Machen published in The Library of Wales

The prestigious Library of Wales, a series backed by the Welsh Assembly, published through Parthian Press two paperbacks of Machen’s work in Summer 2010. These are the first paperbacks dedicated to Machen’s work to be published in Britain since the nineteen-nineties.

The Library of Wales series republishes deserving classic books by Welsh writers in English from the last hundred years and the series is widely available in bookshops and libraries across Wales and beyond. The Great God Pan volume, which also contains the stories “The White People” and “The Shining Pyramid”, has an introduction from distinguished bestselling author and master of horror, Ramsey Campbell. They have stunning covers!

The Hill of Dreams volume has an introduction from Newport based Catherine Fisher, award winning poet and fantasy writer for teenagers. Both have notes from Tomos Owen and the books also contain full details on the Friends of Arthur Machen and how to join the society. Machen as an author has been somewhat neglected in Wales over the years and this more than redresses the balance. Having Machen in paperback in Britain once again will hopefully vastly increase Machen's readership in his homeland.

Full details of the books are available on the Library of Wales website: http://www.libraryofwales.org/english/index.asp

Italian Radio Documentary on Machen

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.

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 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

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/

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:

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.