BUTTERWORTH, Michael

(1947-)

   UK writer, editor - in the latter capacity initially of the semiprofessional underground magazine Corridors, later called Wordworks - and cofounder and codirector with David BRITTON of Savoy Books. He began publishing sf with "Girl" for NW in 1966, and contributed regularly to the magazine for the rest of its existence. He began publishing novels with the first of the Hawklords sequence, The Time of the Hawklords (1976), with Michael MOORCOCK credited on the title-page and cover as co-author, though the "List of Credits" at the end of the volume lists Moorcock as Producer/Director and MB as Writer; MB was fundamentally responsible for the book, as well as for its sequel, Queens of Deliria (1977), with Moorcock also credited (this time unwillingly). The sequence, based on the real-life rock group Hawkwind, focuses on an electronic instrument that allays all pain and tension. With Britton, MB co-edited two defiant anthologies drawn from the world of Savoy Books, a firm which more than once suffered in the Manchester police force's battle against "obscenity": The Savoy Book (anth 1978) and Savoy Dreams (anth 1984).

   JC

   Other works: A sequence tied to the second season of SPACE 1999, comprising: Planets of Peril * (1977), Mind-Breaks of Space * (1977) with Jeff Jones, The Space-Jackers * (1977), The Psychomorph * (1977), The Time Fighters * (1977) and The Edge of the Infinite * (1977).