. Ifs origins can be traced to 1948 and 1949, when Raymond Palmer founded two magazines while working at Ziff-Davis in Chicago, Fate and Other Worlds, Fate published articles about occult and supernatural events, while Other Worlds was a science fiction magazine. The two were successful to attract the notice of James L. Quinn, a New York publisher. One was a magazine entitled Strange, the other was If. By the time the issue reached the news stands, the disappointing sales figures for the first issue were in. Quinn persevered with himself as editor and his first issue was dated July 1952, and he continued as editor on the masthead for some years. Quinn brought in Ed Valigursky as the art editor, he designed striking covers, including some wraparound artwork—an unusual feature—which helped improve circulation. Quinn began searching for a replacement editor, writer Lester del Rey turned down the job but Quinn was able to engage Larry T. Shaw, Shaw joined in May 1953 as associate editor and soon began writing editorials and assisting with story selection. The magazines quality quickly improved and soon Quinn felt able to switch to a monthly schedule, Shaw left after only a year, and Quinn resumed full editorial responsibilities. In late 1953, Quinn decided to run a competition for short fiction from new writers, the competition was only open to college students who had not sold a story before. The first prize was $1,000, the second prize $500, the only other one of the seven announced winners who had a career as a science fiction writer was Leo P. Kelley. Quinn decided to move If to a schedule with the March 1954 issue
6.
New Worlds (magazine)
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New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine that began in 1936 as a fanzine called Novae Terrae. It adopted its current title in 1939, after John Carnell became editor, first published professionally in 1946, it became the leading publication of its type, the period to 1960 has been described by historian Mike Ashley as the magazines Golden Age. Carnell joined the British Army in 1940 following the outbreak of the Second World War and he negotiated a publishing agreement for the magazine with Pendulum Publications, but only three issues of New Worlds were subsequently produced before Pendulums bankruptcy in late 1947. A group of science fiction fans formed a company called Nova Publications to revive the magazine, New Worlds continued to appear on a regular basis until issue 20, published in early 1953, following which a change of printers led to a hiatus in publication. It was not until early 1954, when Maclaren & Sons acquired control of Nova Publications, New Worlds was acquired by Roberts & Vinter in 1964, when Michael Moorcock became editor. He featured a good deal of experimental and avant-garde material, reaction among the science fiction community was mixed, with partisans and opponents of the New Wave debating the merits of New Worlds in the columns of critical journals such as Speculation. Several of the contributors during this period, including Brian Aldiss, J. G. Ballard and Thomas M. Disch. By 1970 Moorcock was too deeply in debt to be able to continue with the magazine, the title has been revived multiple times, with Moorcocks direct involvement or approval, as of 2012,22 additional issues have appeared in various formats, including several anthologies. In 1926, Hugo Gernsback launched Amazing Stories, the first science fiction magazine and it was soon followed by other US titles also specializing in sf, such as Astounding Stories and Wonder Stories. These were distributed in the UK, and British fan organizations began to appear, in 1936, Maurice K. Hanson, a science fiction fan living in Nuneaton, founded a fanzine called Novae Terrae for the local branch of the Science Fiction League. Hanson subsequently moved to London and his became the official publication of the Science Fiction Association. Clarke, John Carnell and William F, temple became involved in Novae Terraes production. In 1939 Hanson gave up the editorship to Carnell, who retitled the fanzine New Worlds and restarted the numbering at volume 1 number 1, the first issue under Carnells control was dated March 1939. Carnell wanted to turn New Worlds into a magazine, and through W. J. Passingham. In January 1940 Carnell was asked to put together three issues, and Carnell and Passingham each put up £50 towards costs, alfred Greig, the director, returned to his native Canada without repaying Carnell and Passingham, and no issues were ever printed. Carnell joined the army in 1940, serving with the Royal Artillery, Combined Operations, after his return to civilian life in January 1946 he met writer Frank Edward Arnold, who had been working with Pendulum Publications on a new science fiction line. Arnold introduced Carnell to Stephen D. Frances, Pendulums director, the first issue appeared in July 1946, although there was no date on the magazine. The initial print run was 15,000, but only 3,000 copies were sold—a very disappointing return, Carnell felt that the cover artwork, which he considered to be weak, was partly responsible for the poor sales
