Peter Nicholls (writer)

Not to be confused withPeter Nichols.

Peter Nicholls
Nicholls on a2014 Worldconpanel discussingThe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Born	Peter Douglas Nicholls (1939-03-08)8 March 1939 Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
Died	6 March 2018(2018-03-06)(aged 78) Melbourne, Victoria
Occupation	Literary scholar, critic, writer
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction
Children	Sophie Cunningham

Peter Douglas Nicholls(8 March 1939 – 6 March 2018)was an Australian literary scholar and critic. He was the creator and a co-editor ofThe Encyclopedia of Science FictionwithJohn Clute.

Early career

Born in Australia's state of Victoria inMelbourne,he spent two decades from 1968 to 1988 as anexpatriate,first in the USA, and then the UK.

Nicholls' early career was as a literary academic, originally with theUniversity of Melbourne.He first travelled to the USA in 1968 with aHarkness Fellowshipin movie making, and has scripted television documentaries.His significant contributions toscience fictionscholarship and criticism began during 1971, when he became the first Administrator of theScience Fiction Foundation(UK), a title he had until 1977.He was editor of its journal,Foundation: The Review of Science Fiction,from 1974 to 1978.

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

During 1979, Nicholls editedThe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction(published in the USA asThe Science Fiction Encyclopedia), withJohn Cluteas associate editor.

Most of its 730,000 words were written by Nicholls, Clute and two contributing editors.It won the 1980Hugo Awardfor the Nonfiction Book category.

A completely revised, updated, and greatly expanded version of theEncyclopedia,co-edited with Clute, was published in 1993, and won the 1994 Hugo for the same category.A further updating of the work, with revisions and corrections, was later issued in CD-ROM format.The third edition, with Clute andDavid Langford,was released online as a beta text in October 2011.

Other work

Nicholls' other major publications include:Science Fiction At Large(1976; reprinted 1978 with the titleExplorations of the Marvellous), a collection of essays edited by Nicholls from a 1975 symposium;The Science in Science Fiction(1983) edited by Nicholls and written by him withDavid LangfordandBrian Stableford;andFantastic Cinema(1984; published in the USA asThe World of Fantastic Films).Genre Fiction: The Roaring Years(2022) is a posthumous collection of his reviews and essays which he had planned, titled and written an introduction forcirca2012 but was unable to complete.

He won several awards for his scholarship, including theScience Fiction Research Association's Pilgrim Award (1980), anEaton Award(1995) and a Peter McNamara Award (2006).He broadcast movie and book reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and worked as a publisher's editor 1982–1983.

Nicholls was diagnosed withParkinson's diseaseduring 2000, which gradually curtailed his activities.A movie about his interest and work in science fiction, titledThe What-If Man,was completed in 2004.

Personal life

Nicholls was the father of five children. His daughter is author and editorSophie Cunningham.He lived in Melbourne with his wife, Clare Coney, where he died on 6 March 2018 at the age of 78.

External links

• March 2003 interviewby his daughterSophie Cunningham
• Obituary inThe Guardianby his son Jack Nicholls
• The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction,3rd ed.
• Peter Nichollsat theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• Peter NichollsatLibrary of Congress,with 10 library catalogue records