Ethan Gilsdorf
Encyclopedia
Ethan Gilsdorf is an American writer, poet, editor, critic, teacher and journalist. He was born in Dover, New Hampshire
, and raised in the nearby town of Lee
. He has lived in Northampton
and Amherst, Massachusetts
; Brattleboro, Vermont
; Baton Rouge, Louisiana
; Paris
, France; and currently lives in Somerville, Massachusetts
. He attended Oyster River High School
in Durham, New Hampshire
, and received his B.A. from Hampshire College
and his MFA from Louisiana State University
.
Gilsdorf is the author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks
: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms (The Lyons Press). The award-winning travel memoir-pop culture investigation is, according to The Huffington Post, "full of encounters, both funny and poignant" and National Public Radio’s “Around and About” describes the book as "Lord of the Rings meets Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.” The subject matter ranges from Dungeons & Dragons
(D&D) gamers and live-action role-players, or LARPers, to Harry Potter
wizard rockers and World of Warcraft
players. Other subcultures and events the book investigates: the legacy of Gary Gygax
, The Society for Creative Anachronism
(SCA) and Pennsic War
, DragonCon (aka Dragon*Con), a French castle-building project called Guedelon, J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings
and The Hobbit
fandom, and a journey to New Zealand
to see Lord of the Rings film trilogy movie locations. Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks also explores Gilsdorf's own lifelong (and at times twisted) relationship to fantasy
and gaming
. The book was named a Must-Read Book by the Massachusetts Book Awards.
A regular contributor of travel, arts, food, movies, books, and pop culture stories in The New York Times
, The Boston Globe
, the San Francisco Chronicle
and The Improper Bostonian
, Gilsdorf has also written for National Geographic Traveler
, Psychology Today
, Fodor's
travel guides, The Washington Post
, the Los Angeles Times
, Poets & Writers
, and The Christian Science Monitor
. He is a book and movie critic for The Boston Globe, the film columnist for Art New England, and his blog "Geek Pride" is seen regularly on PsychologyToday.com (Psychology Today
). He also blogs for TheOneRing.net
and Tor.com.
As a poet, he is the winner of the Hobblestock Peace Poetry Competition and the Esmé Bradberry Contemporary Poets Prize, and has published poems in Poetry
, The Southern Review, the North American Review
and several national and international anthologies.
He is co-founder of Grub Street, Inc.
's Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP), volunteers as a guest speaker in the Boston Public Schools and leads creative writing workshops in journalism, travel and essay writing, and poetry, as well as book promotion and writing career planning workshops at Grub Street, Emerson College
, Mediabistro.com
and, for younger students, in schools and community centers. He speaks frequently at conventions (such as Pax
, Gen Con
and DragonCon), universities, and book festivals nationwide.
: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms (The Lyons Press )
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...
, and raised in the nearby town of Lee
Lee, New Hampshire
Lee is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,330 at the 2010 census. The town is a rural farm and bedroom community, being close to the University of New Hampshire.-History:...
. He has lived in Northampton
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
and Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
; Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located in the southeast corner of the state, along the state line with New Hampshire. The population was 12,046 at the 2010 census...
; Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
; Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France; and currently lives in Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
. He attended Oyster River High School
Oyster River High School
Oyster River High School , part of the Oyster River Cooperative School District , is a public high school located in Durham, New Hampshire, United States with an enrollment of about 700 students. It serves Durham and the neighboring communities of Lee and Madbury.During 2001-2003 it had a...
in Durham, New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,664 people, 2,882 households, and 1,582 families residing in the town. The population density was 565.5 people per square mile . There were 2,923 housing units at an average density of 130.5 per square mile...
, and received his B.A. from Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
and his MFA from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
.
Gilsdorf is the author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks is a book by author Ethan Gilsdorf and a work of travel literature, memoir and immersion journalism that explores fantasy and gaming subcultures.First published in 2009 by the Lyons Press, the book has...
: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms (The Lyons Press). The award-winning travel memoir-pop culture investigation is, according to The Huffington Post, "full of encounters, both funny and poignant" and National Public Radio’s “Around and About” describes the book as "Lord of the Rings meets Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.” The subject matter ranges from Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
(D&D) gamers and live-action role-players, or LARPers, to Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
wizard rockers and World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
players. Other subcultures and events the book investigates: the legacy of Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
, The Society for Creative Anachronism
Society for Creative Anachronism
The Society for Creative Anachronism is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century...
(SCA) and Pennsic War
Pennsic War
The Pennsic War is an annual American medieval camping event held by the Society for Creative Anachronism—a "war" between two large regional SCA groups: the and the...
, DragonCon (aka Dragon*Con), a French castle-building project called Guedelon, J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
and The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
fandom, and a journey to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
to see Lord of the Rings film trilogy movie locations. Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks also explores Gilsdorf's own lifelong (and at times twisted) relationship to fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and gaming
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
. The book was named a Must-Read Book by the Massachusetts Book Awards.
A regular contributor of travel, arts, food, movies, books, and pop culture stories in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
and The Improper Bostonian
The Improper Bostonian
The Improper Bostonian is a glossy lifestyle guide for the city of Boston. The magazine comes out bi-weekly and reports on the area trends in a young and entertaining way.The magazine is a staple of the city, being free to people inside the city, and $14.95 a year for people who live outside Boston...
, Gilsdorf has also written for National Geographic Traveler
National Geographic Traveler
National Geographic Traveler is a magazine published by the National Geographic Society in the United States. It was launched in 1984. Local-language editions of National Geographic Traveler are published in Armenia, Belgium/the Netherlands, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Latin America,...
, Psychology Today
Psychology Today
Psychology Today is a bi-monthly magazine published in the United States. It is a psychology-based magazine about relationships, health, and related topics written for a mass audience of non-psychologists. Psychology Today was founded in 1967 and features articles on such topics as love,...
, Fodor's
Fodor's
Fodor's is the world's largest publisher of English language travel and tourism information, and the first relatively professional producer of travel guidebooks...
travel guides, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Poets & Writers
Poets & Writers
Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organization in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers...
, and The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
. He is a book and movie critic for The Boston Globe, the film columnist for Art New England, and his blog "Geek Pride" is seen regularly on PsychologyToday.com (Psychology Today
Psychology Today
Psychology Today is a bi-monthly magazine published in the United States. It is a psychology-based magazine about relationships, health, and related topics written for a mass audience of non-psychologists. Psychology Today was founded in 1967 and features articles on such topics as love,...
). He also blogs for TheOneRing.net
TheOneRing.net
TheOneRing.net is a fan site dedicated to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.The site was founded in 1999 by a group of Tolkien fans eager for the upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy who were gathering information about the film...
and Tor.com.
As a poet, he is the winner of the Hobblestock Peace Poetry Competition and the Esmé Bradberry Contemporary Poets Prize, and has published poems in Poetry
Poetry (magazine)
Poetry , published in Chicago, Illinois since 1912, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Published by the Poetry Foundation and currently edited by Christian Wiman, the magazine has a circulation of 30,000 and prints 300 poems per year out of approximately...
, The Southern Review, the North American Review
North American Review
The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...
and several national and international anthologies.
He is co-founder of Grub Street, Inc.
Grub Street, Inc.
Grub Street, Inc. is a non-profit creative writing center located in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. Through various workshops, seminars, events and programs, its mission is to support writers at all stages of development...
's Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP), volunteers as a guest speaker in the Boston Public Schools and leads creative writing workshops in journalism, travel and essay writing, and poetry, as well as book promotion and writing career planning workshops at Grub Street, Emerson College
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
, Mediabistro.com
Mediabistro.com
Mediabistro.com is a Web site that publishes various blogs and job listings for journalists. The site was founded in 1993 by Laurel Touby as "a gathering place for professionals in journalism, publishing and other media-related industries in New York City", mediabistro.com has since grown into an...
and, for younger students, in schools and community centers. He speaks frequently at conventions (such as Pax
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
, Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
and DragonCon), universities, and book festivals nationwide.
Books
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming GeeksFantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks is a book by author Ethan Gilsdorf and a work of travel literature, memoir and immersion journalism that explores fantasy and gaming subcultures.First published in 2009 by the Lyons Press, the book has...
: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms (The Lyons Press )
Essays
- When ‘Home for the Holidays’ Involves Two Homes Published in The New York Times (2007)
- Get Over It Published in The Boston Globe Magazine (2008)
- Pedaling Love Published in Plenty (2008)
Poems
- "Notes of the Previous Users" published in The Grapevine (Reykjavik)
- "Headlines from Childhood" published in Connaissances
- "But Enough About Me" published in Memorious
