Terry Dowling
Encyclopedia
Terence William Dowling, born at Lystra Private Hospital (21 March 1947, Sydney
, New South Wales
), is an Australian writer, freelance journalist, award-winning critic, editor, game designer and reviewer. He writes primarily speculative fiction
and dark fantasy
though he considers himself an "imagier" - one who imagines, a term which liberates his writing from the constraints of specific genres.
. During these years Dowling wrote poetry and songs and some fiction. After teaching for a year at Horsley Park Primary School in Sydney, Dowling matriculated to Sydney University, where he won a scholarship to complete his BA (Hons) in English Literature and Archaeology, then won a research award via which he completed his M.A. (first class Honours) in English Literature
. His Masters thesis discussed J. G. Ballard
and Surrealism
.
During his nine-year stint at university he continued songwriting and performing with rock band The Many Moods of Albert (1966–67), worked as an actor and songwriter with Sydney's Pact Theatre (1972–78), made appearances on ABC television on some children's programs in the late 1970s and then appeared in an eight-year stint as a musician and songwriter in regular guest appearances on the long-running Australian Broadcasting Corporation
children's television program Mr. Squiggle and Friends(1979–1982). The ABC also financed production of seven of his songs for Amberjack, a musical about a stranded time-traveller, with musicians including Doug Ashdown
.(They were broadcast in 1977 on the ABC/2FC radio program "Talking Point"). Sections of the lyrics from Amberjack are included as linking pieces between the stories in Dowling's 2009 collection Amberjack: Tales of Fear and Wonder (Subterranean Press).
Dowling had begun buying science fiction magazines in the early 1960s and was influenced early by writers such as J.G. Ballard, Jack Vance
, Ray Bradbury
, Cordwainer Smith
and the Horwitz horror anthologies edited by Charles Higham
. (Dowling contributes an essay discussing the influence of Higham's horror anthologies on his own writing to Stephen Jones
Horror: Another 100 Best Books.) He was also highly influenced by the Surrealist painters, particularly Salvador Dali
, Paul Delvaux
, Max Ernst
and Giorgio de Chirico
.
Dowling's earliest published stories were "Illusion of Motion" and "Oriental on the Murder Express", both published in Enigma, the magazine of SUSFA, the Sydney University SF Society, and "Shade of Encounter" in the second issue of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature, on which Dowling became assistant editor and short-notice book-reviewer and eventually co-editor (with Dr Van Ikin
). Dowling did critical work and continued to play with bands — Temenos (rock band, 1970–72); Gestalt (acoustic band, 1972–75) after taking a teaching position at a Sydney business college. At least one of his rock bands used to play for the patients at a mental hospital at Bedlam Point, near his home - a source for 'Cape Bedlam', location of the Madhouse in the Tom Rynosseros cycle.
He wrote a science fiction play called "The Tunnel", and eventually sold his first professional story to Omega Science Digest ("The Man Who Walks Away Behind the Eyes", in the May/June 1982 issue).
In the 1980s Dowling met Jack Vance
after doing critical work on his oeuvre (Vance later named a planet after him in the novel Throy); Fritz Leiber
; and Harlan Ellison
, with whom he travelled in the Australian outback. Dowling went on to co-edit (with Richard Delap and Gil Lamont) Ellison's large single-author collection The Essential Ellison.
He has been a communications lecturer, from 1976; freelance journalist (1987–88); genre reviewer for The Australian, from 1989.
Dowling has been Guest of Honour at several Australian science fiction conventions (including Syncon 87 and Swancon
15) and regularly tutors workshops on fantasy writing at venues including the New South Wales Writers' Centre
, Sydney University's Centre for Continuing Education, the Powerhouse Museum
, the University of Canberra
's Centre for Creative Writing, the Perth Writer's Festival and the UWA Perth International Arts Festival http://2007.perthfestival.com.au/2004_archive/wordsideasmain.html- (for example, "Marvellous Journeys: Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing" and "Worlds and Futures That Work: What you need and what to avoid"). He was a panellist and presenter at Aussiecon 4.
He was awarded a PhD
in Creative Writing
from the University of Western Australia
in 2006 for his mystery/dark fantasy/horror novel, Clowns at Midnight, and accompanying dissertation The Interactive Landscape: New Modes of Narrative in Science Fiction, in which he examined the computer adventure game as an important new area of storytelling.
Dowling holds the distinction of having more stories than any other single writer selected for the anthology series Year's Best Horror and Fantasy (edited by Ellen Datlow
and Terri Windling
during its twenty-year run from 1988 to 2008.
magazine (Nov 1999) said: “Who’s the writer who can produce horror as powerful and witty as the best of Peter Straub, SF as wondrously Byzantine and baroque as anything by Gene Wolfe
, near-mainstream subtly tinged with the fantastic like some tales by Powers or Lansdale? Why Terry Dowling, of course.” It also regards his first book Rynosseros as placing him “among the masters of the field” (August 1990).
In The Year’s Best Science Fiction 21 (reprinting Dowling’s story “Flashmen”), twelve-time Hugo Award
winning US editor Gardner Dozois
called him: “One of the best-known and most celebrated of Australian writers in any genre”, while in the Year’s Best Fantasy 4 (reprinting “One Thing About the Night”), editors David G. Hartwell
and Kathryn Cramer
described him as a “master craftsman” and “one of the best prose stylists in science fiction and fantasy.”
Dowling has also been called “Australia’s finest writer of horror” by Locus magazine, and “Australia’s premier writer of dark fantasy” by All Hallows
(February 2004). The late leading Australian SF personality Peter McNamara
(on his SF Review radio show on Adelaide’s 5EBI-FM, 23 June 2000) called him “Australia’s premier fantasist.”For the US edition of Rynosseros (1993), multi-award-winning US Grand Master Harlan Ellison
said of Terry: “Here is Jack Vance
, Cordwainer Smith
, and Tiptree/Sheldon come again, reborn in one wonderful talent. If you lament the chicanery and boredom of so much of today’s shopworn sf, then like those of us who’ve been reading his award-winning stories for a few years now, you’ll purr and growl with delight at your great discovery of the remarkable, brilliant Terry Dowling. He comes from Downunder, and he knows how to stand you on your head with story.”
where great sandships ("charvolants") roam the outback, and the Ab'O tribes control hi-tech and set protocols which restrict the movements of the "Nationals" (white people). In this future Australia, high technology and mysticism co-exist, and piracy and an intricate social order breed a new kind of hero. Tom Tyson, an Everyman figure who has echoes of the Fool of the Tarot
, Tom O'Bedlam, the Green Man
and other mythic figures, has emerged amnesiac from an Ab'O punishment place known as the Madhouse, with three images that may provide the key to his identity - a Ship, a Star and a woman's Face. Tyson becomes one of the "Coloured Captains" - seven Nationals permitted by the Ab'O to cross the landscape - and wins his ship Rynosseros in a lottery, thereafter becoming known as "Blue Tyson". To quote Van Ikin, "In this future Australia, the coastal cities, home of white Australians, are urbanely cosmopolitan centres of culture, while in the interior, around an inland sea, the Ab'O states represent the emancipation of the Aboriginal
race whose heritage is both its past and its future destiny. Ab'O Princes use satellites to spy on tribal conflicts, and graceful wind-propelled sand-ships roll across the deserts, giving [the series] its symbol of freedom and inquiry." Dowling has attributed part of the inspiration for the Tom Tyson character to Blue Tyson, a character from one of his high school story fragments, and to the song lyric "Loving Mad Tom" (also known as Tom o'Bedlam), which was drawn to his attention by sf fan and co-founder of Norstrilia Press, Carey Handfield in 1982.
Reviews for Rynemonn included: 'Noted Australian wordsmith Dowling brings a close to the adventures of Tom Rynosseros in this collection of 11 stories, three original, with extensive bridging material. "This is the conclusion to the best and most ambitious Australian SF series ever written, and one of the best, ever - period." ' Locus and Australian SF Reader
Terry Dowling received the Peter McNamara award at the 2007 Aurealis Award
s for excellence in speculative fiction in part due to the publication of Rynemonn.
Notes: A Tom Tyson novel, Malgre (1988) is unpublished. It consists of three linked stories: "Marmodesse" (though an abridged version of this did appear in Omega Science Digest Jan/Feb 1987), "The Library" and "First Matter". "The Library" has now been published in Keith Stevenson, ed, X-6, couer de lion publishing (2009). "First Matter" remains unpublished.
“The Only Bird in Her Name”, a story from Rynosseros, was dramatized in 1999 by Hollywood Theatre of the Ear. Adapted for radio by Yuri Rasovsky. Hosted by Harlan Ellison
. Narrated by Peter Dennis & Kaitlin Hopkins. Available as a paid download from www.audible.com
An uncollected Tom Tyson story, "Down Flowers" was published in Orb (Sept 1999).
Chapbooks
The Tenebres appearance is:
As follows:
Prix Wolkenstein, 1991 (Germany).
Readercon
Award for Best Collection, 1991 (USA).
(World Fantasy Award nomination for Best Collection, 2001).
2000 Locus recommended reading List (Locus, Feb 2001, p. 44)
(World Fantasy Award nomination for Best Short Story, 2001).
2000 Locus Recommended Reading List (Locus, Feb 2001, p. 46)
1999 Locus
Recommended Reading List (Locus, Feb 200, p. 40)
The story "Cheat Light" was also nominated for an International Horror Guild
award for best horror Short Story of 2006.
Dowling co-edited (with Richard Delap and Gil Lamont) the 500,000 word single-author collection The Essential Ellison: a 35-Year Retrospective (works by Harlan Ellison). The volume was nominated for the 1987 Hugo Award
in the (then) newly created "Other Forms" category; it also won the 1987 Bram Stoker Award
for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection. http://www.horror.org/stokerwinnom.htm#1987
Dowling also won the 1983 William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism for his essay: “Kirth Gersen: The Other Demon Prince”, Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature, Vol 4, No 2, June 1982. He has received three World Fantasy Award
nominations.
"Truth Window: A Tale of the Bedlam Rose", Dowling's first Wormwood story for 17 years, can be found in 'Eclipse 2' ed. Jonathan Strahan
(Night Shade Books, 2008) and is also included in the collection Amberjack (2010).
Science fiction editors
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
), is an Australian writer, freelance journalist, award-winning critic, editor, game designer and reviewer. He writes primarily speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
and dark fantasy
Dark fantasy
Dark fantasy is a term used to describe a fantasy story with a pronounced horror element.-Overview:A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L...
though he considers himself an "imagier" - one who imagines, a term which liberates his writing from the constraints of specific genres.
Biography
Dowling was educated at Boronia Park Public School, Sydney, 1952–59; Hunters Hill High School, Sydney, 1960–64; and Sydney Teachers' College, 1965–66, following which he was conscripted for national service as an infantryman and admin clerk during the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. During these years Dowling wrote poetry and songs and some fiction. After teaching for a year at Horsley Park Primary School in Sydney, Dowling matriculated to Sydney University, where he won a scholarship to complete his BA (Hons) in English Literature and Archaeology, then won a research award via which he completed his M.A. (first class Honours) in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
. His Masters thesis discussed J. G. Ballard
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard was an English novelist, short story writer, and prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction...
and Surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
.
During his nine-year stint at university he continued songwriting and performing with rock band The Many Moods of Albert (1966–67), worked as an actor and songwriter with Sydney's Pact Theatre (1972–78), made appearances on ABC television on some children's programs in the late 1970s and then appeared in an eight-year stint as a musician and songwriter in regular guest appearances on the long-running Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
children's television program Mr. Squiggle and Friends(1979–1982). The ABC also financed production of seven of his songs for Amberjack, a musical about a stranded time-traveller, with musicians including Doug Ashdown
Doug Ashdown
-External links:* * [ Doug Ashdown] at Allmusic...
.(They were broadcast in 1977 on the ABC/2FC radio program "Talking Point"). Sections of the lyrics from Amberjack are included as linking pieces between the stories in Dowling's 2009 collection Amberjack: Tales of Fear and Wonder (Subterranean Press).
Dowling had begun buying science fiction magazines in the early 1960s and was influenced early by writers such as J.G. Ballard, Jack Vance
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
, Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
, Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith – pronounced CORDwainer – was the pseudonym used by American author Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare...
and the Horwitz horror anthologies edited by Charles Higham
Charles Higham (biographer)
Charles Higham is an author, editor and poet. Higham is a recipient of the Prix des Créateurs of the Académie Française and the Poetry Society of London Prize.-Biography:...
. (Dowling contributes an essay discussing the influence of Higham's horror anthologies on his own writing to Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones may refer to:In the arts:*Stephen Jones , English magazine editor*Stephen Jones , Australian music and video artist*Stephen Jones , British editor and author...
Horror: Another 100 Best Books.) He was also highly influenced by the Surrealist painters, particularly Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Paul Delvaux
Paul Delvaux
Paul Delvaux was a Belgian painter, associated with Surrealism, famous for his paintings of female nudes.-Biography:...
, Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
and Giorgio de Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico was a pre-Surrealist and then Surrealist Italian painter born in Volos, Greece, to a Genovese mother and a Sicilian father. He founded the scuola metafisica art movement...
.
Dowling's earliest published stories were "Illusion of Motion" and "Oriental on the Murder Express", both published in Enigma, the magazine of SUSFA, the Sydney University SF Society, and "Shade of Encounter" in the second issue of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature, on which Dowling became assistant editor and short-notice book-reviewer and eventually co-editor (with Dr Van Ikin
Van Ikin
Van Ikin is an academic and science fiction writer and editor. He is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Western Australia, and has acted as supervisor for several Australian writers completing their post-graduate degrees and doctorates - including science fiction and fantasy writers...
). Dowling did critical work and continued to play with bands — Temenos (rock band, 1970–72); Gestalt (acoustic band, 1972–75) after taking a teaching position at a Sydney business college. At least one of his rock bands used to play for the patients at a mental hospital at Bedlam Point, near his home - a source for 'Cape Bedlam', location of the Madhouse in the Tom Rynosseros cycle.
He wrote a science fiction play called "The Tunnel", and eventually sold his first professional story to Omega Science Digest ("The Man Who Walks Away Behind the Eyes", in the May/June 1982 issue).
In the 1980s Dowling met Jack Vance
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
after doing critical work on his oeuvre (Vance later named a planet after him in the novel Throy); Fritz Leiber
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...
; and Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
, with whom he travelled in the Australian outback. Dowling went on to co-edit (with Richard Delap and Gil Lamont) Ellison's large single-author collection The Essential Ellison.
He has been a communications lecturer, from 1976; freelance journalist (1987–88); genre reviewer for The Australian, from 1989.
Dowling has been Guest of Honour at several Australian science fiction conventions (including Syncon 87 and Swancon
SwanCon
SwanCon is a science fiction convention held in Perth, Western Australia. It is Australia's longest-running science fiction convention, and probably the longest-running in the southern hemisphere. It was founded in 1975 by Grant Stone, and has been run annually since...
15) and regularly tutors workshops on fantasy writing at venues including the New South Wales Writers' Centre
New South Wales Writers' Centre
The New South Wales Writers' Centre is an association established in Sydney in May 1991 to promote writing-based culture and the rights and interests of writers. Together with Varuna - The Writers' House and the Sydney Writers' Festival, the NSW Writers' Centre is the main support organisation for...
, Sydney University's Centre for Continuing Education, the Powerhouse Museum
Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, the other being the historic Sydney Observatory...
, the University of Canberra
University of Canberra
Over the years the Stone Day program has gradually become larger and larger, taking up a whole week and now Stonefest is one of Australia's most popular music festivals. The first foundation celebrations were held in 1971. In 1973 Stone Day celebrations were held over two days, which was expanded...
's Centre for Creative Writing, the Perth Writer's Festival and the UWA Perth International Arts Festival http://2007.perthfestival.com.au/2004_archive/wordsideasmain.html- (for example, "Marvellous Journeys: Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing" and "Worlds and Futures That Work: What you need and what to avoid"). He was a panellist and presenter at Aussiecon 4.
He was awarded a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
from the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
in 2006 for his mystery/dark fantasy/horror novel, Clowns at Midnight, and accompanying dissertation The Interactive Landscape: New Modes of Narrative in Science Fiction, in which he examined the computer adventure game as an important new area of storytelling.
Dowling holds the distinction of having more stories than any other single writer selected for the anthology series Year's Best Horror and Fantasy (edited by Ellen Datlow
Ellen Datlow
Ellen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
and Terri Windling
Terri Windling
Terri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award...
during its twenty-year run from 1988 to 2008.
Critical reception
Critical regard for Dowling's work is extensive. LocusLocus (magazine)
Locus, subtitled "The Magazine Of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field", is published monthly in Oakland, California. It reports on the science fiction and fantasy publishing field, including comprehensive listings of all new books published in the genre. It is considered the news organ and trade...
magazine (Nov 1999) said: “Who’s the writer who can produce horror as powerful and witty as the best of Peter Straub, SF as wondrously Byzantine and baroque as anything by Gene Wolfe
Gene Wolfe
Gene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying into the religion. He is a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the...
, near-mainstream subtly tinged with the fantastic like some tales by Powers or Lansdale? Why Terry Dowling, of course.” It also regards his first book Rynosseros as placing him “among the masters of the field” (August 1990).
In The Year’s Best Science Fiction 21 (reprinting Dowling’s story “Flashmen”), twelve-time Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
winning US editor Gardner Dozois
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Raymond Dozois is an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004...
called him: “One of the best-known and most celebrated of Australian writers in any genre”, while in the Year’s Best Fantasy 4 (reprinting “One Thing About the Night”), editors David G. Hartwell
David G. Hartwell
David Geddes Hartwell is an American editor of science fiction and fantasy. He has worked for Signet , Berkley Putnam , Pocket , and Tor Books David Geddes Hartwell (b. July 10, 1941) is an American editor of science fiction and fantasy. He has worked for Signet (1971–1973), Berkley Putnam...
and Kathryn Cramer
Kathryn Cramer
Kathryn Elizabeth Cramer is an American science fiction author, editor, and literary critic.- Life :Cramer grew up in Seattle, and currently lives in Pleasantville, New York with her husband David G. Hartwell and their two children. She is the daughter of physicist John G. Cramer...
described him as a “master craftsman” and “one of the best prose stylists in science fiction and fantasy.”
Dowling has also been called “Australia’s finest writer of horror” by Locus magazine, and “Australia’s premier writer of dark fantasy” by All Hallows
Ghost Story Society
The Ghost Story Society is a not-for-profit literary society whose members share an interest in supernatural fiction. Founded in Britain in 1988, it currently has an international membership and is administered by joint organizers Christopher Roden and Barbara Roden, owners of Ash-Tree Press, with...
(February 2004). The late leading Australian SF personality Peter McNamara
Peter McNamara
Peter McNamara is a retired Australian tennis player.He won five singles and nineteen doubles titles during his professional career. A right-hander, McNamara reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 14 March 1983 when he became World number 7...
(on his SF Review radio show on Adelaide’s 5EBI-FM, 23 June 2000) called him “Australia’s premier fantasist.”For the US edition of Rynosseros (1993), multi-award-winning US Grand Master Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
said of Terry: “Here is Jack Vance
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
, Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith – pronounced CORDwainer – was the pseudonym used by American author Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare...
, and Tiptree/Sheldon come again, reborn in one wonderful talent. If you lament the chicanery and boredom of so much of today’s shopworn sf, then like those of us who’ve been reading his award-winning stories for a few years now, you’ll purr and growl with delight at your great discovery of the remarkable, brilliant Terry Dowling. He comes from Downunder, and he knows how to stand you on your head with story.”
Novels
- Clowns at Midnight (PS Publishing, 2010; trade and limited/traycased editions). (Note: an excerpt from the novel appeared in Danel Olson, ed, Exotic Gothic. Canada: Ash-tree Press, 2008).
The Tom Rynosseros/Tom Tyson cycle
The cycle is set in a far future AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
where great sandships ("charvolants") roam the outback, and the Ab'O tribes control hi-tech and set protocols which restrict the movements of the "Nationals" (white people). In this future Australia, high technology and mysticism co-exist, and piracy and an intricate social order breed a new kind of hero. Tom Tyson, an Everyman figure who has echoes of the Fool of the Tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
, Tom O'Bedlam, the Green Man
Green Man
A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit...
and other mythic figures, has emerged amnesiac from an Ab'O punishment place known as the Madhouse, with three images that may provide the key to his identity - a Ship, a Star and a woman's Face. Tyson becomes one of the "Coloured Captains" - seven Nationals permitted by the Ab'O to cross the landscape - and wins his ship Rynosseros in a lottery, thereafter becoming known as "Blue Tyson". To quote Van Ikin, "In this future Australia, the coastal cities, home of white Australians, are urbanely cosmopolitan centres of culture, while in the interior, around an inland sea, the Ab'O states represent the emancipation of the Aboriginal
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
race whose heritage is both its past and its future destiny. Ab'O Princes use satellites to spy on tribal conflicts, and graceful wind-propelled sand-ships roll across the deserts, giving [the series] its symbol of freedom and inquiry." Dowling has attributed part of the inspiration for the Tom Tyson character to Blue Tyson, a character from one of his high school story fragments, and to the song lyric "Loving Mad Tom" (also known as Tom o'Bedlam), which was drawn to his attention by sf fan and co-founder of Norstrilia Press, Carey Handfield in 1982.
- Rynosseros (Aphelion, 1990)
- Blue Tyson (Aphelion, 1992)
- Twilight Beach (Aphelion, 1993)
- Rynemonn (Coeur de Lion, 2007). Rynemonn contains a number of stories published previously in magazines, together with the final triptych of Tom stories which fist appeared in the Forever Shores collection edited by Peter McNamara and Margret Winch (Wakefield Press 2003). Rynemonn also contains four previously unpublished Tom stories, the linking narrative 'Doing the Line', and 'Swordplay', 'Tesserina and The Target Man' and 'The Bull of September'.
Reviews for Rynemonn included: 'Noted Australian wordsmith Dowling brings a close to the adventures of Tom Rynosseros in this collection of 11 stories, three original, with extensive bridging material. "This is the conclusion to the best and most ambitious Australian SF series ever written, and one of the best, ever - period." ' Locus and Australian SF Reader
Terry Dowling received the Peter McNamara award at the 2007 Aurealis Award
Aurealis Award
Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award.-History:...
s for excellence in speculative fiction in part due to the publication of Rynemonn.
Notes: A Tom Tyson novel, Malgre (1988) is unpublished. It consists of three linked stories: "Marmodesse" (though an abridged version of this did appear in Omega Science Digest Jan/Feb 1987), "The Library" and "First Matter". "The Library" has now been published in Keith Stevenson, ed, X-6, couer de lion publishing (2009). "First Matter" remains unpublished.
“The Only Bird in Her Name”, a story from Rynosseros, was dramatized in 1999 by Hollywood Theatre of the Ear. Adapted for radio by Yuri Rasovsky. Hosted by Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
. Narrated by Peter Dennis & Kaitlin Hopkins. Available as a paid download from www.audible.com
An uncollected Tom Tyson story, "Down Flowers" was published in Orb (Sept 1999).
Other
- Wormwood (Aphelion, 1992). Note: There was a 100-copy limited hardcover printing, with all other copies in simultaneous paperback.
- An Intimate Knowledge of the Night (Aphelion, 1995)
- The Man Who Lost Red (MirrorDanse, 1995; 2003) Chapbook containing the title story plus "Scaring the Train".
- Antique Futures: The Best of Terry Dowling (MP Books, 1999). A limited edition of 200 copies. The title derives froma phrase in Dolwing's story "The Robot is Running Away from the Trees".
- Blackwater DaysBlackwater DaysBlackwater Days is a collection of horror stories by Australian writer Terry Dowling. The collection won the Ditmar Award for Best Collection 2001, and from it, "Jenny Come to Play" won the Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story and "The Saltimbanques" won the Ditmar Award for Best Short...
(Eidolon, 2000)
- Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate FearBasic Black: Tales of Appropriate FearBasic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear is a collection of horror stories by Terry Dowling, a bumper collection in hardcover of the best of his weird and supernatural fiction, which includes two previously uncollected tales...
(Cemetery Dance, 2006) Issued in limited signed/leatherbound & trade hc editions. Reprint (Australia): Ticonderoga PublicationsTiconderoga PublicationsTiconderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specialises in collections of science fiction short stories.-History and current:...
, 2009.
- Make Believe: A Terry Dowling Reader (Ticonderoga PublicationsTiconderoga PublicationsTiconderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specialises in collections of science fiction short stories.-History and current:...
, 2009). Introduction by Simon Brown (author).
- Amberjack: Tales of Fear and Wonder (Subterranean Press,2010).
Chapbooks
- "The Mars You Have in Me" (Eidolon, 2000). Single-story chapbook, limited to 200 copies for subscribers.
Works edited
- The Essential Ellison with Richard Delap and Gil Lamont (Nemo Press 1987; Morpheus International 1989; expanded reissue, 2000) Note: The 1987 first trade edition is a '35-year retrospective' of Ellison's short fiction; the 2000 edition is a much expanded '50-year retrospective' and was a runner-up for the 2002 World Fantasy AwardWorld Fantasy AwardThe World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
for Best Collection. - Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF (Coronet, 1993) (with Dr Van IkinVan IkinVan Ikin is an academic and science fiction writer and editor. He is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Western Australia, and has acted as supervisor for several Australian writers completing their post-graduate degrees and doctorates - including science fiction and fantasy writers...
) - The Jack Vance Treasury (Subterranean Press 2007) (with Jonathan StrahanJonathan StrahanJonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....
) - The Jack Vance Reader (Subterranean Press, 2008) (with Jonathan StrahanJonathan StrahanJonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....
) - Wild Thyme, Green Magic: Selected Stories of Jack Vance (Subterranean Press, 2009) (with Jonathan StrahanJonathan StrahanJonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....
) - Hard Luck Diggings: The Early Jack Vance: Volume One (Subterranean Press, 2010)(with Jonathan StrahanJonathan StrahanJonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....
) - Dream castles: The Early Jack Vance Volume Two (Subterranean press, 2011) (with Jonathan Strahan)
- Desperate Days (3 crime novels by Jack Vance)
- Dangerous Ways (3 crime novels by Jack Vance)
Computer games authored
- Schizm: Mysterious JourneySchizm: Mysterious JourneySchizm: Mysterious Journey is an adventure-genre computer game created by Detalion and LK Avalon and published by DreamCatcher Games. It was authored by acclaimed Australian science fiction writer Terry Dowling....
(2001)(aka US Mysterious Journey: Schizm)
- Schizm II: Chameleon (2003) (aka US Mysterious Journey IIMysterious Journey IIMysterious Journey II, also known as Schizm II: Chameleon, is a adventure game developed by Detalion, published by The Adventure Company, powered by Lithtech: Jupiter, and the sequel to Schizm: Mysterious Journey. Like the earlier game, the plotline was authored by acclaimed Australian science...
)
- Sentinel: Descendants in Time (2004) (aka Realms of Illusion). (The scenario for this game is based on Dowling's published story "The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse").
Anthology and magazine appearances
As well as appearances in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, The Year’s Best SF, The Mammoth Book of Best New SF, The Year’s Best Fantasy, The Best New Horror and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (a record eight times; he is the only author to have had two stories in the 2002 volume, one chosen by each editor), his work has appeared in such major anthologies as Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction, The Best Australian Science Fiction Writing,The Dark, Dreaming Down Under, Gathering the Bones and The Oxford Book of Australian Ghost Stories and in such diverse publications as the prestigious SciFiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Interzone, Oceans of the Mind, Ténèbres, Ikarie, Japan’s SF and Russia’s Game. Exe. His fiction has been translated into many languages and has been used in a course in forensic psychology in the US.The Tenebres appearance is:
- "Le jeu de l'epouvantrail" ("Scaring the Train", from An Intimate Knowledge of the Night, 1995) in Tenebres No 3, juollet 1998, translated by Daniel Conrad and Benoit Domis. This issue also included "Terry Dowling" [interview] "Entrevue avec Stephen Dedman", translated by Benoit Domis.
Selected Critical Papers
- "Alternative reality and Deviant Logic in J.G. Ballard's Second 'Disaster' Trilogy," Science Fiction 1, No 1 (June 1977): 6-18.
- "The Art of Xenography: Jack VanceJack VanceJohn Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
's 'General Culture' Novels," Science Fiction 1, No 2 (No 3)(June 1978). - "Jack VanceJack VanceJohn Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
's 'General Culture' Novels: A Synoptic Survey," in Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller (eds), Jack Vance (New York: Taplinger, 1980). - "A Xenographical Postscript," Science Fiction 2 (August 1980).
- "Keith Gersen: The Other Demon Prince". Science Fiction 11 (June 1982) (Winner: 1983 William Atheling Jr. AwardWilliam Atheling Jr. AwardThe William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review are a Special Category under the Ditmar Awards. "The Athelings", as they are known for short, are awarded for excellence in science fiction and speculative criticism, and were named for the pseudonym used by James Blish for his critical...
for Criticism). - "The Lever of Life: Winning and Losing in the Fiction of Cordwainer SmithCordwainer SmithCordwainer Smith – pronounced CORDwainer – was the pseudonym used by American author Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare...
". Science Fiction 10 (1982)
Short fiction
- "Scaring the Train" (1994) in The Man Who Lost Red
- "Beckoning Nightframe" (1996) in Eidolon Spring 1996 (ed. Jonathan StrahanJonathan StrahanJonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....
, Jeremy G. Byrne, Richard Scriven) - "He Tried to Catch the Light" (1998) in Dreaming Down-UnderDreaming Down-UnderDreaming Down-Under is a 1998 speculative fiction anthology edited by Jack Dann and Janeen Webb-Background:Dreaming Down-Under was first published in Australia in November 1998 by Voyager Books in trade paperback format....
(ed. Jack DannJack DannJack Dann is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-editor of story anthologies in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres...
, Janeen WebbJaneen WebbJaneen Webb is an Australian writer, critic, and editor working mainly in the field of science fiction and fantasy.-Biography:...
) - "Basic Black" (2000) in Blackwater DaysBlackwater DaysBlackwater Days is a collection of horror stories by Australian writer Terry Dowling. The collection won the Ditmar Award for Best Collection 2001, and from it, "Jenny Come to Play" won the Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story and "The Saltimbanques" won the Ditmar Award for Best Short...
- "TootherToother-Background:"Toother" was first published in the United States in 2007 in the science fiction and fantasy anthology Eclipse One, edited by Jonathan Strahan and published by Night Shade Books. In 2008 "Toother" was republished in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-First Annual...
" (2007) in Eclipse One (ed. Jonathan Strahan) - "Jenny Come to Play" (1997) in Eidolon #25/26, Spring 1997 (ed. Jonathan Strahan, Jeremy G. Byrne, Richard Scriven)
- "The Shaddowwes Box" in Ghosts by Gaslight edited by Jack DannJack DannJack Dann is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-editor of story anthologies in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres...
and Nick GeversNick GeversNick Gevers is a South African science fiction editor and critic, whose work has appeared in The Washington Post Book World, Interzone, Scifi.com, SF Site, The New York Review of Science Fiction and Nova Express...
. (Harper Voyager, 2011) - "How the Red Clown Hunts" Subterranean Online (forthcoming 2011).
- "Nightside Eye" Cemetery Dance (magazine) [Includes interview with Dowling by Danel Olson]. (Forthcoming 2012)
- "Mariner's Round" in Danel Olson (ed) Exotic Gothic 4.(Ash-Tree Press, forthcoming 2012)
- "The Madlock Chair" (set in the same universe as "Flashmen").
Awards
Dowling’s fiction has won many national and international awards: http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit39.html#1407- Eleven Ditmar AwardDitmar AwardThe Ditmar Award has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction and science fiction fandom...
s (including in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 (twice), 1990, 1991, 1992),
As follows:
- "The Man Who Walks Away Behind the Eyes". Ditmar Award for Best Australian Short SF, 1983.
- "The Terrarium". Ditmar Award for best Australian Short SF, 1985.
- "The Bullet That Grows in the Gun". Ditmar Award for Best Australian Short SF, 1986.
- "The Man Who Lost Red". Ditmar Award for Best Australian Short SF, 1987.
- "For As Long as You Burn". Ditmar Award for Best Australian Long SF, 1988.
- "The Last Elephant". Ditmar Award for Best Australian Short SF, 1988.
- "The Quiet Redemption of Andy the House". Ditmar Award for Best Australian Short SF, 1990.
- Rynosseros. Ditmar Award for Best Australian Long SF, 1991.
Prix Wolkenstein, 1991 (Germany).
- Wormwood. Ditmar Award for Best Australian Long SF, 1992.
Readercon
Readercon
Readercon is an annual science fiction convention, held every July in the Boston, Massachusetts area, in Burlington, Massachusetts). It was founded by Bob Colby and statistician Eric Van in the 1980s with the goal of focusing exclusively on science fiction in the written form Readercon is an...
Award for Best Collection, 1991 (USA).
- Blackwater DaysBlackwater DaysBlackwater Days is a collection of horror stories by Australian writer Terry Dowling. The collection won the Ditmar Award for Best Collection 2001, and from it, "Jenny Come to Play" won the Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story and "The Saltimbanques" won the Ditmar Award for Best Short...
. Ditmar Award for Best Collection, 2001.
(World Fantasy Award nomination for Best Collection, 2001).
2000 Locus recommended reading List (Locus, Feb 2001, p. 44)
- "The Saltimbanques". Ditmar Award for Best Short Story, 2001.
(World Fantasy Award nomination for Best Short Story, 2001).
2000 Locus Recommended Reading List (Locus, Feb 2001, p. 46)
- Four Aurealis AwardAurealis AwardAurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award.-History:...
s (two of them Convenors’ Awards for Excellence), as follows: - An Intimate Knowledge of the Night. Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel, 1996.
- "Jenny Come to Play". Aurealis Award, Best Horror Short Story, 1997.
- Antique Futures: The Best of Terry Dowling. Aurealis Convenor's Award for Excellence, 1999.
1999 Locus
Locus
The word locus is Latin for "place". It can mean:-Positions:*Locus of control, in industrial psychology, having an internal or external locus of control...
Recommended Reading List (Locus, Feb 200, p. 40)
- "Breaking Through to the Heroes". ReaderconReaderconReadercon is an annual science fiction convention, held every July in the Boston, Massachusetts area, in Burlington, Massachusetts). It was founded by Bob Colby and statistician Eric Van in the 1980s with the goal of focusing exclusively on science fiction in the written form Readercon is an...
Award for Best Short Story, 1993 (USA).
- The International Horror Guild Award (the horror collection Basic Black (2006) was nominated for a Bram Stoker AwardBram Stoker AwardThe Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
(from the Horror Writers AssociationHorror Writers AssociationThe Horror Writers Association is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of Horror and Dark Fantasy writers. It was formed in the 1980s with the help of many of the field's greats, including Joe Lansdale, Robert...
) and won the International Horror Guild AwardInternational Horror Guild AwardThe International Horror Guild Award is a recognition presented by the International Horror Guild to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of horror and dark fantasy. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by a large,...
for Best Collection (tied with Glen Hirschberg's American Morons))
The story "Cheat Light" was also nominated for an International Horror Guild
International Horror Guild
The International Horror Guild was created in 1995 as a way to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of Horror and Dark Fantasy. The IHG presented the International Horror Guild Award. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by...
award for best horror Short Story of 2006.
- Schizm: Mysterious Journey (computer game) won the Grand Prix, Graphics, Utopiales 2001 (France).
- The 2007 Australian Shadows AwardAustralian Shadows AwardThe Australian Shadows Award is an annual literary award established by the Australian Horror Writers Association in 2005 to honour the best published work of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian...
(2008) for "Toother" from Jonathan Strahan's Eclipse One anthology.
Dowling co-edited (with Richard Delap and Gil Lamont) the 500,000 word single-author collection The Essential Ellison: a 35-Year Retrospective (works by Harlan Ellison). The volume was nominated for the 1987 Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
in the (then) newly created "Other Forms" category; it also won the 1987 Bram Stoker Award
Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection. http://www.horror.org/stokerwinnom.htm#1987
Dowling also won the 1983 William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism for his essay: “Kirth Gersen: The Other Demon Prince”, Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature, Vol 4, No 2, June 1982. He has received three World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
nominations.
Work in progress
Future projects include a novel in the Wormwood mythos."Truth Window: A Tale of the Bedlam Rose", Dowling's first Wormwood story for 17 years, can be found in 'Eclipse 2' ed. Jonathan Strahan
Jonathan Strahan
Jonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....
(Night Shade Books, 2008) and is also included in the collection Amberjack (2010).
Film adaptations
Two of Dowling's short stories, 'The Maze Man" and "One Thing About the Night", are set to be filmed by American director Sergio Pinheiro, director of The Procedure.External links
- Official Website
- Old Website
- "The Robot is Running Away from the Trees" (online story) http://eidolon.net/homesite.html?author=terry_dowling&page=terrydowling/robot.html
Science fiction editors