Authors

Thea Gabriele von Harbou (born December 27, 1888, in Tauperlitz, German Empire; died July 1, 1954, in West Berlin, West Germany) was more than simply an author; she was a visionary who sculpted the anxieties and possibilities of a rapidly changing world into compelling narratives. Her life, marked by artistic ambition, forged a unique voice […]

Alfred Elton van Vogt, born April 26, 1912, in Edenburg, Manitoba, was not merely a science fiction author; he was an explorer of the human psyche cloaked in the guise of interstellar adventure. His early life, marked by a restless childhood—fueled by his father’s work as a lawyer and frequent relocations within central Canada—laid the

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr., (October 8, 1920–February 11, 1986) was a luminary of science fiction, whose work continues to resonate with readers decades after his passing. Born in Tacoma, Washington, Herbert’s early life was marked by a keen interest in ecology, anthropology, and the power of language—interests that would become cornerstones of his literary vision.

Leonard Knapp—better known by his pseudonym Lester del Rey, and occasionally referring to himself (somewhat facetiously) as Ramón Felipe San Juan Mario Silvio Enrico Smith Heartcourt-Brace Sierra y Alvarez del Rey y de los Verdes—was born June 2, 1915, in Saratoga Township, Minnesota and died May 10, 1993, in New York City. He emerged as

Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, naturalized as Alice O’Connor and best known under her pseudonym Ayn Rand, was born January 20 (Old Style), 1905—February 2 by the modern calendar—, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and died March 6, 1982, in New York City. She was a novelist and philosopher whose work ignited fierce debate and profoundly impacted the

Cyril Kornbluth (July 2, 1923–March 21, 1958) was born in New York City, a cultural landscape already teeming with the anxieties that would later fuel his fiction. Kornbluth is often known by the initials “C. M.,” but according to colleague and collaborator Frederik Pohl, he never actually had a middle name. It has been suggested

John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908–November 10, 2006), better known to readers as Jack Williamson, was born in Bisbee, Arizona Territory, a mining town steeped in frontier grit and burgeoning scientific ambition. This unique upbringing—a blend of rugged individualism and the promise of technological advancement—would profoundly shape his literary vision. He spent his early years

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on August 20, 1890, a date that marked the genesis of a singular literary vision. His early life, steeped in the decaying grandeur of old New England and shadowed by personal loss, fostered a profound sense of isolation and an unsettling fascination with the past—a preoccupation

Jack London was a force of nature distilled into a man—a life as rugged and compelling as the stories he would come to tell. He was born John Griffith Chaney in San Francisco, California, on January 12, 1876. His mother, Flora Wellman, named astrologer William Chaney as the father—a claim Chaney denied, citing impotence. While