| Peter S. Beagle | |
|---|---|
Beagle at the University of California, Berkeley |
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| Born | April 20, 1939 Bronx, NY, United States |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1960–present |
| Genres | fantasy |
| Notable award(s) | Hugo Award 2006, Inkpot Award 2006, Nebula Award 2007, WSFA Small Press Award 2007 |
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www.peterbeagle.com |
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Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939) is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. His most notable works include the novels The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place and Tamsin, and the award-winning story "Two Hearts".
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Beagle was born in Manhattan on April 20, 1939, the son of Rebecca Soyer and Simon Beagle.[1]
Beagle won early recognition from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, winning a scholarship to University of Pittsburgh for a poem he submitted as a high school senior. He went on to graduate from the university with a degree in creative writing.
Beagle wrote his first novel, A Fine and Private Place, when he was only 19 years old, following it with a memoir I See By My Outfit in 1965. Today he is best known as the author of The Last Unicorn, and A Fine and Private Place, as well as his later fantasies following The Folk of the Air.
in the 1970s, Beagle turned to screenwriting. He wrote the teleplay for episode 71 of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, titled "Sarek." Beagle also wrote the screenplay for the 1978 Ralph Bakshi-animated version of The Lord of the Rings and an introduction to the American edition of The Lord of the Rings in the early 1970s.
Beagle's work as a screenwriter interrupted his early career direction as a novelist, magazine nonfiction author, and short-story writer. But in the mid-'90s he returned to prose fiction of all lengths, and has produced new works at a steady pace since.
In addition to his own body of work, Beagle is heir to the literary estates of science fiction author Edgar Pangborn, Edgar's sister and sometime collaborator Mary, and their mother Georgia Wood Pangborn. Since 2003 he has been working to bring the best of these three authors' fiction back into print.
In 2005 Beagle published a coda to The Last Unicorn, a novelette entitled "Two Hearts," and began work on a full-novel sequel. In 2006, "Two Hearts" won the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Novelette and in 2007 it won the Nebula Award in the same category. The story was also nominated as a short fiction finalist for the World Fantasy Award. In 2006, Beagle won the Inkpot Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science Fiction and Fantasy. In 2007, Beagle won the inaugural WSFA Small Press Award for "El Regalo," published in The Line Between (Tachyon Publications).
IDW Publishing released a six-issue comic book adaptation of The Last Unicorn beginning in April 2010. The collected hardcover edition was released in January 2011, premiering at #2 on the New York Times Hardcover Graphic Novel bestseller list. It will be followed by an adaptation of A Fine and Private Place.[2]
Beagle's 2009 collection of short fiction, We Never Talk About My Brother, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award.[3]
Peter S. Beagle's book The Last Unicorn was made into an animated film in 1982, based on a screenplay written by Beagle himself. In 1979 Beagle had a contract with ITC Entertainment which entitled Beagle to 5% of the net profits in the animated property, and 5% of the gross revenues from any film-related merchandising. Since 1999 this film has been controlled by a British company, Granada Media International (a subsidiary of ITV plc). From 2003 through 2011 Beagle was involved in a financial dispute with Granada over nonpayment of contractually due profit and merchandising shares. On July 29, 2011, Beagle announced at his Otakon appearance that he and ITV had reached an agreement that was beneficial to all parties, and should please fans of The Last Unicorn because it will make new merchandise and business development possible. On October 14, 2011, at his New York Comic Con appearance, he announced the first results of the deal, including limited edition art prints of original concept paintings from the film, an 80-city digital screening tour with Peter doing audience Q&A, and a complete renovation of the original film for worldwide release in movie theaters as a 30th Anniversary event.