The Friends of Arthur Machen has just reached a milestone with the publication of issue 50 of its journal Faunus. This is also the final issue to be edited by James Machin and Tim Jarvis, who hand over to Sam Kunkel, who has also been co-editing recent issues with them. Many thanks to them for their inspired work in editing the journal for the past dozen years.
In this issue, John Harris writes about Machen’s links to Gwyn Jones and the Anglo-Welsh writers of the mid 20th century; Sophie Sleigh-Johnson discusses the tavern in the work of Machen and occult artist Austin Osman Spare; and Felix Taylor considers Machen in Ithell Colquohoun’s Sword of Wisdom. There is also a transcript of a radio talk by Machen in 1937, discussing Chesterton, Shakespeare, and much else, and enlivened as ever by his trenchant views and rolling prose.
The mailing to members has just started and copies of Faunus 50 are on the way, together with the Friends’ newsletter Machenalia, edited by Jon Preece.
The Friends have also announced that all back issues of Faunus will shortly be available to members to download in PDF format for the first time, in a new Friends’ Area. They say: ‘In an exciting expansion of member benefits, every issue - dating all the way back to the very first edition published in 1998 — will be accessible through a brand-new members-only section of this website, allowing Friends to explore the full archive at their leisure.’
This has come about through new digital services editor John Galantini’s redesign of the website and work by Ray Russell and John Ricketts to recover, redesign and proof-read the early issues. Members will receive an email shortly with details on how to access this new section of the website. The idea is that the Friends’ Area ‘will not only house the Faunus archive but will also serve as a platform for digital exclusives, including essays, videos, and audio recordings.’
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