Michael Moorcock
Michael Moorcock, born on December 18, 1939, in Mitcham, Surrey, is a prominent English fantasy and science fiction writer, widely recognized as one of the most influential authors of the 1960s and 1970s. He is particularly noted for his contributions to the sword and sorcery genre, where he has both drawn from and innovated the traditional narratives. Growing up in London during World War II, Moorcock's experiences from that time often permeate his work, such as in his novel *Mother London*.
Moorcock's literary career began early, publishing amateur magazines and editing *Tarzan Adventures*. He is known for introducing the concept of the "multiverse" in his 1965 work, *The Sundered Worlds*, and for creating iconic characters like Elric of Melniboné, who serves as a counterpoint to traditional heroic figures. As the editor of the influential science fiction magazine *New Worlds*, he played a key role in the "new wave" movement, which emphasized stylistic innovation.
Throughout his prolific career, Moorcock has received numerous accolades, including Nebula and World Fantasy awards, and has continued to produce new works into the 2020s. His writing spans various genres and styles, showcasing his versatility and lasting impact on contemporary speculative fiction.
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Michael Moorcock
Writer
- Born: December 18, 1939
- Place of Birth: Mitcham, Surrey, England
Biography
Michael John Moorcock, born on December 18, 1939, in Mitcham, Surrey, England, has been called the most important United Kingdom fantasy writer of the 1960s and 1970s. He is a particularly significant author of sword and sorcery novels, a form he has both “borrowed from and transformed,” according to The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997). Moorcock grew up in London during World War II, and his memories of the war are reflected in his books, including the novel Mother London.
Moorcock published his own amateur magazines from his student days until 1962. His stories were also published in Tarzan Adventures magazine, which he edited during 1957 and 1958, while still in his teens. Some of these heroic fantasy stories were compiled in Sojan, a children’s book published in 1979. He also published thrillers in the Sexton Blake Library series.
His science-fiction story, “The Sundered Worlds,” was serialized in magazines in 1962 and 1963 and published as a book in 1965. The story introduced the “multiverse” concept of parallel worlds coexisting in the same universe. His books often feature a character who fights against the forces of chaos, such as hip secret agent Jerry Cornelius. The first Cornelius novel, The Final Programme, was adapted for a film.
Beginning in the 1960s, Moorcock wrote stories featuring Elric of Melniboné, who was the reverse of the Conan the Barbarian character created by Robert Howard; Moorcock admired Conan when he was a child. The Elric series includes some of his best-known stories in the United States. In England, however, his reputation derived from books such as Behold the Man, in which a time traveler conducts research about, and eventually becomes, Jesus Christ.
In 1964, Moorcock became editor of the British science-fiction magazine New Worlds, a position he held until 1971 and assumed again from 1976 to 1996. Through his writing and the stories he published, Moorcock helped create the so-called “new wave” of science fiction, which valued style over plot and disdained the old space opera and cliched tales. When he serialized “Bug Jack Barron,” a story written by Norman Spinrad that was marked by violence and profanity, members of Parliament criticized the British Arts Council for helping fund the magazine and at least one news agency refused to carry the story.
Moorcock has written the Michael Kane series, a Mars trilogy in the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs, under the pseudonym Edward P. Bradbury. His other pseudonyms include Bill Barclay, Michael Barrington, Desmond Reid, Warwick Colvin, Jr., and James Colvin. As Barclay, he wrote a spoof obituary of James Colvin for the January, 1970, issue of New Worlds. Moorcock also has written a series of far-future science- fiction stories known as the Dancers at the End of Time sequence. In 2010, he published a Doctor Who tie-in novel, The Coming of the Terraphiles.
Moorcock continued to add to his prolific career in the 2010s and 2020s, adding The Citadel of Forgotten Myths to his Elric of Melniboné series in 2022 and creating the Sanctuary of the White Friars series with The Whispering Swarm in 2015, and The Woods of Arcady in 2023.
Moorcock received a Nebula Award for Best Novella for Behold the Man in 1967; two World Fantasy awards, including one for lifetime achievement in 2000; the 2004 Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award; and the 2002 Science Fiction Writers Hall of Fame Award. In 2008, he received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, the lifetime achievement award of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Bibliography
Bebergal, Peter. "The Anti-Tolkien." New Yorker, 31 Dec. 2014, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/anti-tolkien. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
Harrison, Andrew. "Michael Moorcock: I Think Tolkien Was a Crypto-Fascist." New Statesman, 24 July 2015, www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/07/michael-moorcock-i-think-tolkien-was-crypto-fascist. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
"Michael Moorcock Is the Eternal Champion." Reactor, 18 Dec. 2015, reactormag.com/michael-moorcock-is-the-eternal-champion/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
Moorcock, Michael. "Talking to the Sci-Fi Lord: Regenerations & Ruminations with Michael Moorcock." Interview by Ben Graham. Quietus, 22 Nov. 2010, thequietus.com/culture/books/michael-moorcock-interview-dr-who-the-coming-of-the-terraphiles/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
"Moorcock, Michael." SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 6 May 2024, sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/moorcock‗michael. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.