John Brunner (novelist)

For other people of the same name, see John Brunner (disambiguation).
John Kilian Houston Brunner
Born 24 September 1934(1934-09-24)
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Died 25 August 1995(1995-08-25) (aged 60)
Occupation Novelist
Nationality British
Genres Science fiction
fantasy
Notable work(s) Stand on Zanzibar,
The Shockwave Rider,
The Sheep Look Up,
The Jagged Orbit
www.sfhub.ac.uk/Brunner.htm

John Kilian Houston Brunner (24 September 1934 – 26 August 1995) was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, about an overpopulated world, won the 1968 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. It also won the BSFA award the same year. The Jagged Orbit won the BSFA award in 1970.

Contents

Life

He was born at Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, and went to school at Cheltenham. He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, published under the name of Gill Hunt, but did not write full time until 1958.[1] He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Rosamond Sauer on 1958-07-12. His health began to decline in the 1980s, and worsened with the death of his wife Marjorie in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. Brunner died of a heart attack in Glasgow, Scotland on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there.[2] Brunner was popular in science fiction fandom in his native Britain.

Literary works

At first writing conventional space opera, he later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, about overpopulation, won the 1969 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel.[3] It also won the BSFA award the same year. It exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his U.S.A. trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularized by Marshall McLuhan. The Jagged Orbit won the BSFA award in 1970. The Sheep Look Up (1972) was a prophetic warning of ecological disaster. Brunner is credited with coining the term worm and predicting the emergence of computer viruses[2] in his 1975 novel The Shockwave Rider, in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. His pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, and Keith Woodcott.[1]

As well as his fiction, he wrote many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article in Physics Education.[4] Brunner was an active member of the organization Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to The H-Bomb's Thunder which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches. He was a linguist and Guest of Honour at the first European Science Fiction Convention Eurocon-1 in Trieste in 1972.[1]

Film script

John Brunner wrote the screenplay for the 1967 science fiction film The Terrornauts by Amicus Productions.

Bibliography

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

References

  1. ^ a b c Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-911682-20-1. 
  2. ^ a b "Obituary of John Brunner". Daily Telegraph: p. 23. 25 September 1995. 
  3. ^ Grant, Rich (November 20, 1972). "Writer John Brunner speaks; God appears on campus". Daily Collegian (Penn State University). http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/Default/Skins/BasicArch/Client.asp?Skin=BasicArch&&AppName=2&enter=true&BaseHref=DCG/1972/11/20&EntityId=Ar00301. Retrieved February 8, 2010. 
  4. ^ Physics Education (1971) volume 6 pages 389-391 "The educational relevance of science fiction" by John Brunner

External links