Italian speakers will be interested to learn that there was a fifty minute radio documentary on Italian National Radio in November 2009 called "Arthur Machen" in the regular Italian radio documentary series La Storia in Giallo, on Rai Radio 3, which examines mysterious figures in literature and history, You can listen to the programme online here:
www.radio.rai.it
There has been a surge in new editions of Machen in Italian in the last few years.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Faunus 21
The latest editions of the Friends of Arthur Machen publications went out to members earlier this year. Faunus volume 21 a highly collectable hard bound journal contains Machen’s intriguing review of Oscar Wilde’s Ballad of Reading Gaol from 1898. An excellent essay by Ken Faig Jnr discusses Machen’s mysterious first wife Amelia Hogg and her family background in India and other aspects of her life. Amy Hogg was Machen’s wife in the 1890s and he wrote most of his most famous works while living with her and it was her death in 1899 which marked a key moment in Machen’s life.
Machen has long been recognised as an important influence on modern horror, and also on fantastic writing in general. Now unlikely as it may seem at first glance Faunus reveals that a key creator of the modern thriller genre, John Buchan, was in his youth a Machen enthusiast and at least two of his earliest stories were heavily influenced by Machen. In a well written piece Peter Bell carefully draws out the interconnections between these two men and their work. Another interesting article written by Machen shows his acquaintance with contemporary American Literature and gives some interesting judgements on writers as varied as Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman.
Machenalia is dedicated to Machen’s fellow master of Supernatural Horror Algernon Blackwood and contains Machen’s glowing review of one of Blackwood’s most famous tales ‘The Wendigo’ plus other Blackwood rarities. Besides this it examines the curious case of The White Comrade, another story which like The Bowmen swept through the trenches of WW1 as a supposedly true tale. It also covers the surge in Machen translations in Portugal and some new radio documentaries on Machen. There is also a long feature on Dennis Wheatley and the terrifying mystery of the White Pumpkin.
Machen has long been recognised as an important influence on modern horror, and also on fantastic writing in general. Now unlikely as it may seem at first glance Faunus reveals that a key creator of the modern thriller genre, John Buchan, was in his youth a Machen enthusiast and at least two of his earliest stories were heavily influenced by Machen. In a well written piece Peter Bell carefully draws out the interconnections between these two men and their work. Another interesting article written by Machen shows his acquaintance with contemporary American Literature and gives some interesting judgements on writers as varied as Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman.
Machenalia is dedicated to Machen’s fellow master of Supernatural Horror Algernon Blackwood and contains Machen’s glowing review of one of Blackwood’s most famous tales ‘The Wendigo’ plus other Blackwood rarities. Besides this it examines the curious case of The White Comrade, another story which like The Bowmen swept through the trenches of WW1 as a supposedly true tale. It also covers the surge in Machen translations in Portugal and some new radio documentaries on Machen. There is also a long feature on Dennis Wheatley and the terrifying mystery of the White Pumpkin.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Machen events this summer
The following is free but is already booked out sorry I was only told about it after it was already fully booked.
Arthur Machen and the Great God Pan
Hay on Wye Literary Festival
Catherine Fisher, Dai Smith, Gwilym Games, Tomos Owen
Event 289 • Friday 4 June 2010, 11.30am • Venue: Hay Library
Find out why everyone from Mick Jagger to Rowan Williams to Stephen King to Barry Humphries has a good word to say about Arthur Machen, the gothic writer from Caerleon who became the literary sensation of Victorian London with the publication of his first novel.
If you are in London the day after you won’t want to miss another event
Stewart Lee - ARTHUR MACHEN’S N
“N.” at Stoke Newington Literary Festival - Saturday 5 June 4pm
This year is the 75th anniversary of "N" by Arthur Machen. To celebrate this Stoke Newington resident Stewart Lee (recently promoted from 41st to 12th best stand-up of all time) drops the comedy to bring us a unique event in which he reads from 'N', a short story set in Stoke Newington by novelist, mystic and pioneering psychogeographer Arthur Machen, who wrote what Stephen King calls "maybe the best horror stories ever written." In conjunction with the Literary Festival and the Friends of Arthur Machen, Tartarus Press is publishing a short run paperback of "N" with illustrations by Stephen J. Clark.
You can book for the event online here:
Held at Stoke Newington International Airport
http://www.stkinternational.co.uk/STK/home.html
Arthur Machen and the Great God Pan
Hay on Wye Literary Festival
Catherine Fisher, Dai Smith, Gwilym Games, Tomos Owen
Event 289 • Friday 4 June 2010, 11.30am • Venue: Hay Library
Find out why everyone from Mick Jagger to Rowan Williams to Stephen King to Barry Humphries has a good word to say about Arthur Machen, the gothic writer from Caerleon who became the literary sensation of Victorian London with the publication of his first novel.
If you are in London the day after you won’t want to miss another event
Stewart Lee - ARTHUR MACHEN’S N
“N.” at Stoke Newington Literary Festival - Saturday 5 June 4pm
This year is the 75th anniversary of "N" by Arthur Machen. To celebrate this Stoke Newington resident Stewart Lee (recently promoted from 41st to 12th best stand-up of all time) drops the comedy to bring us a unique event in which he reads from 'N', a short story set in Stoke Newington by novelist, mystic and pioneering psychogeographer Arthur Machen, who wrote what Stephen King calls "maybe the best horror stories ever written." In conjunction with the Literary Festival and the Friends of Arthur Machen, Tartarus Press is publishing a short run paperback of "N" with illustrations by Stephen J. Clark.
You can book for the event online here:
Held at Stoke Newington International Airport
http://www.stkinternational.co.uk/STK/home.html
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Machen on Resonance FM
Dr Adrian Eckersley, the Friends' webmaster did Machen and the Friends very well in an delightful 28 minute broadcast on Machen on Resonance FM on Thursday January 14th, 2010. It was an excellent introduction to Machen and his work and will hopefully encourage many more people into reading Machen and to joining the society.
Adrian was interviewed by Malcolm Hopkins, who was obviously a genuine admirer of Machen's work and who asked some excellent questions. [Though he did mispronounce Machen's name]. Lost Steps is focused on London matters so naturally Machen's connection to the great city was a significant part of the focus of the programme but this led naturally onto many other aspects of Machen's work. Topics covered include psychogeography, Poe, Stoke Newington, Gray's Inn Road, the Golden Dawn, decadence, The Great God Pan, The Hill of Dreams, A Fragment of Life and The Inmost Light, The Bowman and the Angels of Mons. There was also a fine plug for FoAM and our notorious "booze-ups".
Listening to Adrian expand on his great knowledge of Machen and his work on radio is a very enjoyable half an hour and is highly recommended.
You can listen to the programme Lost Steps online here:
www.loststeps.org/2010/01/adrian-eckersley/
Adrian was interviewed by Malcolm Hopkins, who was obviously a genuine admirer of Machen's work and who asked some excellent questions. [Though he did mispronounce Machen's name]. Lost Steps is focused on London matters so naturally Machen's connection to the great city was a significant part of the focus of the programme but this led naturally onto many other aspects of Machen's work. Topics covered include psychogeography, Poe, Stoke Newington, Gray's Inn Road, the Golden Dawn, decadence, The Great God Pan, The Hill of Dreams, A Fragment of Life and The Inmost Light, The Bowman and the Angels of Mons. There was also a fine plug for FoAM and our notorious "booze-ups".
Listening to Adrian expand on his great knowledge of Machen and his work on radio is a very enjoyable half an hour and is highly recommended.
You can listen to the programme Lost Steps online here:
www.loststeps.org/2010/01/adrian-eckersley/
Monday, 25 January 2010
The Great Swarm: Tessa Farmer's Fairies in action
The mysterious world of the strange creatures attached to Tessa Farmer, Arthur Machen's great granddaughter, has alarmed many in the art world in recent years.You can see her website here. Tessa is a loyal member of the Friends and it is interesting to see some of the videos of her special companions available online.
The following footage is but a short extract from a longer piece which shows the fairies engaged in a life and death struggle. "There is also a stop-motion portrayal of day-to-day life of these vicious beings. Animated by Tessa Farmer and Sean Daniels, with actual field recordings by Mark Pilkington, the film is based on a posthumous account by the only known naturalist to have witnessed the faeries’ behaviour in the wild." :
This interview with Tessa features her recent work in the Natural History Museum:
The faries also recently wrecked havoc in New York:
The following footage is but a short extract from a longer piece which shows the fairies engaged in a life and death struggle. "There is also a stop-motion portrayal of day-to-day life of these vicious beings. Animated by Tessa Farmer and Sean Daniels, with actual field recordings by Mark Pilkington, the film is based on a posthumous account by the only known naturalist to have witnessed the faeries’ behaviour in the wild." :
This interview with Tessa features her recent work in the Natural History Museum:
The faries also recently wrecked havoc in New York:
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Machen is the forgotten father of weird fiction
Interesting article on Machen on The Guardian blog which gives a reasonable assessment of Machen's significance and the power of his works has attracted a lot of coverage on the web.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/sep/29/arthur-machen-tartarus-press/
As one comment pointed out it is perhaps not fair to say Machen is entirely forgotten - amongst genre fans his name is still fairly well known, as Machen appears in countless anthologies of the best horror stories. Of course amongst educated Forteans Machen is remembered because of the Angels of Mons. Certainly amongst the general public he is unknown now though.
Interestingly Machen's reputation is actually higher abroad in some respects than in the UK. Mentions of Machen in the Spanish press equal or exceed mentions in Britain. The anthologies of Machen by Borges still have a big draw. In all it is a good summary of Machen for a general reader.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/sep/29/arthur-machen-tartarus-press/
As one comment pointed out it is perhaps not fair to say Machen is entirely forgotten - amongst genre fans his name is still fairly well known, as Machen appears in countless anthologies of the best horror stories. Of course amongst educated Forteans Machen is remembered because of the Angels of Mons. Certainly amongst the general public he is unknown now though.
Interestingly Machen's reputation is actually higher abroad in some respects than in the UK. Mentions of Machen in the Spanish press equal or exceed mentions in Britain. The anthologies of Machen by Borges still have a big draw. In all it is a good summary of Machen for a general reader.
Friday, 28 August 2009
Latest Friends publications
The Friends of Arthur Machen’s hardback journal Faunus (Summer 09) reaches its twentieth issue and as always its fifty-eight pages contain many mysteries. Roger Dobson provides an excellent essay on The Three Impostors and its relation with Stevenson’s works. Neil Wilson examines two of Machen’s earliest and least considered tales and Christopher Josiffe discusses how the mysterious magus Kenneth Grant relates Machen’s work in his Typhonian trilogies to many strange subjects including the dread Necronomicon. Grail hunters will be interested to read the startling contents of Machen’s completely unpublished Graal notebook used in the creation of The Secret Glory. [Don't attempt to look for the Grail without this information!]. This comes alongside a captivating essay by Mark Valentine on the grail in fiction. There is also an essay by Machen on the Grail legend written in February 1914 to celebrate a performance of Wagner’s Parsifal in London which not been published for over ninety years. [Sad to note that six months later Machen along with the rest of London would be heartedly cursing German culture.] Musicians take note Faunus 20 also contains the score for the Angel of Mons valse, a strange piece of music inspired by the Angels of Mons legend which has been unpublished since the Great War.
Machenalia also contains many things beginning with a summary of the Friend’s Annual General Meeting in Whitby. There is an essay exploring the mysterious White Cavalry of Bethune inspired by an investigation by TED Klein, details on the Angels of Mons film from 1915, and a long essay on Machen’s The Canning Wonder and its connection to Josephine Tey’s The Franchise Affair. Other topics featured include Clive Barker, Stewart Lee, Tim Lebbon, Lovecraft, the Bowmen podcast, Lord Dunsany and Imperial Tokay. It also includes book reviews by Mr Arthur Machen revealing his feelings on Persian Poetry! Machenalia also provides full details on the Friend’s 2010 AGM in Abergavenny start planning your attendance today.
Machenalia also contains many things beginning with a summary of the Friend’s Annual General Meeting in Whitby. There is an essay exploring the mysterious White Cavalry of Bethune inspired by an investigation by TED Klein, details on the Angels of Mons film from 1915, and a long essay on Machen’s The Canning Wonder and its connection to Josephine Tey’s The Franchise Affair. Other topics featured include Clive Barker, Stewart Lee, Tim Lebbon, Lovecraft, the Bowmen podcast, Lord Dunsany and Imperial Tokay. It also includes book reviews by Mr Arthur Machen revealing his feelings on Persian Poetry! Machenalia also provides full details on the Friend’s 2010 AGM in Abergavenny start planning your attendance today.
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