Alexei Panshin (August 14, 1940 – August 21, 2022) was an American writer and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

critic. He wrote several critical works and several novels, including the 1968

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 ...

–winning novel ''

Rite of Passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of social status, status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisa ...

''Nicholls 1979, p. 447. and, with his wife

Cory Panshin Cory Panshin (born 1947) is an American science fiction critic and writer. She often writes in collaboration with her husband, Alexei Panshin (1940–2022). The Panshins won the Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for t ...

, the 1990

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

–winning study of science fiction ''

The World Beyond the Hill ''The World Beyond the Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence'' (1989) is a book about the history of science fiction, written by Alexei Panshin and Cory Panshin. Publication It was first published in hardcover by Jeremy P. Tarch ...

''.

Personal life

Panshin was born in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, on August 14, 1940. He died on August 21, 2022, at the age of 82.Alexei Panshin (1940–2022)
by

Mike Glyer Mike Glyer (born February 16, 1953) is both the editor and publisher of the long-running science fiction fan newszine ''File 770''. He has won the Hugo Award 12 times in two categories: ''File 770'' won the Best Fanzine Hugo in 1984, 1985, 1989 ...

, at

File 770 ''File 770'' is a long-running science fiction fanzine, newszine, and blog site published and administered by Mike Glyer. It has been published every year since 1978, and has won a record eight Hugo Awards for Best Fanzine, with the first w ...

; published August 21, 2022; retrieved August 21, 2022

Career

Fiction

Panshin was the author of the Anthony Villiers series made up of ''Star Well'', ''The Thurb Revolution'', and ''Masque World''. A fourth volume, entitled ''The Universal Pantograph'', never appeared, reputedly because of conflicts between the writer and his publisher. Of the Villiers series, noted SF writer

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexual orientation, sexuality, and ...

writes in the foreword of ''Star Well'': ''New Celebrations'', an omnibus volume collecting the first three volumes, has appeared. Panshin wrote a novel, ''Earth Magic'' with his wife,

. His works also include a short story collection, ''Farewell To Yesterday's Tomorrow''.

Nonfiction

Panshin published a study of the prominent American science fiction author

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

, ''Heinlein in Dimension''. Most of this work was originally published in

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

s, for which Panshin won the Best Fan Writer Hugo award in 1967. The writings were then published in book form by Advent. Panshin discusses reactions to this work on his website ''The Abyss of Wonder''. Panshin's general critical work ''SF in Dimension'' (1976) was also co-written with Cory Panshin, as was his lengthy theoretical-critical ''The World Beyond The Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence'' (1989), which received a

Hugo Award for Best Related Work The Hugo Award for Best Related Work is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for primarily non-fiction works related to science fiction or fantasy, published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The Hugo Awards have bee ...

. A number of Alexei Panshin's books (including ''The World Beyond the Hill'') are being republished by Phoenix Pick, an imprint of Arc Manor Publishers.

Published work

Fiction

Novels

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Short fiction collections

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Nonfiction

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References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

*
Complete text of ''Heinlein In Dimension''
*

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Review of the Villiers books, by Jed Hartman
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Panshin, Alexei 1940 births 2022 deaths Writers from Lansing, Michigan 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Hugo Award–winning writers Hugo Award–winning fan writers Nebula Award winners American science fiction critics American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers