James Blish

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Arts & Culture

James Blish

American author and critic

Also known as: James Benjamin Blish, William Atheling, Jr.

Written by Erik Gregersen

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Category: Arts & Culture

In full:: James Benjamin Blish

Pseudonym:: William Atheling, Jr.

Born:: May 23, 1921, East Orange, New Jersey, U.S.

Died:: July 30, 1975, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England (aged 54)

Awards And Honors:: Hugo Award (1959)

Notable Works:: “A Case of Conscience”; “Black Easter; or, Faust Aleph-Null”; Cities in Flight; “Doctor Mirabilis”; “Earthman, Come Home”; “Emergency Refueling”; “The Day After Judgement”; “They Shall Have Stars”

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James Blish (born May 23, 1921, East Orange, New Jersey, U.S.—died July 30, 1975, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England) American author and critic of science fiction best known for the Cities in Flight series (1950–62) and the novel A Case of Conscience (1958). His work, which often examined philosophical ideas, was part of the more sophisticated science fiction that arose in the 1950s. Blish had been a fan of science fiction since his childhood, and his first short story, “Emergency Refueling,” was published in Super Science Stories in 1940. He received a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Rutgers University in 1942 and ...(100 of 570 words)

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