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James Edwin Gunn

Author profile

born

January 01, 1923 in Kansas City, Missouri, The United States

gender

male

website

http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/bio.htm

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy

About this author

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American science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work from the 1960s and 70s is considered his most significant fiction, and his Road to Science Fiction collections are considered his most important scholarly books. He won a Hugo Award for a non-fiction book in 1983 for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. He was named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university...more American science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work from the 1960s and 70s is considered his most significant fiction, and his Road to Science Fiction collections are considered his most important scholarly books. He won a Hugo Award for a non-fiction book in 1983 for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. He was named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.

He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.

Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.

In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.

His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".(less)

combine editions
Books by James Edwin Gunn

Average rating: 3.71 · 1,226 ratings · 94 reviews · 78 distinct works

	The Road to Science Fiction 3: From Heinlein to Here 3.92 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 1979 — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Listeners 3.53 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 1972 — 10 editions	My rating:
	The Immortals by James Edwin Gunn, Greg Bear (Introduction) 3.26 avg rating — 46 ratings — published 1962 — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Joy Makers 3.85 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 1961 — 9 editions	My rating:
	The Road to Science Fiction 2: From Wells to Heinlein 4.00 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1979 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Road to Science Fiction 4: From Here to Forever 3.79 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1982 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Science of Science Fiction Writing 4.00 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2000	My rating:
	Kampus 2.93 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1977 — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Road to Science Fiction 1 3.75 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 1977 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Nebula Award Stories 10 by Roger Zelazny (Editor), Philip José Farmer, Robert Silverberg 3.91 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 1975 — 5 editions	My rating:

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