Born 1923 in Kansas City, Missouri. American science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. He has published more than 100 science fiction stories in magazines and anthologies, authored 28 books, and edited 13. His major science fiction works include Star Bridge (1955), The Joy Makers (1961), The Immortals (1962), The Listeners (1972), Kampus (1977), and The Dreamers (1981). The most important scholarly books by him are Alternate Worlds: the Illustrated History of Science Fiction (1975), Inside Science Fiction (1992), Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction (2005), and Reading Science Fiction (2008). His Road to Science Fiction collections brought him great academic reputation. He won a Science Fiction Achievement Award (Hugo) for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction in 1983. Professor Gunn has been named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

1923年生于密苏里州堪萨斯城。美国科幻作家、编辑、研究者和文选编集者。在各类杂志和文集中发表科幻小说100余篇。个人著作28部，编选文集13部。主要科幻作品有：《星际桥梁》（1955）、《快乐制造者》（1961）、《不朽的人》（1962）、《倾听者》（1972）、《杀人校园》（1977）、《造梦人》（1981）。重要学术著作包括《架空世界：绘图科幻小说史》（1975）、《科幻之中》（1992）、《推测之推测：科幻小说的理论》（2005）、《阅读科幻小说》（2008）。《科幻之路》选集为他赢得了很高的学术声誉。1983年他以《艾萨克·阿西莫夫：科幻基石》获雨果奖最佳非小说作品奖。2007年，美国科幻奇幻作家协会授予冈恩教授“达蒙·奈特纪念大师”的头衔。