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Charles de Lint
| born |
December 22, 1951
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| gender |
male |
| place of birth |
Bussum, Netherlands |
| website |
http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/ |
| genre |
Science Fiction & Fantasy
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about this author
Charles de Lint, an extraordinarily prolific writer of fantasy works, was born in the Netherlands in 1951. Due to his father's work as a surveyor, the family lived in many different places, including Canada, Turkey, and Lebanon. De Lint was influenced by many writers in the areas of mythology, folklore, and science fiction.
De Lint originally wanted to play Celtic music. He only began to write seriously to provide an artist friend with stories to illustrate. The combination of the success of his work, The Fane of the Grey Rose (which he later developed into the novel The Harp of the Grey Rose), the loss of his job in a record store, and the support of his wife, Mary Ann, helped encourage de Lint to pursue writing fulltime. After selling three novels in one year, his career soared and he has become a most successful fantasy writer.
It is often said that, along with Terri Windling, he established the genre of mythic fiction which falls somewhere between fantasy literature, and mainstream fiction with a magical realist bent. This is debatable, as John Crowley preceded de Lint with the novel "Little, Big", which was published in 1981, and won the World Fantasy Award the following year for its blending of classical fantasy with modern culture. In any case, de Lint can certainly be credited with popularizing the emerging genre, which is also known as "urban myth" or "urban fantasy." De Lint's work has been called "fantasy for people who normally don't read fantasy."
Many of his later stories center around the mythical North American city of Newford and a regular cast of characters that make cameo and feature appearances. "The books have all been written in such a way that you should be able to pick up any one and get a full and complete story. However, characters do reoccur, off center stage as it were, and their stories do follow a sequence." He has received many awards including the 2000 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection for Moonlight and Vines. He has also published a children's book, Circle of Cats, with artist Charles Vess.
In addition to being the author of numerous novels and short stories, de Lint is also a poet, musician, artist, folklorist, and critic. His poetry can be found online in the Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts. De Lint's works include novels, novellas, short stories, chapbooks, and verse. He also publishes under the pseudonyms Wendelessen, Henri Cuiscard, and Jan Penalurick.
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