William Gibson


author, science fiction, cyberspace, cyberpunk, steampunk, virtual reality, posthuman, hackers


Born 1948 near Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, United States.
Mother: Otey Williams Gibson.


Coined the word 'cyberspace' in his novel Neuromancer (1984). This remarkable book is considered to be the quintessential cyberpunk novel. So far, it is the only book to receive all three of science fiction's top awards.

Winner of the Hugo Award, the 1984 Nebula Award, and the 1985 Philip K.Dick Memorial Award for his novel Neuromancer .


"William Gibson's early cyberspace trilogy, Neuromancer , Count Zero , and Mona Lisa Overdrive , helped launch the cyberpunk movement". [publisher's bumpf in Storming the Reality Studio , 1991]


cyberpunk groove. He had a few vague ideas as early as 1976, the year he wrote his first published story 'Fragments Of A Hologram Rose', which mixes end-of-an-affair melancholy with an early take on virtual reality. But it wasn't quite working, so he gave up and spent 1977 buying punk 45s.

"Punk brought Gibson back to writing, in the person of John Shirley, who spent his days churning out SF and his nights playing in a Portland punk band. Shirley encouraged/shamed him into working harder and between '78 and '81 he wrote a series of stories which mapped out the basics of the Sprawl and made a start on Neuromancer . 'Burning Chrome', about a high-tech hooker who created designer cancers for irritating clients, was the first point he felt as if things were starting to work, an impression reinforced when he read it to a wildly enthusiastic Bruce Sterling the first time he met him face to face, at a small SF convention in Austin, Texas, in August 1981." --Jim McClellan (in "The Man Who Made Cyberspace", The Face , October 1993).


"Gibson's view of a very probable downside future was a satirical criticism of current trends. Somehow, it touched a nerve and triggered a cascade of intelligent inquiry and practical experimentation. There's no end of discussion -- which ranges from literary to practical to psychological -- about the implications of our new found powers. The fact is that we are building another reality.

"It's remarkable how a work of fiction could have such a profound effect on the course of our technological development. The social questions, however, remain as enigmatic as they are intriguing. So stay tuned." --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space , 1995).


He lives and works in Vancouver, B.C.

Wife: Deborah Gibson. They have 2 children.



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Of Related Interest

  • Artificial Intelligence / Artificial Life / Robotics
  • Communication & Media
  • Counterculture / Underground
  • CyberCulture
  • Cyberpunk
  • Future
  • Genetic Engineering / Biotechnology / Evolution
  • Hackers, Viruses, & CyberCrime
  • Identity / Persona
  • Neurologic / Consciousness / Mind Control
  • Posthuman / Transhuman
  • Postmodern
  • Science Fiction
  • Slipstream
  • Steampunk
  • Virtual Reality / Cyberspace

  • Send comments, additions, corrections, contributions to:
    hwt@anachron.demon.co.uk


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