Lee John Harding (19 February 1937 – 19 April 2023) was an Australian freelance photographer, who became a writer of

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 ...

novels and short stories.

Career

Harding was born on 19 February 1937, in

Colac, Victoria Colac is a town in the Western District (Victoria), Western District of Victoria, Australia, approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac. History For thousands of years clans of the Gulidjan people ...

. He was a fan of science fiction and was among the founding members of the

Melbourne Science Fiction Club The Melbourne Science Fiction Club Inc. (Also known as the M.S.F.C. or colloquially "the club") was founded in May 1952 by Race Mathews and others. It is the second oldest continuously active science fiction club in the world, after the Los Angeles ...

. Harding's first published work appeared in the Sydney photographic magazine ''Photo Digest'' in 1958: a photographic coverage of the filming of '' On the Beach'', a 1959 adaptation of

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name to protect his enginee ...

's novel '' On the Beach'', in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and Frankston locations, accompanied by a personal written record of his adventures. This led to a request for a regular monthly column for the magazine on 35mm photography, and a subsequent photographic and written coverage of the filming of '' The Sundowners'' in

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega, New South Wales, Bega with the Riverina. ...

. In 1961 Harding's first published short story, ''Displaced Person'', was published in ''

Science Fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...

''. He continued to write and submit stories to a range of magazines, including '' New Worlds'', ''

'', and '' Science Fiction Adventures'' (UK). In 1966, he became an editorial partner for the

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 ...

''Australian SF Review'' (ASFR). In 1969 Harding then went on to write for the joint Australian/UK SF magazine ''Vision of Tomorrow'', set up by Ron Graham, plus had stories published in US magazines ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...

'', '' If'' and ''Odyssey'', and also Australian magazines, including the ''Melbourne Sun'' newspaper. For ABC Education Radio, he wrote two 12–part science fiction serials, ''Journey Into Time'' and ''The Legend of New Earth'', and dramatised the H.G. Wells story " The Man Who Could Work Miracles" for the same programme. From 1972 Harding switched from photography to writing full-time. He published four short paperback novels in Cassell Australia's education series for reluctant readers: ''The Fallen Spaceman'', ''Children of Atlantis'', ''The Frozen Sky'', and ''Return to Tomorrow''. His first adult novel, ''A World of Shadows'' was published in 1975 and in the same year he edited the Australian science fiction anthologies ''Beyond Tomorrow'' and ''The Altered I'', with assistance from Rob Gerrand and

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

. In 1978 he edited ''Rooms of Paradise'', which was also published in the US and UK. Several stories from the latter were also re-printed in the annual US publication, ''

The Year's Best Science Fiction ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' was a series of science fiction anthologies edited by American Gardner Dozois until his death in 2018. The series, which is unrelated to the similarly titled and themed '' Year's Best SF'', was published by St ...

''. Four novels followed, including ''

Displaced Person Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of perse ...

'', adapted from his earlier short story, for which he received the 1980 Australian Children's Book of The Year Award. In 1997, he published the non-science fiction novel ''Heartsease''. Harding has also written short stories using the pseudonym, ''Harold G Nye''. Harding died on 19 April 2023, in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Awards

* 1970 –

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 ...

: Best Australian Science Fiction for ''Dancing Gerontius''(Click on "Winners History" to access relevant page.) * 1972 – Ditmar Award: Best Australian Fiction for ''Fallen Spaceman'' * 1978 – Alan Marshall Short Story Award for an unpublished manuscript ''Displaced Person'' * 1980 – Winner of the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award for ''Displaced Person'' * 2006 – Australian Science Fiction Foundation,

Chandler Award The Chandler Award is presented by the Australian Science Fiction Foundation for "Outstanding Achievement in Australian Science Fiction". It is named in recognition of the contribution that science fiction writer A. Bertram Chandler made to Austral ...

in gratitude for his life's work. Harding also received three Australia Council Fellowships from the Australian Council for the Arts Literature Board.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Fallen Spaceman'' (Cassell Australia, 1973) (revised & republished in 1979 by Harper & Row) * ''Children of Atlantis'' (Cassell Australia, 1974) * ''A World of Shadows'' (Hale, 1975) * ''The Frozen Sky'' (Cassell Australia, 1975) * ''Return to Tomorrow'' (Cassell Australia, 1976) * ''Future Sanctuary'' (Laser Books New York #41, Sept. 1976) * ''The Weeping Sky'' (Cassell Australia, 1977) * ''

'' (Hyland House, Australia1979) (as ''Misplaced Persons'' (Harper & Row, May 1979)) (minor revisions, Penguin (1981)) * ''The Web of Time'' (Cassell Australia, 1980) novelisation of radio play ''Journey Into Time'' * ''Waiting for the End of the World'' (Hyland House, Australia 1983) * ''Heartsease'' (HarperCollins, Australia 1997)

Radio plays

* ''Journey Into Time'' (Serial:

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

, ) * ''The Legend of New Earth'' (Serial: Australian Broadcasting Commission, ) * ''The Man Who Could Work Miracles'' (adaptation of " The Man Who Could Work Miracles" by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

, Australian Broadcasting Commission, )

Selected short stories

* ''" Fallen Spaceman"'' in ''If'' magazine, May/June 1971 * ''" Dancing Gerontius"'' in the collection: ''The Second Pacific Book of Science Fiction'', edited by John Baxter (Angus and Robertson, 1971) * ''"Soul Survivors"'' in the collection: '' New Writings in SF 17'', edited by

John Carnell Edward John Carnell (8 April 1912 – 23 March 1972) was a British science fiction editor known for editing '' New Worlds'' in 1946 then from 1949 to 1963. He also edited ''Science Fantasy'' from the 1950s. After the magazines were sold to anoth ...

(Dobson, 1970)

Edited

* ''Beyond Tomorrow : an anthology of modern science fiction'' (Wren, 1975) * ''The Altered I : an encounter with science fiction / by Ursula K. Le Guin and others'' (Norstrilia Press, 1976) * ''Rooms of Paradise'' (Quartet Books, 1978)

Notes

References

* Oxford Companion to Australian Literature Oxford 1985 pp 316–317 613 * The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Orbit 1993 pp 541–542
A. Bertram Chandler Award 2006 presented to Lee Harding, by Bruce Gillespie
Australian Science Fiction Foundation, Chandler Award Winners (Retrieved 17 September 2007)

External links

*
''Worlds of if'' magazine June 1971
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Lee 1937 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian short story writers Australian male novelists Australian male short story writers Australian photographers Australian science fiction writers Australian writers of young adult literature People from Colac, Victoria Writers from Victoria (state)