Prolific writer, best known for his
science-fiction and
fantasy work, but also works in the field of non-fiction, where he writes serious books on such topics as
history and
archeology.
Silverberg was born in 1935 in New York. While studying at Columbia University, he sold his first novel and has been a full-time writer ever since.
Shortly afterwards he received his first Hugo Award for Most Promising New Author in 1956.
He wrote an incredible amount of short stories published in the various science-fiction magazines of that time.
He continued to write outstanding novels through the 1960s and early 1970s, such as Across a Billion Years (1969), Downward to Earth (1970), A Time of Changes (1971), and Dying Inside (1972).
After Shadrach in the Furnace (1976), he quit for four years. He was exhausted and needed a break.
He made a comeback with the 1980 title Lord Valentine's Castle, the first of a series of books playing on his newly created Majipoor world, which reached its sixth book Lord Prestimion in 1998.
During his career, he has been awarded with five Hugo and four Nebula awards, and was nominated more than any other writer.
He currently lives near San Francisco with his wife Karen Haber.