Geoff Ryman

Geoff Ryman was born in Canada, to a journalist mother and a father in science. It was through his mother that Geoff, when he was eight, had a short story published in the local paper. But it was his father who inspired Geoff with stories of lasers – it was a fascination which was to last. His father was also an artist, a talent which has been passed down to his son.

Geoff’s apprenticeship to writing was long and hard. It was not the writing that was the problem but the imagination. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1963 and perhaps influenced by this city, he wanted to become an actor. In the mid 1970s when he had moved to London he realised that he really wanted to take his writing seriously, and his first short story was sold to New Worlds Ten in 1976.

Geoff Ryman is the award winning author of 253 the world’s first internet novel, and the cult classics WAS and LUST. March 2006 sees the release of The King’s Last Song, a beautifully evocative and captivating tale set in Cambodia, which explores the legacy of war and the clash between East and West.

Geoff Ryman will be opening Huddersfield Literary Festuval on Thursday 16 March 2006 and reading from The King’s Last Song.