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Gardner Dozois

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Gardner Dozois
Dozois at Clarion West Writers Workshop, Seattle, 1998
BornGardner Raymond Dozois[1]
July 23, 1947
Salem, Massachusetts,U.S.
DiedMay 27, 2018(2018-05-27)(aged 70)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,U.S.
OccupationEditor, writer
Period1970–2018[1]
GenreScience fiction magazines,anthologies,short fiction
Notable worksAsimov's Science Fiction
SpouseSusan Casper (m. c. 1970 – 2017, her death)

Gardner Raymond Dozois(/dˈzwɑː/doh-ZWAH;July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was anAmericanscience fiction authorandeditor.He was the founding editor ofThe Year's Best Science Fictionanthologies (1984–2018) and was editor ofAsimov's Science Fictionmagazine (1986–2004), garnering multipleHugoandLocus Awardsfor those works almost every year. He also won theNebula Award for Best Short Storytwice.[2]He was inducted to theScience Fiction Hall of Fameon June 25, 2011.[3]

Biography[edit]

Dozois was born July 23, 1947, inSalem, Massachusetts.[4]He graduated fromSalem High Schoolwith the Class of 1965. From 1966 to 1969 he served in theArmyas a journalist, after which he moved to New York City to work as an editor in the science fiction field. One of his stories had been published byFrederik Pohlin the September 1966 issue ofIfbut his next four appeared in 1970, three inDamon Knight's anthology seriesOrbit.[1]

Dozois said that he turned to reading fiction partially as an escape from the provincialism of his home town.[citation needed]

He was badly injured in a taxi accident after returning from aPhiladelphia Philliesgame in 2004 (causing him to missWorldconfor the first time in many years) but made a full recovery. On July 6, 2007, Dozois had surgery for a plannedquintuple bypass operation.A week later, he experienced complications which prompted additional surgery to implant adefibrillator.[citation needed]

Dozois died on May 27, 2018, of a systemic infection at a hospital in Philadelphia at the age of 70.[5]

Fiction[edit]

As a writer, Dozois mainly worked in shorter forms. He won theNebula Award for Best Short Storytwice: once for "The Peacemaker[fr]"in 1983, and again for"Morning Child"in 1984. His short fiction has been collected inThe Visible Man(1977),Geodesic Dreams(a best-of collection),Slow Dancing through Time(1990, collaborations),Strange Days(2001, another best-of collection),Morning Child and Other Stories(2004) andWhen the Great Days Come(2011). As a novelist, Dozois's oeuvre is significantly smaller. He was the author of one solo novel,Strangers(1978), as well as a collaboration withGeorge Alec Effinger,Nightmare Blue(1977), and a collaboration withGeorge R. R. MartinandDaniel AbrahamforHunter's Run(2008). After becoming editor ofAsimov's,Dozois's fiction output dwindled. His 2006 novelette "Counterfactual" won theSidewise Awardfor best alternate-history short story. Dozois also wrote short fiction reviews forLocus.

Michael Swanwick,one of his co-authors, completed a long interview with Dozois covering every published piece of his fiction.Being Gardner Dozois: An Interview by Michael Swanwickwas published byOld Earth Booksin 2001.[6]It won theLocus Awardfor Non-Fiction and was a finalist for theHugo Award for Best Related Book.[7]

Editorial work[edit]

Dozois was known primarily as an editor, winning theHugo Award for Best Professional Editor15 times in 17 years from 1988 to his retirement fromAsimov'sin 2004.[2]George R. R. Martindescribed him as the most important and influential editor in science fiction sinceJohn W. Campbell.[8]In addition to his work withAsimov's(of which he was the first associate editor in 1976), he also worked in the 1970s with magazines such asGalaxy Science Fiction,If,Worlds of Fantasy,andWorlds of Tomorrow.[4]

Dozois was also a prolific short fiction anthologist. After resigning from hisAsimov'sposition, he remained the editor of the anthology seriesThe Year's Best Science Fiction,published annually since 1984. In three decadesLocusreaders have voted it the year's best anthology almost 20 times and the runner-up almost 10 times.[2]And, withJack Dann,he edited a long series of themed anthologies, each with a self-explanatory title such asCats,Dinosaurs,Seaserpents,orHackers.

Stories selected by Gardner Dozois for the annual best-of-year volumes have won, as of December 2015, 44Hugos,41Nebulas,32Locus,10World Fantasyand 18Sturgeon Awards.That also includes the Dutton series (Dozois volumes only).

Dozois consistently expressed a particular interest in adventure SF andspace opera,which he collectively referred to as "center-core SF".[9]

Bibliography[edit]

Fiction[edit]

Novels[edit]

  • Nightmare Blue(withGeorge Alec Effinger) (1975,ISBN978-0-425-02819-3)
  • Strangers(1978,ISBN978-0-399-12095-4)
  • Hunter's Run(2008,ISBN978-0-06-137329-9) (with George R. R. Martin and Daniel Abraham)
  • City Under the Stars(2020,ISBN978-1250756589) (with Michael Swanwick)

Collections[edit]

Short stories[edit]

Anthologies[edit]

Edited by Gardner Dozois
Cross-genre anthologies co-edited by Dozois and Martin
  • Songs of the Dying Earth,a tribute anthology toJack Vance's seminalDying Earthseries, published bySubterranean Press(co-edited withGeorge R. R. Martin) (2009)
  • Warriors,a cross-genre anthology featuring stories about war and warriors (co-edited with George R. R. Martin) (2010);Locus Award
  • Songs of Love and Death,a cross-genre anthology featuring stories of romance in fantasy and science fiction settings (co-edited with George R. R. Martin) (2010)
  • Down These Strange Streets,a cross-genre anthology featuring stories of private-eye detectives in fantasy and science fiction settings (co-edited with George R. R. Martin)[10](November 2011)
  • Old Mars,an anthology featuring new stories about Mars in retro-SF vein (co-edited with George R. R. Martin) (2013); Locus Award[11]
  • Dangerous Women,a cross-genre anthology featuring stories about women warriors (co-edited with George R. R. Martin) (2013)[12]
  • Rogues,a cross-genre anthology featuring stories about assorted rogues (co-edited with George R. R. Martin) (2014)
  • Old Venus,an anthology featuring new stories about Venus in retro-SF vein (co-edited with George R. R. Martin) (2015)[13]
Themed anthology series co-edited by Dozois and Dann

Formerly known as "Magic Tales Anthology Series" until 1995; most released under the Ace imprint.

Anthologies co-edited by Dozois andGreg Bear
"Isaac Asimov's" anthology series
The Year's Best Science Fictionseries

Dozois also edited volumes six through ten of theBest Science Fiction Stories of the Yearseries afterLester del Reyedited the first five volumes. That series began in 1972 and ended in 1981.

Nonfiction[edit]

Critical studies and reviews of Dozois' work[edit]

Old Venus
  • Sakers, Don(May 2015). "The Reference Library".Analog Science Fiction and Fact.135(5): 104–107.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abc Gardner Dozoisat theInternet Speculative Fiction Database(ISFDB). Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  2. ^abc "Dozois, Gardner"ArchivedJuly 5, 2012, at theWayback Machine.The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees.Locus Publications.Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  3. ^ "Science Fiction Hall of Fame".Archived fromthe originalon July 21, 2011.RetrievedJuly 21,2011..[Quote: "EMP is proud to announce the 2011 Hall of Fame inductees:..." ]. May/June/July 2011. EMP Museum (empmuseum.org). Archived July 21, 2011. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  4. ^ab "Gardner Dozois: The Good Stuff". Interview of Dozois.Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field574 (November 2008), pp. 68–70.
  5. ^Graham, Kristen A. (May 29, 2018)."Gardner Dozois, 70, acclaimed science fiction editor".The Philadelphia Inquirer.RetrievedMay 29,2018.
  6. ^Being Gardner Dozoistitle listing at theInternet Speculative Fiction Database.(ISFDB). Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  7. ^"Swanwick, Michael"ArchivedJune 29, 2012, at theWayback Machine.The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees.Locus Publications. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  8. ^Hugo Recommendations – Editing (Redux) | Not a Blog
  9. ^Gardner Dozois, the Revitalization of Genre SF, and The New Space OperaArchivedSeptember 26, 2008, at theWayback Machineby Dave Truesdale, Fantasy and Science Fiction, accessed November 3, 2008.
  10. ^"Another Monkey Off My Back"ArchivedOctober 5, 2010, at theWayback Machine.September 30, 2010. George R. R. Martin (blog). Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  11. ^"2014 Locus Awards Winners".Locus.June 28, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 26,2014.
  12. ^"Dangerous WomenArrives on Tor ".Tor.July 24, 2013.RetrievedNovember 19,2013.
  13. ^"Not A Blog:VenusIn March ".GRRM.livejournal.June 19, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon August 21, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 27,2014.

External links[edit]

Interviews
Other