Brian W. Aldiss
(August 18, 1925 – August 19, 2017)
Aldiss was an English pro writer, critic and anthologist who published sf since the 50s. 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.
He was Worldcon GoH at Loncon II and Seacon '79. He won two Hugos, the 1962 Best Short Fiction Hugo for the "Hothouse" series, and the 1987 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo for Trillion Year Spree. 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, 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 who Aldiss invariably notes was then working in a bookshop in the evocatively-named Hanging Sword Passage in London. 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 appears in Vector 2 (Autumn 1958) and 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.
He 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.
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1962 -- Best Short Fiction Hugo
- 1965 -- Loncon II
- 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
- 1987 -- Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo
- 1986 -- Finncon 1986
- 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
- Nebula Award
- John W. Campbell Memorial Award
| Person | Website | 1925—2017 |
| This is a biography page. Please extend it by adding more information about the person, such as fanzines and apazines published, awards, clubs, conventions worked on, GoHships, impact on fandom, external links, anecdotes, etc. See Standards for People and The Naming of Names. |
