CURTIS WARREN

   Founded in 1948, one of several UK publishing firms which flourished in the decade after WWII by releasing dozens of purpose-written paperback originals in various popular genres. Before it foundered in 1954, CW had published over 500 novels, 98 of them sf, all of them composed strictly according to length restrictions: in 1948-50, CW books were of 24 or 32pp; in 1950-53, they were of 112 or 128pp; from 1953, 160pp volumes were the rule. CW gained some posthumous fame for having published John BRUNNER's first novel, Galactic Storm (1951) under the house name Gill HUNT; but their most reliable and prolific author was Dennis HUGHES: as with some of his stablemates, little is known about this author beyond the titles he wrote, mostly under CW house names. Other authors associated with CW (see their entries for personal pseudonyms) included William Henry Fleming BIRD, Kenneth BULMER, John Russell FEARN, John S. GLASBY, David GRIFFITHS, Brian HOLLOWAY, John W. JENNISON and E.C. TUBB. As well as Gill Hunt, house names used for CW sf titles included Berl CAMERON, Neil CHARLES, Lee ELLIOT, Brad KENT, King LANG, Rand LE PAGE, Paul LORRAINE, Kris LUNA, Van REED and Brian SHAW.It cannot be assumed that all books published by CW were written on hire as SHARECROPS; but almost certainly almost all of them were. It remains a possibility that some of the 98 titles might have some intrinsic interest, the most likely candidates being those by Fearn, Glasby and Tubb.

   JC

   About the publisher: Curtis Warren and Grant Hughes (1985 chap) by Stephen HOLLAND.