John Aiken

(October 10, 1913 – August 12, 1990)

Dr John Kempton Aiken was a American-born UK fan and writer from Surrey active from the 1940s. He attended the 1944 Eastercon. He was a member of the Paint Research Station Science Fiction Library (PRSSFL), the Cosmos Club and the British Fantasy Society (BFS). Futurian War Digest #25 described Aiken as one of the 'leading lights' of the PRSSFL and an 'author with claims to promag attention'.

He joined the BFS in 1942 and in the same year he began to edit with E. Frank Parker The Beyond, the single-copy fanzine produced by the PRSSFL and later Cosmos Club. He was later listed as the editor of the BFS Beyond to which he did contribute a story although the editorial work was credited to Parker and later Arthur F. Hillman. At the 1944 Eastercon he was part of the brains trust. At some point he became president of the Cosmos Club, resigning in late 1945 due to a professional move to Manchester.

He was less fannishly evident after that although he reviewed books for Science Fantasy Review between 1947 and 1950 and published occasional short stories in New Worlds. A novel, World Well Lost, was published in 1970. While he did not attend the Whitcon in 1948 he did contribute an article on the Cosmos Club to its booklet.

He was the brother of author Joan Aiken.

• John Aiken in Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

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Person

1913—1990

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