Brian W. Aldiss
(August 18, 1925 – August 19, 2017)
Brian Wilson Aldiss was an English pro writer, critic and anthology editor who published sf since 1954. Along with Harry Harrison he was co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group and was faculty sponsor to the Oxford University Speculative Fiction Group in the 60s. He was elected President of the BSFA in 1960. He was the literary editor of the Oxford Mail newspaper during the 1960s. Around 1964 he and Harry Harrison published a critical magazine, Science Fiction Horizons, for two issues. The two also co-founded the juried John W. Campbell, Jr. Memorial Award for best sf novel in 1973.
Aldiss was Worldcon GoH at Loncon II and Seacon '79. He won two Hugos, the 1962 Best Short Fiction Hugo for the "Hothouse" series (which became controversial as amalgamating several separately published stories), and the 1987 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo for Trillion Year Spree, an expanded version of his history of sf. He was nominated for five others: the 1959 Best New Author of 1958 Hugo, the 1969 Best Novelette Hugo, the 1979 Best Novella Hugo, the 1986 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo (The Pale Shadow of Science: Recent Essays), and the 1991 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo.
Aldiss has told the story of how he found fandom, or rather how fandom found him, several times albeit slightly inconsistently. He received a letter from Helen Winick of the London Circle, then working – as Aldiss invariably noted – in a bookshop in the evocatively-named Hanging Sword Passage. Winick invited him to attend a meeting at The Globe and he did so. The inconsistency concerns the prompt for the letter which positions the meeting somewhere between 1954 and 1958 although it was certainly before the 1957 Worldcon.
Aldiss was for many years member #1 of the BSFA but oddly he wasn't the Association's first member or even a founder member. The earliest known membership list in Vector 2 (Autumn 1958) shows Dave Newman as member #1. Aldiss was not then a member at all. However, a correction in Vector 3 says Newman's inclusion was down to a 'misunderstanding'. In 1960 Aldiss was chosen as president of the Association and inherited the vacant #1 position in the membership list.
Aldiss was the subject of an Original Member Spotlight article by Jon D. Swartz and John L. Coker III in Scientifiction: The First Fandom Report (New Series #49, 3rd Quarter, 2016).
Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, the day after his 92nd birthday.
- Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- Brian W. Aldiss in Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- wikipedia:Brian W. Aldiss, with details on his work, life, wives etc.
- https://www.brianaldiss.co.uk
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1962 Best Short Fiction Hugo for the Hothouse
- 1965 -- Loncon II
- 1965 Nebula Award for Best Novella "The Saliva Tree"
- 1966 -- Knight of St. Fantony
- 1973 -- Beneluxcon 1
- 1974 -- Fancon 2
- 1975 -- Lunacon 18
- 1976 -- Eurocon 3
- 1977 -- Fabula 77, James Blish Award
- 1978 -- Unicon IV, Pilgrim Award
- 1979 -- Seacon '79
- 1982 -- AggieCon XIII
- 1983 -- Beneluxcon 10, Eatoncon 5
- 1984 -- Oxcon 84
- 1985 -- Norwescon VIII
- 1986 -- ICFA 7
- 1986 -- Finncon 1986
- 1987 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo
- 1989 -- Banff International '89
- 1993 -- Readercon 6
- 1994 -- Intercon '94 / Norcon 12
- 1997 -- Intervention
- 1999 -- Trinity, ICFA 20, Prix Utopia
- 2000 -- SFWA Grand Master Award
- 2001 -- 2001: A Celebration of British Science Fiction
- 2004 -- First Fandom Hall of Fame
- 2005 -- Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature
- 2010 -- Novacon 40
- 2013 -- World Fantasy Convention 2013 (Special Guest)
- "Permanent Special Guest" at ICFA
| Person | Website | 1925—2017 |
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