British author Robert Holdstock died 29 November 2009. He succumbed to an E. coli infection, for which he had been in intensive care since the 18th of November. Born 2 August 1948 in Kent, he was best known for 1984’s Mythago Wood, which won the World Fantasy Award in 1985.
Holdstock earned a BS in zoology in 1970, and an MS the following year. He was a researcher and part-time writer for the next few years, and went to full-time writing in 1975. His first published story, “Pauper’s Plot”, appeared in New Worlds magazine in 1968, and his first novel, Eye Among the Blind, appeared in 1976.
He won four British Science Fiction Awards: 1982’s Short Fiction for “Mythago Wood”, 1985’s Novel for Mythago Wood, 1989’s Novel for Lavondyss, and 1994’s Short Fiction for “The Ragthorn” (which he co-wrote with Garry Kilworth). That last story also earned a World Fantasy Award in 1992.
Mythago Wood was the beginning of Holdstock’s Ryhope Wood series, which also grew to include Lavondyss (1988), The Bone Forest (1991), The Hollowing (1993), Merlin’s Wood (1994), Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn (1997), and Avilion (2009). He is also the author of the Merlin Codex series: Celtika (2001), The Iron Grail (2002), and The Broken Kings (2007). His other fiction (and non-fiction) writing is all detailed on his web site.
He is survived by his partner, Sarah Biggs.