Richard Dirrane Bowes (January 8, 1944 – December 24, 2023) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy.

Biography

Richard Dirrane Bowes was born January 8, 1944, in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He attended school both in Boston and on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, New York. His brother is fine artist, David Bowes. In his third year, he took writing courses with Mark Eisenstein at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

. After graduation, Bowes moved to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in 1965, doing the usual jumble of things that writers do in order to earn a living. He launched his Speculative Fiction writing career in the early 1980s and published novels ''Warchild'', ''Feral Cell'' and ''Goblin Market''. In 1992, Bowes began writing a series of semi-autobiographical stories narrated by Kevin Grierson. These stories were published primarily in

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiv ...

, and later became the novel ''Minions of the Moon''. One story, "Streetcar Dreams," won the

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

for Best Novella in 1998. The novel itself won the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...

in 2000. A short fiction collection, ''Transfigured Night and Other Stories,'' was published by

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

in 2001. It included the original novella ''My Life in Speculative Fiction''. These stories plus recent material appeared in ''Streetcar Dreams and Other Midnight Fancies'' from England's

PS Publishing PS Publishing is an independent book publisher based in Hornsea, UK. Background PS Publishing was founded in 1999 by Peter Crowther.mosaic novel A mosaic novel is a novel in which individual chapters or short stories share a common setting or set of characters with the aim of telling a linear story from beginning to end, with the individual chapters, however, refracting a plurality of viewp ...

'' From the Files of the Time Rangers'', published September 2005 by Golden Gryphon Press. Two of the stories – novelettes "The Ferryman’s Wife" and "The Mask of the Rex", both originally published in ''

'' – were finalists for the prestigious

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of pr ...

, in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Other Time Rangers stories appeared in ''

Sci Fiction ''Sci Fiction'' was an online magazine which ran from 2000 to 2005. At one time, it was the leading online science fiction magazine. Published by Syfy and edited by Ellen Datlow, the work won multiple awards before it was discontinued. His ...

'' and '' Black Gate''. In 2013 Bowes published the novel/story cycle ''Dust Devils on a Quiet Street'', about a group of writers in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

before, during, and after 9/11. Dust Devils appeared on the World Fantasy and Lambda Award short lists. The first chapter is his widely reprinted 2005 short story "There's a Hole in the City", which won the 2006 storySouth Million Writers Award, The International Horror Guild Award and was nominated for a Nebula. "If Angels Fight" won the Novella 2009

. The story was published in the February 2008 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. "I Needs Must Part, the Policeman Said" was nominated in the Best Novella category for the 2010 World Fantasy Awards. The story ran in the December 2009 edition of F&SF. Bowes died on December 24, 2023, at the age of 79.

Bibliography

* * ''Feral Cell'' * ''Goblin Market'' * ''Minions of the Moon'' * ''Transfigured Night and Other Stories'' * ''Streetcar Dreams and Other Midnight Fancies'' * * * ''Dust Devils on a Quiet Street'' (2013)

References

External links

* *
Golden Gryphon Press official site
- About ''From the Files of the Time Rangers'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowes, Richard 1944 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American short story writers American fantasy writers American male novelists American science fiction writers Hofstra University alumni American LGBTQ novelists American male short story writers The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people American gay writers World Fantasy Award–winning writers Writers from Boston