The Swan River Press of Dublin have just announced The Scarlet Soul - Stories for Dorian Gray, edited and with an introduction by Mark Valentine, cover artwork by John Coulthart.
"These new stories, all especially written for this anthology, take us into some of the strangest and darkest places of the psyche. These ten boldly original portraits in the attic take many disturbing forms, revealing strong truths about the secrets of our selves, our society, and our very souls."
Original fiction by Reggie Oliver, Lynda Rucker, John Howard, Caitriona Lally, D P Watt, Rosanne Rabinowitz, Avalon Brantley, John Gale, Timothy J. Jarvis, Derek John, written in response to Oscar Wilde's great decadent romance.
"I had with me a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray. It was the edition issued by The Unicorn Press of 8 Charles Street, St James’s Square, in 1945, Martin Secker (Director), one of several imprints that discerning bookman ran in his time. The leaf before the title page read simply: OSCAR WILDE/Born 1856/Died 1900. And that stark statement was all the introductory matter there was, apart from the writer’s own Preface of elegant maxims, beginning, “The artist is the creator of beautiful things.” But not only beautiful things, surely? Grotesque things too, even ugly things, curious things and uncanny things, as the book itself showed." - from the introduction.
What, no Mark Valentine story! But, from that tantalizing bit quoted, I can tell that the introduction manages the typical Valentinian mixture--an essay with the artfulness of fiction, suffused with an irresistible autobiographical bookishness.
ReplyDeleteOrdered today.Anything with Reggie Oliver and Timothy J.Jarvis descanting (is that the word?) on one of my favourite books is a must.
ReplyDeleteSo Avalon Brantley is still writing stories?
ReplyDeleteThe story was sent to me on 12 January 2017.
ReplyDeleteMark