Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Clark Ashton Smith
Born January 13, 1893(1893-01-13)
Long Valley, California, U.S.
Died August 14, 1961 (aged 68)
Pacific Grove, California, U.S.
Occupation short story writer, poet
Nationality American
Genres horror, fantasy, sci-fi
Influences
Influenced

Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893-August 14, 1961) was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common For the town in New Jersey see Long Valley New Jersey Long Valley Caldera is a depression in Eastern California that is adjacent to California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Pacific Grove is a coastal town in Monterey County California, USA with a total population of 15522 as of the 2000 census California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 &ndash 20 October 1890 was an English Explorer, Translator, writer Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett 18th Baron of Dunsany ( 24 July 1878 &ndash 25 October 1957) was an Anglo-Irish writer and Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, David Allen Hargrave (May 25 1946 - August 29 1988 known as The Dream Weaver, was a prolific and sometimes controversial game designer and writer of fantasy and science fiction Robert Ervin Howard ( January 22 1906 &ndash June 11 1936) was an American pulp writer of Fantasy, This article refers to the science fiction writer For the actor see Fritz Leiber Sr Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy Emil Petaja (1915 - 2000 was an American Science fiction and Fantasy writer whose career spanned seven decades John Holbrook Vance (born August 28, 1916 in San Francisco, Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered today. Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales. Robert Ervin Howard ( January 22 1906 &ndash June 11 1936) was an American pulp writer of Fantasy, Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines Weird Tales is an American Fantasy and Horror fiction Pulp magazine first published in March 1923.

Contents

Biography

Early life and education

Smith spent most of his life in the small town of Auburn, California, living in a small cabin with his parents, Fanny and Timeus Smith. Auburn is a city in and the County seat of Placer County, California, United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. His formal education was limited: he suffered from psychological disorders and for this reason attended only eight years of grammar school and never went to high school. High school is the name used in some parts of the world (in particular Scotland, North America and Australia) to describe an institution However, he continued to teach himself after he left school, learning French and Spanish, and his near-photographic memory allowed him to retain prodigious amounts from his very wide reading, including several entire dictionaries and encyclopedias. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people A dictionary is a book of alphabetically listed Words in a specific language with definitions etymologies pronunciations and other information or a book of alphabetically An encyclopedia (or '''encyclopædia''') is a comprehensive written Compendium that contains Information on either all branches of Knowledge

Early writing and influences

Smith began writing stories at the age of eleven and two of them, The Sword of Zagan and The Black Diamonds, have recently been published by Hippocampus Press. Hippocampus Press is an American Publisher of fantasy, horror and Science fiction, and specializes in reprints or first editions of Both stories use a medieval, Arabian Nights-like setting, and the Arabian Nights, like the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the works of Edgar Allan Poe, are known to have strongly influenced Smith's early writing. The Brothers Grimm ( German: Die Gebrüder Grimm) Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic,

In his later youth Smith became the protégé of the San Francisco poet George Sterling, who helped him to publish his first volume of poems, The Star-Treader and Other Poems, at the age of nineteen. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city George Sterling ( 1 December 1869 - 17 November 1926) was an American Poet based in California who during his The Star-Treader was received very favorably by American critics, one of whom named Smith "the Keats of the Pacific. " Smith made the acquaintance of Sterling through a member of the local Auburn Monday Night Club, where he read several of his poems with considerable success. The publication of Ebony and Crystal in 1922 was followed by a fan letter from H. P. Lovecraft, which was the beginning of fifteen years of friendship and correspondence. Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy

Work and marriage

Smith was poor for most of his life and was often forced to take menial jobs such as fruitpicking and woodcutting in order to support himself and his parents. Following the death of his parents, he married Carol Jones Dorman on 10 November 1954 and moved to Pacific Grove, California, where he set up a household with their children. Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Pacific Grove is a coastal town in Monterey County California, USA with a total population of 15522 as of the 2000 census

Health and death

Smith suffered from eye problems throughout his life. He died in his sleep on August 14th 1961.

Artistic periods

While Smith was always an artist who worked in several very different media, it is possible to identify three distinct periods in which one form of art had precedence over the others.

Poetry: Until 1925

Smith published most of his volumes of poetry in this period, including the aforementioned The Star-Treader and Other Poems, as well as Odes and Sonnets (1918), Ebony and Crystal (1922) and Sandalwood (1925). His epic poem The Hashish-Eater; Or, the Apocalypse of Evil was written in 1920. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation

Weird Fiction: 1926–1935

Smith wrote most of his weird fiction and Cthulhu Mythos stories, possibly inspired by H. P. Lovecraft. Weird fiction is a subgenre of Speculative literature written in the late 19th and early 20th century The Cthulhu Mythos is a Shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy Creatures of his invention include Aforgomon, Rlim-Shaikorth, Mordiggian, Tsathoggua, the wizard Eibon, and various others. Yog-Sothoth ( The Lurker at the Threshold, The Key and the Gate, The Beyond One, Opener of the Way, The All-in-One and the One-in-All This is a compendium of the lesser known Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos of H Mordiggian is a Fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. "He" is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and appears in his Short story Tsathoggua (the Sleeper of N'kai) is a fictional Supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe The Hyperborean cycle is a series of Short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea (present-day In an homage to his friend, Lovecraft referred in some of his stories to a great dark wizard, "Klarkash-Ton. "

Smith's stories form several cycles, called after the lands in which they are set: Averoigne, Hyperborea, Mars, Poseidonis, Xiccarph, Zothique. Averoigne is a fictional counterpart of a historical province in France, detailed in a series of Short stories by the American Writer The Hyperborean cycle is a series of Short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea (present-day Fictional representations of Mars have been popular for over a century Atlantis (in Greek,, "island of Atlas " is the name of a Legendary Island, first mentioned in Plato 's dialogues Xiccarph is a collection of Fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. Zothique is an imagined future continent featured in a series of Short stories by Clark Ashton Smith. [1] Stories set in Zothique belong to the Dying Earth subgenre. The Dying Earth Subgenre is a sub-category of Science fantasy which takes place at the End of Time, when the Sun slowly fades and the laws of the universe

His short stories originally appeared in the magazines Weird Tales, Strange Tales, Astounding Stories, Stirring Science Stories and Wonder Stories. Weird Tales is an American Fantasy and Horror fiction Pulp magazine first published in March 1923. Strange Tales was the name of several Comic book Anthology series that have been published by Marvel Comics. Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American Science fiction Magazine. A science fiction magazine is a Magazine that publishes primarily Science fiction, in print or on the internet or both Many of the stories were published in six hardcover volumes by August Derleth under his Arkham House imprint.

Some were also collected as Lost Worlds Vols 1 and 2 (LW1 and LW2):

Sculpture: 1935–1961

By this time his interest in writing fiction began to lessen and he turned to creating sculptures from soft rock such as soapstone. "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" is a short story written in 1929 by Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Hyperborean cycle, and first published in the November Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a Metamorphic rock, a talc- Schist.

Books

Night Shade Books

Hippocampus Press

Arkham House

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series

Wildside Press

Spearman(reprinted from Arkham House)

Panther (reprinted from Arkham House)

Timescape Books

Journals of Smith Studies

Necronomicon Press

Seele Brennt Publications

Cryptic Publications

See also

External links


Persondata
NAME Smith, Clark Ashton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American short story writer and poet
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1893(1893-01-13)
PLACE OF BIRTH Long Valley, California, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1961
PLACE OF DEATH Pacific Grove, California, U.S.
Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common For the town in New Jersey see Long Valley New Jersey Long Valley Caldera is a depression in Eastern California that is adjacent to California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Pacific Grove is a coastal town in Monterey County California, USA with a total population of 15522 as of the 2000 census California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic