The archive contains the material relating to the published novels of Ian Watson from 1972-1979. Material includes editor's proofs, handwritten notes, corrected and annotated typescripts and manuscripts, carbon copies, and correspondence with publishers. The novels within the collection are:

• The Jonah Kit
• UFO Sapiens / Miracle Visitors
• The Gardens of Delight
• A Time-Span to Conjure With
• Japan Tomorrow
• The rooms of Paradise
• God's World
• Alien Embassy
• The Embedding
• The Martian Inca

Born in 1943, Ian Watson has been a writer of science fiction for over 30 years. Graduating from Balliol College, Oxford, with a first class Honours degree in English Literature, Watson went on to teach English in the universities of Tanzania and Tokyo, before teaching one of the first full-time science fiction courses, Future Studies, at Birmingham Polytechnic. The Embedding, his first novel, published in 1973, won the John W. Campbell and the Prix Apollo awards for best novel. His critical success continued with the publication of his second novel, The Jonah Kit in 1975, which won the British Science Fiction Award. Since the mid-1970's Watson has been writing full time, and has to date published over 20 novels across the world, and written numerous poems and short stories, many of which have been nominated for Hugo and Nebula Awards. He has also worked on the Stanley Kubrick/Steven Speilberg film A. I. Artificial Intelligence, for which he is credited for the screen story. Watson is recognised as a writer of profound intelligence, writing challenging and thought provoking works, and is hailed by some as the natural successor to H. G. Wells. He has also written criticsm science fiction journals, such as Science Fiction Studies, Foundation, and Vector.

Bibliographic Sources

Biography written using Ian Watson's official website, and his entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls.