Urania (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
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...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore is the biggest publishing company in Italy.-History:Founded by the 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori in 1907 to publish the magazine titled Luce!, it soon became an important publisher. Its headquarters are in Milan....
since October 10, 1952.
History
The first issue featured the novel The Sands of MarsThe Sands of Mars
The Sands of Mars is Arthur C. Clarke's first published science fiction novel. While he was already popular as a short story writer and as a magazine contributor, The Sands of Mars was also a prelude to Clarke's becoming one of the world's foremost writers of science fiction novels. The story...
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,...
(as Le sabbie di Marte). The original name of the series was I Romanzi di Urania ("Urania's novels"), to differentiate it from another magazine with the same name (but popularly known as Urania Rivista, "Urania Magazine"), which featured only short stories. The latter, however, lasted only 14 issues, and Romanzi di Urania soon took the simpler name, which still holds today. Short story collections were thenceforth published in the main series, which at its height had a weekly periodicity with a circulation of 160,000 copies a month. Since the very beginning Urania has been indeed the best selling SF
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...
magazine of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, also introducing to Italian readers some famed authors like 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...
, Alfred Elton van Vogt, Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
, J. G. Ballard
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard was an English novelist, short story writer, and prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction...
, Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
and many others. The first editor was Giorgio Monicelli (brother of movie director Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli was an Italian director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the Commedia all'Italiana , three times nominated for Oscar.-Biography:...
): Monicelli is credited with the invention of the word fantascienza, meaning science-fiction in Italian. From 1964 to 1985 novels and short stories were selected by the renowned Italian writers and intellectuals Carlo Fruttero
Carlo Fruttero
Carlo Fruttero is an Italian writer, journalist, translator and editor of anthologies. He is mostly known for his joint work with Franco Lucentini, especially as authors of crime novels...
and Franco Lucentini
Franco Lucentini
Franco Lucentini was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and editor of anthologies. His novel The Sunday Woman, which was also made into a film, 1976, with Marcello Mastroianni and Jacqueline Bisset.- Biography :...
, who also appeared in the magazine with a few short stories written under pseudonyms. Their successor was Gianni Montanari, a well-known SF editor and writer, who worked for the magazine until 1990.
Most of the novels and short stories were from American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
authors (with some French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
novels in the 1950s). Italian authors appeared uncredited, only under pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s. In recent times Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
SF writers are a more frequent presence. The competition of Premio Urania ("Urania Award
Urania Award
The Urania Award is an annual literary competition run by the Italian magazine Urania for contemporary Italian science fiction novels. It was held for the first time in 1989.-List of winners:...
") was launched in 1990, open to all previously unpublished Italian novels from famous or unknown authors. The winner is awarded with publication in the magazine. The first winner was Vittorio Catani
Vittorio Catani
Vittorio Catani is an Italian science fiction writer.Born in Lecce, he currently lives and works in Bari, Italy. A retired bank clerk, he started publishing essays and fiction in 1962, especially within the fantasy and science fiction genres...
with his Gli universi di Moras (Urania #1120). In 1994 Urania published the first novel by now-world-famed Valerio Evangelisti
Valerio Evangelisti
Valerio Evangelisti is one of the most popular Italian writers of science fiction, fantasy, historical novels and horror. He is known mainly for his series of novels featuring the inquistor Nicolas Eymerich and for the Nostradamus trilogy, all bestsellers translated into many languages...
, who had won the Premio Urania for that year with Nicholas Eymerich, inquisitore. Other winners include Nicoletta Vallorani
Nicoletta Vallorani
Nicoletta Vallorani is an Italian science fiction writer.Born in Offida, in the Marche region, she holds a degree in Foreign Languages with a dissertation on Contemporary American Literature, honed her writing skills as a translator and currently teaches English Language and Literature in the...
and Massimo Mongai
Massimo Mongai
-Biography:Born in Rome, by the age of 12 Massimo Mongai was a dedicated reader of science fiction. He graduated in law. According to the biography printed in many of his books, his influences include the science-fiction writers Isaac Asimov, A. E...
.
Cover artists
First covers were by Carlo Jacono and Kurt CaesarKurt Caesar
Kurt Caesar was a German-Italian painter, journalist and comic book artist.He was born at Montigny-lès-Metz, France, to German father...
, but the «golden era» of the magazine was marked by the renowned Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
painter Karel Thole
Karel Thole
Carolus Adrianus Maria Thole was a Dutch painter and illustrator.He was born in Bussum, near Amsterdam, and was educated at State Drawing School of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum....
, who introduced his unparalleled, bizarre medley of surrealism, horror, classical citations and sense of humour. Other outstanding cover artists who worked for Urania were Vicente Segrelles
Vicente Segrelles
Vicente Segrelles is a Catalan-Spanish comic book artist and writer.He was born in Barcelona.Segrelles gained popularity in Europe for his painted comic epos The Mercenary , started in 1980. Set in a medieval fantasy world, El Mercenario follows the adventures of a mercenary in his fight against...
from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(1988–1991) and Oscar Chichoni
Óscar Chichoni
Oscar Chichoni is an Argentine illustrator of comic books and science fiction magazines and books.-Biography:Chichoni was born in a desolate hamlet in Corral de Bustos, province of Córdoba, and is self-taught in art...
from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(1990s). Current cover artist is Franco Brambilla.
Spin-offs
The magazine sprung a great deal of spin-off series, mostly short-lived and ceased today:- Notable exception of this rule is Millemondi, which started in 1970s with 3/4 monthly periodicity. It reprints famous novels by greatest SFScience fictionScience 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...
authors which have been already published in the main series. Sometimes it houses previously unpublished collections of short stories. - Urania Argento ("Silver Urania") was a monthly series started in 1995 with impressive covers by Oscar ChichoniÓscar ChichoniOscar Chichoni is an Argentine illustrator of comic books and science fiction magazines and books.-Biography:Chichoni was born in a desolate hamlet in Corral de Bustos, province of Córdoba, and is self-taught in art...
and more lengthy, previously unpublished novels: it lasted 14 numbers. - Urania Blu of 1984 was intended to reprint major short-stories collections and other works (notably a collection of articles about science fictionScience fictionScience 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...
by 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...
), but had an unlucky run of only 4 numbers. - Urania Biblioteca was another series of reprints with irregular periodicity.
- Classici Urania (now ceased) was a monthly reprint of the best novels and anthologies of the main series.
- Urania Fantasy was a monthly series dedicated to fantasy titles (1988–1995): it was canceled after 79 numbers. It has been resumed discontinuously in 2001–2006 (9 issues, with numbering starting again from 1). A new number 1 (featuring Robert E. HowardRobert E. HowardRobert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
's stories about Kull) was published in April 2008. - Urania Collezione started in 2003 and is still monthly outgoing: it is similar to Classici Urania but has revised translations (until 1980s novels were extensively abridged) and a different, better packaging.
Also a spin-off of Urania is Epix (rechristened Urania Epix starting from issue no. 10), a monthly launched in 2009. It houses horror, fantasy and fantastic novels or anthology, mainly by Italian authors.
For many years Urania included a comic strip section: main titles were B.C. by Johnny Hart
Johnny Hart
Johnny Hart was an American cartoonist noted as the creator of the comic strip B.C. and co-creator of the strip The Wizard of Id. Hart was recognized with several awards, including the Swedish Adamson Award and five from the National Cartoonists Society...
, The Wizard of Id
The Wizard of Id
The Wizard of Id is a daily newspaper comic strip created by American cartoonists Brant Parker and Johnny Hart. Beginning in 1964, the strip follows the antics of a large cast of characters in a shabby medieval kingdom called "Id". From time to time, the king refers to his subjects as "Idiots"...
, by the same Hart and Brant Parker and Catfish by Bollen & Peterman.
Today
Urania is currently published every month, but with a slightly decreasing success; Urania Collezione sells a little more copies. Urania is by far the longest life science fictionScience 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...
series published in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(in July 2005 the issue number 1500 was released: it contained the translation of Stories for Men, a short novel by John Kessel
John Kessel
John Kessel is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer and the author of two solo novels, Good News From Outer Space and Corrupting Dr...
; Il ranch di Cranwell, a short novel by Giorgio Monicelli; and short stories by Fruttero & Lucentini
Fruttero & Lucentini
Fruttero & Lucentini was the usual way for Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini to sign their joint work, including novels, short stories, articles, anthologies...
, Gianni Montanari, and Giuseppe Lippi). Both series share editor-in-chief Giuseppe Lippi and cover artist Franco Brambilla.
See also
- Science fiction magazineScience fiction magazineA science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
- Fantasy fiction magazine
- Horror fiction magazineHorror fiction magazineA horror fiction magazine is a magazine that publishes primarily horror fiction with the main purpose of scaring or frightening the reader. Horror magazines can be in print, on the internet, or both.-Defunct magazines:*The Arkham Collector...
External links
- www.mondourania.com Site with all the covers of Urania and sister series
- www.uraniamania.com Site of Italian collectors of Urania