CLUTE, John (Frederick)

(1940-)

   Canadian novelist and sf critic; in the UK from 1969. His first professional publication, a long sf-tinged poem called "Carcajou Lament", appeared in Triquarterly in 1959. He began publishing sf proper with "A Man Must Die" for NW (1966), where much of his earlier criticism also appeared; further criticism and reviews have appeared in FSF, Washington Post, Omni, Times Literary Supplement, New York Times, NEW YORK REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION, INTERZONE, Los Angeles Times, Observer and elsewhere. Selections from this work appear in Strokes: Essays and Reviews 1966-1986 (coll 1988 US) and Look at the Evidence: Essays and Reviews (coll 1995). In 1960 he was Associate Editor of Collage, an ill fated Chicago-based "slick" magazine which in its 2 issues did manage to publish early work by Harlan ELLISON and R.A. LAFFERTY. He served as Reviews Editor of FOUNDATION 1980-90, and was a founder of Interzone in 1982; he remains Advisory Editor of that magazine and since 1986 has contributed a review column. JC's criticism, despite some studiously flamboyant obscurities, remains essentially practical; it has appeared mostly in the form of reviews, some of considerable length. He was the Associate Editor of the first edition of this encyclopedia (1979) and is Co-Editor of the current version, for which he shared a 1994 HUGO with Peter NICHOLLS. In 1994 he also received a PILGRIM AWARD. SF: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (1995) is a narrative survey unconnected to this encyclopedia. His novel, The Disinheriting Party (1973 NW; exp 1977), is not sf.

   JC

   Other works as editor: The Aspen Poetry Handbill (portfolio 1965 chap US), associational; Interzone: The 1st Anthology (anth 1985) with Colin GREENLAND and David PRINGLE; Interzone: The 2nd Anthology (anth 1987) with Greenland and Pringle; Interzone: The 3rd Anthology (anth 1988) with Pringle and Simon Ounsley; Interzone: The 4th Anthology (anth 1989) with Pringle and Simon Ounsley; Interzone V (anth 1991) with Lee Montgomerie and Pringle.

   See also: CANADA; COLLECTIONS; CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL WORKS ABOUT SF; DEFINITIONS OF SF; HISTORY OF SF; MUSIC; NEW WORLDS; SENSE OF WONDER.