Graham A. Nelson (born 1968) is a British mathematician, poet, and the creator of the Inform design system for creating

interactive fiction Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...

(IF) games. He has authored several IF games, including '' Curses'' (1993) and '' Jigsaw'' (1995).

Education

In 1994, Nelson received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

under the supervision of

Simon Donaldson Sir Simon Kirwan Donaldson (born 20 August 1957) is an English mathematician known for his work on the topology of smooth function, smooth (differentiable) four-dimensional manifolds, Donaldson–Thomas theory, and his contributions to Kähl ...

Writing

Nelson co-edited '' Oxford Poetry'' and in 1997 received an Eric Gregory Award from the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

for his poetry. he was managing editor of Legenda, the imprint of the

Modern Humanities Research Association The Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) is a United Kingdom–based international organisation that aims to encourage and promote advanced study and research of humanities. It is most notable for producing the '' MHRA Style Guide''. Hi ...

( MHRA).

Interactive fiction

Nelson is the creator of the Inform design system for creating

(IF) games. He has also authored several IF games, including '' Curses'' (1993) and '' Jigsaw'' (1995), using the experience of writing ''Curses'' in particular to expand the range of verbs that Inform is capable of understanding.

Personal life

Nelson is married to IF writer

Emily Short Emily Short is an interactive fiction (IF) writer. From 2020 to 2023, she was creative director of Failbetter Games, the studio behind ''Fallen London'' and its spinoffs. She is known for her debut game ''Galatea (computer game), Galatea'' (200 ...

Games

Written

* '' Curses'' (1993, Z-code) * '' Deja Vu'' (1993, Z-code) * '' Balances'' (1994, Z-code) * '' Jigsaw'' (1995, Z-code) * '' The Meteor, the Stone and a Long Glass of Sherbet'' (as "Angela M. Horns", 1996, Z-code), for IF Comp 1996 (1st place). Was a finalist for Best Individual Puzzle, Best Puzzles, Best Writing, and Best Game at the XYZZY Awards 1996 * ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' (1997, Z-code), for IF Comp 1997 (25th place). Winner of Best Use of Medium at the XYZZY Awards 1997. * '' Time and Dwarves'' (1998, Inform source code). Demo code for Inform programmers. * ''Ruins'' (as "Angela M. Horns", 2001) * '' The Reliques of Tolti-Aph'' (2006, Z-code)

Ported

* ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'' * '' Adventureland'' * '' Crobe'' * '' Fyleet'' * '' Quest for the Sangraal''

Other works

* (1995) "The Craft of the Adventure" (2nd ed) * (1997) ''Singularities'', with Polly Clark and Tim Kendall. Oxford: Hubble Press. . Anthology of poetry * (2001) ''Inform Designers Manual'' (4th ed), with Gareth Rees. Placet Solutions,

References

External links

Homepage of Graham Nelson

Graham Nelson's entry in Baf's Guide to IF archive

IFWiki's page for Graham Nelson

* [https://www.filfre.net/2019/11/new-tricks-for-an-old-z-machine-part-2-hacking-deeper-or-follies-of-graham-nelsons-youth/ Graham Nelson's brief autobiography as of 2019, published by computer entertainment historian Jimmy Maher] {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Graham 1968 births Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge British video game designers British video game programmers English mathematicians Fellows of St Anne's College, Oxford Interactive fiction writers Living people English male poets