Editing Gene Wolfe (section)

==Reception==
Although he was not a best-selling author, Wolfe is highly regarded by critics{{efn|Such as [[John Clute]], who writes: "Though neither the most popular nor the most influential author in the sf field, Gene Wolfe is today quite possibly the most important. The inherent stature of his work is deeply impressive and he wears the fictional worlds of sf like a coat of many colors."<ref name=SFE/><!-- quoted in http://thegravelpit.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/reflections-on-gene-wolfes-shadow-and-claw-anthology/ -->}} and fellow writers. He was often considered to be not only one of the greatest science fiction authors, but one of the best American writers regardless of genre. In 2003, award-winning science fiction author [[Michael Swanwick]] said: "Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. Let me repeat that: Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today! I mean it. [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] was a better stylist, [[Herman Melville|Melville]] was more important to American letters, and [[Charles Dickens]] had a defter hand at creating characters. But among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning."<ref name="SwanwickInterview">{{cite web|url=http://www.themodernword.com/features/interview_swanwick.html |title=Michael Swanwick interview |publisher=Themodernword.com |date=September 26, 2003 |access-date=December 30, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207152110/http://themodernword.com/features/interview_swanwick.html |archive-date=December 7, 2013 }}</ref>

[[Patrick O'Leary (writer)|Patrick O'Leary]] has credited Wolfe for inspiration. He has said: "Forget 'Speculative Fiction.' Gene Wolfe is the best writer alive. Period. And as Wolfe once said, 'All novels are fantasies. Some are more honest about it.' No comparison. Nobody – I mean nobody – comes close to what this artist does."<ref name="OLearyInterview">{{cite web|url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intpol.htm |title=Interview with Patrick O'Leary |publisher=Infinityplus.co.uk |date=November 11, 2000 |access-date=December 30, 2013}}</ref> O'Leary also wrote an extensive essay concerning the nature of Wolfe's artistry, entitled "If Ever A Wiz There Was",<ref name=wiz>{{Cite web |url=http://web.mac.com/paddybon/Site/a_tribute_to_Gene_Wolfe.html |title="If Ever A Wiz There Was" |access-date=June 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616151502/http://web.mac.com/paddybon/Site/a_tribute_to_Gene_Wolfe.html |archive-date=June 16, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> originally published in his collection ''Other Voices, Other Doors''. [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] is frequently quoted on the jackets of Wolfe's books as having said "Wolfe is our Melville."

[[Harlan Ellison]], reviewing ''[[The Shadow of the Torturer]]'', wrote: "Gene Wolfe is engaged in the holy chore of writing every other author under the table. He is no less than one of the finest, most original writers in the world today. His work is singular, hypnotizing, startlingly above comparison. ''The Shadow of the Torturer'' breaks new ground in American literature and, as the first novel of a tetralogy, casts a fierce light on what will certainly be a lodestone landmark, his most stunning work to date. It is often said, but never more surely than this time: This book is not to be missed at peril of one's intellectual enrichment."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.apocalypsebooks.com/books/urth-book-new-sun-shadow-torturer/ |title=The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe |access-date=June 29, 2018 |archive-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404072753/http://www.apocalypsebooks.com/books/urth-book-new-sun-shadow-torturer/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Wolfe's fans regard him with considerable dedication, and one Internet mailing list<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.urth.net/|title=URTH: Discussion of the works of Gene Wolfe|website=www.urth.net|access-date=April 15, 2019}}</ref> (URTH, begun in November 1996) dedicated to his works amassed over ten years and thousands of pages of discussion and explication. Similarly, much analysis and exegesis has been published in fanzine and small-press form (e.g. ''Lexicon Urthus'' {{ISBN|0-9642795-9-2}}).

When asked the "Most overrated" and "Most underrated" authors, [[Thomas M. Disch]] identified [[Isaac Asimov]] and Gene Wolfe, respectively, writing: "...all too many have already gone into a decline after carrying home some trophies. The one exception is Gene Wolfe...Between 1980 and 1982 he published ''The Book of the New Sun'', a tetralogy of couth, intelligence, and suavity that is also written in [[VistaVision]] with [[Dolby Laboratories|Dolby Sound]]. Imagine a ''[[Star Wars]]''–style [[space opera]] penned by [[G. K. Chesterton]] in the throes of a religious conversion. Wolfe has continued in full diapason ever since, and a crossover success is long overdue."<ref>From an article first published in ''American Heritage'' May–June 1999. Pg 211 of ''Overrated/underrated: 100 experts topple the icons and champion the slighted'', ed. by the editors of [[American Heritage (magazine)|''American Heritage'']] magazine. 2001, {{ISBN|1-57912-163-2}}, 256 pages, hardcover.</ref>

[[Michael Dirda]] included Wolfe's ''Book of the New Sun'' in his "Science Fiction Reading List", writing: "If [[Marcel Proust|Proust]], while listening to [[Late string quartets (Beethoven)|late Beethoven string quartets]], wrote ''[[I, Claudius]]'' and set it in the future, the result might resemble this measured, autumnal masterpiece."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dirda |first=Michael |title=Bound to Please |publisher=[[W. W. Norton]] |year=2005}}</ref>

[[Neil Gaiman]] introduced Wolfe at the [[World Horror Convention]], where Wolfe was the Guest of Honor. He offered some advice on how to read Wolfe, noting: "There are two kinds of clever writer. The ones that point out how clever they are, and the ones who see no need to point out how clever they are. Gene Wolfe is of the second kind, and the intelligence is less important than the tale. He is not smart to make you feel stupid. He is smart to make you smart as well."<ref>{{cite web| last=Gaiman| first= Neil| title=How to Read Gene Wolfe| date=2002| url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm}}</ref> Gaiman  wrote about Wolfe for the "My Hero" feature in ''[[The Guardian]]'': <blockquote> I've met too many of my heroes, and these days I avoid meeting the few I have left, because the easiest way to stop having heroes is to meet them, or worse, have dinner with them. But Gene Wolfe remains a hero to me. He's just turned 80, looks after his wife Rosemary, and is still writing deep, complex, brilliant fiction that slips between genres. He's my hero because he keeps trying new ways of writing and because he remains as kind and as patient with me as he was when I was almost a boy. He's the finest living male American writer of SF and fantasy – possibly the finest living American writer. Most people haven't heard of him. And that doesn't bother Gene in the slightest. He just gets on with writing the next book.<ref>{{cite news | last=Gaiman| first=Neil| date=May 13, 2011| title= My Hero: Gene Wolfe| work= The Guardian| url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/13/gene-wolfe-hero-neil-gaiman-sf}}</ref></blockquote>

===Awards===
Wolfe won the [[World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement]] in 1996, a judged award at the annual [[World Fantasy Convention]].<ref name=SFAwards/> He was inducted by the [[EMP Museum#Science Fiction Hall of Fame|Science Fiction Hall of Fame]] in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gene Wolfe |url=https://nebulas.sfwa.org/grand-masters/gene-wolfe/ |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=The Nebula Awards |language=en-US}}</ref> The [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] named him its 29th [[:Category:SFWA Grand Masters|SFWA Grand Master]] in December 2012; the annual [[Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award]] was presented to Wolfe during Nebula Awards weekend, May 16–19, 2013.<ref name="SFWA-wolfe">{{cite web|title=2012 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Awarded to Gene Wolfe|url=http://www.sfwa.org/2012/12/2012-damon-knight-memorial-grand-master-awarded-to-gene-wolfe/ |publisher=SFWA press release |date=December 13, 2012 |access-date=December 13, 2012}}</ref><ref name=guardian-2012>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/14/gene-wolfe-grand-master-award |title=Gene Wolfe wins grand master award for science fiction and fantasy |work=[[The Guardian]] |author=Alison Flood |date=December 14, 2012 |url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210308203732/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/14/gene-wolfe-grand-master-award|archive-date=March 8, 2021}}</ref><ref name=SFWA>[http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/events-program/grandmaster/ "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701114233/http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/events-program/grandmaster/ |date=July 1, 2011 }}. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Retrieved April 3, 2013.</ref>

He was Guest of Honor at the [[1985 World Science Fiction Convention]] and he received the 1989 [[Edward E. Smith Memorial Award]] (or "Skylark") at the New England convention [[Boskone]]. In March 2012 he was presented with the first Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Fuller Award, for outstanding contribution to literature by a Chicago author.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chicagoliteraryhof.wordpress.com/what-is-the-fuller-award/ |title=What is the Fuller Award? &#124; Honoring Gene Wolfe |publisher=The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame |date= February 3, 2012 |author=Valya Dudycz Lupescu |author-link=Valya Dudycz Lupescu |access-date=May 27, 2012}}</ref> After his death, Wolfe was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame in a ceremony on September 21, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|last=locusmag|date=August 19, 2021|title=Wolfe Inducted into Chicago Literary Hall of Fame|url=https://locusmag.com/2021/08/wolfe-inducted-into-chicago-literary-hall-of-fame/|access-date=February 7, 2022|website=Locus Online|language=en-US}}</ref> Wolfe was the first Fuller Award recipient to be inducted; and though he was part of the 2019 class, the ceremony to honor him did not occur until 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gene Wolfe: Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Winner|url=https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/inductees/profile/gene-wolfe|access-date=February 7, 2022|website=chicagoliteraryhof.org}}</ref>

He also won many awards for individual works:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Work
!Form
!Award<ref name=SFAwards/>
|-
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;" |"The Death of Doctor Island"
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;" |Novella
| 1974 [[Nebula Award]]
|-
| 1974 [[Locus Award]]
|-
| ''The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps''||Long Poem||1978 [[Rhysling Award]]
|-
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;"|''The Shadow of the Torturer''
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;"|Novel
| 1981 [[BSFA Award]]<ref name="worldswithoutend1981">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1981 |title=1981 Award Winners & Nominees &#124; Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books by Award &#124; WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=May 27, 2012}}</ref>
|-
| 1981 [[World Fantasy Award]]<ref name="worldswithoutend1981"/>
|-
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;"|''The Claw of the Conciliator''
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;"|Novel
| 1981 Nebula Award<ref name="worldswithoutend1981"/>
|-
| 1982 Locus Award
|-
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;"|''[[The Sword of the Lictor]]''
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;"|Novel
| 1983 Locus Award<ref name="worldswithoutend1983">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1983 |title=1983 Award Winners & Nominees &#124; Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books by Award &#124; WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=May 27, 2012}}</ref>
|-
| 1983 [[August Derleth Award]]
|-
| ''The Citadel of the Autarch''||Novel||1984 [[John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel|Campbell Award]]<ref name="worldswithoutend1984">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1984 |title=1984 Award Winners & Nominees &#124; Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books by Award &#124; WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=May 27, 2012}}</ref>
|-
| ''Soldier of the Mist''||Novel||1987 Locus Award<ref name="worldswithoutend1987">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1987 |title=1987 Award Winners & Nominees &#124; Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books by Award &#124; WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=May 27, 2012}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Storeys from the Old Hotel]]''||Collection||1989 World Fantasy Award
|-
| ''Golden City Far''||Novella||2005 Locus Award
|-
| ''[[Soldier of Sidon]]''||Novel||2007 World Fantasy Award<ref name="worldswithoutend2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2007 |title=2007 Award Winners & Nominees &#124; Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books by Award &#124; WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=May 27, 2012}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;"|''The Best of Gene Wolfe''
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align: top;"|Collection
| 2010 Locus Award<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/06/2010-locus-awards-winners/|title=2010 Locus Awards Winners|date=June 26, 2010|work=Locus Online|publisher=Locus Publications|access-date=June 27, 2010}}</ref>
|-
| 2010 World Fantasy Award<ref>{{cite web|author=World Fantasy Convention |year=2010 |title=2010 World Fantasy Award Winners & Nominees |url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/ |access-date=February 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027005155/http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/ |archive-date=October 27, 2012 }}</ref>
|}

Wolfe also amassed a long list of nominations in years when he did not win, including sixteen Nebula award nominations and eight [[Hugo Award]] nominations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/author.asp?ID=158#books |title=Gene Wolfe &#124; Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Authors |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=May 27, 2012}}</ref>