Holmberg, John-Henri
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author, Critic, Editor, Fan.
(1949- ) Swedish editor, translator and critic. An sf reader since the age of six, Holmberg became active in Swedish fandom at thirteen, during the following 25 years publishing some 300 issues of Fanzines, chairing sf clubs and several Conventions and in 1977 starting the first sf bookstore in Sweden. For his fan activities, he received the international Big Heart Award at the 2005 Worldcon. In 1973, Holmberg was hired by the Swedish publishers Askild & Kärnekull to edit their sf line, which was discontinued in 1975. He later worked as editor or publisher for other houses, publishing both sf and non-sf at Lindfors, Kindberg, Bra Böcker/Wiken, and Replik. From 1982 to 1987, with Per Insulander and John Ågren, he ran LFP publishing in Stockholm, which issued original sf paperbacks as well as Nova Science Fiction magazine, which he edited with Insulander; in 2004 he resumed Nova, which in 2009 received the European SF Society Award for best European SF Magazine. He has written on sf and Fantasy as well as mainstream literature for magazines, newspapers and in book form [see Checklist below]; has written introductions to numerous sf novels and collections; and is the contributing expert on sf to the Swedish National Encyclopedia. In his critical work, he has stressed the secular, rationalistic basis of sf literature and often discussed Feminist and Gender-oriented sf. He wrote this encyclopedia's current entry on Sweden, plus individual entries for several Scandinavian authors. [J-HH]
John-Henri Bertilson Holmberg
born Stockholm, Sweden: 22 June 1949
works (selected: sf-related only)
nonfiction
- Drömmar om evigheten. Science fictions historia ["Dreams of Eternity: The History of Science Fiction"] (Stockholm, Sweden: Askild & Kärnekull, 1974) [nonfiction: pb/]
- Sf-guide ["Guide to SF"] (Stockholm, Sweden: SFSF, 1977) [nonfiction: pb/]
- Kvinnor i science fiction ["Women in Science Fiction"] (Stockholm, Sweden: Optima, 1982) with Per Insulander [nonfiction: pb/]
- Fantasy. Fantasylitteraturens motiv, historia och författare ["Fantasy. The Motiefs, History and Authors of Fantasy Literature"] (Viken, Sweden: Replik, 1995) [nonfiction: hb/]
- Inre landskap och yttre rymd. I: Science fictions historia från H. G. Wells to Brian W. Aldiss ["Inner Landscapes and Outer Space. I: The History of Science Fiction from H G Wells to Brian W Aldiss"] (Lund, Sweden: Bibliotekstjänst, 2002) [nonfiction: pb/]
- Inre landskap och yttre rymd. II: Science fictions historia från J.G. Ballard till Gene Wolfe ["Inner Landscapes and Outer Space. II: The History of Science Fiction from J G Ballard to Gene Wolfe"] (Lund, Sweden: Bibliotekstjänst, 2003) [nonfiction: pb/]
works as editor
- Sven Christer Swahn. Tagning: Framtid. Noveller, dikter, kritiker av Sven Christer Swahn ["Take: Future. Stories, Poems, Criticism by Sven Christer Swahn"] (Stockholm, Sweden: SFSF, 1977) [coll: pb/]
- Alpha 1 (Jönköping, Sweden: Kindberg, 1980) with Per Insulander and John Ågren [anth: pb/]
- Framtiden inför rätta ["The Future on Trial"] (Stockholm, Sweden: Timbro, 1984) [anth: hb/]
- Den fantastiska julen ["Fantastic Christmas"] (Stockholm, Sweden: Timbro, 1985) [anth: hb/]
- Cyberpunk (Viken, Sweden: Replik, 1995) [anth: Cyberpunk: hb/]
- Första stora science fiction-boken ["The First Big Book of Science Fiction"] (Stockholm, Sweden: Univerb, 1997) [anth: hb/]
- När allt förändrades ["When Everything Changed"] (Stockholm, Sweden: En bok för alla, 2010) [anth: hb/]
- Häpna! En bok ur och om 1950-talets tongivande science fiction-magasin ["Häpna! A book of and about the Leading Science Fiction Magazine of the 1950s"] (Stockholm, Sweden: Heidi, 2015) [nonfiction: anth: with historical and critical commentary plus a complete index: Häpna!: hb/Frank R Paul cover of #1]
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