Howard Waldrop
Encyclopedia
Howard Waldrop is a science fiction author who works primarily in short fiction.
Waldrop's stories combine elements such as alternate history
, American popular culture
, the American South
, old movies (and character actor
s), classical mythology
, and rock 'n' roll music. His style is sometimes obscure or elliptical. The stories are often considered entertaining: Night of the Cooters is The War of the Worlds told from the perspective of a Texas
sheriff (a homage to Slim Pickens
); "Heirs of the Perisphere" involves robotic Disney
characters waking up in the far future; "Fin de Cyclé" describes the Dreyfus affair
from the perspective of bicycle enthusiasts.
Waldrop's work is frequently out of print and sometimes hard to find. Some of his books have been reprinted in omnibus editions.
Several of his stories have been nominated for awards; "The Ugly Chickens" -- about the dodo
-- won a Nebula award
for best novelette in 1980, and also a World Fantasy Award
for Short Fiction in 1981. This is perhaps his best known work.
Though born in Mississippi
, Waldrop spent most of his life in Texas
. He moved to Washington state for several years, but has since returned to Austin
. He is an avid fly fisherman
. He is a member of the Turkey City Writer's Workshop
, has attended the Rio Hondo Writing Workshop, and has taught at the Clarion Workshop
. In 2004 he started writing movie
reviews with Lawrence Person for Locus Online.
He is a frequent attendee of ArmadilloCon
, the local science-fiction convention in Austin. He was the Toastmaster in the very first ArmadilloCon (1979) and again at ArmadilloCon 29 in 2007. He was Guest of Honor at ArmadilloCon 5 (1983).
He was one of three writer Guests of Honor at the 1995 World Fantasy Convention
held in Baltimore and at Readercon
15 held in Burlington, Massachusetts, in 2003.
Waldrop's stories combine elements such as alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
, American popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, the American South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, old movies (and character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
s), classical mythology
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
, and rock 'n' roll music. His style is sometimes obscure or elliptical. The stories are often considered entertaining: Night of the Cooters is The War of the Worlds told from the perspective of a Texas
Texas
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...
sheriff (a homage to Slim Pickens
Slim Pickens
Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. , better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor who epitomized the profane, tough, sardonic cowboy, but who is best remembered for his comic roles, notably in Dr...
); "Heirs of the Perisphere" involves robotic Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
characters waking up in the far future; "Fin de Cyclé" describes the Dreyfus affair
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
from the perspective of bicycle enthusiasts.
Waldrop's work is frequently out of print and sometimes hard to find. Some of his books have been reprinted in omnibus editions.
Several of his stories have been nominated for awards; "The Ugly Chickens" -- about the dodo
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
-- won a Nebula award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
for best novelette in 1980, and also a World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
for Short Fiction in 1981. This is perhaps his best known work.
Though born in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Waldrop spent most of his life in Texas
Texas
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...
. He moved to Washington state for several years, but has since returned to Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. He is an avid fly fisherman
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
. He is a member of the Turkey City Writer's Workshop
Turkey City Writer's Workshop
Turkey City Writer's Workshop is a peer-to-peer, professional science fiction writer's workshop in Texas. Founded in 1973 and still ongoing today, it was consciously modeled after the east coast Milford Writer's Workshop...
, has attended the Rio Hondo Writing Workshop, and has taught at the Clarion Workshop
Clarion Workshop
Clarion is a six-week workshop for new and aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Knight and Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, USA, it was founded in 1968 by Robin Scott Wilson at Clarion State College in...
. In 2004 he started writing movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
reviews with Lawrence Person for Locus Online.
He is a frequent attendee of ArmadilloCon
ArmadilloCon
ArmadilloCon is a science fiction convention held annually in Austin, Texas, USA, since 1979. As the second longest running science fiction convention in Texas, it is sponsored by the Fandom Association of Central Texas and is known for its emphasis on literary science fiction...
, the local science-fiction convention in Austin. He was the Toastmaster in the very first ArmadilloCon (1979) and again at ArmadilloCon 29 in 2007. He was Guest of Honor at ArmadilloCon 5 (1983).
He was one of three writer Guests of Honor at the 1995 World Fantasy Convention
World Fantasy Convention
The World Fantasy Convention is an annual convention of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of fantasy. It places emphasis on literature and art, while de-emphasizing dramatic presentation, gaming, masquerade, and the like. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the...
held in Baltimore and at Readercon
Readercon
Readercon is an annual science fiction convention, held every July in the Boston, Massachusetts area, in Burlington, Massachusetts). It was founded by Bob Colby and statistician Eric Van in the 1980s with the goal of focusing exclusively on science fiction in the written form Readercon is an...
15 held in Burlington, Massachusetts, in 2003.
Novels & novellas
- The Texas-Israeli War: 1999The Texas-Israeli War: 1999The Texas-Israeli War: 1999 is a 1974 science-fiction novel by Jake Saunders and Howard Waldrop. Several early chapters appeared in Galaxy in 1973 under the title A Voice and Bitter Weeping.-Backstory:...
(with Jake SaundersJake Saunders (writer)Jake "Buddy" Saunders is an American author and businessman.He co-authored A Voice and Bitter Weeping with Howard Waldrop, later expanded into the 1974 novel The Texas-Israeli War: 1999, as well as Time and Variance, with Waldrop and Steven Utley...
, 1974) (Ballantine, 1986, ISBN 0-345-33994-0) - Them BonesThem Bones (novel)Them Bones is the first solo novel by science fiction writer Howard Waldrop. It was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award in 1984, but lost out to William Gibson's Neuromancer; both novels were part of the third Ace Science Fiction Specials series edited by Terry Carr.- Plot summary :In 1929,...
(Ace, 1984, ISBN 0-441-80557-4) - A Dozen Tough JobsA Dozen Tough JobsA Dozen Tough Jobs is a novella by Howard Waldrop which retells the Twelve Labors of Hercules in the Depression-era American South. It was a Nebula Award finalist....
(novella) (Mark V Ziesing, 1989, ISBN 0-929480-01-5) - The Search for Tom Purdue (announced)http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Issue11/Waldrop.html
- The Moone World (announced)http://www.wheatlandpress.com/
Short story collections
- Howard Who?Howard Who?Released July 1, 1986, Howard Who? is the first short story collection by science fiction writer Howard Waldrop.-Contents:* "Howard Who?" * "The Ugly Chickens"...
(Doubleday, 1986) (2006 reprint from Small Beer PressSmall Beer PressSmall Beer Press is a publisher of fantasy and literary fiction, based in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was founded by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link in 2000 and publishes novels, collections, and anthologies. It also publishes the zine Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, chapbooks, the Peapod Classics...
, ISBN 1-931520-18-6) - All About Strange Monsters of the Recent Past (1987) (Ace, 1991, ISBN 0-441-16069-7)
- Night of the Cooters (1990) (Ace, 1993, ISBN 0-441-57473-4)
- Going Home Again (Eidolon, 1997, ISBN 0-9586864-0-8)
- Dream Factories and Radio Pictures (e-book, 2001 at http://www.electricstory.com; printed form from Wheatland Press 2003)
- Custer's Last Jump and Other Collaborations (Golden Gryphon, 2003, ISBN 1-930846-13-4) (includes Waldrop's collaborations with Steven UtleySteven UtleySteven Utley is an American writer. He has written poems, humorous essays and other non-fiction, and worked on comic books and cartoons, but is best known for his science fiction stories.-Biography:...
, Bruce SterlingBruce SterlingMichael Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.-Writings:...
, Leigh KennedyLeigh KennedyLeigh Kennedy is an American science fiction writer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1985.Kennedy's story "Her Furry Face" was a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story....
, George R. R. MartinGeorge R. R. MartinGeorge Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...
, and others.) - Heart of Whitenesse (Subterranean Press, 2005, ISBN 1-59606-018-2)
- Things Will Never be the Same: Selected Short Fiction 1980 – 2005 ("best of" collection from Old Earth BooksOld Earth BooksOld Earth Books is a specialty publisher which specializes in out-of-print and niche books, primarily in the science fiction genre. The name comes from the Cordwainer Smith Lords of the Instrumentality series. It is located in Baltimore, MD...
, 2007, ISBN 1-882968-36-0, trade paperback; ISBN 1-882968-35-2 for 300 copy limited edition hardcover) - Other Worlds, Better Lives: Selected Long Fiction 1989-2003 (Old Earth BooksOld Earth BooksOld Earth Books is a specialty publisher which specializes in out-of-print and niche books, primarily in the science fiction genre. The name comes from the Cordwainer Smith Lords of the Instrumentality series. It is located in Baltimore, MD...
, 2008, ISBN 1-882968-38-7, trade paperback; ISBN 1-882968-37-9 for 300 copy limited edition hardcover)
Short Stories
- Thin, On the Ground included in Cross Plains Universe, MonkeyBrain BooksMonkeyBrain BooksMonkeyBrain Books is an independent American publishing house based in Austin, Texas, specialising in books comprising both new content and reprinting online, international or out-of-print content, which show "an academic interest," but which "reach a popular audience as well."-A brief history of...
, 2006
Chapbooks
- The Soul-Catcher (1967, self-published)
- You Could Go Home Again (Cheap StreetCheap StreetCheap Street Press was a small publishing company started up and operated by the husband-wife duo, George and Jan O'Nale, in their rural home near New Castle, Virginia. Cheap Street concentrated on publishing limited edition books, signed and numbered, of science fiction and fantasy works...
, 1993) - Custer's Last Jump (with Steven UtleySteven UtleySteven Utley is an American writer. He has written poems, humorous essays and other non-fiction, and worked on comic books and cartoons, but is best known for his science fiction stories.-Biography:...
) (Ticonderoga PublicationsTiconderoga PublicationsTiconderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specialises in collections of science fiction short stories.-History and current:...
, 1996) - Flying Saucer Rock and Roll (Cheap StreetCheap StreetCheap Street Press was a small publishing company started up and operated by the husband-wife duo, George and Jan O'Nale, in their rural home near New Castle, Virginia. Cheap Street concentrated on publishing limited edition books, signed and numbered, of science fiction and fantasy works...
, 2001) - A Better World's in Birth! (Golden Gryphon, 2003)
- The Horse of a Different Color (You Rode In On)/The King of Where-I-Go (WSFAWashington Science Fiction AssociationThe Washington Science Fiction Association is the oldest science fiction club in the Washington, D.C. area. It is also one of the oldest science fiction clubs, founded in 1947 by seven fans who met at that year's Worldcon in Philadelphia, the fifth Worldcon held.Since 1960 it has met on the...
, 2006); given out to members of the 2005 Capclave (though it was not printed in time to be distributed there), and not available separately
External links
- A Woodsman's Guide to Howard Waldrop
- The Ugly Chickens (online at lexal.net)
- Golden Gryphon Press official site - About chapbook A Better World's in Birth!
- Golden Gryphon Press official site - About Custer's Last Jump and Other Collaborations
- ArmadilloCon