poetry

Ellen Datlow’s COVID-19 Check-In and comments on LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS selections

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THE VIRTUAL MEMORIES SHOW podcast checks in with editor extraordinaire Ellen Datlow where they discuss living in New York City during a pandemic, her health, and the status of FANTASTIC FICTION AT KGB.

For TOR.COM as part of their The Lovecraft Reread, Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth discuss Caitlín Kiernan’s “Love is Forbidden, We Croak and Howl” and Gemma Files’s “Haruspicy”, both of which appeared in LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS.

On Caitlín Kiernan’s “Love is Forbidden, We Croak and Howl”:

Know what could be even worse than ghouls or Deep Ones mating with humans? Try ghouls and Deep Ones mating with each other and thus compounding the sins of their forebears! And ghouls and Deep Ones mating (at least potentially) is what Caitlín Kiernan envisions in “Love is Forbidden, We Croak and Howl.” Croak and howl, now I get it. Deep Ones do the former, ghouls the latter. Sounds like a chorus more hellish than the one rising from the Hall of Dagon. Or not. Strange harmonies may intrigue, even delight.

But Kiernan isn’t doing Lovecraft one more horrible by crossing monster with monster, she’s doing him several more ironic. Like many humans, ghouls know little beyond their immediate World and suspect those seeking further knowledge—surely the gods would disapprove! Like many humans, Deep Ones have a strict social hierarchy. On top are “pureblood” Deep Ones, the original children of Dagon and Hydra. Beneath them but still acceptable are hybrid Deep Ones who’ve overcome landbound humanity and returned to the water. I expect hybrids who don’t transition properly are rungs beneath the returned hybrids. A plain old homogeneous human might be semi-tolerable. In a pinch. But a ghoul? My dear, what would great-great-great-et cetera-grandmother say?

Cover by John Coulthart

Gemma Files’s “Haruspicy” (alongside H.P. Lovecraft’s “Nemesis”):

To play fair, I’ll take the quiz first. I think both this week’s poems are beautiful. “Nemesis” positively exhilarates me with dread. “Haruspicy” positively exhilarates me with revulsion—haruspicy, after all, is the art of divining through the examination of an animal’s entrails. Couldn’t we just use a crystal ball or tarot cards? Oh all right then, slice open that goat, or hanged man. What’s a little gore between haruspex and client? Besides, in the end “Haruspicy” gives me the warm fuzzies of fellowship. Ghoul or human or a hybrid of the two, we’re all going to face the void together one day, presumably after divining the eve of doom via chicken liver.

Or hanged man liver.

Tachyon tidbits featuring Patricia A. McKillip, Peter S. Beagle, Jane Yolen, and John Joseph Adams

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The latest reviews and mentions of Tachyon titles and authors from around the web.

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Patricia A. McKillip (photo: Stephen Gold/Wikimedia Commons), Peter S. Beagle (Rina Weisman), Jane Yolen (Jason Stemple), and John Joseph Adams (Diana Rowland)

FANTASY CAFE praises Patricia A. McKillip’s DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES.

Though I read far more novels than short stories, I was first introduced to World Fantasy Award-winning author Patricia McKillip’s work through her fantastic collection WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD (my review). I was utterly enchanted by her spare but beautiful prose, characters, and themes and also impressed by the vast range of her stories: not only were they a mixture of genres including high fantasy, contemporary fantasy, a fairy tale retelling, and science fiction but they also ran the gamut from lighthearted to serious. Regardless of category, wit and insight shone through her fiction, and I’ve wanted to read everything she’s written since—whether a novel or another collection like her most recent, DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES.

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McKillip’s prose is gorgeous as usual, and she blends art and myth wonderfully in this story about painters so swept up in their grand visions that they do not see below the surface—nor do they want to, for fear that it will break the spell of their craft. Even though Harry is kinder than most of the men in his artistic circle, he can be rather oblivious, only hearing what he’s been told and missing the bigger picture of what’s going on around him, particularly how the worship of Aurora is affecting all of them—including the woman everyone has put upon a pedestal.

Part of what I love about this (and much of McKillip’s work that I’ve read) is that even though the society may try to relegate women to the background, McKillip does not. Jo has her own story, Medusa has her own voice, and though the other women are not as central, they are given more of the spotlight than any male artist other than Harry. The focus given to Jo and the other women add more dimension to “The Gorgon in the Cupboard”; had this story only belonged to Harry, it may have seemed as though it was about a man learning that (surprise!) women are real people too. (Although I think it is still possible to view his role that way, that doesn’t ring true to me since it seems more that he is laser-focused on his work since he has more meaningful interactions with the women in the circle than the men. I viewed it more as showing that while the men have the luxury of remaining lost in their dreams and fully absorbed in their art, the women do not have the luxury of safely ignoring the real world, and as such, are the ones who see the world more clearly.)

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Even though I don’t think it quite measures up to WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD, I do still believe that DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES is well worth reading. Each story showcases McKillip’s skill as an author, and “The Gorgon in the Cupboard” is an impactful tale full of depth—and since it’s about a quarter of the collection, this story alone makes it a must read.

In February, Peter S. Beagle’s IN CALABRIA appeared on the Borderlands Books best seller list.

Hardcovers
1. NORSE MYTHOLOGY by Neil Gaiman
2. IN CALABRIA by Peter S. Beagle
3. INVISIBLE PLANETS edited by Ken Liu
4. A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V.E. Schwab
5. THE STARS ARE LEGION by Kameron Hurley
6. KINDRED: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by Octavia Butler and John Jennings
7. PIRATE UTOPIA by Bruce Sterling
8. UNIVERSAL HARVESTER by John Darnielle
9. MIRANDA AND CALIBAN by Jacqueline Carey
10. CHASING SHADOWS: VISIONS OF OUR COMING TRANSPARENT WORLD by David Brin

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Jane Yolen received three nominations for poetry among the 2016 ASIMOV’S Readers’ Award Finalists.

POETRY

The Abassador’s Daughter – Megan Arkenberg – October/November 2016
Your Clone Excels at You – Robert Frazier – August 2016
After – Herb Kauderer – October/November 2016
Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman – Ron Koertge – April/May 2016
The Robot Grows Old – Geoffrey A. Landis – June 2016
Long Argument, the Longest – Jane Yolen – September 2016
Nice Touch – Jane Yolen – March 2016
Old Women of the Wood – Jane Yolen – October/November 2016

John Joseph Adams is interviewed in the March 2017 LOCUS.

‘‘Things took a more dramatic turn for me when I stumbled across The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It had just come back into print after being out of print for a long time, and people kept coming into the bookstore and ordering it, so I got curious about it. I didn’t know Bester was a legend in the field. Neil Gaiman wrote the introduction, but at the time I didn’t know who he was, either. I just decided to try it…and it just blew my mind. I think of The Stars My Destination as my origin story: reading that book made me want to find more books that could blow my mind like that. Having read The Stars My Destination, I went on a quest to find more books like it, and ultimately that’s what led to me becoming an editor – to driving myself to find things that would challenge me as a reader and change the way I read. Before that, I’d pick up a book, and I’d like it or I wouldn’t, but I wasn’t striving to find that greatness.”

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I was at F&SF about nine years. I was the slush reader, the only actual employee in the office day-to-day besides Gordon, working 20 hours a week or so. I would read all the slush except for whatever Gordon would cherry-pick. Obviously authors who were known quantities, he would pick them out of the slush to read himself, along with the occasional up-and-comers he wanted to keep an eye on. As time went on, I became more and more sure as an editor and felt more confident in my decisions. Though my primary job was slush reader, Gordon also started giving me everything he was going to buy to get a second opinion on those stories. So I literally read everything he bought before he bought it for most of my time at the magazine. That really helped me develop my editorial point of view because I got to read and comment on all of the stories under consideration – not just the stuff that got into the magazine but also the stuff that almost got into the magazine.

For more info on DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

For more info on WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

For more info about IN CALABRIA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about EPIC: LEGENDS OF FANTASY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart

The legendary Thomas M. Disch was born 77 years ago

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Thomas Disch at South Street Seaport June 3 2008 (photo: Houari Boumedienne)

The influential writer, poet, editor, and essayist Thomas M. Disch would have been 77 on February 2. With the 1965 publication of his first novel THE GENOCIDES, Disch began an impressive output of challenging, creative fiction. Other noteworthy novels included CAMP CONCENTRATION, BLACK ALICE (with John Sladek), 334, ON WINGS OF SONG, THE BUSINESSMAN: A TALE OF TERROR, THE M.D.: A HORROR STORY, and THE WORD OF GOD: OR, HOLY WRIT REWRITTEN.

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In 1980, Disch ventured into the world of children’s books with THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER: A BEDTIME STORY FOR SMALL APPLIANCES, which was the basis for the acclaimed Disney film. His other works for children included THE TALE OF DAN DE LION, THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER GOES TO MARS, FILM ADAPTATION, and A CHILD’S GARDEN OF GRAMMAR.

Reading at the 1987 NY Book Fair

Disch’s numerous shorts stories were collected into several volumes including ONE HUNDRED AND TWO H-BOMBS, FUN WITH YOUR NEW HEAD, WHITE FANG GOES DINGO, GETTING INTO DEATH, FUNDAMENTAL DISCH, THE MAN WHO HAD NO IDEA, and THE WALL OF AMERICA.

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As an award-winning essayists, Disch was regular contributor to THE NATION, THE WEEKLY STANDARD, HARPER’S, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, and ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. He won a Hugo award for the non-fiction THE DREAMS OUR STUFF IS MADE OF: HOW SCIENCE FICTION CONQUERED THE WORLD.

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Disch’s acclaimed poetry was collected in several volumes including THE RIGHT WAY TO FIGURE PLUMBING, ABCDEFG HIJKLM NPOQRST UVWXYZ,  BURN THIS, DARK VERSES AND LIGHT, HAIKUS OF AN AMPART, and ABOUT THE SIZE OF IT. His poem BILLET-DOUX was produced as limited edition broadside in celebration of Tachyon Publications’ twelfth anniversary.

Sadly, the iconic Thomas Disch died in 2008, just days after Tachyon published what proved to be his final novel, THE WORD OF GOD: OR, HOLY WRIT REWRITTEN.

For more information about THE WORD OF GOD: OR, HOLY WRIT REWRITTEN, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

For more information about THE WALL OF AMERICA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

For more information about BILLET-DOUX, visit the Tachyon page.

Art and design by Barry Barnes

The groundbreaking and influential James Tiptree, Jr. was born 101 years ago

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Alice B. Sheldon (James Tiptree, Jr.)

Born in Chicago, IL on August 24, 1915, Alice B. Sheldon (née Bradley) was the daughter of lawyer and naturalist Herbert Bradley and Mary Hastings Bradley, a popular and prolific writer of fiction and travel books. Young Alice traveled the world with her parents including 1921-22 trip to Africa, which influenced some of her more famous work. A graphic artist and a painter, Sheldon, under the name “Alice Bradley Davey” was an art critic for the CHICAGO SUN between 1941 and 1942.

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Young Alice with the kikuyus, a native tribe from Africa

After her first marriage ended, Alice joined the United States Army Air Forces and worked in  photo-intelligence group. Near the end of the war, while stationed in Paris, she met her second husband Huntington (Ting) Sheldon, future Director of the Office of Current Intelligence for the CIA. Returning to the States, Alice, as “Alice Bradley,” published her first short story “The Lucky Ones” in THE NEW YORKER (November 16, 1946). In 1952 she joined the CIA, but resigned in 1955 to return to college. Alice Sheldon eventually got a Bachelor of Arts degree at American University (1957–59) and  a doctorate at George Washington University in Experimental Psychology in 1967. 

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Alice adopted her “James Tiptree, Jr.” persona to protect her academic reputation. As Tiptree, she garnered immense praise for her numerous tales that often stretched the boundaries of the genre by challenging the perceptions of gender. Her many awards include two Hugo (1974 novella, “The Girl Who Was Plugged In”; 1977 novella, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”), three Nebula (1973 short story, “Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death”; 1976 novella, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”; 1977 novelette, “The Screwfly Solution”), and a 1987 World Fantasy for the collection TALES OF THE QUINTANA ROO.

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Alice with husband Ting

In 1977, her Tiptree identity was outed, which surprised many in the field. Sheldon continued writing as Tiptree until her tragic death in 1987. In 1991, Karen Joy Fowler and Pat Murphy established the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore our understanding of gender. 

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Tiptree eventually penned the two novels UP THE WALLS OF THE WORLD and BRIGHTNESS FALLS FROM THE AIR. Tiptree’s numerous stories have been collected in many volumes including TEN THOUSAND LIGHT-YEARS FROM HOME, WARM WORLDS AND OTHERWISE, OUT OF THE EVERYWHERE AND OTHER EXTRAORDINARY VISIONS, THE STARRY RIFT, TALES OF THE QUINTANA ROO, CROWN OF STARS, and HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER. Her poetry form the late 1940s and early 1950s were collected in  NEAT SHEETS: THE POETRY OF JAMES TIPTREE, JR.

For more info about HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio.

For more info about NEAT SHEETS: THE POETRY OF JAMES TIPTREE, JR, visit the Tachyon page.

The groundbreaking and influential James Tiptree, Jr. was born 100 years ago

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Alice B. Sheldon (James Tiptree, Jr.)

Born in Chicago, IL on August 24, 1915, Alice B. Sheldon (née Bradley) was the daughter of lawyer and naturalist Herbert Bradley and Mary Hastings Bradley, a popular and prolific writer of fiction and travel books. Young Alice traveled the world with her parents. Following 1921-22 trip to Africa, she enjoyed her first published credit when she contributed to her mother’s short story, “The Women Men Don’t See.” A graphic artist and a painter, Sheldon, under the name "Alice Bradley Davey" was an art critic for the CHICAGO SUN between 1941 and 1942.

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Alice Sheldon with the kikuyus, a native tribe from Africa

After her first marriage ended, Alice joined the United States Army Air Forces and worked in  photo-intelligence group. Near the end of the war, while stationed in Paris, she met her second husband Huntington (Ting) Sheldon, future Director of the Office of Current Intelligence for the CIA. Returning to the States, Alice, as “Alice Bradley,” published her first short story “The Lucky Ones” in THE NEW YORKER (November 16, 1946). In 1952 she joined the CIA, but resigned in 1955 to return to college. Alice Sheldon eventually got a Bachelor of Arts degree at American University (1957–59) and  a doctorate at George Washington University in Experimental Psychology in 1967. 

Alice adopted her “James Tiptree, Jr.” persona to protect her academic reputation. As Tiptree, she garnered immense praise for her numerous tales that often stretched the boundaries of the genre by challenging the perceptions of gender. Her many awards include two Hugo (1974 novella, "The Girl Who Was Plugged In”; 1977 novella, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”), three Nebula (1973 short story, “Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death”; 1976 novella, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”; 1977 novelette, “The Screwfly Solution”), and a 1987 World Fantasy for the collection TALES OF THE QUINTANA ROO.

Alice with husband Ting

In 1977, her Tiptree identity was outed. Her identity as a woman surprised many in the field. Sheldon continued writing as Tiptree until her tragic death in 1987. In 1991, Karen Joy Fowler and Pat Murphy established the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore our understanding of gender. 

Tiptree eventually penned the two novels

UP THE WALLS OF THE WORLD and BRIGHTNESS FALLS FROM THE AIR. Tiptree’s numerous stories have been collected in many volumes including TEN THOUSAND LIGHT-YEARS FROM HOME, WARM WORLDS AND OTHERWISE, OUT
OF THE EVERYWHERE AND OTHER EXTRAORDINARY VISIONS, THE STARRY RIFT,
TALES OF THE QUINTANA ROO, CROWN OF STARS, and HER SMOKE ROSE UP
FOREVER. Her poetry form the late 1940s and early 1950s were collected in 

NEAT SHEETS: THE
POETRY OF JAMES TIPTREE, JR.

For more info about HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio.

For more info about NEAT SHEETS: THE POETRY OF JAMES TIPTREE, JR, visit the Tachyon page.

Which writer first compared Iowa to heaven?

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For THE DES MOINES REGISTER, Kyle Munson wonders whether Iowa City poet Dave Morice or “fellow Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus W.P. Kinsella of SHOELESS JOE and FIELD OF DREAMS fame,” first compared Iowa to heaven?

Morice remembers sharing an informal writing group with Kinsella in the late 1970s. The writers met weekly at a local rec center.

Morice culled through 15,000 pages of his work for his newly published thematic collection, “Poetry City: A Literary Remembrance of Iowa City, Iowa.” That’s how he and his editor, Joye Chizek, unearthed his 1974 poem “The Bugs of Johnson County”:

Insects outnumber us by the octillions.

They are in love with each other.

The planet is a plant.

The universe is a garden.

I’m a gardener.

I live.

Here.

And I love it.

You live here too.

Or you don’t.

Wild ideas fill the heads of insects.

They get carried away by their passion for life.

Is this Heaven?

No, just count the bugs. It’s Iowa!

Poet Dave Morice, as “Dr. Alphabet,” types poetry from atop the Jefferson Building in downtown Iowa City in 1979 in one of his many poetry marathons. (Photo: The Des Moines Register)

Kinsella didn’t even arrive in Iowa City until 1976. Before leaving with his master of fine arts from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1978, he had written the bones and read aloud portions of what would become the novel “Shoeless Joe.” It was published in 1982.

The title character, a ghostly baseball player, speaks with Iowan Ray Kinsella early in the book:

“God what an outfield,” he says. “What a left field.” He looks up at me and I look down at him. “This must be heaven,” he says.

“No. It’s Iowa,” I reply automatically.

And then of course Ray Liotta asked Kevin Coster, “Is this heaven?,” in the 1989 film “Field of Dreams,” cementing it into our culture.

W. P. Kinsella (photo: Ed Steers)

I phoned Kinsella at home in Canada, northeast of Vancouver. He remembered Morice but not “The Bugs of Johnson County.”

I read him the complete poem.

“I’ve never heard of that at all,” he said.

I wasn’t shocked. I can’t remember everything I wrote — much less read — a year ago. So I wouldn’t expect Morice or Kinsella to recall a seven-stanza poem nearly 40 years later.

Was “Is this heaven?” somehow fluttering around Iowa City’s literary atmosphere in the ’70s when Kinsella captured it and sealed its fate?

Who knows. To be clear, I’m not calling Kinsella, 80, a plagiarist. I’m merely saying that the origins of one of Iowa’s signature movie catchphrases might be more complicated and interesting than we assumed — and would be par for the course considering the creative Petri dish that was Iowa City in the 1970s.

Read the rest of Munson’s article at THE DES MOINES REGISTER.

For more info about THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.

The legendary Thomas M. Disch was born 75 years ago today

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The late Thomas M. Disch was born 75 years ago February 2, 1940. The Hugo award winning author and poet penned many works including the legendary Camp Concentration, 334, and On Wings of Song.

Tachyon was honored to publish Disch’s final two books (The Word of God and The Wall of America). His poem Billet-doux was produced as limited edition broadside in celebration of Tachyon Publications’ twelfth anniversary.

Covers for The Word of God and The Wall of America by Ann Monn.

Art and design for Billet-doux by Barry Barnes.

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