Richard Cowper

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Richard Cowper (actually John Middleton Murry Jr .; born May 9, 1926 in Abbotsbury , Dorset ; died April 29, 2002 in Brighton , Sussex ) was a British writer, best known as a writer of science fiction .

Life

John Middleton Murry Jr. was the son of the English philosopher and literary critic John Middleton Murry and his second wife Violet (nee Le Maistre). He attended from 1937 the reform pedagogical Rendcomb College . From 1944 on, he served in the Royal Navy Air Force . After the end of World War II , he continued his studies at Brasenose College , Oxford , where he graduated with a Bachelor in English in 1950 . He then studied until 1951 at the University of Leicester .

Since 1950 he was married to Ruth Jezierski, with whom he had two daughters. From 1952 to 1967 he taught English at Whittinghame College in Brighton, after which he was director of the English department at Atlantic College in Llantwit-Major, Glamorgan . He began his activity as a freelance writer in 1970. His debut novel The Golden Valley was published in 1958 , which he published under the pseudonym Colin Murry , which he used several times ("Colin" was his nickname given by his grandmother). However, he was disappointed with the reception of his first works, so he turned away from mainstream literature and wrote science fiction as Richard Cowper . His debut in this genre was Breakthrough (German for morning of infinity), which was released in 1967. His SF works are often conventional in conception and theme, but unusually strong in style and character drawing. His best-known work is the Corlay trilogy, which takes place 1000 years in the future in England that has become an archipelago due to rising sea levels , where a ruling theocracy is challenged by the vision of a new religion.

In 1975 and 1977 he had published a two-volume autobiography as Colin Middleton Murry. The first volume deals centrally with the boy's difficult relationship with his father.

From 1986 he retired from writing and devoted himself to painting and the restoration of antiques. Four weeks after the death of his wife in 2002, at the age of 75, according to his daughters, he died of a "broken heart".

Awards

  • 1981 Balrog Award for The Web of the Magi in the "Short Fiction" category

bibliography

Corlay - The White Bird of Kinship
  • 1 The Road to Corlay (1976)
    • German: At the Gate of Twilight. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23301, 1979, ISBN 3-442-23301-1 .
  • 2 A Dream of Kinship (1975)
    • German: Singer at the end of time. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23406, 1982, ISBN 3-442-23406-9 .
  • 3 A Tapestry of Time (1982)
    • German: The weaving pattern of time. Translated by Waltraud Götting. Goldmann SF # 23490, 1986, ISBN 3-442-23490-5 .
  • Piper at the Gates of Dawn (in: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1976 )
    • German: dawn. Translated by Tony Westermayr. In: Richard Cowper: The Time Spiral. 1977.
  • Piper at the Gates of Dawn / The Road to Corlay / A Dream of Kinship / A Tapestry of Time (collective edition of 1–3 and short story; 2014)
Novels
  • The Golden Valley (1958; as Colin Murry)
  • Recollections of a Ghost (1960; as Colin Murry)
  • A Path to the Sea (1961; as Colin Murry)
  • Breakthrough (1967)
    • German: Morning of Infinity. Translated by Hans-Ulrich Nichau. Goldmann's Space Paperback # 0102, 1969.
  • Phoenix (1967)
    • German: Phönix. Translated by Hans-Ulrich Nichau. Goldmann's Space Paperback # 099, 1969.
  • Domino (1971)
  • Kuldesak (1972)
    • German: world without sun. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann's Space Paperback # 0159, 1973, ISBN 3-442-23159-0 .
  • Clone (1972)
    • German: Homunculus 2072. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann's Space Paperback # 0162, 1973, ISBN 3-442-23162-0 .
  • Private View (1972; as Colin Murry)
  • Time Out of Mind (1973)
    • German: Dangerous Paradise. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 0185, 1974, ISBN 3-442-23185-X .
  • The Twilight of Briareus (1974)
    • English: Dawn on Briareus. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction The Chef Picks, 1974, ISBN 3-442-30293-5 .
  • Worlds Apart (1974)
    • German: Two worlds - one thought. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 0204, 1975, ISBN 3-442-23204-X .
  • Shadows on the grass (1977)
  • Profundis (1979)
    • German: Proteus and me. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23335, 1980, ISBN 3-442-23335-6 .
  • Shades of Darkness (1986)
Collections
  • The Custodians and Other Stories (1976)
    • German: The time spiral. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 0244, 1977, ISBN 3-442-23244-9 .
  • The Web of the Magi and Other Stories (1980)
    • German: The valley of destiny. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23372, 1981, ISBN 3-442-23372-0 .
  • Out There Where the Big Ships Go (1980)
  • The Tithonian Factor and Other Stories (1984)
  • The Magic Spectacles and Other Tales (1986)
  • Richard Cowper SF Gateway Omnibus (2014, collective edition)
Short stories

If only the title and year are given as the source for translations of short stories, the complete information can be found in the corresponding collective edition. 1975:

  • The Custodians (in: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1975 )
    • German: Endzeit-Propheten. Translated by Tony Westermayr. In: Richard Cowper: The Time Spiral. 1977. Also as: Die Wächter. Translated by Horst Pukallus . In: Manfred Kluge (ed.): Frankenstein's lullaby. Heyne SF&F # 3553, 1977, ISBN 3-453-30447-0 .

1976:

  • The Hertford Manuscript (1976, in: Richard Cowper: The Custodians and Other Stories )
    • German: Zeitspirale. Translated by Tony Westermayr. In: Richard Cowper: The Time Spiral. 1977.
  • Paradise Beach (1976, in: Richard Cowper: The Custodians and Other Stories )
    • German: Anamorphose. Translated by Tony Westermayr. In: Richard Cowper: The Time Spiral. 1977.

1977:

1979:

  • Out There Where the Big Ships Go (in: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 1979 )
    • English: Where the big ships go. Translated from Keto by Waberer . In: Manfred Kluge (ed.): Mortal gods. Heyne SF&F # 3718, 1980, ISBN 3-453-30621-X . Also as: Outside, where the big ships fly. Translated by Tony Westermayr. In: Richard Cowper: The Valley of Fate. 1981.

1980:

  • The Attleborough Poltergeist (1980, in: Richard Cowper: The Web of the Magi and Other Stories )
    • English: The Poltergeist of Attleborough. Translated by Tony Westermayr. In: Richard Cowper: The Valley of Fate. 1981.
  • The Web of the Magi (1980, in: Richard Cowper: The Web of the Magi and Other Stories )
    • German: The valley of destiny. Translated by Tony Westermayr. In: Richard Cowper: The Valley of Fate. 1981. Also called: The Magician's Network. Translated by Biggy Winter. In: Manfred Kluge (Ed.): Window. Heyne SF&F # 3866, 1982, ISBN 3-453-30752-6 .

1981:

  • Incident at Huacaloc (in: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1981 )
  • Brothers (1981)
    • German: A long time ago and in another country. Translated by Tony Westermayr. In: Peter Wilfert (Ed.): Pilgrims through space and time. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23401, 1982, ISBN 3-442-23401-8 . Also as: brothers. Translated by Michael Windgassen. In: Ronald M. Hahn (Ed.): Welcome to Coventry. Heyne SF&F # 4127, 1984, ISBN 3-453-31097-7 .

1982:

  • The Story of Pepita and Corindo (1982)
  • The Young Student (1982)
  • The Missing Heart (1982)
  • The Unhappy Princess (1982)
  • What Did the Deazies Do? (in: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1982 )

1983:

1984:

  • The Scent of Silverdill (in: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1984 )
  • A Message to the King of Brobdingnag (in: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 1984 )
    • German: A message to the King of Brobdingnag. Translated by Walter Brumm. In: Wolfgang Jeschke (Ed.): Johann Sebastian Bach Memorial Barbecue. Heyne SF&F # 4697, 1990, ISBN 3-453-04279-4 .

1985:

  • A Matter of No Great Significance (in: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1985 )

1986:

  • The King and the Swan (1986, in: Richard Cowper: The Magic Spectacles and Other Tales )
  • The Magic Spectacles (1986, in: Richard Cowper: The Magic Spectacles and Other Tales )
  • The Snowman (1986, in: Richard Cowper: The Magic Spectacles and Other Tales )
  • Test Case (in: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1986 )
Autobiography
  • One Hand Clapping: A Memoir of Childhood (1975; also: I at the Keyhole ; as Colin Middleton Murry)
  • Shadows on the Grass (Volume 2 of the Autobiography, 1977; as Colin Middleton Murry)
radio play
  • Taj Mahal by Candlelight (1966, as Colin Murry)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Cowper, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Murry, John Middleton Jr. (real name); Murry, Colin (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British SF author
DATE OF BIRTH May 9, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Abbotsbury , Dorset
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 2002
Place of death Brighton , Sussex