Mark Clifton

Mark Clifton was an American science fiction writer born on October 24, 1906, and he died on October 25, 1963. Sources about him also identify his legal name as Marcus Irvin Clifton. Before and alongside his writing life, he worked in personnel management or industrial psychology, which helps explain why many readers notice the psychological and social angles in his fiction.

He began publishing science fiction in 1952, with the story What Have I Done? often noted as his first published work. Clifton wrote novels and short fiction during the 1950s and early 1960s, and several of his best-known books include They'd Rather Be Right, Eight Keys to Eden, and When They Come from Space.

His lasting place in the field was secured when They'd Rather Be Right, written with Frank Riley, won the 1955 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Though he is not as widely known now as some of his contemporaries, he remains a memorable figure in classic American science fiction for combining futuristic premises with a strong curiosity about how people think and behave.