Biography
Photograph by Nicholas Royle
I was born in England on St George's Day 1955 (click here and herefor brief stories from my childhood). I have a Ph.D in Botany, worked as a researcher in biology in various universities, including Oxford and UCLA, and for six years was a lecturer in botany at St Andrews University. When I was 20, the first short story I ever finished was accepted by the American magazine Worlds of If, but the magazine went out of business before publishing it and I took this as a hint to concentrate on an academic career instead. I started writing again after a period as a resident alien in Los Angeles, and now I'm living the lion's life of a full-time writer.
My first novel, Four Hundred Billion Stars, won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award, and Fairyland won the 1995 Arthur C. Clarke Award for best SF novel published in Britain and the 1996 John W. Campbell Award for best novel. In 1995, my short story 'The Temptation of Dr Stein' won the British Fantasy Award, and in 1996 my novel Pasquale's Angel won the Sidewise Award for Best Long Form Alternate History fiction. Most of the time I live in London.
'Science fiction has seen fashions come and go, but there are still a few who keep the faith, and McAuley is one of the best.' The Independent
'McAuley matches the best of his American rivals for zest and scope.' The Guardian
'McAuley is a crafty and inventive writer.' Locus
'McAuley is part of a spearhead of writers who, for pure imagination, hipness, vision and fun, have made Britain the Memphis Sun Records of SF' Mark Thomas, Mail on Sunday