Through a glass, darkly

Abstract

In 1978, a student taking an Afro-American literature class asked us if there were any black science-fiction writers. We did not know, though we suspected that the author of Babel-17, The Einstein Intersection, Nova, and Dhalgren might fit the bill. An old Ace books version of The Jewels of Aptor indicated that Samuel R. Delany was "born April Fool's Day, 1942," and "grew up in New York City's Harlem."2 And a well-known anthologizer, Judith Merril, wrote, cryptically, that Delany was "multi-mediumed, transcultural, inter-racial."3 As practicing academics, however, we turned to the prestigious National Union Catalog, which informed us that Samuel R. Delany was an English author.4 For a time we were satisfied .... But the contradictory information bothered us, so we determined to write Delany himself, even though it was rumored that he never granted interviews, hardly ever answered his mail, and rarely looked with favor upon academics. The false rumor (the first of many we were to encounter) was laid to rest within a week, when we got back our first letter from Delany. It was a kindly, informative letter, and it urged us to continue writing. The contradiction over his ethnic heritage was as quickly resolved when he said that, yes, he was indeed black-and had not a trace of English blood in his veins. (Later he would suggest in the most polite manner possible that if we had had any contact with the sf community, we would not have had to ask whether he was black; though often emotional and given to wearing strange clothes, the sf community is well informed about its heroes.) Since that first exchange of letters six years ago, we have corresponded regularly with the author and amassed two large cardboard boxes of Delanyana-juvenilia and gradeschool reports on his terrible behavior; unfinished and heavily edited manuscripts; first drafts of critical essays; copies of old comic-book, radio, and movie scripts; recipes; and so forth. And that, with Delany's encouragement, has led us to make our own humble contributions to Delany scholarship. Indeed, the author has been kind enough to read our several drafts and mark them up, often copiously, with his own corrections and suggestions. At first we set about learning the bare facts of his life and career: that he began writing at fourteen and wrote his first published novel, The Jewels of Aptor, when he was nineteen; that he went on to publish, with Ace Books, The