Christopher Priest

Christopher Priest was born on July 14, 1943 in Cheadle, Cheshire, England as Christopher McKenzie Priest.

One of Priest's enduring works is his "The Book on the Edge of Forever" (Fantagraphics Books, 1994), whose title alludes to Harlan Ellison's Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) script for the episode "The City on the Edge of Forever." The book concerns the history of Ellison's anthologies Dangerous Visions (Berkley, 1969) and Again, Dangerous Visions (Doubleday, 1972), and his plans for a final anthology entitled The Last Dangerous Visions. Ellison promised to publish the third volume in the early 1970s, and went on to make that promise during the following decades. No one is certain (except Ellison himself) how many stories he purchased for Last Dangerous Visions, but Ellison claimed at one point that 75 writers were involved, later that there were 115, and rumors have as many 150. Priest's book chronicles Ellison's many delaying tactics and, tragically, lists the authors who passed away while their manuscripts sat in a box in Ellison's house. As of 2006, when Last Dangerous Visions remains unpublished, contributors who died having never seen their submissions again include: Alfred Bester, Leigh Brackett, Avram Davidson, Anthony Boucher, George Alec Effinger, Howard Fast, Leslie Fiedler, Edmond Hamilton, Frank Herbert, John Jakes, Ward Moore, Tom Reamy, Thomas N. Scortia, Robert Sheckley, Clifford D. Simak, Robert Thom, A.E. van Vogt, and Manly Wade Wellman.

Priest wrote the novelization of David Cronenberg's eXistenZ (1999).

British novelist, short story writer, and anthology editor Christopher Priest should not be confused with James Owsley, the American comic book writer who legally changed his name to Christopher James Priest (aka Christopher J. Priest, C. J. Priest, or simply Priest). Unfortunately, the two have been confused by consumers - who buy works by one, expecting the works to have been created by the other. In a November 2004 interview, the "real" Priest showed some anger about this confusion, saying he thought it "a bit bleeding irritating to have my name pinched by another writer," and made an open plea to DC Comics, Inc.: "If Jim must use a pseudonym, why doesn't he pick a really silly one, like, say, Harlan Ellison?".

He is a writer, known for The Prestige (2006), Futouristic and One Million Times (2017).