Vogt, A E van

▪ 2001

      Canadian-born American science-fiction writer (b. April 26, 1912, Winnipeg, Man.—d. Jan. 26, 2000, Los Angeles, Calif.), was one of the most prominent writers during science fiction's golden age—the period from 1939 to 1951, when the work of such notable talents as van Vogt, Robert A. Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov appeared in the field's leading magazine, John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction. After getting his start as a writer by selling “confession” stories to pulp magazines and writing plays for Canadian radio, van Vogt turned to science fiction. His first story, “Black Destroyer,” which appeared in Campbell's publication in 1939, came to be regarded as a classic and later was cited as the inspiration for the Alien film series. Among the 85 novels and short-story collections that followed were a number of other classics, including Slan (1946), The World of Null-A (1948), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951). These works were distinctive for their vivid imagery and fast-moving narratives. In 1996 van Vogt was one of four inaugural inductees in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame and received a special award for lifetime achievement from the World Science Fiction Convention.

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