David Lake (writer)
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David John Lake (26 March 1929 – 31 January 2016) was an Indian-born Australian science fiction writer, poet, and literary critic. He also wrote as David Lake and David J. Lake.


Life

Born in
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
26 March 1929, India, Lake received a
Jesuit education The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
at St. Xavier's School in Calcutta (1940–44). He was originally a citizen of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, where he studied at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, receiving his
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in 1952, and his
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in 1956. He went on to study at
University College of North Wales Bangor University () is a public research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 became one of the founding institutions of the federal ...
, where he was awarded a diploma in
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
in 1965, and studied at the
University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
(PhD, 1974). He moved to Australia in 1967, and became a naturalized Australian citizen in 1975. David Lake died from a lung infection in
Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, on 31 January 2016.


Literary career

Lake began his writing career as a literary critic, and in that vein he is known for his books ''Style and Meaning'', Queensland University Press, 1971, and ''The Canon of Thomas Middleton's Plays'',
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, 1975. After arriving in Australia, Lake published poetry in magazines such as ''Westerly'', '' Southerly'', and ''Makar''. In 1971 he published ''Portnoyad'' and in 1973 the poetry collection, ''Hornpipes and Funerals.'' He began writing science fiction in 1976.
John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...
indicates
Jungian psychology Analytical psychology (, sometimes translated as analytic psychology; also Jungian analysis) is a term referring to the psychological practices of Carl Jung. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories as their s ...
influences on some of his works. Lake might be best known for the "Breakout" sequence of novels. In two, ''The Gods of Xuma'' and ''Warlords of Xuma'', the new world is reminiscent of
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...
's fictional version of Mars; the books take a critical stance on his
Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in pulp magazine '' The All-Story'' from February to Jul ...
novels. His most known work outside of that sequence is ''The Man who Loved Morlocks'' from 1981, a sequel to ''
The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller who travels to the year 802,701. The work is generally credited with the popularizati ...
''. He was essentially inactive in the genre from 1989 with the exception of one award-winning short story, "The Truth About Weena", which also involved The Time Machine. It won the
Ditmar Award The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise ...
in 1999.


Awards

* 1977 Australian SF Achievement Award, Best Australian SF, winner for ''Walkers on the Sky'' * 1982 Australian SF Achievement Award, Best Australian SF, winner for ''The Man Who Loved Morlocks'' * 1998
Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Short Story The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have b ...
, winner for "The Truth about Weena" * 1999 Australian SF Achievement Award, Best Australian Short SF, winner for "The Truth about Weena"


Bibliography


Breakout sequence

*''Walkers on the Sky'' (1976) *''The Right Hand of Dextra'' (1977) *''The Wildings of Westron'' (1977) *''The Gods of Xuma or Barsoom Revisited'' (1978) *''Warlords of Xuma'' (1983) *''The Fourth Hemisphere'' (1980)


Time Machine universe

*''The Man Who Loved Morlocks'' (1981) *"The Truth About Weena" (1998)


Other novels

*''Ring of Truth'' (1982) *''The Changelings of Chaan'' (1985) *''West of the Moon'' (1988)


Other short fiction

*"Creator" (1978) *"Re-deem the Time" (1978) *"What Is She?" (1979) *"Who Killed Cock Robin?" (1979) *"The Last Day of Christmas" (1981) *"Omphalos, a Dialogue" (1983) *"The Pure Light of the Void" (1983)


Verse

*''Portnoyad'' (1971) *''Hornpipes and Funerals'' (collection) (1973) *"Unparty" (2010) *"Design Faults" (2011)


Nonfiction

*''Style and Meaning'' (1971) *''The Canon of Thomas Middleton's Plays'' (1975)


Short nonfiction

*"How to Get Away with Murder: Advice to a Would-Be Critic" (1979) *"Sex as a Hard Problem in Science Fiction" (1985) *"A Theory of Errors: The Altered Worlds of Fiction" (1986) *"The Making of Meldilorn: A Poetics of Imaginary Names" (1987) *"Introduction (The First Men in the Moon)" (1995) *"Darwin and Doom: H.G.Wells and the Time Machine" (1997) *"Arriving Home" (1998)


Reviews

*"Pilgermann" (1983) by Russell Hoban *"Riddley Walker" (1983) by Russell Hoban *"Charles Williams: Poet of Theology" (1984) by Glen Cavaliero *"More Tales of Pirx the Pilot" (1984) by Stanislaw Lem


References

* ''
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...
'', pp. 686–687


External links

*
David Lake's poetry and translations on Stihi.ru
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, David 1929 births 2016 deaths Australian science fiction writers Writers from Bengaluru Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of Bangor University University of Queensland alumni Australian male poets Australian literary critics