Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers

Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers

Hardcover edition
Author	Curtis C. Smith
Language	English
Series	Twentieth-Century Writers of the English Language
Subject	Science fiction authors
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	St. Martin's Press
Publication date	October 1981
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	642 pp. (1981 edition)
ISBN	0-312-82420-3 (1981 edition)

Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers is a book by Curtis C. Smith published in October 1981 on science fiction authors in the 20th century. It is the third in the St. Martin's Press's Twentieth-Century Writers of the English Language series with the others being Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers and Twentieth-Century Children's Writers.^[1]

Curtis C. Smith (Associate Professor of Humanities at University of Houston–Clear Lake in Clear Lake City^[2]) worked on the book for more than three years assisted by 20 advisers and 146 contributors. All living authors were sent a questionnaire for biographical information and that information was cross-checked.^[1]

In the first edition, there are 540 entries for Anglo-American writers, 35 additional foreign language writers, and five "major fantasy writers."

Anglo-American writer entries contain a biographical sketch besides including the address of the author or sometimes their literary agent. The bibliographies lists SF books, other publications, and published bibliographies of the author.^[1]

Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers was mainly received positively by critics but was critiqued for its bibliographical errors. Likewise, many gawked at its original $65 price. Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review's Neil Barron reviewed Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers with "the bibliography which follows is relatively thorough."^[1] Foundation's John Clute critiqued it with "I for one feel a sense of complex emotional and intellectual betrayal on contemplating the book."^[2] Locus's Jeff Frane critiqued the errors as missing, miscategorized, or mistitled entries but reviewed it favorably with "In spite of its flaws, it's a useful volume, one worth gaining access to somehow."^[3] Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine's Baird Searles commented "In all, I judge it to be a source of much information even for the non-academic general reader" but disclaimed that he contributed three articles and was listed as an adviser.^[4]

• Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database