Happy Birthday: James Edwin Gunn (July 12, 1923 – December 23, 2020) was an American science fiction writer, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work as an editor of anthologies includes the six-volume Road to Science Fiction series. He won the Hugo Award for "Best Related Work" in 1983 and he won or was nominated for several other awards for his non-fiction works in the field of science fiction studies. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America made him its 24th Grand Master in 2007, and he was inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2015. His novel The Immortals was adapted into a 1970–71 TV series starring Christopher George.

Gunn was a professor emeritus of English and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, both at the University of Kansas.

Gunn became a professional writer in 1947 when he wrote a play produced by the University of Kansas, Thy Kingdom Come, then wrote newspaper articles and radio scripts. Although he considered moving to New York to become a playwright, he began his career as a science fiction writer in 1949, making his first short story sale to Thrilling Wonder Stories. He has had nearly 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has written 28 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.

In 1948, Gunn wrote his first science fiction, ten short stories, and published nine from 1949 to 1952 as "Edwin James", a pseudonym derived from his full name James Edwin Gunn. The first two in print, "Communications" and "Paradox" (the first sale), were published in September and October 1949 by editor Sam Merwin in Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder Stories respectively. Gunn's master's thesis, a critical analysis of the genre, was also published in a professional magazine. His novels were first published by Gnome Press in 1955, Star Bridge, written by Gunn and Jack Williamson, and This Fortress World.

Scribner's published Gunn's novel The Listeners in 1972 and it was runner-up for the first annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Carl Sagan called it "one of the very best fictional portrayals of contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence ever written." According to the publisher of a 2004 edition, "this book predicted and inspired the creation of the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI)—the organization dedicated to the search for extra-terrestrial life."

In 1996, Gunn wrote a Star Trek novel that was a novelization of "The Joy Machine", an unproduced episode of the first Star Trek series that was scripted by Theodore Sturgeon.