Graham Nelson
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Graham Nelson
| image =
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1968}}
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| occupation = Mathematician, poet, game designer
| spouse = Emily Short
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}}
Graham A. Nelson (born 1968) is a British mathematician, poet, and the creator of the Inform design system for creating interactive fiction (IF) games. He has authored several IF games, including Curses (1993) and Jigsaw (1995).{{cite news
|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/06/business/technology-connections-intricacy-text-game-no-object-superfluous-no-formulation.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm
|title = TECHNOLOGY: CONNECTIONS; In the intricacy of a text game, no object is superfluous, no formulation too strange.
|access-date = 10 March 2021
|date = 6 April 1998
|last = Rothstein
|first = Edward
|newspaper = New York Times
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130104134135/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06EFDE103AF935A35757C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
|archive-date = 4 January 2013
|url-status = live
|url-access = limited
}}
Education
In 1994, Nelson received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Oxford under the supervision of Simon Donaldson.{{MathGenealogy |id = 36909 }}
Writing
Nelson co-edited Oxford Poetry{{cn|date=March 2021}} and in 1997 received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors for his poetry.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193241/http://www.societyofauthors.net/soa/page_id_sub.php4?pid=30&parentid=7&par_nm=Prizes%20for%20fiction%20and%20non-fiction Eric Gregory Trust Fund Awards (winners)]}}, Society of Authors. Accessed 2007-04-19. {{As of|2004}} he was managing editor of Legenda, the imprint of the Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA).[https://web.archive.org/web/20041223060415/http://www.mhra.org.uk/Downloads/LegendaPR.pdf "New Partners for Oxford University's Legenda Imprint"], 2004-10-21. [http://www.mhra.org.uk/index.html Modern Humanities Research Association] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020913080341/http%3A//www.mhra.org.uk/index.html |date=13 September 2002 }}. Accessed 2007-04-19
Interactive fiction
Nelson is the creator of the Inform design system for creating interactive fiction (IF) games. He has also authored several IF games, including Curses (1993) and Jigsaw (1995), using the experience of writing Curses in particular to expand the range of verbs that Inform is capable of understanding.
Personal life
Games
= Written =
- Curses (1993, Z-code)
- Deja Vu (1993, Z-code)
- Balances (1994, Z-code)
- Jigsaw (1995, Z-code)
- The Meteor, the Stone and a Long Glass of Sherbet (as "Angela M. Horns", 1996, Z-code), for IF Comp 1996 (1st place). Was a finalist for Best Individual Puzzle, Best Puzzles, Best Writing, and Best Game at the XYZZY Awards 1996
- The Tempest (1997, Z-code), for IF Comp 1997 (25th place). Winner of Best Use of Medium at the XYZZY Awards 1997.
- Time and Dwarves (1998, Inform source code). Demo code for Inform programmers.
- Ruins (as "Angela M. Horns", 2001)
- The Reliques of Tolti-Aph (2006, Z-code)
= Ported =
Other works
- (1995) "The Craft of the Adventure" (2nd ed)
- (1997) Singularities, with Polly Clark and Tim Kendall. Oxford: Hubble Press. {{ISBN|0-9531989-0-1}}. Anthology of poetry
- (2001) Inform Designers Manual (4th ed), with Gareth Rees. Placet Solutions, {{ISBN|0-9713119-0-0}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130814185816/http://www.gnelson.demon.co.uk/ Homepage of Graham Nelson]
- [http://wurb.com/if/person/43 Graham Nelson's entry in Baf's Guide to IF archive]
- [http://www.gnelson.demon.co.uk/oxpoetry/index.html Nelson's Index to Oxford Poetry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312114855/http://www.gnelson.demon.co.uk/oxpoetry/index.html |date=12 March 2005 }}
- [http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/Graham_Nelson IFWiki's page for Graham Nelson]
- [http://www.emshort.com/ifmu/inform.html Graham Nelson's talk on Inform Past, Present and Future, June 2018]
- [https://www.filfre.net/2019/11/new-tricks-for-an-old-z-machine-part-2-hacking-deeper-or-follies-of-graham-nelsons-youth/ Graham Nelson's brief autobiography as of 2019, published by computer entertainment historian Jimmy Maher]
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge
Category:British video game designers
Category:British video game programmers
Category:English mathematicians
Category:Fellows of St Anne's College, Oxford