Conducted by Uwe Anton & Werner Fuchs
Transcribed by Frank C. Bertrand
[from: SF EYE, #14, Spring 1996, pp. 37-46]
This is the first English publication of the following interview. It has been published three times in German. It was excerpted in the German magazines Science Fiction Times and Nova, and the complete version was published in Uwe Anton’s book-length collection of PKD’s fiction and non-fiction, Kosmische Puppen und Andore Lebensformen (Heyne Publishers).
Source: So I Don’t Write About Heroes: An Interview with Philip K. Dick
Uwe Anton is the author of some one hundred stories and short novels and over twenty books in Germany. As well he is a prolific critic and translator. Among his many books is a full-length study of PKD, Philip K. Dick – Entropie und Hoffnung (Tilsner).
As you can see, Anton and Fuchs caught Dick in an open and expansive mood. Energized by the enthusiastic response he was receiving at the convention, Dick opened up and discussed in detail many of his most classic works. The EYE is proud to be able to present this invaluable look into the working processes of a crucial writer.
– Stephen P. Brown, SF EYE
The prophet doesn’t count in his own land,‘ goes a famous old saying which has proven correct till those hot and short-lived days of 1980. In this case, Phil Dick is the prophet and the land is the United States of America.
In the fall of 1977 Philip K. Dick was guest of honor at a large science fiction convention in Metz, France. There, we had the days of Star Wars (at the Metz festival a still untranslated version of the movie was shown for the first time in Europe), and the local cinemas showed science fiction movies non-stop from ten in the morning until ten in the evening – five different movies in five different cinemas at the same time. Several big names in science fiction could be found at the giant sofitel (the French version of America’s Holiday Inns): John Brunner, Robert Sheckley, Harlan Ellison, Harry Harrison among others. But those days in Metz were above all the days of Philip K. Dick. In France, as well as in Germany, Italy, Spain, even all of Western Europe, Philip K. Dick was one of the most appreciated of science fiction writers. Long before literary journals such as Science-Fiction Studies, Extrapolation and Foundation gave� Dick the serious consideration he deserved, Western Europe had discovered him as one of the most important science fiction authors. Rather than a few selected short stories and novels, it was his complete writings that attracted the serious critics of Europe. And most of these writings circulate around one theme: Man’s search for reality and truth in an adverse universe full of malice and danger.
Those seven days at Metz were very hectic days. P.K. Dick was not only accosted but besieged by numerous fans. He had to change his hotel room secretly, for the phone rang constantly, even after midnight. But there also were a lot of serious people taking up his time; Dick did interviews on French radio and delivered a speech in the city hall of Metz which was broadcast on French TV.
The following interview was conducted by Uwe Anton and Werner Fuchs. We were able to speak with Dick several times over the course of three days. The interview took the form of a wide ranging, diverse, general conversation, Phil being very willing to give it, feeling that his writing was appreciated in Germany a lot more than in the United States.
— Uwe Anton, 1980
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