Lucius Shepard
Template:Infobox person Lucius Shepard (August 21, 1943 – March 18, 2014) was an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leaned into other genres, such as magical realism.
Career
Shepard was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, where he was born in 1943.<ref name="sfencyclo">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> His first short stories appeared in 1983, and his first novel, Green Eyes, appeared in 1984. At the time, he was considered part of the cyberpunk movement. Shepard came to writing late,<ref>Template:Cite journal While stories under his name were published in the 1950s, Shepard reports those were actually written by his father.</ref> having first enjoyed a varied career, including a stint playing rock and roll in the Midwest and extensive travel throughout Europe and Asia. Algis Budrys, reviewing Green Eyes, praised Shepard's "ease of narrative style that comes only from a profound love and respect for the language and the literatures that have graced it."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Lucius Shepard won several awards for his science fiction: in 1985 he won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, followed in 1987 with a Nebula Award for Best Novella for his story "R&R". This story later became part of his 1987 novel Life During Wartime, which won the Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis in 1990. His novella "Barnacle Bill the Spacer" won a Hugo Award in 1993. His poem "White Trains" won the Rhysling Award in 1988. Two early collections of short stories won the World Fantasy Award for best collection: The Jaguar Hunter in 1988 and The Ends of the Earth Collection in 1992.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His novella "Vacancy" won a Shirley Jackson Award in 2008.
Lucius Shepard resided in Portland, Oregon.
Themes and evolution
Template:Ref section Shepard embraced many different themes throughout his career. In his early work, he wrote extensively about Central America. This included clearly science-fictional stories about near future high-tech jungle war (such as "R&R" and "Salvador"), as well as stories that seemed more in line with magic realism. Many of these, such as "Black Coral" (which concerns an American living on an island off of Honduras) and "The Jaguar Hunter" (the story of a man whose wife's debt forces him to hunt a mythical black jaguar, which his people consider sacred), explore cultural clashes. Shepard traveled extensively in Central America and lived there for a time.
Shepard stopped writing fiction for much of the 1990s.Template:Why He returned near the end of that decade, producing such works as the novella Radiant Green Star, which won a Locus Award for Best Novella in 2001.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Though he still wrote Central American fiction, Shepard's interest seemed to be moving north: he published two short novels, "A Handbook of American Prayer" and "Viator", both set in North America. On that same note, he published many works where culture and geography were secondary (his novella "Jailwise" is a prime example), preferring to focus on wider questions such as the role of justice in society.
Much of Shepard's later work was nonfiction. He researched the Freight Train Riders of America and spent time riding the rails, writing both fiction and nonfiction based on those experiences. He was also a regular movie reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and electricstory.com.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His reviews are marked by general contempt for the current state of American film.
According to fellow author James Patrick Kelly, Shepard was an avid sports fan who often used dramatic sports moments as inspiration to write.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the summer of 2008, Shepard moved to Neuchatel, Switzerland in order to work on several screenplays. He served on the jury of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) with the American director Joe Dante.
He died in March 2014 at the age of 70 of complications from a stroke.<ref name="sfencyclo" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Bibliography
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Novels
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Short fiction
- Collections
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- Template:Cite book<ref group=lower-alpha>Later published in the United States as Beast of the heartland and other stories.</ref>
- Template:Cite book<ref group=lower-alpha>Originally published in the United Kingdom as Barnacle Bill the Spacer and other stories.</ref>
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- Stories<ref group=lower-alpha>Short stories unless otherwise noted.</ref>
| Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected | Notes |
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| "All the perfumes of Araby" | 1992 | Template:Cite book | Novelette | |
| "The All-Consuming" | 1990 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "The Arcevoalo" | 1986 | Template:Cite journal | Novelette | |
| Ariel | 2003 | Template:Cite journal | Template:Cite book | Novella |
| Aymara | 1986 | Template:Cite journal | Novelette | |
| AZTECHS | 2001 | Template:Cite web | Novella/chapbook | |
| Barnacle Bill the Spacer | 1992 | Template:Cite journal | Template:Cite book | Novella |
| "Beast of the heartland" | 1992 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "The black clay boy" | 1987 | Template:Cite book | ||
| "Black coral" | 1984 | Template:Cite book | ||
| "Bound for glory" | 1989 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "Chango" | 1989 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| Crocodile rock | 1999 | Template:Cite journal | Template:Cite book | Novella |
| Dagger Key | 2007 | Template:Cite book | Template:Cite book | Novella |
| "Dancing it all away at Nadoka" | 1986 | Template:Cite journal<ref group=lower-alpha>Issue is dated "Mid-December".</ref> | ||
| "Delta Sly Honey" | 1987 | Template:Cite book | Template:Cite journal | |
| Dog-eared paperback of my life | 2009 | Template:Cite book | Template:Cite book | Novella |
| The drive-in Puerto Rico | 2002 | Template:Cite journal | Template:Cite book | Novella |
| "The end of life as we know it" | 1985 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "The ends of the Earth" | 1989 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| Eternity and afterward | 2001 | Template:Cite journal | Novella | |
| "The etheric transmitter" | 1984 | Template:Cite book | ||
| "The exercise of faith" | 1987 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| The Father of Stones | 1989 | Template:Cite book | Template:Cite journal | Novella/Chapbook |
| "Fire Zone Emerald" | 1986 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "The fundamental things" | 1985 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "The glassblower's dragon" | 1987 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| Halloween Town | 2009 | Template:Cite journal | Novella | |
| "... How my heart breaks when I sing this song ..." | 1985 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "How the wind spoke at Madaket" | 1985 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| Human history | 1995 | Template:Cite book | Template:Cite book | Novella |
| "Jack's decline" | 1988 | Template:Cite book | ||
| "The jaguar hunter" | 1985 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "Jail bait" | 2004 | Template:Cite book | Template:Cite book | Novelette |
| Kalimantan | 1990 | Template:Cite book | Novella/Chapbook | |
| The last time | 1994 | Template:Cite book | Novella/Chapbook | |
| Liar's house | 2003 | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
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| "Life of Buddha" | 1988 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "A little night music" | 1992 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| Louisiana breakdown | 2003 | Novella | ||
| "The man who painted the Dragon Griaule" | 1984 | F&SF, December 1984 | "The Dragon Griaule" | |
| "Mengele" | 1985 | Template:Cite book | ||
| "The night of White Bhairab" | 1984 | F&SF, October 1984 | ||
| "Noman's land" | 1988 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Oct 1988 | ||
| "On the border" | 1987 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August 1987 | ||
| "A personal matter" | 1993 | Amazing Stories, July 1993 | Excerpt from The Golden | |
| Pizza man | 1996 | Template:Cite journal | ||
| "R & R" | 1986 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1986 | ||
| "Radiant green star" | 2000 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August 2000 | ||
| "Reaper" | 1984 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1984 | ||
| "Romance of the Century" | 2000 | Template:Cite web | ||
| "Salvador" | 1984 | F&SF, April 1984 | The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection, ed. Gardner Dozois | |
| The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter | 1988 | Template:Cite book | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1988 | Novella/Chapbook |
| "Shades" | 1987 | Template:Cite book | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1987 | |
| The skull | 2012 | Subterranean Press | Novella | |
| "Skull City" | 1990 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, July 1990 | ||
| "Solitario's eyes" | 1983 | F&SF, September 1983 | ||
| "A Spanish lesson" | 1985 | F&SF, December 1985 | ||
| "Sparring partner" | 2001 | Playboy, March 2001 | ||
| "Sports in America" | 1991 | Playboy, July 1991 | ||
| Stars seen through stone | 2007 | F&SF, July 2007 | Novella | |
| "The storming of Annie Kinsdale" | 1984 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1984 | ||
| "The sun spider" | 1987 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1987 | ||
| "Surrender" | 1989 | Template:Cite journal | Template:Cite book | Novelette |
| The Taborin Scale | 2010 | Subterranean Press | Novella | |
| "The Taylorsville reconstruction" | 1983 | Template:Cite book | ||
| A traveler's tale | 1984 | Template:Cite journal | Template:Cite book | Novella |
| Valentine | 2002 | Four Walls Eight Windows | Novella | |
| "Victory" | 1992 | Omni, May 1992 | ||
| "Voyage south from Thousand Willows" | 1986 | Template:Cite book | ||
| A walk in the garden | 2003 | Template:Cite web | Template:Cite book | Novelette |
| "The way it sometimes happens" | 1988 | Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1988 | ||
| "A wooden tiger" | 1988 | F&SF, October 1988 | ||
| "Youthful folly" | 1988 | Omni, November 1988 |
Poetry
- Chapbooks
- List of poems
| Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected |
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| Cantata of death, weakmind & generation | 1967 | Template:Cite book | |
| Challenger as viewed from the Westerbrook Bar | 1986 | Template:Cite journal | |
| Pictures made of stones | 1987 | Template:Cite journal | |
| White trains | 1987 | Template:Cite journal |
Non-fiction
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Film reviews
Comics
Critical studies and reviews of Shepard's work
- Beautiful blood
- Five autobiographies and a fiction
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- Notes
References
External links
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- A more complete bibliography
- Golden Gryphon Press official site - About Louisiana Breakdown
- Golden Gryphon Press official site - About Two Trains Running
- Golden Gryphon Press official site - About The Golden (trade paperback reprint)
Template:Inkpot Award 1990s Template:Hugo Award Best Novella Template:Locus Award Best Horror Novel Template:Locus Award Best Novella Template:Locus Award Best Short Story Template:World Fantasy Award Best Collection
- 1943 births
- 2014 deaths
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American novelists
- 20th-century American short story writers
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American novelists
- 21st-century American short story writers
- American fantasy writers
- American horror writers
- American male novelists
- American male short story writers
- American science fiction writers
- Asimov's Science Fiction people
- Hugo Award–winning writers
- John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners
- The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people
- Nebula Award winners
- Novelists from Virginia
- Rhysling Award for Best Long Poem winners
- World Fantasy Award–winning writers
- Writers from Lynchburg, Virginia
- American weird fiction writers