William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has been credited as the "noir prophet" of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" in his short story "Burning Chrome" and popularized the concept in his debut novel, Neuromancer (1984). His work created an iconography for the information age before the Internet's ubiquity in the 1990s.

Gibson's early works, including the acclaimed Sprawl trilogy, were noir, near-future stories that delved into the implications of technology, cybernetics, and computer networks on society. He later collaborated with Bruce Sterling on "The Difference Engine", a key work in the steampunk subgenre. In the 1990s, Gibson explored sociological developments in the Bridge trilogy.

Following the events of 9/11, Gibson wrote increasingly realist novels such as Pattern Recognition (2003), Spook Country (2007), and Zero History (2010), which brought him mainstream success. His recent work, including The Peripheral (2014) and Agency (2020), revisits technology-driven themes. He has written over 20 short stories and 12 critically acclaimed novels, influencing multiple disciplines, including academia, design, and technology.