Frederik Pohl
Encyclopedia
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. (born November 26, 1919) is an American
science fiction
writer, editor
and fan
, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" (1937), to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led (2011).
He won the National Book Award
in 1980 for his novel Jem. Other well-known novels include The Space Merchants
(written with Cyril M. Kornbluth
) and Gateway
.
From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy
magazine and its sister magazine if, winning the Hugo Award
for If three years in a row. His writing also won him four Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master
in 1993.
Pohl won the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
, based on his writing on his blog, "The Way the Future Blogs".
, California
, New Mexico
and the Panama Canal Zone
. The family settled in Brooklyn
when Pohl was around seven.
He attended Brooklyn Technical High School
, but dropped out at the age of 17. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary diploma from Brooklyn Tech.
While a teenager, he co-founded the New York–based Futurians
fan group
, and began lifelong friendships with Donald Wollheim, Isaac Asimov
and others who would become important writers and editors. He published a science fiction fanzine
called Mind of Man.
During 1936, Pohl joined the Young Communist League
because of its support for unions and against racial prejudice, Adolf Hitler
and Benito Mussolini
. He became president of the local Flatbush III Branch of the YCL in Brooklyn. Pohl has said that after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the party line changed and he could no longer support it, at which point he left.
Pohl served in the U.S. Army from April 1943 until November 1945 during World War II
, rising to sergeant as an air corps weatherman. After training in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Colorado, he primarily was stationed in Italy with the 456th Bombardment Group.
Pohl has been married five times. His first wife, Leslie Perri
, was another Futurian; they were married in August 1940 but divorced in 1944. He then married Dorothy LesTina in Paris in August 1945 while both were serving in the military in Europe; the marriage ended in 1947. During 1948, he married Judith Merril
; they had a daughter, Ann. Pohl and Merril divorced in 1952. In 1953, he married Carol M. Ulf Stanton, with whom he had three children and collaborated on several books; they separated in 1977 and were divorced in 1983. Since 1984, Pohl has been married to science-fiction expert and academic Elizabeth Anne Hull
, PhD
.
He fathered four children: Ann (m. Walter Weary), Frederik III (deceased), Frederik IV and Kathy. Grandchildren include Canadian writer Emily Pohl-Weary
and chef
Tobias Pohl-Weary.
Since 1984, he has lived in Palatine, Illinois
, a suburb of Chicago
. He was previously a resident of Red Bank, New Jersey
.
credited to "Elton Andrews."
From 1939 to 1943, Pohl was the editor of two pulp magazines - Astonishing Stories
and Super Science Stories
. Stories by Pohl often appeared in these magazines, but never under his own name. Work written in collaboration with Cyril M. Kornbluth was credited to S.D. Gottesman or Scott Mariner; other collaborative work (with any combination of Kornbluth, Dirk Wylie or Robert A.W. Lownes) was credited to Paul Dennis Lavond. For Pohl's solo work, stories were credited to James MacCreigh (or, for one story only, Warren F. Howard.)
In his autobiography, Pohl says that he stopped editing the two magazines at roughly the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Works by "Gottesman," "Lavond," and "MacCreigh" continued to appear in various SF pulp magazines throughout the 1940s.
After World War II, Pohl worked as an advertising copywriter
and then as a copywriter and book editor for Popular Science
.
Pohl started a career as a literary agent in 1937, but it was a sideline for him until after WWII, when he began doing it full time. He ended up "representing more than half the successful writers in science fiction" — for a short time, he was the only agent Isaac Asimov ever had — though his agency did not succeed financially, and he closed it down in the early 1950s.
Pohl then began publishing material under his own name. He collaborated with Kornbluth, a longtime friend and fellow Futurian, co-authoring a number of short stories and several novels, including a dystopia
n satire
of a world ruled by the advertising agencies, The Space Merchants.
Though the pen-names of "Gottesman", "Lavond" and "MacCreigh" were retired by the early 1950s, Pohl still occasionally used pseudonyms even after he began to publish work under his real name. These occasional pseudonyms, all of which date from the early 1950s to the early 1960s, included Charles Satterfield, Paul Flehr, Ernst Mason, Jordan Park (two collaborative novels with Kornbluth) and Edson McCann (one collaborative novel with Lester del Rey
).
From the late 1950s until 1969, Pohl served as editor of Galaxy
and if
magazines
, taking over at some point from the ailing H. L. Gold
. Under his leadership, if won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine for 1966, 1967 and 1968. Pohl hired Judy-Lynn del Rey
as his assistant editor at Galaxy and if.
In the mid-1970s, Pohl acquired and edited novels for Bantam Books
, published as "Frederik Pohl Selections"; notable were Samuel R. Delany
's Dhalgren
and Joanna Russ
's The Female Man
. Also in the 1970s, Pohl reemerged as a novel writer in his own right, with books such as Man Plus
and the Heechee series. He won back-to-back Nebula awards with Man Plus in 1976 and Gateway
, the first Heechee novel, in 1977. Gateway
also won the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Novel
. Two of his stories have also earned him Hugo awards: "The Meeting" (with Kornbluth) tied in 1973 and "Fermi and Frost
" won in 1986. Another award-winning novel is Jem (1980), winner of the National Book Award
.
Pohl continues to write. A novel begun by Arthur C. Clarke
, The Last Theorem
, was finished by Pohl and published on August 5, 2008. Pohl's latest novel, All the Lives He Led, has an April 12, 2011, release date.
His works include not only science fiction but also articles for Playboy
and Family Circle
and nonfiction books. For a time, he was the official authority for the Encyclopædia Britannica
on the subject of Emperor Tiberius
. (He wrote a book on the subject of Tiberius, as "Ernst Mason".)
A number of his short stories take a satirical look at consumerism
and advertising in the 1950s and 1960s: "The Wizards of Pung's Corners," where flashy, over-complex military hardware proved useless against farmers with shotguns, and "The Tunnel Under the World," where an entire community of seeming-humans is held captive by advertising researchers. ("The Wizards.." was freely translated into Chinese and then freely translated back into English as "The Wizard-Masters of Peng-Shi Angle" in the first edition of Pohlstars (1984)).
He was a frequent guest on Long John Nebel
's radio show, from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and an international lecturer.
Pohl was the eighth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
, taking office in 1974.
Pohl received the second Eaton Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the University of California, Riverside.
Pohl's work has been an influence on a wide variety of other science fiction writers, some of whom appear in the 2010 anthology, Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl, edited by Elizabeth Anne Hull.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer, editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
and fan
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" (1937), to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led (2011).
He won the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
in 1980 for his novel Jem. Other well-known novels include The Space Merchants
The Space Merchants
The Space Merchants is a science fiction novel, written by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth in 1952. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine as a serial entitled Gravy Planet, the novel was first published as a single volume in 1953, and has sold heavily since...
(written with Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
) and Gateway
Gateway (novel)
Gateway is a 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. Gateway won the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1978 Locus Award for Best Novel, the 1977 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1978 John W. Campbell Award. It is the opening novel in the Heechee saga...
.
From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
magazine and its sister magazine if, winning the Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for If three years in a row. His writing also won him four Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master
Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is an award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It is awarded to a living author for lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy. Officially, it is not a Nebula Award though it is awarded at the Nebula ceremony...
in 1993.
Pohl won the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, based on his writing on his blog, "The Way the Future Blogs".
Early life and family
Pohl is the son of Frederik George Pohl (a salesman) and Anna Jane Pohl. Pohl Sr. held a number of jobs, and the Pohls lived in such wide-flung locations as TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
. The family settled in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
when Pohl was around seven.
He attended Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...
, but dropped out at the age of 17. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary diploma from Brooklyn Tech.
While a teenager, he co-founded the New York–based Futurians
Futurians
The Futurians were a group of science fiction fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well. The Futurians were based in New York City and were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom in the years 1937-1945.-Origins of the group:As described...
fan group
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
, and began lifelong friendships with Donald Wollheim, Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
and others who would become important writers and editors. He published a science fiction fanzine
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
called Mind of Man.
During 1936, Pohl joined the Young Communist League
Young Communist League
The Young Communist League was or is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX was generally taken by all sections of the Communist Youth International.Examples of YCLs:...
because of its support for unions and against racial prejudice, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. He became president of the local Flatbush III Branch of the YCL in Brooklyn. Pohl has said that after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the party line changed and he could no longer support it, at which point he left.
Pohl served in the U.S. Army from April 1943 until November 1945 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, rising to sergeant as an air corps weatherman. After training in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Colorado, he primarily was stationed in Italy with the 456th Bombardment Group.
Pohl has been married five times. His first wife, Leslie Perri
Leslie Perri
Leslie Perri was the pen name of Doris Marie Claire "Doë" Baumgardt, an American science fiction fan, writer, and illustrator. She was a member of the Futurians, the influential science fiction fan club. Through her Futurian connections, she also edited minor romance fiction magazines...
, was another Futurian; they were married in August 1940 but divorced in 1944. He then married Dorothy LesTina in Paris in August 1945 while both were serving in the military in Europe; the marriage ended in 1947. During 1948, he married Judith Merril
Judith Merril
Judith Josephine Grossman , who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist....
; they had a daughter, Ann. Pohl and Merril divorced in 1952. In 1953, he married Carol M. Ulf Stanton, with whom he had three children and collaborated on several books; they separated in 1977 and were divorced in 1983. Since 1984, Pohl has been married to science-fiction expert and academic Elizabeth Anne Hull
Elizabeth Anne Hull
Elizabeth Anne Hull, PhD , is an American academic, political activist and science fiction expert.She is Professor Emerita of William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, where she taught English for over 30 years...
, PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
.
He fathered four children: Ann (m. Walter Weary), Frederik III (deceased), Frederik IV and Kathy. Grandchildren include Canadian writer Emily Pohl-Weary
Emily Pohl-Weary
- Biography :She is the granddaughter of science fiction writers Judith Merril and Frederik Pohl. Her 2002 biography Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book in 2003 and was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award...
and chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
Tobias Pohl-Weary.
Since 1984, he has lived in Palatine, Illinois
Palatine, Illinois
Palatine is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a northwestern residential suburb of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 65,479, making it the sixth-largest community in Cook County and the 16th-largest in the state of Illinois at that time...
, a suburb of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He was previously a resident of Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,844 people, 5,201 households, and 2,501 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,639.1 people per square mile . There were 5,450 housing units at an average density of 3,055.0 per square mile...
.
Career
Pohl began writing in the late 1930s, using pseudonyms for most of his early works: Pohl's first published piece was a poem, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna," in the October, 1937 issue of Amazing StoriesAmazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
credited to "Elton Andrews."
From 1939 to 1943, Pohl was the editor of two pulp magazines - Astonishing Stories
Astonishing Stories
Astonishing Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Popular Publications between 1940 and 1943. It was founded under Popular's "Fictioneers" imprint, which paid lower rates than Popular's other magazines. The magazine's first editor was Frederik Pohl, who also edited a...
and Super Science Stories
Super Science Stories
Super Science Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine published by Popular Publications from 1940 and 1943, and again from 1949 to 1951. Popular launched it under their "Fictioneers" imprint, which they used for magazines paying writers less than one cent per word...
. Stories by Pohl often appeared in these magazines, but never under his own name. Work written in collaboration with Cyril M. Kornbluth was credited to S.D. Gottesman or Scott Mariner; other collaborative work (with any combination of Kornbluth, Dirk Wylie or Robert A.W. Lownes) was credited to Paul Dennis Lavond. For Pohl's solo work, stories were credited to James MacCreigh (or, for one story only, Warren F. Howard.)
In his autobiography, Pohl says that he stopped editing the two magazines at roughly the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Works by "Gottesman," "Lavond," and "MacCreigh" continued to appear in various SF pulp magazines throughout the 1940s.
After World War II, Pohl worked as an advertising copywriter
Copywriting
Copywriting is the use of words and ideas to promote a person, business, opinion or idea. Although the word copy may be applied to any content intended for printing , the term copywriter is generally limited to promotional situations, regardless of the medium...
and then as a copywriter and book editor for Popular Science
Popular Science
Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
.
Pohl started a career as a literary agent in 1937, but it was a sideline for him until after WWII, when he began doing it full time. He ended up "representing more than half the successful writers in science fiction" — for a short time, he was the only agent Isaac Asimov ever had — though his agency did not succeed financially, and he closed it down in the early 1950s.
Pohl then began publishing material under his own name. He collaborated with Kornbluth, a longtime friend and fellow Futurian, co-authoring a number of short stories and several novels, including a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of a world ruled by the advertising agencies, The Space Merchants.
Though the pen-names of "Gottesman", "Lavond" and "MacCreigh" were retired by the early 1950s, Pohl still occasionally used pseudonyms even after he began to publish work under his real name. These occasional pseudonyms, all of which date from the early 1950s to the early 1960s, included Charles Satterfield, Paul Flehr, Ernst Mason, Jordan Park (two collaborative novels with Kornbluth) and Edson McCann (one collaborative novel with Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. Del Rey was the author of many of the Winston Science Fiction juvenile SF series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction branch of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.-Birth...
).
From the late 1950s until 1969, Pohl served as editor of Galaxy
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
and if
If (magazine)
If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the...
magazines
Science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
, taking over at some point from the ailing H. L. Gold
H. L. Gold
Horace Leonard Gold was a science fiction writer and editor. Born in Canada, Gold moved to the United States at the age of two...
. Under his leadership, if won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine for 1966, 1967 and 1968. Pohl hired Judy-Lynn del Rey
Judy-Lynn del Rey
Judy-Lynn del Rey née Benjamin was a science fiction editor.Born with dwarfism, she was a fan and regular attendee at science fiction conventions and worked her way up the publishing ladder, starting with work at the science fiction magazine Galaxy.Judy-Lynn was friends with Lester del Rey and...
as his assistant editor at Galaxy and if.
In the mid-1970s, Pohl acquired and edited novels for Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
, published as "Frederik Pohl Selections"; notable were Samuel R. Delany
Samuel R. Delany
Samuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
's Dhalgren
Dhalgren
Dhalgren is a science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany. The story begins with a cryptic passage:to wound the autumnal city.So howled out for the world to give him a name.The in-dark answered with wind....
and Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...
's The Female Man
The Female Man
The Female Man is a feminist science fiction novel written by Joanna Russ. It was originally written in 1970 and first published in 1975. Russ was an avid feminist and challenged sexist views during the 1970s with her novels, short stories, and nonfiction works...
. Also in the 1970s, Pohl reemerged as a novel writer in his own right, with books such as Man Plus
Man Plus
Man Plus is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1976, was nominated for the Hugo and Campbell Awards, and placed third in the annual Locus Poll in 1977. Pohl teamed up with Thomas T. Thomas to write a sequel, Mars Plus, published in 1994.-Plot...
and the Heechee series. He won back-to-back Nebula awards with Man Plus in 1976 and Gateway
Gateway (novel)
Gateway is a 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. Gateway won the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1978 Locus Award for Best Novel, the 1977 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1978 John W. Campbell Award. It is the opening novel in the Heechee saga...
, the first Heechee novel, in 1977. Gateway
Gateway (novel)
Gateway is a 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. Gateway won the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1978 Locus Award for Best Novel, the 1977 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1978 John W. Campbell Award. It is the opening novel in the Heechee saga...
also won the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
. Two of his stories have also earned him Hugo awards: "The Meeting" (with Kornbluth) tied in 1973 and "Fermi and Frost
Fermi and Frost
"Fermi and Frost" is a science fiction short story by Frederik Pohl, first published in the January 1985 issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1986.-Summary:...
" won in 1986. Another award-winning novel is Jem (1980), winner of the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
.
Pohl continues to write. A novel begun by Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
, The Last Theorem
The Last Theorem
The Last Theorem is a 2008 science fiction novel written by Arthur C. Clarke and Frederik Pohl. It was first published in the United Kingdom by HarperVoyager in July 2008, and in the United States by Del Rey Books in August 2008...
, was finished by Pohl and published on August 5, 2008. Pohl's latest novel, All the Lives He Led, has an April 12, 2011, release date.
His works include not only science fiction but also articles for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
and Family Circle
Family Circle
Family Circle is an American women's magazine published 15 times a year by Meredith Corporation. It began publication in 1932 as a magazine distributed at supermarkets such as Piggly Wiggly and Safeway. Cowles Magazines and Broadcasting bought the magazine in 1962. The New York Times Company bought...
and nonfiction books. For a time, he was the official authority for the Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
on the subject of Emperor Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. (He wrote a book on the subject of Tiberius, as "Ernst Mason".)
A number of his short stories take a satirical look at consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
and advertising in the 1950s and 1960s: "The Wizards of Pung's Corners," where flashy, over-complex military hardware proved useless against farmers with shotguns, and "The Tunnel Under the World," where an entire community of seeming-humans is held captive by advertising researchers. ("The Wizards.." was freely translated into Chinese and then freely translated back into English as "The Wizard-Masters of Peng-Shi Angle" in the first edition of Pohlstars (1984)).
He was a frequent guest on Long John Nebel
Long John Nebel
Long John Nebel was an influential New York City talk radio show host.From the mid 1950s until his death in 1978, Nebel was a hugely popular all-night radio host, with millions of regular listeners and what Donald Bain described as "a fanatically loyal following" to his syndicated program, which...
's radio show, from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and an international lecturer.
Pohl was the eighth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or SFWA is a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. It was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight under the name Science Fiction Writers of America, Inc. and it retains the acronym SFWA after a very brief use of the SFFWA...
, taking office in 1974.
Pohl received the second Eaton Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the University of California, Riverside.
Pohl's work has been an influence on a wide variety of other science fiction writers, some of whom appear in the 2010 anthology, Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl, edited by Elizabeth Anne Hull.
Undersea Trilogy (with Jack Williamson)
- Undersea Quest (1954)
- Undersea Fleet (1956)
- Undersea City (1958)
Heechee
- GatewayGateway (novel)Gateway is a 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. Gateway won the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1978 Locus Award for Best Novel, the 1977 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1978 John W. Campbell Award. It is the opening novel in the Heechee saga...
(1977) -- Nebula winner, 1977; Hugo, Campbell and Locus SF winner, 1978 - Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980) - Nebula and British SF Awards nominee, 1980; Hugo and Locus Awards nominee, 1981
- Heechee RendezvousHeechee RendezvousHeechee Rendezvous is a science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl, a sequel of Gateway and Beyond the Blue Event Horizon. It takes place about two decades after the first novel. The novel was nominated for Locus Award in 1985....
(1984) -- Locus SF Award nominee, 1985 - Annals of the Heechee (1987)
- The Gateway Trip (1990)
- The Boy Who Would Live Forever: A Novel of Gateway (2004) -- Campbell Award nominee, 2005
Eschaton trilogy
- The Other End of Time (1996)
- The Siege of Eternity (1997)
- The Far Shore of Time (1999)
Mars
- Man PlusMan PlusMan Plus is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1976, was nominated for the Hugo and Campbell Awards, and placed third in the annual Locus Poll in 1977. Pohl teamed up with Thomas T. Thomas to write a sequel, Mars Plus, published in 1994.-Plot...
(1976) -- Nebula Award winner, 1976; Hugo, Campbell, and Locus Awards nominee, 1977 - Mars Plus (1994) (with Thomas T. Thomas)
Saga of Cuckoo (with Jack Williamson)
- Farthest StarFarthest StarFarthest Star is the first novel of the Saga of Cuckoo Series. The author is Frederik Pohl, in collaboration with Jack Williamson. It was published by Ballantine Books in 1975....
(1975) - Wall Around A StarWall Around A StarWall Around A Star is the second book of the Saga of Cuckoo series, the first of which was Farthest Star. The author is Frederik Pohl, in collaboration with Jack Williamson. The cover art for the 1983 edition was done by David Mattingly...
(1983)
Starchild Trilogy (with Jack Williamson)
- The Reefs of Space (1964)
- Starchild (1965)
- Rogue Star (1969)
Space Merchants
- The Space MerchantsThe Space MerchantsThe Space Merchants is a science fiction novel, written by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth in 1952. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine as a serial entitled Gravy Planet, the novel was first published as a single volume in 1953, and has sold heavily since...
(1953) (with Cyril M. KornbluthCyril M. KornbluthCyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
) - The Merchants' WarThe Merchants' War (1984 novel)The Merchants' War is a 1984 novel by Frederik Pohl of a near future commercial dystopian interplanetary society. The novel was a sequel to The Space Merchants, and was originally co-published with it as VENUS, INC. In the story, the colony on Venus has managed to stabilize itself to a point...
(1984) - Venus, Inc. (1985) Omnibus of the 2 novels (published by the SFBC)
Other novels (not part of a series)
- Search the SkySearch the Sky (SF novel)Search the Sky is a satirical science fiction novel written by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth and first published in 1954 by Ballantine Books.-Plot summary:...
(1954) (with Cyril M. KornbluthCyril M. KornbluthCyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
) (heavily revised 1985) - Gladiator-At-LawGladiator-At-LawGladiator-At-Law is a satirical science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. It was first published in 1955 by Ballantine Books and republished in 1986 by Baen Books.-Plot introduction:The plot is typically topsy-turvy...
(1955) (with Cyril M. KornbluthCyril M. KornbluthCyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
) (revised 1986) - Preferred Risk (1955) (with Lester Del ReyLester del ReyLester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. Del Rey was the author of many of the Winston Science Fiction juvenile SF series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction branch of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.-Birth...
) (published as by "Edson McCann") (when Galaxy-Simon & Schuster did not think any entries were good enough to win their contest, Pohl & Del Rey were asked to write this book as the winning entry) - Slave ShipSlave Ship (Frederik Pohl novel)Slave Ship is a 1956 short science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl, originally serialized in Galaxy. The scene is a world in the throes of a low-intensity global war, which appears to be an amplified representation of the Vietnam War, in which the U.S. was just beginning to be involved...
(1956) - Presidential Year (1958) (with Cyril M. KornbluthCyril M. KornbluthCyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
) - WolfbaneWolfbane (novel)Wolfbane is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth, published in 1959. It was serialized in Galaxy in 1957, with illustrations by Wally Wood....
(1959) (with Cyril M. KornbluthCyril M. KornbluthCyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
) - Drunkard's WalkDrunkard's Walk (novel)Drunkard's Walk is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl. It was originally published in paperback by Ballantine Books in 1960 and later the same year by Gnome Press in a hardback edition of 3,000 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Galaxy Science Fiction....
(1960) - A Plague of PythonsA Plague of PythonsA Plague of Pythons is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl. It was originally published in 1965, and an updated version was published in 1984 under the title Demon in the Skull.-Plot outline:...
(1964) (also published as Demon in the Skull) - The Age of the PussyfootThe Age of the PussyfootThe Age of the Pussyfoot is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl, first published as a novel in 1969. It was originally published as a serial in Galaxy Science Fiction in three parts, starting in October 1966.-Inspiration:...
(1965) - Jem (1979) -- Nebula Award nominee, 1979; Hugo and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1980
- The Cool WarThe Cool War (novel)The Cool War is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl published in 1981 by Ballantine Books.-Plot outline:Like many of Pohl's novels, this opens in a world reduced by a crisis, in this case the loss of fossil fuels. Solar power is a major, albeit insufficient, source of power. Electricity is...
(1981) - Syzygy (1981)
- Starburst (1982)
- The Years of the City (1984) -- Campbell Award winner, 1985 (actually a collection of linked novellas, 2 previously published, plus introduction:
- "Introduction"
- "When New York Hit the Fan." 1984 (original here)
- "The Greening of Bed-Stuy," 1984
- "The Blister," 1984
- "Second-Hand Sky," 1984 (original here)
- "Gwenanda and the Supremes," 1984 (original here)
- Black Star Rising (1985)
- The Coming of the Quantum CatsThe Coming of the Quantum CatsThe Coming of the Quantum Cats is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. It was originally serialized in Analog science-fiction magazine, January–April 1986.- Plot introduction :...
(1986) - Terror (1986)
- Chernobyl (1987)
- Land's End (1988) (with Jack WilliamsonJack WilliamsonJohn Stewart Williamson , who wrote as Jack Williamson was a U.S. writer often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction" following the death in 1988 of Robert A...
) - The Day The Martians Came (1988) (actually 7 previously published stories plus 3 new, plus connecting material)
- Narabedla Ltd. (1988)
- Homegoing (1989)
- The World at the End of TimeThe World at the End of TimeWorld at the End of Time is a 1990 hard science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl. It tells the parallel stories of a human and a plasma-based intelligence who manage to survive to the time near the heat death of the universe...
(1990) - Outnumbering the Dead (1990)
- Stopping at SlowyearStopping at SlowyearStopping at Slowyear is a 1991 science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl.-Plot summary:Stopping at Slowyear tells the story of an interstellar cargo vessel which runs between out-of-the-way worlds, as it visits a planet called Slowyear after its 19-year-long revolution around its star.The crew explore...
(1991) - The Singers of Time (1991) (with Jack WilliamsonJack WilliamsonJohn Stewart Williamson , who wrote as Jack Williamson was a U.S. writer often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction" following the death in 1988 of Robert A...
) - Mining the Oort (1992)
- The Voices of Heaven (1994)
- O Pioneer! (1998)
- The Last TheoremThe Last TheoremThe Last Theorem is a 2008 science fiction novel written by Arthur C. Clarke and Frederik Pohl. It was first published in the United Kingdom by HarperVoyager in July 2008, and in the United States by Del Rey Books in August 2008...
(2008) (with Arthur C. ClarkeArthur C. ClarkeSir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
)
- All the Lives He Led (2011)
Collections
- Alternating Currents (1956)
- "Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus," (original here)
- "The Ghost Maker," 1954
- "Let the Ants Try," 1949
- "Pythias," 1955
- "The Mapmakers," 1955
- "Rafferty’s Reasons," 1955
- "Target One," 1955
- "Grandy Devil," 1955
- "The Tunnel Under the World," 1955
- "What to Do Until the Analyst Comes [“Everybody’s Happy But Me!”]," 1956
- The Case Against TomorrowThe Case Against TomorrowThe Case Against Tomorrow is a collection of science fiction stories by Frederik Pohl first published by Ballantine Books in May 1957.-Contents:* "The Midas Plague" - Galaxy Science Fiction April '54...
(1957)- "The Midas Plague," 1954
- "The Census Takers," 1956
- "The Candle Lighter," 1955
- "The Celebrated No-Hit Inning," 1956
- "Wapshot’s Demon," 1956
- "My Lady Green Sleeves," 1957
- Tomorrow Times SevenTomorrow Times SevenTomorrow Times Seven is a collection of science fiction stories by Frederik Pohl first published by Ballantine Books in July 1959.-Contents:* The Haunted Corpse - Galaxy Science Fiction Jan...
(1959)- "The Haunted Corpse," 1957
- "The Middle of Nowhere," 1955
- "The Gentle Venusian [“The Gentlest Unpeople”]," 1958
- "The Day of the Boomer Dukes," 1956
- "Survival Kit," 1957
- "The Knights of Arthur," 1958
- "To See Another Mountain," 1959
- The Man Who Ate the World (1960)
- "The Man Who Ate the World," 1956
- "The Wizards of Pung's Corners," 1959
- "The Waging of the Peace," 1959
- "The Snowmen," 1959
- "The Day the Icicle Works Closed," 1959
- Turn Left At ThursdayTurn Left At ThursdayTurn Left at Thursday is a collection of science fiction short stories by Frederik Pohl published by Ballantine Books in 1961.-Contents:* "Mars by Moonlight" - Galaxy Science Fiction June '58...
(1961)- "Mars by Moonlight," 1958
- "The Richest Man in Levittown [“The Bitterest Pill”]," 1959
- "The Seven Deadly Virtues," 1958
- "The Martian in the Attic," 1960
- "Third Offense," 1958 [orig as by Charles Satterfield]
- "The Hated," 1958
- "I Plinglot, Who You?," 1959
- The Wonder EffectThe Wonder EffectThe Wonder Effect is a collection of science fiction stories by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth published by Ballantine Books in 1962.The first story - "Critical Mass" - is a science fiction short story, technically a novelette, written by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth...
(1962) (with Cyril M. KornbluthCyril M. KornbluthCyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
)- "Introduction,"
- "Critical Mass," 1962
- "A Gentle Dying," 1961
- "Nightmare with Zeppelins," 1958
- "Best Friend [as by S. D. Gottesman]," 1941
- "The World of Myrion Flowers," 1961
- "Trouble in Time [as by S. D. Gottesman]," 1940
- "The Engineer," 1956
- "Mars-Tube [as by S. D. Gottesman]," 1941
- "The Quaker Cannon," 1961
- The Abominable EarthmanThe Abominable EarthmanThe Abominable Earthman is a collection of science fiction stories by Frederik Pohl first published by Ballantine Books in 1963.-Contents:* "The Abominable Earthman" - Galaxy Oct. 1961...
(1963)- "The Abominable Earthman," 1961
- "We Never Mention Aunt Nora [as by Paul Flehr]," 1958
- "A Life and a Half," 1959
- "Punch," 1961
- "The Martian Star-Gazers," 1962
- "Whatever Counts," 1959
- "Three Portraits and a Prayer," 1962
- Digits and Dastards (1966)
- "The Children of Night," 1964
- "The Fiend," 1964
- "Earth Eighteen," 1964
- "Father of the Stars," 1964
- "The Five Hells of Orion," 1962
- "With Redfern on Capella XII," 1965 (writing as Charles Satterfield)
- "How to Count on Your Fingers," 1956
- "On Binary Digits and Human Habits," 1962
- The Frederik Pohl Omnibus (1966) [abridged as Survival KitSurvival kitA survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboats, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
1979]- "The Man Who Ate the World," 1956 (not in Survival KitSurvival kitA survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboats, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
) - "The Seven Deadly Virtues," 1958
- "The Day the Icicle Works Closed," 1960 (not in Survival KitSurvival kitA survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboats, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
) - "The Knights of Arthur," 1958
- "Mars by Moonlight," 1958
- "The Haunted Corpse," 1957
- "The Middle of Nowhere," 1955
- "The Day of the Boomer Dukes," 1956
- "The Snowmen," 1959 (not in Survival KitSurvival kitA survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboats, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
) - "The Wizards of Pung’s Corners [Jack Tighe series]," 1958 (not in Survival KitSurvival kitA survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboats, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
) - "The Waging of the Peace [Jack Tighe series]", 1959 (not in Survival KitSurvival kitA survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboats, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
) - "Survival Kit," 1957
- "I Plinglot, Who You?," 1959
- "The Man Who Ate the World," 1956 (not in Survival Kit
- Day MillionDay MillionDay Million is a collection of science fiction short stories by Frederik Pohl, published in 1971. It contains stories:* "Day Million" * "The Deadly Mission of P...
(1970)- "Day Million," 1966
- "The Deadly Mission of Phineas Snodgrass," 1962
- "The Day the Martians CameThe Day After the Day the Martians Came"The Day After the Day the Martians Came" is a short story by Frederik Pohl from Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions, which shows how humans can laugh at any minority group...
" ["The Day After the Day the Martians Came"], 1967 - "The Schematic Man," 1969
- "Small Lords," 1957
- "Making Love [“Lovemaking”]," 1966
- "Way Up Yonder," [orig as by Charles Satterfield] 1959
- "Speed Trap," 1967
- "It’s a Young World," 1941
- "Under Two Moons," 1965
- The Gold at the Starbow's End (1972)
- "The Gold at the Starbow's End," 1972
- "Sad Solarian Screenwriter Sam," 1972
- "Call Me Million," 1970
- "Shaffery among the Immortals," 1972
- "The Merchants of Venus," 1972 (in "Heechee" series)
- The Best of Frederik Pohl (1975)
- Introduction: "A Variety of Excellence," by Lester del Rey
- "The Tunnel Under the World," 1954
- "Punch," 1961
- "Three Portraits and a Prayer," 1962
- "Day Million," 1966
- "Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus," 1956
- "We Never Mention Aunt Nora," 1958
- "Father of the Stars," 1964
- "The Day the Martians Came," 1967
- "The Midas Plague," 1954
- "The Snowmen," 1959
- "How to Count on Your Fingers," 1956
- "Grandy Devil," 1955
- "Speed Trap," 1967
- "The Richest Man in Levittown," 1959 (orig. pub. as "The Bitterest Pill")
- "The Day the Icicle Works Closed," 1959
- "The Hated," 1961
- "The Martian in the Attic," 1960
- "The Census Takers," 1955
- "The Children of Night," 1964
- Afterword: "What the Author Has to Say About All This"
- In The Problem Pit (1976)
- "Introduction: Science-Fiction Games," 1974
- "In the Problem Pit," 1973
- "Let the Ants Try," 1949
- "To See Another Mountain," 1959
- "The Deadly Mission of Phineas Snodgrass," 1962 (aka The Time Machine of Phineas Snodgrass)
- "Golden Ages Gone Away," 1972
- "Rafferty's Reasons," 1955
- "I Remember a Winter," 1972
- "The Schematic Man," 1968
- "What to Do Until the Analyst Comes," 1955 (aka Everybody's Happy But Me!)
- "Some Joys Under the Star," 1973
- "The Man Who Ate the World," 1956
- "SF: The Game-Playing Literature," 1971 (aka The Game-Playing Literature)
- The Early Pohl (1976):
- "Elegy for a Dead Planet: Luna," 1937, (writing as Elton Andrews) [a poem, his first published piece]
- "The Dweller in the Ice," 1940, (writing as James MacCreigh)
- "The King's Eye," 1940, (writing as James MacCreigh)
- "It's a Young World," 1940, (writing as James MacCreigh)
- "Daughters of Eternity," 1940, (writing as James MacCreigh)
- "Earth, Farewell!" 1940, (writing as James MacCreigh)
- "Conspiracy on Callisto," 1943, (writing as James MacCreigh)
- "Highwayman of the Void," 1943, (writing under Dirk Wylie's name)
- "Double-Cross," 1943, (writing as James MacCreigh)
- Critical Mass (1977) (with Cyril M. Kornbluth)
- "Introduction," (Pohl)
- "The Quaker Cannon," 1961
- "Mute Inglorious Tam," 1974
- "The World of Myrion Flowers," 1961
- "The Gift of Garigolli," 1974
- "A Gentle Dying," 1961
- "A Hint of Henbane," 1961
- "The Meeting," 1972
- "The Engineer," 1956
- "Nightmare with Zeppelins," 1958
- "Critical Mass," 1962
- "Afterword," (Pohl)
- Survival KitSurvival kitA survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboats, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
(1979) (abridged from The Frederik Pohl Omnibus 1966, see)- "The Seven Deadly Virtues," 1958
- "The Knights of Arthur," 1958
- "Mars by Moonlight," 1958
- "The Haunted Corpse," 1957
- "The Middle of Nowhere," 1955
- "The Day of the Boomer Dukes," 1956
- "Survival Kit," 1957
- "I Plinglot, Who You?," 1959
- Before the Universe (1980) (with Cyril M. KornbluthCyril M. KornbluthCyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
)- "Mars-Tube," 1941
- "Trouble in Time," 1940
- "Vacant World," 1940
- "Best Friend," 1941
- "Nova Midplane," 1940
- "The Extrapolated Dimwit," 1942
- Planets Three, 1982 (a collection of 3 novellas written as James MacCreigh):
- "Figurehead, " 1951 (orig as "The Genius Beasts" by MacCreigh)
- "Red Moon of Danger," 1951 (orig as "Danger Moon" by MacCreigh)
- "Donovan Had a Dream," 1947
- Midas WorldMidas WorldMidas World is a collection of science fiction short stories by Frederik Pohl, published in 1983. It contains the following stories:-Stories:* "The Fire Bringer"...
(1983)- "The Fire-Bringer," (original here)
- "The Midas Plague," 1954
- "Servant of the People," 1983
- "The Man Who Ate the World," 1956
- "Farmer on the Dole," 1982
- "The Lord of the Skies," 1983
- "The New Neighbors," 1983
- Pohlstars (1984) [later Gollancz edition omits the last story]
- "The Sweet, Sad Queen of the Grazing Isles," [original here]
- "The High Test," 1983
- "Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair," 1983
- "Second Coming," 1983
- "Enjoy, Enjoy," 1974
- "Growing Up in Edge City," 1975
- "We Purchased People," 1974
- "Rem the Rememberer," 1974
- "The Mother Trip," 1975
- "A Day in the Life of Able Charlie," 1976
- "The Way It Was," 1977
- "The Wizard-Masters of Peng-Shi Angle (né The Wizards of Pung's Corners)," original story 1958, retranslation 1984.
- BiPohl (1987) [omnibus of 2 novels]
- Drunkard's WalkDrunkard's Walk (novel)Drunkard's Walk is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl. It was originally published in paperback by Ballantine Books in 1960 and later the same year by Gnome Press in a hardback edition of 3,000 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Galaxy Science Fiction....
- Age of the Pussyfoot
- Drunkard's Walk
- Our Best: The Best of Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth (1987) (with Cyril M. KornbluthCyril M. KornbluthCyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
)- "Introduction," (Pohl)
- "The Stories of the Sixties," (Pohl, section introduction)
- "Critical Mass," 1962
- "The World of Myrion Flowers," 1961
- "The Engineer," 1956
- "A Gentle Dying," 1961
- "Nightmare with Zeppelins," 1958
- "The Quaker Cannon," 1961
- "The 60/40 Stories," (Pohl, section introduction)
- "Trouble in Time [as by S. D. Gottesman]," 1940
- "Mars-Tube [as by S. D. Gottesman] · ss Astonishing Stories Sep ’41
- "Epilogue to The Space Merchants," (Pohl, section introduction)
- "Gravy Planet," (extract from the magazine serial, not used in the book)
- "The Final Stories," (Pohl, section introduction)
- "Mute Inglorious Tam," 1974
- "The Gift of Garigolli," 1974
- "The Meeting," 1972
- "Afterword," (Pohl)
- Platinum PohlPlatinum PohlPlatinum Pohl is a collection of thirty science fiction stories by Frederik Pohl first published in December 2005 by Tor Books...
(2005)- "Introduction," (by James Frenkel)
- "The Merchants of Venus," 1972 (in the "Heechee" series)
- "The Things That Happen," 1985
- "The High Test," 1983
- "My Lady Green Sleeves," 1957
- "The Kindly Isle," 1984
- "The Middle of Nowhere," 1955
- "I Remember a Winter," 1972
- "The Greening of Bed-Stuy," 1984
- "To See Another Mountain," 1959
- "The Mapmakers," 1955
- "Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair," 1983
- "The Celebrated No-Hit Inning," 1956
- "Some Joys Under the Star," 1973
- "Servant of the People," 1983
- "Waiting for the Olympians," 1988
- "Criticality," 1984
- "Shaffery Among the Immortals," 1972
- "The Day the Icicle Works Closed," 1960
- "Saucery," 1986
- "The Gold at the Starbow’s End," 1972
- "Growing Up in Edge City," 1975
- "The Knights of Arthur," 1958
- "Creation Myths of the Recently Extinct," 1994
- "The Meeting," 1972 (with C. M. Kornbluth)
- "Let the Ants Try," 1949
- "Speed Trap," 1967
- "The Day the Martians Came [“The Day After the Day the Martians Came”]," 1967
- "Day Million," 1966
- "The Mayor of Mare Tranq," 1996
- "Fermi and Frost," 1985
- "Afterword: Fifty Years and Counting"
Non-fiction
- Tiberius (1960) (writing as Ernst Mason)
- Practical Politics 1972 (1971)
- Science Fiction Studies in Film (1980) (with Frederik Pohl IV)
- Our Angry EarthOur Angry EarthOur Angry Earth: A Ticking Ecological Bomb, is a non-fiction book and polemic against the effects humankind is having on the environment by the science fiction writers Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl....
(1991) (with Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
) - Chasing Science: Science as Spectator Sport (2000)
Works about Pohl
- Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl (2010), edited by Elizabeth Anne HullElizabeth Anne HullElizabeth Anne Hull, PhD , is an American academic, political activist and science fiction expert.She is Professor Emerita of William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, where she taught English for over 30 years...
- Elizabeth Anne Hull, Introduction
- David BrinDavid BrinGlen David Brin, Ph.D. is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell and Nebula Awards.-Biography:...
, “Shoresteading” - PhyllisPhyllis EisensteinPhyllis Eisenstein is an American author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and has lived there most of her life. While attending college at the University of Chicago, she met her future husband Alex at a weekly gathering of Chicago's science...
and Alex Eisenstein, “Von Neumann’s Bug” - Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, Appreciation - Joe HaldemanJoe HaldemanJoe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.-Life :Haldeman was born June 9, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family traveled and he lived in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Maryland and Anchorage, Alaska as a child. Haldeman married Mary Gay Potter, known...
, “Sleeping Dogs” - Larry NivenLarry NivenLaurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
, “Gates (Variations)” - Gardner DozoisGardner DozoisGardner Raymond Dozois is an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004...
, Appreciation - James GunnJames Gunn (author)- Further reading :James E. Gunn The Listeners, BenBella Books, ISBN 1-932100-12-1 -External links:*...
, “Tales from the Spaceship Geoffrey” - Gregory BenfordGregory BenfordGregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine...
and Elisabeth Malartre, “Shadows of the Lost” - Connie WillisConnie WillisConstance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for Blackout/All Clear...
, Appreciation - Vernor VingeVernor VingeVernor Steffen Vinge is a retired San Diego State University Professor of Mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. He is best known for his Hugo Award-winning novels and novellas A Fire Upon the Deep , A Deepness in the Sky , Rainbows End , Fast Times at Fairmont High ...
, “A Preliminary Assessment of the Drake Equation, Being an Excerpt from the Memories of Star Captain Y.T. Lee” - Greg BearGreg BearGregory Dale Bear is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict , artificial universes , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution...
, “Warm Sea” - Robert J. SawyerRobert J. SawyerRobert James Sawyer is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 20 novels published, and his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Amazing Stories, On Spec, Nature, and many anthologies. Sawyer has won over forty awards for his fiction, including the Nebula Award ,...
, Appreciation - Frank M. RobinsonFrank M. RobinsonFrank M. Robinson is an American science fiction and techno-thriller writer.-Biography:Robinson was born in Chicago, Illinois. The son of a check forger, Frank started out working as a copy boy for International Service in his teens and then became an office boy for Ziff-Davis...
, “The Errand Boy” - Gene WolfeGene WolfeGene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying into the religion. He is a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the...
, “King Rat” - Robert SilverbergRobert SilverbergRobert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
, Appreciation - Harry HarrisonHarry HarrisonHarry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
, “The Stainless Steel Rat and the Pernicious Porcuswine” - Jody Lynn NyeJody Lynn NyeJody Lynn Nye is an American science fiction writer. She has frequently collaborated as a co-author or the author of a sequel....
, “Virtually, A Cat” - David MarusekDavid MarusekDavid Marusek is an author who was born in Buffalo, New York but lived various places in youth. He is currently divorced and has a grown daughter. He has lived in Alaska since 1973 and that is the state he is most associated with....
, Appreciation - Brian W. Aldiss, “The First-Born”
- Ben BovaBen BovaBenjamin William Bova is an American science-fiction author and editor. He is the recipient of six Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor for his work at Analog Science Fiction in the 1970's.-Personal life:...
, “Scheherezade and the Storytellers” - Joan Slonczewski, Appreciation
- Sheri S. TepperSheri S. TepperSheri Stewart Tepper is an American author of science fiction, horror and mystery novels; she is particularly known as a feminist science fiction writer, often with an ecofeminist slant....
, “The Flight of the Denartesestel Radichan” - Neil GaimanNeil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
, “The [Backspace] Merchants” - Emily Pohl-WearyEmily Pohl-Weary- Biography :She is the granddaughter of science fiction writers Judith Merril and Frederik Pohl. Her 2002 biography Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book in 2003 and was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award...
, Appreciation - Mike ResnickMike ResnickMichael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
, “On Safari” - Cory DoctorowCory DoctorowCory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
, “Chicken Little” - James FrenkelJames FrenkelJames Raymond Frenkel is a Senior Editor, editing science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction and other books for Tom Doherty Associates . He has edited numerous award-winning authors such as Vernor Vinge, Joan D. Vinge, and Frederik Pohl , Andre Norton, Loren D...
, Afterword
External links
- Frederik Pohl Home Page
- The Way the Future Blogs, Pohl's blog
- Frederik Pohl entry at NNDB
- Frederik Pohl Bibliography
- an Interview with Pohl, ca. 2005
- Locus Interview with Pohl, 2000
- Interview with Pohl, May 2006
- Interview with Pohl, 2006
- Library of Congress Webcast of Pohl Speaking, October 2004
- Frederik Pohl Manuscripts Collection, The Department of Special Collections, The University of South Florida Tampa Library
- Anthopology 101: The Pohl Stars by Bud Webster, at Galactic Central