Hans Joachim Alpers (14 July 1943 – 16 February 2011) was a German writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy. Together with Werner Fuchs and
Ulrich Kiesow he founded
Fantasy Productions, which became one of the premier German
RPG- and
board game
A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
producers and retailers. He was born in
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser.
Brem ...
.
As an editor he co-founded the highly successful German-language
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
''
The Dark Eye'' and the ''Science Fiction Times'' and as a critic he was a contributor to ''
Science Fiction Studies
''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As Science fiction studies, the name implies, the journal publishes articles and ...
''. As a writer he used several pseudonyms including Jürgen Andreas, Thorn Forrester, Daniel Herbst, Gregory Kern, Mischa Morrison, P.T. Vieton, and Jörn de Vries. He won the
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for the novels ''Das zerrissene Land'' and ''Die graue Eminenz.'' He also co-wrote a six-volume series of young-adult SF with
Ronald M. Hahn ''Das Raumschiff der Kinder'' (translates as "The Children's Spaceship").
He edited anthologies, annual publications, and reference works. Anthologies included
Science Fiction aus Deutschland: 24 Stories von 20 Autoren' (1974). Annual publications included the
Science-fiction-Almanach' (1981–1987) and
Science-fiction-Jahrbuch' (1983–1987). Reference works included
Reclams Science-fiction-Führer' (1982),
Lexikon der Science-fiction-Literatur' (1980, 1988),
Lexikon der Horrorliteratur' (1999), and
Lexikon der Fantasy-Literatur' (2005).
He lived in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
.
In 2012 he was awarded a posthumous special Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for his many years of contributing to German-language SF.
Notes
External links
*
Interview with Hans Joachim Alpers (in German)Obituary (in German)Entry for Alpers in the Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek (catalog of the German National Library)
1943 births
2011 deaths
German science fiction writers
German fantasy writers
German speculative fiction editors
Speculative
People from Bremerhaven
German male writers
Deutscher Fantasy Preis winners
{{Germany-writer-stub