Note:
From Tuck's Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy:
E. J. Carnell originally started this magazine after World War II, but it
ceased when the publisher failed. In order to revive it English fans
formed and took shares in the company Nova Publications, and New Worlds
reappeared in 1949 as a quarterly. It proved quite successful for a period,
until sales slumped in the early 1960's.
For many years it was considered the best Britsh sf magazine, presenting
material with a typically British slant. For a time some U.S. novels were
serialized, but later original British novels appeared (many of which later
saw paperback editions in the U.S., mainly from Ace).
Cover artists for the Carnell period included Clothier, Quinn, Terry, and
Lewis; to save costs, from 1962 to 1964 photographs with a one- or two-colour
background were used. Interior illustrations ceased from No 62. A number of
cover illustrations were sold and used on the Swedish magazine Hapna.
Guest editorials by prominent writers and others in the science fiction field
appeared for a number of issues from Oct 1961 and created considerable interest.
The Nova issues for many years printed up-to-date science articles by "Kenneth
Johns" (J. Newman and K. Bulmer).
Overprinted issues for sale in Canada and New Zealand appeared for a
while from late 1954, and later were done for the U.S. market (after an
actual U.S. edition had appeared).
The editorial policy under Moorcock gradually changed from straight
science fiction to experimental fiction. In 1968 the serialisation of N.
Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron created quite a stir because of its graphic sex
and language. By 1969 science fiction seemed to have dropped out of the magazine,
so that in many quarters it was no longer considered science fiction.
Anthologies directly selected from the magazine are The Base From New Worlds
Science Fiction, Carnell (1955); The Best of New Worlds, Moorcock (1965);
The Best SF Stories From New Worlds, Moorcock (1967); The Best SF Stories
From New Worlds II and The Best SF Stories From New Worlds 3, both
Moorcock, 1968.
The title New Worlds had earlier been used on a pre-war British
amateur magazine which had been a retitle of Novae Terrae. A British
Science Fiction Assn. publication A History and Checklist of New Worlds,
Brian Burgess (3/6, 2/6 to B.S.F.A. members) indexed the first 55 issues (to 1957).
== EDITORS ==
Back to New Worlds
- #1 - #141. John Carnell.
- #142 - #181. Michael Moorcock.
- #182 - #186. Michael Moorcock, James Sallis.
- #187. Michael Moorcock, James Sallis, Charles Platt.
- #188. Michael Moorcock, Charles Platt.
- #189 - #192. Langdon Jones.
- #193. Charles Platt.
- #194. Michael Moorcock.
- #196. Graham M. Hall, Graham Charnock.
- #197 - #200. Charles Platt.
- Jul 1946 - Oct 1947. Pendulum Publications, Ltd. London, England.
- Apr 1949 - Apr 1964. Nova Publications Ltd. London, England.
- May 1964 - Jan 1967. Roberts & Vinter Ltd. London, England.
- Mar 1967 - Apr 1967. Gold Star Publications, Ltd. London, England.
- Jul 1967 - Nov 1967. Magnelist Publications, Ltd. London, England.
- Dec 1967 - Mar 1969. Stonehart Publications, Ltd. London, England.
- Apr 1969 - Mar 1971. New Worlds Publishing. London, England.