Chinese-American actress Bai Ling is seen on October 15, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images)

The drag artist Wet Mess performs Testo – a show about testosterone – at the Here & Now Showcase, Edinburgh international festival fringe in 2024. (Photo by Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)

William Gibson is not one of the authors that spits out novels like a machine – in his long and fruitful career he has only published 11 novels andof short stories and articles in the tens each. Still his impact on modern literature was huge – the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre (that he was one of the pioneers of) has predicted the rise of reality television, virtual reality, video games and the internet. He is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer, with a special eye for what the future might bring.

A chicken seller carries his chickens on his head in the market in Peshawar, Pakistan, August 20, 2015. (Photo by Khuram Parvez/Reuters)

Samba dancers outside Woolwich station celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth Line in London, England on May 23, 2022. Originally due to open in December 2018, the £18.8bn railway links Reading and Essex via central London. (Photo by Jill Mead/The Guardian)

A surfer drops in on a large wave at Praia do Norte, in Nazare December 11, 2014. Praia do Norte beach has gained popularity with big wave surfers since Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara broke a world record for the largest wave surfed here in 2011. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

A man and a woman take a selfie on Russian Navy Day in St Petersburg, Russia on July 26, 2020. (Photo by Roman Pimenov/TASS)

The Villarrica volcano lights up the sky at night seen from Pucon town, Chile on December 14, 2023. (Photo by Cristobal Saavedra Escobar/Reuters)