S. T. Joshi

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S. T. Joshi
S. T. Joshi (2002 promotional photo)
Born	June 22, 1958 (1958-06-22) (age 51) Pune, India
Occupation	Critic, Editor, Historian
Nationality	United States since 1978
Subjects	H. P. Lovecraft, Horror, Fantasy, Atheism, Contemporary Politics, Women's Studies, H. L. Mencken
Official website

Sunand Tryambak Joshi (b. 22 June 1958 in Pune, India) is an Indian American literary critic, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors of weird and fantastic fiction. Besides having written what critics such as Harold Bloom and Joyce Carol Oates consider to be the definitive biography of Lovecraft (H. P. Lovecraft: A Life, 1996),^[1][2] Joshi has written about Ambrose Bierce, H. L. Mencken, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood and M.R. James, and has edited collections of their works. He currently resides in Seattle, WA.

Contents 1 Literary criticism 2 Social criticism 3 Personal life 4 Bibliography 4.1 Books Written 4.1.1 Awards 4.2 Books Edited 4.3 Books Translated 4.4 Magazines Edited 4.5 References 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Literary criticism

His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question. His The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. Aside from his biography of Lovecraft, Joshi regards this book as his most notable achievement to date.^[3]

A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint. The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004) includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.

Joshi is the editor of the small-press literary journals Lovecraft Studies and Studies in Weird Fiction, published by Necronomicon Press, and of Studies in the Fantastic, published by the University of Tampa Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual and co-editor of Dead Reckonings, both small-press journals published by Hippocampus Press.

Joshi is working towards the publication of the collected poetry of Clark Ashton Smith and George Sterling. He is also working on many projects on the work of H.L. Mencken,(including a bibliography of Mencken, Mencken's Collected Poems, and an edition of Mencken's autobiographical writings); Arthur Machen; and a three-volume edition of the letters of Ambrose Bierce. Forthcoming works also include Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction and Encyclopedia of the Vampire (Greenwood Press). There are also plans to issue a revised two-volume edition of his unabridged Lovecraft biography (in excess of 500,000 words), probably from Hippocampus Press around 2011. Joshi will also be general editor of a new line of original Cthulhu Mythos works from Perilous Press, including works by Michael Shea and Brian Stableford.

[edit] Social criticism

In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.

Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.

In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.

[edit] Personal life

Joshi lives with his wife and cats in Seattle, Washington.^[3]

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Books Written

• H. P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1981). A completely updated/revised edition of this bibliography is to be issued by University of Tampa Press in 2009.
• H. P. Lovecraft (Starmont Reader's Guide 13) (Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, 1982).
• The Weird Tale (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990).
• John Dickson Carr: A Critical Study (Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1990).
• H. P. Lovecraft: The Decline of the West (Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, 1990).
• Lord Dunsany: A Bibliography (with Darrell Schweitzer) (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1993).
• Lord Dunsany: Master of the Anglo-Irish Imagination (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995).
• The Core of Ramsey Campbell: A Bibliography & Reader's Guide (with Ramsey Campbell and Stefan Dziemianowicz) (West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press, 1995).
• H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press, 1996).
• A Subtler Magick The Writings and Philosophy of H. P. Lovecraft. (Wildside Press, December 1996). (A much revised and expanded version of Joshi's 1982 Starmont Guide on Lovecraft).
• Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography (Arkham House, 1999)
• The Modern Weird Tale (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, [March] 2001).
• Ramsey Campbell and Modern Horror Fiction (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, [June] 2001).
• God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, [June] 2003). ISBN 978-1591020806
• Primal Sources: Essays on H. P. Lovecraft (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2003).
• The Evolution of the Weird Tale (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2004).
• Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopaedia (with Stefan Dziemianowicz) (2005)
• The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2006). ISBN 978-1591024637
• Gore Vidal: A Comprehensive Bibliography (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007). ISBN 0810860015.
• Emperors of Dreams: Some Notes on Weird Poetry (Sydney: P'rea Press, 2008). ISBN 978-0980462531 (paperback, 500 copies); ISBN 9780980462548 (deluxe hardcover, 25 numbered & signed copies)
• The Rise and Fall of the Cthulhu Mythos (Poplar Bluff, MO: Mythos Books, 2008). ISBN 0-9789911-8-4.
• Classics and Contemporaries: Some Notes on Horror Fiction (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2009). ISBN 978-0-9814888-3-7

[edit] Awards

• Horror Writers Association – Bram Stoker Award for Nonfiction [1]
  1996 H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (Necronomicon Press) – Author
  
• British Fantasy Society – British Fantasy Award for Best Small-Press Publication [2]
  1997 H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (Necronomicon Press) – Author
  
• International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts – IAFA Distinguished Critic Award [3]
  2003
  
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America – World Fantasy Award for Professional Scholarship [4]
  2005
  
• International Horror Guild – Outstanding Achievement in Horror & Dark Fantasy for Nonfiction [5]
  2005 Supernatural Literature of the World (Greenwood Press) – Co-editor
  
• International Horror Guild – Outstanding Achievement in Horror & Dark Fantasy for Nonfiction [6]
  2006 Icons of Horror and the Supernatural (Greenwood Press) – Editor
  

[edit] Books Edited

• H. P. Lovecraft in "The Eyrie" (with Marc A. Michaud) (1979).
• H. P. Lovecraft: Four Decades of Criticism (1980).
• The Private Life of H. P. Lovecraft by Sonia H. Davis (1985).
• Collected Poems by Donald Wandrei (1988).
• An Epicure in the Terrible: A Centennial Anthology of Essays in Honour of H. P. Lovecraft (with David E. Schultz) (1991).
• The Count of Thirty: A Tribute to Ramsey Campbell (1993). (Critical appreciations of Campbell by various authors).
• H. P. Lovecraft in the Argosy (1994).
• Caverns Measureless to Man: 18 Memoirs of Lovecraft (1996).
• Best Ghost Stories by Bram Stoker (with Richard Dalby and Stefan Dziemianowicz) (1997).
• A Night with Mephistopheles by Henry Ferris (1997).
• The Complete John Silence Stories by Algernon Blackwood (Dover Books, 1998).
• A Sole Survivor: Bits of Autobiography by Ambrose Bierce (with David E. Schultz) (1998).
• Documents of American Prejudice (edited) (New York: Basic Books, 1999).
• Great Weird Tales (Dover Books, 1999).
• Collected Fables by Ambrose Bierce (2000).
• Civil War Memories: 19 Stories of Glory and Tragedy (2000).
• The Horror on the Stair and Other Weird Tales by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (2000).
• The Monster Maker and Other Stories by W. C. Morrow (with Stefan Dziemianowicz) (2000).
• The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce (with David E. Schultz) (2000).
• The Yellow Sign and Other Stories by Robert W. Chambers (2000).
• Atheism: A Reader (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, [October] 2000).
• The Fall of the Republic and Other Political Satires by Ambrose Bierce (with David E. Schultz) (2000).
• The Mark of the Beast and Other Horror Tales by Rudyard Kipling (Dover Books, 2000).
• From Baltimore to Bohemia: The Letters of H. L. Mencken and George Sterling (2001).
• The Three Impostors and Other Stories by Arthur Machen (2001).
• The Return of the Soul and Other Stories by Robert S. Hichens (2001).
• The Black Diamonds by Clark Ashton Smith (2002).
• Great Tales of Terror (Dover Books, 2002).
• H. L. Mencken on American Literature (2002).
• Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood (2002).
• H. L. Mencken on Religion (2002).
• Eyes of the God by R. H. Barlow (with Douglas A. Anderson and David E. Schultz) (2002).
• Ramsey Campbell, Probably by Ramsey Campbell (2002).
• The Place Called Dagon by Herbert S. Gorman (2003).
• A Much Misunderstood Man: Selected Letters by Ambrose Bierce (with David E. Schultz) (2003).
• The Thirst of Satan: Poems of Fantasy and Terror by George Sterling (2003).
• The Pleasures of a Futuroscope by Lord Dunsany (2003).
• The White People and Other Stories by Arthur Machen (2003).
• Mencken's America by H. L. Mencken (2004)
• The Complete Jorkens (3 volumes) by Lord Dunsany (2004).
• In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales by Lord Dunsany (2004).
• The Yellow Sign and Other Stories: The Complete Weird Tales of Robert W. Chambers (2004).
• Collected Essays by H.P. Lovecraft (NY: Hippocampus Press, 5 vols, 2004-2007). Hippocampus have also issued a CD-ROM version containing the complete 5 volumes of Lovecraft's essays on one disc.
• The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories by H. P. Lovecraft (2005).
• The Terror and Other Tales by Arthur Machen (2005).
• Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by M. R. James (2006).
• The Haunted Doll's House and Other Ghost Stories by M. R. James (2006).
• In Her Place: A Documentary History of Prejudice Against Women (2006).
• H. P. Lovecraft Collected Essays Volumes 1-5 (2004-2006).
• Warnings to the Curious: A Sheaf of Criticism on M. R. James (with Rosemary Pardoe, 2007).
• The Agnostic Reader (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007).
• American Supernatural Tales (Penguin Books, 2007).
• O Fortunate Floridian: H. P. Lovecraft's Letters to R.H. Barlow(with David E. Schultz) (University of Tampa Press, 2007).
• Essential Solitude: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth (2 volumes) (with David E. Schultz, 2008).
• Black Wings (a collection of Cthulhu Mythos stories). (PS Publishing, 2009)

[edit] Books Translated

• Lovecraft: A Study in the Fantastic by Maurice Lévy (1988).

[edit] Magazines Edited

• Lovecraft Studies (Necronomicon Press)
• Studies in Weird Fiction (Necronomicon Press)
• Lovecraft Annual (Hippocampus Press)
• Dead Reckonings (edited with Jack M. Haringa) (Hippocampus Press)
• Studies in the Fantastic (University of Tampa Press)

[edit] References

• Harksen, Henrik (ed). Out of the Shadows: An E.O.D. Tribute to S.T. Joshi. Odense, Denmark: H. Harksen Productions, 2004.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• "Lurking Terror: H. P. Lovecraft's Socialism" - Interview with Dr. James Hughes (Changesurfer Radio)
• "YOG RADIO #29: Interview with S.T. Joshi" - Audio interview with Yog-Sothoth.com
• Official S. T. Joshi Website

v • d • e H. P. Lovecraft Works List of works · Cthulhu Mythos · Dream Cycle Locations Arkham · Dunwich · Innsmouth · Kingsport · Miskatonic University · Dreamlands · Lovecraft Country Characters Randolph Carter · Herbert West · Abdul Alhazred · Kuranes · Robert Harrison Blake Cthulhu Mythos Deities Great Old Ones: Cthulhu · Ithaqua · Shub-Niggurath · Y'golonac · Outer Gods: Azathoth · Nyarlathotep · Yog-Sothoth Legacy and Influence Lovecraftian Horror · Cultural references to the Cthulhu Mythos Film Adaptations The Haunted Palace (1963) · Re-Animator (1985) · From Beyond (1986) · The Resurrected (1992) · Necronomicon (1994) · Cthulhu (2000) · Dagon (2001) · The Call of Cthulhu (2005) · H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House (2005) · Cthulhu (2007) · The Whisperer in Darkness (2009) · At the Mountains of Madness Other media adaptations The Call of Cthulhu RPG (1981) · Shadow of the Comet (1993) · Prisoner of Ice (1995) · Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game (2004) · Arkham Horror (2005) · Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (2005) · Unspeakable Vault (of Doom) Associated names August Derleth · Clark Ashton Smith · Robert E. Howard · S. T. Joshi · Robert W. Chambers · Robert M. Price · Lin Carter · Ramsey Campbell Related Miscellanea Cthulhu Mythos celestial bodies · Necronomicon · Simon Necronomicon · Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature