Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson was an influential American science fiction author born on November 25, 1926, in Bristol, Pennsylvania. With Scandinavian heritage, he spent some of his early years in Denmark before returning to the United States. Anderson graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in physics in 1948, the same year he published his first story. He married Karen Kruse in 1953, who became his writing partner, and together they lived in California until his passing in 2001.
Throughout his prolific career, Anderson wrote over one hundred novels and story collections, garnering significant acclaim for works like "Brain Wave," "Tau Zero," and "The Boat of a Million Years." His storytelling often blended elements of science fiction with fantasy, as seen in his alternate world narratives. Anderson received numerous accolades, including three Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and was named a Grandmaster by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1997. Notably, he was also a talented speaker and joke teller at conventions, often collaborating with fellow writer Gordon R. Dickson. Critics praised Anderson for his ability to maintain high-quality output throughout his extensive career, marking him as one of science fiction's most respected figures.
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Poul Anderson
Writer
- Born: November 25, 1926
- Birthplace: Bristol, Pennsylvania
- Died: July 31, 2001
- Place of death: Orinda, California
Biography
Poul Anderson was born on November 25, 1926, in Bristol, Pennsylvania. His parents were Scandinavian, and he lived in Denmark for a brief period until the start of World War II. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a physics degree in 1948, one year after publication of his first story. In 1953, he married Karen Kruse, who became a writing partner, and the couple lived in California until Anderson’s death in 2001.
Anderson’s first novel was a post-Holocaust book for young readers, Vault of the Ages (1952), but he began attracting notice with his story “Brain Wave,” originally published in a magazine in 1953 and published as a book the following year. During his career he published more than one hundred novels or story collections including The Enemy Stars (1959); Three Hearts and Three Lions (1961) and its sequel A Midsummer Tempest(1974), alternate world stories in which a man fighting in World War II finds himself transported to a fantasy “sword and sorcery” world; Tau Zero (1970), in which a faster-than-light exploration starship shrinks its internal time to the point where the universe itself collapses and reconstitutes during its trek; and The Boat of a Million Years (1989), following the lives of a group of immortals. Anderson was also a prolific writer of short stories for science fiction magazines.
His novel Genesis (2000) won the John W. Campbell Award for the best science fiction novel of the year. His science fiction work also won three Nebula Awards and seven Hugo Awards for short fiction. In 1997, Anderson was named a Grandmaster by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in honor of his career accomplishments. He had served as president of that organization in the 1972-1973 term.
Anderson was an accomplished joke teller and a popular speaker at science fiction conventions and gatherings. His most frequent collaborator, besides his wife, was Gordon R. Dickson, with whom he began a long association when they were members of the Minneapolis Fantasy Society in the late 1940’s. Both men shared a fondness for rural settings that contrasted with their often high-tech stories. Perhaps their best-remembered collaboration was their series of stories about the Hokas, small furry inhabitants of a distant planet who take everything they hear from visitors from Earth as literal truth, with highly comic results.
Anderson was still turning out significant science fiction work in the final years of his life. Critics marveled at Anderson’s ability to produce prolifically while maintaining a high level of quality. In The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993 edition), John Clute called Anderson science fiction’s “most prolific writer of any consistent quality.”