H. G. Wells Society H. G. Wells Society There have been two groups called the H.G. Wells Society, both set up to support the ideas of Herbert George Wells (1866–1946). The first "H.G. Wells Society" was set up in 1934 to promote Wells' political ideas. Its members included Gerald Heard, Olaf Stapledon, Sylvia Pankhurst, Eden Paul and Vera Brittain. The group later changed its name to "Cosmopolis", then the "Open Conspiracy". In 1936 it merged with the Federation of Progressive Societies and Individuals. The later H.G. Wells Society, founded in 1960, is an international association composed of people interested in the life, work and
H. G. Wells in the pulp magazine "Amazing Stories", regarding Wells's work as "texts of central importance to the self-conscious new genre". Later American writers such as Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert and Ursula K. Le Guin all recalled being influenced by Wells's work. Sinclair Lewis's early novels were strongly influenced by Well's realistic social novels, such as "The History of Mr Polly"; Lewis would also name his first son Wells after the author. In an interview with "The Paris Review", Vladimir Nabokov described Wells as his favourite writer when he was a boy and "a great artist." He went on to