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Samuel R. Delany




Samuel Ray "Chip" Delany, Jr. (born April 1 , 1942 , New York City ) is an award-winning American Science Fiction Author . He has written works that have garnered substantial critical acclaim, including the novels '' Nova '', ''The Einstein Intersection'', '' Hogg '', and '' Dhalgren ''. He is a professor of Comparative Literature and Creative Writing at Temple University , and is also known in the Academic world as a Literary Critic .


Biography

Delany was born and raised in Harlem and attended the Dalton School and Bronx High School Of Science . Delany and the poet Marilyn Hacker , who met in high school, were married for several years and have a daughter.

Delany was a published science fiction author by the age of 20, and published six well-regarded science fiction novels between 1962 and 1968, as well as several prize-winning short stories (collected in ''Driftglass''). ''Dhalgren'' was published in 1974 . His main literary project through the late 1970s and 1980s was the Neveryon series.

Delany has published several Autobiographical /semi-autobiographical accounts of his life as a black and Gay writer, including his Hugo Award winning autobiography, '' The Motion Of Light In Water ''.

In recent years, Delany has been teaching English, Comparative Literature, and writing. Delany spent 11 years teaching at the University Of Massachusetts At Amherst , a year and a half at the University At Buffalo , and moved to the English Department of Temple University in 2001 . He has also published several books of criticism, interviews, and other essays.


Themes

Most of his works deal more explicitly with sexual themes than is common. '' Dhalgren '' and '' Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand '' include several sexually explicit passages, and several of his books such as '' Equinox '', '' The Mad Man '', '' Hogg '' and '' Phallos '' could even be considered Pornography , a term that Delany himself has endorsed before. He has published several books of literary criticism, with an emphasis on issues in Science Fiction and other Paraliterary Genre s, Comparative Literature , and Queer Studies .


SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY


Fiction


Novels



Return to Nevèrÿon series



Short story collections




Nonfiction


Critical works



Memoirs and letters

  • ''Heavenly Breakfast'' (1979), ISBN 0553127969

  • '' The Motion Of Light In Water '' (1988, a memoir of his experiences as a young gay science fiction writer; winner of the Hugo Award ), ISBN 0877959471

  • ''Times Square Red, Times Square Blue'' (1999, a discussion of changes in social and sexual interaction in New York's Times Square ), ISBN 0814719198

  • ''Bread & Wine: An Erotic Tale of New York'' (1999, an Autobiographical Comic drawn by Mia Wolff with an introduction by Alan Moore ), ISBN 1890451029

  • ''1984'' (2000), ISBN 0966599810



OTHER FACTS

  • Delany's name is one of the most misspelt in science fiction, with over 60 different spellings in reviews. His publisher Doubleday even misspelt his name on the title page of his book ''Driftglass'' as did the organizers of the 16th Balticon where Delany was guest of honour.

  • Delany is Dyslexic .

  • The Library Of Congress incorrectly recorded his nationality as English.

  • Delany's aunts were Sadie And Bessie Delany , known as the ''Delany sisters''. They both lived to be over 100 years old, and published ''Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years''. Delany retells some of their adventures in his book Atlantis: Three Tales.

  • Among Delany's more unusual credits is that he wrote two issues of the Comic Book '' Wonder Woman '' in 1972, during a controversial period in the publication's history when the lead character abandoned her superpowers and became a secret agent. Delany scripted issues #202 and 203 of the series.

  • Delany's story '' Aye, And Gomorrah '' was included in Harlan Ellison 's '' Dangerous Visions ''. Ellison gave a short introduction that ironically pointed out how Delany was one of the last straight science fiction authors.



SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS




REFERENCES

  • Robert S. Bravard; Michael W. Peplow, Through a Glass Darkly: Bibliographing Samuel R. Delany in Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 18, No. 2.