Wilmar H. Shiras
Wilmar House Shiras (born September 23, 1908 in Boston , Massachusetts ; died December 23, 1990 in Alameda , California ) was an American science fiction writer.
Life
Shiraz is known almost exclusively by their short story series Children of the Atom (German children of the atom ), whose first story in Hiding 1948 John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction appeared. Four more parts followed and in 1953 a fix-up was published under the title Children of the Atom , which was also translated into German. The stories are about a group of children who mutate as a result of a radiation accident in a nuclear factory and are thus super intelligent and creative, but hide their skills from their surroundings. A psychologist tracks down one of these children and tries to help him and other children in the group adapt to their surroundings. The portrayal of the children corresponds to the cliché of the nerd , which at that time did not yet exist as a term: the boys are narrow-shouldered and short-sighted, but very interested in science and technology, the girls are highly artistically gifted, but do not correspond to the female role model of Late 1940s.
In particular, the first story In Hiding was reprinted dozens of times in anthologies - including in Ben Bova's Science Fiction Hall of Fame IIB (1973) - and translated into German, Dutch, French and Japanese. Richard A. Lupoff attributes the great echo to the strong identification possibilities for the forerunners of the nerd in a time when science fiction fans were still considered freaks. Marion Zimmer Bradley and Barry N. Malzberg expressed themselves accordingly in retrospect in a new edition of Children of the Atom from 1978. You have also seen the role model of Stan Lee's and Jack Kirby's comic Uncanny X-Men in Children of the Atom , even if never that has been confirmed.
Shiras studied at Holy Names College in Oakland and at the University of California, Berkeley . In 1956 she graduated with a master's degree . Since 1927 she was married to Russell Shiras and had three daughters and two sons with him. She died in 1990 at the age of 82.
bibliography
- Children of the Atom (short story series)
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In Hiding (1948)
- German: The hiding place. Translated by Hans-Ulrich Nichau. In: Terry Carr (ed.): The super weapon. Goldmann (Goldmanns Weltraum Taschenbücher # 095), 1968. Also as: Hidden. Translated by Heinz Zwack. In: Ben Bova , Wolfgang Jeschke (eds.): Titan 16. Heyne (Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3827), 1981, ISBN 3-453-30729-1 . Also as: In secret. Translated by Heinz Zwack. In: Hans Joachim Alpers , Werner Fuchs (eds.): Die Vierziger Jahre II. Hohenheim (Edition SF in Hohenheim Verlag), 1983, ISBN 3-8147-0033-3 . Also as: hide and seek. Translated by Uwe Anton . In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
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Opening Doors (1949)
- German: Doors opening. In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
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New Foundations (1950)
- German: New foundations. In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
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Children of the Atom (1953)
- German: Children of the atom. In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
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Problems (1953)
- German: problems. In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
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Children of the Atom (1953, collection)
- German: Children of the atom. Ullstein (Ullstein Science Fiction & Fantasy # 31073), 1983, ISBN 3-548-31073-7 .
- Short stories
- A Day's Work (1952)
- Backward, Turn Backward (1970)
- Shadow-Led (1971)
- Reality (1972)
- Bird Song (1973)
- novel
- Slow Dawning (1946, as Jane Howes)
literature
- Hans Joachim Alpers , Werner Fuchs , Ronald M. Hahn : Reclam's science fiction guide. Reclam, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-15-010312-6 , p. 371 f.
- Hans Joachim Alpers, Werner Fuchs, Ronald M. Hahn, Wolfgang Jeschke : Lexicon of Science Fiction Literature. Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-02453-2 , p. 889.
- John Clute : Shiras, Wilmar H. In: John Clute, Peter Nicholls : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . 3rd edition (online edition), version dated August 12, 2018.
- Richard A. Lupoff : Shiras, Wilmar H (ouse) . In: Noelle Watson, Paul E. Schellinger: Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers. St. James Press, Chicago 1991, ISBN 1-55862-111-3 , pp. 722 f.
- Darrell Schweitzer: Shiras, Wilmar H (ouse) . In: James Gunn : The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Viking, New York et al. a. 1988, ISBN 0-670-81041-X , pp.
- Donald H. Tuck : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1968. Advent, Chicago 1974, ISBN 0-911682-20-1 , p. 388.
Web links
- Wilmar H. Shiraz in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (English)
- Works by and about Wilmar H. Shiras at Open Library
- Wilmar H. Shiras in Fantastic Fiction (English)
- Wilmar H. Shiras in Fancyclopedia 3 (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilmar H. Shiras: Children of the Atom. Pennyfarthing Press, 1978, ISBN 0-930800-02-8 , pp. 217 ff.
- ↑ Wilmar Shiras , accessed on August 16, 2018.
- ↑ Lois H. Gresh, Robert Weinberg: The Science of Superheroes. Wiley 2002, ISBN 0-471-02460-0 , p. 130.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Shiras, Wilmar H. |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Shiras, Wilmar House (full name); Howes, Jane (pseudonym) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American science fiction writer |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 23, 1908 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Boston , Massachusetts |
DATE OF DEATH | December 23, 1990 |
Place of death | Alameda , California |