(1953- ) UK author, critic, editor, publisher and sf fan, in the latter capacity recipient of 21 Hugo awards for fan writing – some of the best of his several hundred pieces are assembled as Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (coll 1992 chap US; much exp vt The Silence of the Langford 1996; exp 2015 ebook) as Dave Langford, edited by Ben Yalow – plus five Best Fanzine Hugos and one Semiprozine Hugo for his self-produced news magazine, Ansible (which see). His one fiction Hugo is for "Different Kinds of Darkness" (January 2000 F&SF) as best short story.
After some appearances in the Amateur Magazine SFinx (from 1972) Langford began to publish sf professionally with "Heatwave" for New Writings in SF 27 (anth 1975) edited by Kenneth Bulmer. His first book-length fiction, An Account of a Meeting with Denizens of Another World, 1871 (1979) as by William Robert Loosley and edited with mock-critical commentary by Langford, centres on a spoof nineteenth-century report of a UFO Close Encounter; its main narrative was summarized as if factual, without permission or payment, by Whitley Strieber in his "fiction based on fact", Majestic (1989). In Langford's one serious novel, The Space Eater (1982), emissaries from a devastated Earth are sent by a highly unpleasant form of Matter Transmission to a distant colony planet (see Colonization of Other Worlds), where they must persuade the local military not to endanger the fabric of the Universe; there is some satire on Military SF. The Leaky Establishment (1984), borderline sf, hilariously examines a crisis involving misplaced nuclear warheads at what many readers have assumed is what was then the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston (where Langford, who has an MA in physics, worked as a weapons physicist 1975-1980). In Earthdoom! (1987) with John Grant, a Parody of the Disaster-novel genre and of countless sf Clichés, a multitude of catastrophes afflicts the world more or less simultaneously: these include catastrophic Climate Change, Alien Invasion, a threatened Antimatter Comet impact, the return via Time Travel of Hitler (who soon Clones himself), and so on. The Dragonhiker's Guide to Battlefield Covenant at Dune's Edge: Odyssey Two (coll 1988) assembles parodies of sf and fantasy writers; its contents were incorporated into the much more substantial Parody and pastiche collection He Do the Time Police in Different Voices (coll 2003; exp 2015 ebook). Non-parodic fiction is assembled in the retrospective collection Different Kinds of Darkness: Short Stories (coll 2004; exp 2015 ebook)
Though much of his short fiction is entirely serious, Langford was long best known for the witty and ironic humour of his fan writing – first effectively distilled in the Fanzine Twll-Ddu (1976-1983) – his numerous magazine columns, and most of his full-length fiction, although it is sometimes over-broad. Long-running columns have appeared in Interzone – "Ansible Link", a digest of Ansible news (1992-2020) – and SFX, comprising general sf commentary and humour in every issue from the magazine's launch in 1995 to #274 for July 2016. A tenth-anniversary collection of the latter columns is The SEX Column and other misprints (coll 2005; exp 2016 ebook); further SFX columns appear amid much other material in Starcombing (coll 2009; exp 2016 ebook) and as almost the entire content of the concluding All Good Things: The Last SFX Visions (coll 2017).
An early "nonfiction" book appearance is in The Necronomicon (anth 1978) edited by George Hay, Langford's contribution being to construct a hoax history of Computer decipherment of the eponymous "lost occult text" invented by H P Lovecraft but in this book supposedly known to and enciphered by John Dee. Langford has also written, often in collaboration, a variety of nonfiction texts of sf interest, all imaginatively conceived and soundly based: War in 2080: The Future of Military Technology (1979), Facts and Fallacies: A Book of Definitive Mistakes and Misguided Predictions (1981; exp 2017 ebook) with Chris Morgan, The Science in Science Fiction (1982) with Peter Nicholls and Brian Stableford, Micromania: The Whole Truth about Home Computers (1984) with Charles Platt, and The Third Millennium (A History of the World: AD 2000-3000) (1985) with Brian Stableford. His introduction to the posthumous John Sladek collection Maps: The Uncollected John Sladek (coll 2002), edited by Langford, won a BSFA Award for nonfiction; Up Through an Empty House of Stars: Reviews and Essays 1980-2002 (coll 2003; exp 2016 ebook) is a substantial retrospective collection of one hundred reviews and critical essays.
Following some self-published titles using his software trading name Ansible Information, Langford's Small Press was launched in 2003 as Ansible E-ditions in partnership with Christopher Priest, publishing new and newly collected work by David I Masson and John T Sladek; as Ansible Editions with Greg Pickersgill it focused on Algis Budrys's F&SF review columns, collected in three volumes 2012-2013; the imprint continues as a solo operation, mainly reissuing Langford backlist works and fandom-related compilations as ebooks, but with further printed titles by Budrys, Sladek and others [see Checklist below].
Langford was nonfiction editor of the short-lived Extro from 1982 to its demise, and edited the early Online Magazine Starlight SF from 1982 to 1985. He has been sf reviewer for the UK newspapers The Guardian 1994-1995 and The Sunday Telegraph 2011-2013.
Though still producing occasional stories, Langford now devotes most of his time to nonfiction and editorial work including magazine columns as above, Ansible, Ansible Editions, and the present Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current web), edited with John Clute, Peter Nicholls and Graham Sleight, which won a Hugo as Best Related Work in 2012 – Langford's 29th and perhaps final Hugo award. A late collection of articles written for fanzines and other venues (including Fortean Times, and for various books with Langford introductions), is Beachcombing and Other Oddments (coll 2020). [JC/NT/DRL]
see also: Anthropology; Black Holes; Cosmology; Eastercon; Fan Funds; Games Workshop; Genetic Engineering; Humour; Hyperspace; Immortality; The Infinite Matrix; Loch Ness Monster; New Writings in SF; Prediction; Pseudoscience; SETI; Skylark Award; Tuckerisms; Upload; Utopias; Wandering Jew; Weapons; White Holes; Worldcon.
David Rowland Langford
born Newport, Monmouthshire: 10 April 1953
died
works
collections
nonfiction
series
Discworld
individual titles: nonfiction
- The Necronomicon (St Helier, Jersey: Neville Spearman, 1978) with George Hay, Robert Turner and Colin Wilson [nonfiction: anth: H P Lovecraft: Cthulhu Mythos: hb/nonpictorial]
- War in 2080: The Future of Military Technology (Newton Abbot, Devon: Westbridge Books, 1979) [nonfiction: hb/Andrew Farmer]
- Facts and Fallacies: A Book of Definitive Mistakes and Misguided Predictions (Exeter, Devon: Webb and Bower, 1981) with Chris Morgan [nonfiction: hb/nonpictorial]
- The Science in Science Fiction (London: Michael Joseph, 1982) with Peter Nicholls and Brian Stableford [nonfiction: hb/Chris Foss]
- Micromania: The Whole Truth about Home Computers (London: Victor Gollancz, 1984) with Charles Platt [nonfiction: reworking for the UK market of Platt's solo The Whole-Truth Home Computer Handbook (1984): illus/Borin van Loon: hb/uncredited]
- The Third Millennium (A History of the World: AD 2000-3000) (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1985) with Brian Stableford [hb/David Jefferis]
- The Transatlantic Hearing Aid (Chichester, Sussex: Inca Press, 1985) as Dave Langford [nonfiction: chap: illus/various: pb/Jim Barker]
- The End of Harry Potter? (London: Gollancz, 2006) [nonfiction: hb/David Wyatt]
nonfiction collections
series
Critical Assembly
Ansible
individual titles: nonfiction collections
- Platen Stories (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Conspiracy '87, 1987) as Dave Langford [coll: chap: Fanzine writings published by the 1987 Worldcon: pb/Jim Barker]
- Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (Framingham, Massachusetts: NESFA Press, 1992) as Dave Langford [nonfiction: coll: chap: edited by Ben Yalow: pb/Merle Insinga]
- Pieces of Langford: A Collection of Short Essays (Tonwell, Hertfordshire: Harvey Consultancy/Auld Lang Fund, 1998) [nonfiction: coll: chap: 25 selected columns from SFX: pb/]
- Up Through an Empty House of Stars: Reviews and Essays 1980-2002 (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press/Cosmos Books, 2003) [nonfiction: coll: hb/J T Lindroos]
- The SEX Column and other misprints (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press/Cosmos Books, 2005) [nonfiction: coll: columns and features from SFX: hb/Garry Nurrish]
- The SEX Column and other misprints (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2016) [nonfiction: coll: ebook: exp of the above with 3 added pieces: columns and features from SFX: na/Garry Nurrish]
- The Apricot Files: The "Disinformation" Columns (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Information, 2007) [nonfiction: coll: columns from Apricot computer magazines 1985-1988: pb/nonpictorial]
- The Limbo Files: Writing, Freelancing and the Amstrad PCW (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/Cosmos Books, 2009) [nonfiction: coll: columns from Amstrad PCW computer magazines 1986-2002: pb/J T Lindroos]
- Starcombing: Columns, Essays, Reviews and More (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/Cosmos Books, 2016) [nonfiction: coll: includes four short-short stories from Nature: pb/J T Lindroos]
- Crosstalk: Interviews Conducted by David Langford (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2015) [nonfiction: coll: pb/L A Vaught]
- Don't Try This at Home: Selected Convention Reports (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2015) [nonfiction: coll: ebook: na/photographic]
- All Good Things: The Last SFX Visions (Alconbury Weston, Cambridgeshire: NewCon Press/Steel Quill, 2017) [nonfiction: coll: illus/hb/Andy Watt]
- Short Shrift: A Big Book of Little Reviews 1976-2017 (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2017) [nonfiction: coll: ebook: na/photographic]
- Beachcombing and Other Oddments (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2020) [nonfiction: coll: pb/Dan Steffan]
works as editor
series
Benchmarks
individual titles as editor
- Wrath of the Fanglord (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Rune Press, 1998) [nonfiction: anth: chap: selected articles published in Langford Fanzines: pb/Steve Stiles]
- John T Sladek. Maps: The Uncollected John Sladek (Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Big Engine, 2002) [coll: with introduction by Langford: pb/Deirdre Counihan]
- The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: Third Edition (London: Gollancz, 2011) with John Clute, Peter Nicholls and Graham Sleight [encyclopedia: exp of the previous edition edited by Clute and Nicholls: published online: still a work in progress: na/]
- A Vincent Clarke. A Vince Clarke Treasury (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2015) [nonfiction: coll: ebook: na/photographic]
- TAFF Trip Report Anthology (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2017) [nonfiction: anth: ebook: unfinished TransAtlantic Fan Fund reports (see Fan Funds): na/Anne Stokes]
- (As consultant editor) The Astounding Illustrated History of Science Fiction (London: Flame Tree, 2017) [nonfiction: anth: introductions by Langford and Pat Mills: hb/photocollage]
- Ron Bennett. The Complete Skyrack (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2017) [nonfiction: coll: ebook: introduction by Rob Hansen: Skyrack: na/Arthur Thomson as Atom]
- Down the Badger Hole: R. Lionel Fanthorpe: The Badger Years (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2018) with Debbie Cross [nonfiction and fiction: omni: ebook: combines Down the Badger Hole (coll 1995) and its Bibliographic Supplement (coll 1999 chap) with corrections and much added material: na/photographic]
- Peter Roberts et al, editors. The Complete Checkpoint (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2018) [nonfiction: coll: ebook: Checkpoint: na/Bruce Townley]
- John T Sladek. New Maps: More Uncollected John Sladek (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2019) [nonfiction: coll: with some stories and poems: pb/photographic]
- Terry Carr. Fandom Harvest II (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2019) [nonfiction: coll: Fandom: hb/Steve Stiles]
- Bruce Sterling as "Vincent Omniaveritas". The Complete Cheap Truth (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2019) [coll: ebook: assembling all issues of Cheap Truth: na/nonpictorial]
- Charles Platt. The Complete Patchin Review (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2019) [coll: ebook: assembling all issues of The Patchin Review plus 2 additional Platt articles: na/nonpictorial]
- Bob Shaw. The Serious Scientific Talks (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2019) edited with Rob Jackson [nonfiction: coll: ebook: Serious Scientific Talks: na/Jim Barker]
- Algis Budrys. Beyond the Outposts: Essays on SF and Fantasy 1955-1996 (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2020) [nonfiction: coll: includes contents of Budrys's Outposts: Literatures of Milieux (coll 1997): pb/from Camille Flammarion]
- Algis Budrys. A Budrys Miscellany: Occasional Writing 1954-2000 (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2020) [nonfiction: coll: ebook: pb/from Budrys's Fanzine dubious]
- Bob Shaw. The Full Glass Bushel (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2020) edited with Rob Jackson [nonfiction: coll: ebook: all the "Glass Bushel" columns plus other articles from Hyphen: illus/na/Jim Barker]
- Bob Shaw. Slow Pint Glass (Reading, Berkshire: Ansible Editions, 2020) edited with Rob Jackson [nonfiction: coll: ebook: further Fanzine writings: illus/na/Jim Barker]
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