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Resnick attended the University of Chicago from 1959 to 1961 where he met his future wife, Carol. The couple were married 1961. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Resnick wrote more than 200 "adult" novels under pseudonyms, edited seven tabloid newspapers, and edited a trio of men's magazines. He also produced a weekly column on horse racing for more than a decade, and for eleven years wrote a monthly column on purebred collies, which he and his wife bred and exhibited. His wife Carol is also a writer, as is his daughter, Laura Resnick, who is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author. Resnick's papers, consisting of at least 125 boxes, are in the Special Collections Library of the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Two notable trends run through the majority of Resnick's science fiction work. The first is his love of fable and legend. Many of his stories chronicle larger-than-life characters with colorful names like "The Widowmaker", "Lucifer Jones", "The Forever Kid", and "Catastrophe Baker" and the legendary adventures they pursue. Resnick is also interested in the formation of history and legend, and sometimes includes bards as characters. The book The Outpost deals most with these themes, as it includes a story told from multiple perspectives and a bard who openly intends to exaggerate and edit his accounts to make them more interesting. Resnick's books in this vein bear some resemblance to Westerns, but are clearly science fiction.
The other main subject of Resnick's work is Africa - African history, African culture, colonialism and its aftermath, and traditionalism. He has visited Africa often, and draws on this experience. Some of his science fiction stories are allegories of African history and politics. Other stories are actually set in Africa or have African characters.
Resnick's style is also known for the inclusion of humor. Even his most grim and serious stories have frequent unexpected bursts of humor in them.
He is also a long-time participant in science fiction fandom. Resnick has been the Guest of Honor at some 35 science fiction conventions, and Toastmaster at a dozen others.
Since 1988 Resnick has edited over 40 anthologies. He has also sold screenplays based on his novels to Miramax and Capella, and often has multiple properties under option to Hollywood studios.
His work has been translated into French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Russian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Dutch, Swedish, Romanian, Finnish, Castilian, Slovakian, Chinese, Danish, and Croatian.
Fiona Kelleghan has written an extensive bibliography, Mike Resnick: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to His Work by (Farthest Star, 2000).
Selected awards & nominations
Resnick has 5 Hugo Awards and has won numerous other awards from places as diverse as France, Japan, Spain, Croatia and Poland. As of 2008, he is first on the Locus list of all-time award winners, living or dead, for short fiction, and 4th on the Locus list of science fiction's all-time top award winners in all fiction categories.[1]
Selected Awards
His 1995 Hugo Award-winning novella "Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge" also scooped the S.F. Chronicle Poll Award for the same, the corresponding 1994 Nebula Award for Best Novella and the 1995 HOMer Award for Best Novella.[2] Between 1991 and 2001, he won a further nine HOMer Awards (bringing his total to 10, from a staggering 24 nominations), placing him at the head of HOMer Award winners, ahead of Robert J. Sawyer on nine wins and just 12 nominations.[3]
His 1998 and 2005 Hugo Award-winning stories - "The 43 Antarean Dynasties" and "Travels with My Cats" also garnered him Asimov's Readers Poll Awards, of which he has won a total of five (from 20 nominations), placing him joint-second with Bruce Boston behind Bob Eggleton.[4] He has won a total of six (including that mentioned above) S.F. Chronicle Poll Awards[5], one Locus Award (from 30 nominations, winning in 1996 with "When the Old Gods Die")[6], a Golden Pagoda Award, two American Dog Writers Awards and an Alexander Award.
In 1995, he was awarded the Skylark (or "Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction") for Lifetime Achievement in Science Fiction.[7]
International Awards
"Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge" has also won awards in Spain (Ignotus Award), France (Prix Ozone Award) and Croatia (Futura Poll), contributing to a total of three Ignotus Awards and two Prix Ozone Awards. He was awarded the Spanish El Melocoton Mechanico Award for "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and the Xatafi-Cyberdark Award for "For I Have Touched the Sky", in addition to a Tour Eiffel Award in France for The Dark Lady.
In Japan, he won the Seuin-sho Award for Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia, and the Hayakawa Award for "For I Have Touched the Sky". In Poland, "Kirinyaga" won the Nowa Fantastyka Poll Award, while "For I Have Touched the Sky" won the Sfinks Award. (Resnick won another Sfinks Award for "When the Old Gods Die".)
Resnick has been nominated for 31 Hugo Awards, and won five times. Aside from 1999 and 2003, he has received at least one nomination every year to date since 1989. A complete list of his nominations (and wins) is:
Birthright: The Book of Man (1982) - vignettes chronicling the rise and fall of mankind in the galaxy. Some 30 novels and 20 shorter works have been set in the future created in this book.
The Soul Eater (1981) - a cross between Moby Dick and The Flying Dutchman, and according to Science Fiction Review, "the damndest love story I've ever read."
Walpurgis III (1982) - the story of three men, one who is evil, one who does evil, and one who worships evil, on a planet populated by covens and Satanists.
Sideshow (1982) - aliens visit the earth, disguised as freaks in a sideshow.
The Three-Legged Hootch Dancer (1983) - more adventures of the sideshow as it goes out into the galaxy.
The Wild Alien Tamer (1983) - more adventures of the galactic sideshow and carnival.
The Best Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gunslinger in the Whole Damned Galaxy (1983) - the final adventure of the galactic carnival.
Eros Ascending (1984) - a strange love story set aboard the Velvet Comet, an orbiting brothel.
Eros at Zenith (1984) - a murder mystery set aboard the Velvet Comet.
Eros Descending (1985) - a religious leader is obsessed by alien prostitutes aboard the Velvet Comet.
Eros at Nadir (1986) - a hack writer is commissioned to create a totally false musical about the now-decommissioned Velvet Comet.
Santiago (1986) - a mythic story of a legendary outlaw of the future, filled with memorable, larger-than-life frontier characters
The Dark Lady (1987) - an alien art dealer investigates a mysterious woman who appears in paintings created thousands of years apart.
Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future - the search for a pair of tusks that covers thousands of years and dozens of worlds ISBN 978-1591025467
Paradise (1989) - a history of the discovery, settlement, exploitation and eventual fate of a planet and its native race. A science fictional allegory of Kenya.
Soothsayer (1991) - the existence of a little girl with the gift of precognition threatens the galaxy
Oracle (1992) - the precognative girl, now in her late teens, is the object of a galaxywide hunt.
Purgatory (1992) - a history of the discovery, settlement, exploitation and eventual fate of a planet and its native race. A science fictional allegory of Zimbabwe.
Prophet (1993) - the precognative girl, now a grown woman, faces her greatest enemy.
Inferno (1993) - a history of the discovery, settlement, exploitation and eventual fate of a planet and its native race. A science fictional allegory of Uganda.
A Miracle of Rare Design (1994) - a science fictional allegory of the life of Sir Richard Burton.
Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge (1995) - alien archaeologists study the extinct race of Man and try to understand him.
The Widowmaker (1996) - story of the clone of a famous bounty hunter.
The Widowmaker Reborn (1997) - story of the famed bounty hunter's second clone.
The Widowmaker Unleashed (1998) - story of the original Widowmaker as an old man.
A Hunger in the Soul (1998) - a science fictional allegory of Stanley and Livingstone.
The Outpost (2001) - hilarious tall tales find their way into galactic history.
The Return of Santiago (2003) - the myth of Santiago is resurrected a century after the death of the original.
A Gathering of Widowmakers (2005) - the Widowmaker and his two clones must make peace long enough to face an alien threat. ISBN 978-1592220861
Starship: Mutiny (2005) - a maverick second officer eventually chooses mutiny to save innocent lives. ISBN 978-1591023371
Starship: Pirate (2006) - an outlaw military ship must make its way as a pirate vessel ISBN 978-1591024903
Starship: Mercenary (2007) - further adventures of the good ship Teddy R.
Starship: Rebel (2008) - more adventures of the Teddy R.
Exploits (1992) - tales of Lucifer Jones in Asia in the late 1920s.
Lucifer Jones (1992) - paperback combining Exploits and Encounters
Encounters (1993) - tales of Lucifer Jones in Europe in the early 1930s.
Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia (1998) - a future witch doctor tries to preserve traditional African culture in a designed Utopia. The most-honored book in science fiction history, with 67 domestic and foreign awards and nominations.
Dragon America: Revolution (2005) - alternate history in which America is populated with dragons rather than mammals.
Lady With an Alien (2005) - Young adult novel of a time traveling teenager who visits the Renaissance and forms a friendship with Leonardo da Vinci.
Hazards (2008) Tales of Lucifer Jones in South America in the mid-1930s.
The Gods of Sagittarius (2009) collaboration with Eric Flint
Short Story Collections
Unauthorized Autobiographies (1984) - short story collection
Through Darkest Resnick with Gun and Camera (1990) - short story collection, all African in location or theme.
Stalking the Wild Resnick (1991) - short story collection, all African in location or theme.
Pink Elephants and Hairy Toads (1991) - short story collection.
The Alien Heart (1991) - short story collection.
Will the Last Person to Leave the Planet Please Shut Off the Sun? (1992) - short story collection.
A Safari of the Mind (1995) - short story collection.
Solo Flights Through Shared Worlds (1996) - short story collection, each story written for a different shared-world anthology.
An Alien Land (1998) - short story collection, all African in location or theme.
Magic Feathers: The Mike and Nick Show (2000) - short story collection, all co-authored with Nick DiChario.
In Space No One Can Hear You Laugh (2000) - short story collection, all humorous.
Hunting the Snark and Other Stories (2002) - short story collection.
With a Little Help From My Friends (2002) - short story collection. 26 stories, each a collaboration with a different author.
New Dreams for Old (2006) - short story collection.
The Other Teddy Roosevelts (2008) - all of the author's alternate history Theodore Roosevelt stories collected in one volume.
Dreamwish Beasts and Snarks (2009) - 3 novellas, 6 short stories
Fantasy
Stalking the Unicorn (1987) - in which a private detective in New York City is led into an alternate, fantastical Manhattan on New Years' Eve.
Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Amulet of Power (2003) - fantasy novel based on the video games.
The World Behind the Door (2007) - Young adult novel about the fantasy world of Salvador DalĂ.
Stalking the Vampire (2008) A sequel to 1987's Stalking the Unicorn, featuring detective John Justin Mallory, who appeared in 7 novelettes in the interim.
Stalking the Dragon (2009) Third in the John Justin Mallory series
Other Works
Dog in the Manger (1997) - a contemporary hard-boiled detective novel.
Putting It Together (2000) - a book on how to write science fiction.
I Have This Nifty Idea (2001) - a book on how to write outlines and synopses for novels, and how to pitch them to editors.
Once a Fan (2002) - collection of articles from various fanzines.\
The Science Fiction Professional (2002) - the first 7 years of his "Ask Bwana" columns, answering questions from hopeful writers.
Resnick at Large (2003) - collection of articles from professional magazines.
A Club in Montmartre (2006) - young adult novel about Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
Resnick Abroad (2008) - collected travel essays, mostly from Africa.