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Keith Roberts

{{Short description|English science fiction author (1935–2000)}}

{{for-multi|the American dancer|Keith Roberts (dancer)|the New Zealand rugby league player|Keith Roberts (rugby league)}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Keith Roberts

| image =

| caption =

| pseudonym = Alistair Bevan, John Kingston, David Stringer

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1935|9|20}}

| birth_place = Kettering, Northamptonshire

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2000|10|5|1935|9|20}}

| death_place = Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

| nationality = British

| occupation = Writer, artist, graphic designer

| genre = Science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, thriller

| movement =

| notableworks = Pavane

| website =

}}

Keith John Kingston Roberts (20 September 1935 – 5 October 2000) was an English science fiction author. He began publishing with two stories in the September 1964 issue of Science Fantasy magazine, "Anita" (the first of a series of stories featuring a teenage modern witch and her eccentric granny) and "Escapism".

Several of his early stories were written using the pseudonyms Alistair Bevan and David Stringer. His second novel Pavane, first published in 1968, which is a collection of linked stories, may be his most famous work: an alternate history novel in which the Catholic Church takes control of England following the assassination of Queen Elizabeth I.Cox, F. Brett. "Keith Roberts".

British fantasy and science-fiction writers since 1960. 261 (2002): 336.

Roberts wrote numerous novels and short stories and worked as an illustrator. His artistic contributions include covers and interior artwork for New Worlds and Science Fantasy, later renamed Impulse. He also edited the last few issues of Impulse although the nominal editor was Harry Harrison.

Roberts' first novel, The Furies, makes an appearance in the American TV series Bones in the third season's third episode "Death in the Saddle" (9 October 2007).

Roberts described himself as a political conservative and

an anti-communist.

In later life, Roberts lived in Salisbury. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1990, and died of its complications in October 2000. Obituaries recalled him as a talented but personally "difficult" author, with a history of disputes with publishers, editors and colleagues.{{cite news| title=Obituary: Keith Roberts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/16/guardianobituaries.books| last=Holland| first=Steve| newspaper=The Guardian |date=16 October 2000| access-date=31 August 2009}}[http://news.ansible.co.uk/a160.html David Langford – Keith Roberts, 1935–2000], Ansible #160 (November 2000)[http://www.ansible.co.uk/sfx/sfx073.html David Langford – A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs], SFX magazine #73 (January 2001)

Partial bibliography

=Novels=

  • The Furies (1966) – a traditional UK disaster tale. Adapted into a six-part thriller on BBC Radio 4 in May 1970.{{cite web |title=BBC Programme Index |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/ee139ca7ea8e4bafaafb9e7b0f6d53c0 |website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk |access-date=9 November 2023 |date=20 May 1970}}
  • Pavane (1968) – a collection of linked short stories
  • Anita (1970) – a collection of linked short stories
  • The Inner Wheel (1970) – a collection of linked short stories
  • The Boat of Fate (1971) – a historical novel set in Britain at the end of the Roman Empire's power
  • The Chalk Giants (1974) – a collection of linked short stories
  • Molly Zero (1980) – a novel set in a dystopian future
  • Kiteworld (1985) – originally published as linked short stories
  • Kaeti & Company (1986) – linked short fiction
  • Gráinne (1987) – slipstream fiction
  • The Road to Paradise (1989) – a thriller, without fantastic elements
  • Kaeti on Tour (1992) – linked short fiction
  • Drek Yarman (2000) - a novel set in Kiteworld, serialized in Spectrum SF{{cite web |title=Drek Yarman by Keith Roberts (Spectrum SF #1, February 2000 through #3, June 2000) |url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/drek.htm |website=InfinityPlus.co.uk |publisher=InfinityPlus |access-date=6 August 2019}}

=Collections=

  • Machines and Men (1973)
  • "Escapism" (1964)
  • "Therapy 2000" (1969)
  • "Manscarer" (1966)
  • "Boulter's Canaries" (1965)
  • "Sub-Lim" (1965)
  • "Synth" (1966)
  • "The Deeps" (1966)
  • "Breakdown" (1966)
  • "The Pace That Kills" (1966)
  • "Manipulation" (1965)
  • The Grain Kings (1976)
  • "Weihnachtsabend" (1972)
  • "The White Boat" (1966)
  • "The Passing of the Dragons" (1972)
  • "The Trustie Tree" (1973)
  • "The Lake of Tuonela" (1973)
  • "The Grain Kings" (1972)
  • "I Lose Medea" (1972)
  • The Passing of the Dragons (1977) - selected stories from Machines and Men and The Grain Kings
  • Ladies from Hell (1979)
  • "Our Lady of Desperation" (1979)
  • "The Shack at Great Cross Halt" (1977)
  • "The Ministry of Children" (1975)
  • "The Big Fans" (1977)
  • "Missa Privata" (1976)
  • The Lordly Ones (1986)
  • "The Lordly Ones" (1980)
  • "Ariadne Potts" (1978)
  • "Sphairistike" (1984)
  • "The Checkout" (1981)
  • "The Comfort Station" (1980)
  • "The Castle on the Hoop" (1986)
  • "Diva" (1986)
  • A Heron Caught in Weeds (1987) – poetry collection, edited by Jim Goddard
  • Winterwood and Other Hauntings (1989) – ghost story collection, with an introduction by Robert Holdstock
  • "Susan" (1965)
  • "The Scarlet Lady" (1966)
  • "The Eastern Windows" (1967)
  • "Winterwood" (1974)
  • "Mrs. Cibber" (1989)
  • "The Snake Princess" (1973)
  • "Everything in the Garden" (1973)

=Other=

  • The Natural History of the P.H. (1988) – short essay about the "Primitive Heroine"
  • Irish Encounters: A Short Travel (1989) – essays about a trip to Ireland in 1978
  • Lemady: Episodes of a Writer's Life (1997) – autobiography, with fictional elements

Awards and nominations

= Awards =

  • British Science Fiction Association Award 1982 – Short fiction: "Kitemaster" (Interzone, Spring 1982)
  • British Science Fiction Association Award 1986 – Short fiction: "Kaeti and the Hangman" (Kaeti & Company)
  • British Science Fiction Association Award 1986 – Artist: Keith Roberts
  • British Science Fiction Association Award 1987 – Novel: Gráinne

= Nominations =

References

{{Reflist |25em |refs=

{{cite book |last= Clute |first= John | author-link=John Clute |author2=Nicholls, Peter |title= The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |publisher= Orbit Books |year= 1993 |isbn= 1-85723-124-4 | pages= 1012–1013 }}

{{cite book |last= Smith |first= Curtis C. |title=Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers|publisher= Macmillan Publishers |year= 1981 |isbn= 0-312-82420-3 }}

{{cite web|url=http://www.bsfa.co.uk/Awards/BSFAAwardsPastAwards.aspx |title=British Science Fiction Association Awards – Past Awards |publisher=British Science Fiction Association |access-date=27 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519040516/http://www.bsfa.co.uk/Awards/BSFAAwardsPastAwards.aspx |archive-date=19 May 2011 }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.literaryawards.co.uk/american/nebula.html |title= The Nebula Awards |publisher= www.literaryawards.co.uk |access-date= 28 November 2010 |archive-date= 7 October 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111007185155/http://www.literaryawards.co.uk/american/nebula.html |url-status= dead }}

{{cite web |url= https://www.sfadb.com/Arthur_C_Clarke_Award_1988 |title= The Arthur C. Clarke Award 1988 |publisher= Science Fiction Awards Database |access-date= 22 October 2023 }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1981-hugo-awards/ |title=1981 Hugo Awards |publisher=World Science Fiction Society |access-date=28 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507164647/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1981-hugo-awards/ |archive-date=7 May 2011 }}

{{cite web |url= http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/campbell.htm |title= The John W. Campbell Memorial Award |publisher= Center for the Study of Science Fiction, Department of English, University of Kansas |access-date= 28 November 2010 |archive-date= 5 February 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120205171422/http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/campbell.htm |url-status= dead }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?Year=1985 |title= 1985 Award Winners & Nominees |publisher= icow.com, LLC |access-date= 28 November 2010 }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1980 |title= 1980 Award Winners & Nominees |publisher= icow.com, LLC |access-date= 28 November 2010 }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.solaris-books.co.uk/Roberts/krmain.htm |title= The Worlds of Keith Roberts |publisher= Solaris Books |access-date= 28 January 2015 }}

}}

External links

{{wikiquote}}

  • [http://www.solaris-books.co.uk/Roberts/ The Worlds of Keith Roberts] by Jim Goddard, Solaris Books (updated 9 October 2000)
  • {{ISFDB name|1037}}
  • {{LCAuth|n50048899|Keith Roberts|13|ue}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Keith}}

Category:1935 births

Category:2000 deaths

Category:English science fiction writers

Category:English fantasy writers

Category:English illustrators

Category:English graphic designers

Category:Deaths from multiple sclerosis

Category:People with multiple sclerosis

Category:Neurological disease deaths in England

Category:People from Kettering

Category:20th-century English novelists

Category:BSFA Award for Best Artwork winner

Category:20th-century English short story writers

Category:English male novelists

Category:20th-century English male writers

Category:English writers with disabilities