Craig Laurance Gidney's Blog, page 58
July 21, 2013
BOOK REVIEW: The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells. Swashbuckling Gothic Fantasy
The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’d always planned on reading THE DEATH OF THE NECROMANCER but it was out of print by the time I got around to it. Thanks to technology, the novel has a new life. It’s a kind of “gaslight” fantasy, set in […]
July 19, 2013
A prose-poem I wrote when I was 21
A old college friend of mine unearthed the long-forgotten following piece from a defunct literary journal. I was 21 at the time, and enamored of the poetry of Aime Cesaire, stream-of-conscious writing and automatic writing. This is the only copy of the piece that survives. Please forgive the wall of text and clumsy metaphors. a […]
July 18, 2013
INTERVIEW: Colten Hibbs interviewed me for his blog
Aspiring author Colten Hibbs graciously interviewed me for his blog. We discussed issues of identity and diversity in the YA sphere. He writes: Approximately two weeks ago, I became rather interested in observing a movement that has been gaining steam in the writing community. The issue of Diversity in YA literature. Needless to say I […]
July 15, 2013
REVIEW: Downton Abbey directed by Lars von Trier–Killing Violets (or God’s Dogs) by Tanith Lee.
Killing Violets: Gods’ Dogs by Tanith Lee My rating: 4 of 5 stars Certain works of art are meant to be disquieting and disturbing. I think of the work of film-makers like David Lynch or Lars Von Trier, or the paintings of Francis Bacon or the music of Siouxsie And The Banshees. Classical music that […]
July 14, 2013
The Parable of Octavia E. Butler
I went to hear Octavia Butler speak when her novel, Parable of the Sower was released. This was before she won the MacArthur Genius Grant. The thing was, at that time, she didn’t read. Always self-deprecating to a fault, Butler instead gave a talk about her work and writing the process, and at least to […]
July 12, 2013
July 10, 2013
Muses: On Mapplethorpe and the Black Male Body
I have a complicated relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe’s work. And I don’t mean his flowers and fruit pictures. The way he fetishizes the black male body disturbs me; he makes me a partner in their objectification. I mean, these men and the light with which they are cast and their poses are undeniably beautiful. But […]
July 6, 2013
Books I Wish I’d Written: The Museum of Love by Steve Weiner
Like the whimsical/ repulsive image from a Brothers Quay film that graces the cover, The Museum of Love is a nightmarish, hallucinogenic quest novel. It crackles with a strange, hypnotic energy. Mixing Catholic mysticism, the brutal reality of the Canadian physical, psychic and cultural landscape, the novel defies description. It is reminiscent of the strange […]
July 5, 2013
Muses: The mystical genius of William Blake
I discovered William Blake’s work when I was a child. At the time, Kahlil Gibran’s book The Prophet was very popular and my family had a copy of it. The words were poetic and philosophical; but it was Gibran’s black and white drawings that held my interest. The mystical opaque paintings that accompanied the inspirational, […]
July 3, 2013
EVENT: Craig Laurance Gidney at the DC Outwrite Book Fair in August
I will be on the Young Adult Fiction Author panel at the Outwrite Book Fair next month, on August 3, 2013. Event information may be found here. I believe that I will be reading there as well. More details are forthcoming. Filed under: Events
