Biography.guide
Home β€Ί People β€Ί Science fiction writer β€Ί Robert Charles Wilson
Portrait of Robert Charles Wilson

Robert Charles Wilson

b. 1953

American-Canadian science fiction author (b. 1953)

Don't just read it β€” keep itBiographies to ownE-book Β· Audio Β· Video From $7 β†’

About Robert Charles Wilson

Born 1953. Robert Charles Wilson is a Canadian science fiction writer, novelist, writer and author.

Robert Charles Wilson (born December 15, 1953) is an American-Canadian science fiction author.

Career Wilson's first publication, "Equinocturne", appeared in the February 1975 issue of Analog Science Fiction, under the name Bob Chuck Wilson.

His early novels were published between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s and received nominations for the Philip K. Dick Award and the Aurora Award for Best Novel. In 1995, Mysterium won the Philip K. Dick Award for best original paperback, and in 1996 he won the Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction for "The Perseids".

Starting in 1998, many of his books (including Darwinia, Blind Lake, and the Spin trilogy) have been edited by Teresa Nielsen Hayden of Tor Books.

In 2000, his first collection of short stories was published, The Perseids and Other Stories, set in Toronto.

In 2005, he published his best known novel, Spin, the first in a trilogy that continued with Axis (2007) and Vortex (2011). Spin won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006 and was included in the Tor Essentials series in 2020.

In 2007, author Stephen King called Wilson "probably the finest science-fiction author now writing".

Wilson's literary agent is Shawna McCarthy and his most recent novel, Last Year, was published December 6, 2016.

Personal life Wilson was born in the United States in California, but grew up near Toronto, Ontario. Apart from another short period in the early 1970s spent in Whittier, California, he has lived most of his life in Canada, and in 2007 he became a Canadian citizen. He resided for a while in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and briefly in Vancouver. Currently he lives with his wife Sharry in Concord, a neighbourhood of Vaughan, Ontario located north of Toronto. He has two sons, Paul and Devon.

Awards and honours

1995: Philip K. Dick Award for Mysterium 1996: Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction for "The Perseids" 1999: Aurora Award for Best Novel for Darwinia 2002: John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel for The Chronoliths 2004: Aurora Award for Best Novel for Blind Lake 2006: Hugo Award for Best Novel for Spin Memory Wire (Bantam Spectra, 1988)Gypsies (Doubleday, 1989)The Divide (Doubleday, 1990)A Bridge of Years (Doubleday, 1991) Nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award for best original paperback, 1991 The Harvest (Bantam Spectra, 1993)Mysterium (Bantam Spectra, 1994) Winner of the Philip K. Dick Award for best original paperback, 1994 Bios (Tor, 1999) The Chronoliths (Tor, 2001) Winner of the Campbell Award, nominated for the Hugo and Locus SF Awards for Best Novel, 2001 Blind Lake (Tor, 2003) Nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, 2004 Magic Time: Ghostlands (2004, with Marc Scott Zicree) Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America (Tor, 2009) Nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, 2010 Burning Paradise (Tor, 2013) The Affinities (Tor, 2015) Last Year (Tor, 2016)

Spin series Spin (Tor, 2005) Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, nominated for Campbell and Locus SF Awards, 2006 Vortex (Tor, 2011) A Spin and Axis sequel published on July 5, 2011

Short stories and novellas The Perseids and Other Stories (Tor, 2000) includes "Divided by Infinity" (1998) Julian: A Christmas Story (PS Publishing, 2006) Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novella, 2007

Nonfiction Owning the Unknown: A Science Fiction Writer Explores Atheism, Agnosticism, and the Idea of God (2023)

Anthology Tesseracts Ten with Edo van Belkom (2006)

Critical studies, reviews and biography

Biography shop

Don’t just read it β€”
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop β€” from $7

Instant download Β· yours to keep Β· every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Awards
Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign Novel; Hugo Award for Best Novel; Geffen Award; John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel; Philip K. Dick Award; Theodore Sturgeon Award

People in Robert Charles Wilson's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Robert Charles Wilson's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Robert Charles Wilson?

American-Canadian science fiction author (b. 1953)

When was Robert Charles Wilson born?

Robert Charles Wilson was born on 15 December 1953 in Whittier.

What is Robert Charles Wilson's occupation?

Robert Charles Wilson is a science fiction writer, novelist, writer and author.

What nationality is Robert Charles Wilson?

Robert Charles Wilson is Canadian.

Sources & further reading

Β· Wikipedia: Robert Charles Wilson

Β· Wikidata: Q240786

Β· DBpedia: Robert Charles Wilson

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Robert Charles Wilson. https://biography.guide/robert-charles-wilson/

MLA: "Robert Charles Wilson." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/robert-charles-wilson/.

Chicago: "Robert Charles Wilson." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/robert-charles-wilson/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-23 Β· Spot an error? Report a correction.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons Β· author & licence

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:06 UTC