Gardner steps down

1 Comment

Wow—I fail to read my mail for a few hours and I completely miss the announcement that Gardner Dozois is stepping down as editor of Asimov's, after more than 18 years (and 14-so-far Best Pro Editor Hugos).

Sheila Williams will be the new editor. For those of you unfamiliar with her, she's been the magazine's Executive Editor for some time. She started with the magazine in 1982 as an editorial assistant. She's edited or co-edited a bunch of anthologies, mostly Asimov's-related but also including A Woman's Liberation (co-edited with Connie Willis).

Btw, did y'all know that Asimov's (in its IASFM incarnation) had two previous female editors? The magazine started with George Scithers as editor, in 1977; then Kathleen Moloney (who I know nothing about) took over in 1982; then Shawna McCarthy (!) in 1983 (less than a year later); then over to Gardner in 1986. So it had been running for nearly 10 years before Gardner became editor.

There's a very thorough history of Asimov's by John O'Neill at sfsite. Turns out Gardner was actually known as a writer (having won two Nebulas in a row) before he became an editor; I somehow didn't know that.

One Response to “Gardner steps down”

  1. Tim Pratt

    Yeah, Gardner was a darling of the New Wave, and he wrote some absolutely first-rate stories. He was known for, shall we say, a certain bleakness of outlook. I occasionally run across copies of his collection The Visible Man in used bookstores, so I gather it’s not hard to get a copy of, if you’re interested in his fiction. He also did a rather lackluster novel with George Alec Effinger called Nightmare Blue. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not as good as the solo efforts of either author.

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