Vernor Steffen Vinge (photo ©Raul654) was born on October 2, 1944, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA.

From the beginning of his career as a writer, Vernor Vinge addressed one of his favorite themes, that of the augmentation of intelligence by connecting the brain with computer sources. It was 1966, when his first short story, “Bookworm, Run!”, was published in the magazine “Analog Science Fiction”.

The first novel published by Vernor Vinge was “Grimm’s World” in 1969, an expanded version of his 1968 novella “Grimm’s Story”. In 1987, the novel was expanded again and published under the title “Tatja Grimm’s World”.

In 1972, Vernor Vinge married the writer Joan D. Vinge. Their marriage lasted until 1979.

For Vernor Vinge, the writing activity was secondary for a long time because until 2000 he was a professor at San Diego State University. For this reason, his next novel, “The witling” was published only in 1976.

In 1981, Vernor Vinge published the novella “True Names”, which uses the concept of virtual reality. It’s one of the works that anticipates cyberpunk but also some of the themes dear to the author such as the technological singularity. These are themes that are addressed in various ways in his next novels, “The Peace War” (1984) and “Marooned in Realtime” (1986), winner of the Prometheus Award.

In 1992, Vernor Vinge published the novel “A Fire Upon the Deep”, winner of the Hugo Award. It introduces a fictional universe in which the galaxy is divided into zones with very different characteristics. The author set in the same fictional universe, although several millennia in the past, his 1999 novel “A Deepness in the Sky” (1999), also the winner of the Hugo Award and of the Prometheus Award.

Since 1999, Vernor Vinge has been working with the Free Software Foundation as part of the committee that selects the winners of the Advancement of Free Software Award. It’s given every year to the people who give the greatest contribution to the progress and development of free software, through activities in accordance with the spirit of free software.

Vernor Vinge won the Hugo Award also with his novellas “Fast Times at Fairmont High” (2001) and “The Cookie Monster” (2003).

In 2006, Vernor Vinge published the novel “Rainbows End”, which won again the Hugo Award and also the Locus Award.

The most recent novel by Vernor Vinge is “The Children of the Sky” (2011), the true sequel to “A Fire Upon the Deep”.

Although not a prolific author, Vernor Vinge has proved influential from the beginning of his career in the world of science fiction but also of technology. This is due to speculations such as those about the relationship between humanity’s and computers’ future with tight connections between biological and artificial intelligence.

Edit. Vernor Vinge passed away on March 20, 2024.