Carlton Mellick III
Encyclopedia
Carlton Mellick III is an American
author currently residing in Portland
, Oregon
. He is best known as one of the leading authors in the 'Bizarro'
movement in underground literature
.
Mellick's work has been described as a combination of trashy schlock sci-fi/horror and postmodern literary art. His novels explore surreal versions of earth in contemporary society and imagined futures, commonly focusing on social absurdities and satire
.
, Cory Doctorow
, Connie Willis
, Paul Park
, and Mary Rosenblum
.
He is best known for his first novel Satan Burger, which was translated into Russian and published by Ultra Culture in 2005. It was part of a four book series called Brave New World, which also featured Virtual Light
by William Gibson
, City Come A Walkin by John Shirley
, and Tea from an Empty Cup
by Pat Cadigan.
In the late 90's, he formed a collective for offbeat authors which included D. Harlan Wilson
, Kevin L. Donihe, Vincent Sakowski, among others, and the publishing company Eraserhead Press. This scene evolved into the Bizarro fiction
movement in 2005.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author currently residing in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. He is best known as one of the leading authors in the 'Bizarro'
Bizarro fiction
Bizarro fiction is a contemporary literary genre, which often utilizes elements of absurdism, satire, and the grotesque, along with pop-surrealism and genre fiction staples, in order to create subversive works that are as weird and entertaining as possible. The term was adopted in 2005 by the...
movement in underground literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
.
Mellick's work has been described as a combination of trashy schlock sci-fi/horror and postmodern literary art. His novels explore surreal versions of earth in contemporary society and imagined futures, commonly focusing on social absurdities and satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
.
Background
Carlton Mellick III started writing at the age of ten and completed twelve novels by the age of eighteen. Only one of these early novels, "Electric Jesus Corpse", ever made it to print. Mellick attended Clarion West in 2008, where he studied under such authors as Chuck PalahniukChuck Palahniuk
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter...
, Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
, Connie Willis
Connie Willis
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for Blackout/All Clear...
, Paul Park
Paul Park
Paul Park is an American science fiction author and fantasy author. He lives in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children. He teaches a course in reading and writing science fiction at Williams College...
, and Mary Rosenblum
Mary Rosenblum
Mary Rosenblum is a science fiction and mystery author. Mary Rosenblum grew up in Allison Park, "a dead little coal mining town outside Pittsburgh PA," and attended Reed College in Oregon, earning a biology degree. She attended the Clarion West workshop in 1988.Her first story came out in 1990...
.
He is best known for his first novel Satan Burger, which was translated into Russian and published by Ultra Culture in 2005. It was part of a four book series called Brave New World, which also featured Virtual Light
Virtual Light
Virtual Light is the first book in William Gibson's Bridge trilogy. Virtual Light is a science-fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, cyberpunk future. The term 'Virtual Light' was coined by scientist Stephen Beck to describe a form of instrumentation that produces optical sensations...
by William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
, City Come A Walkin by John Shirley
John Shirley
John Shirley is an American fantasist, author of noir fiction, and science-fiction writer. Shirley is a prolific writer of novels and short stories, TV scripts and screenplays who has published over 30 books and 10 collections...
, and Tea from an Empty Cup
Tea from an Empty Cup
- Plot summary :Tea From an Empty Cup is at its core a tightly plotted detective novel.The story revolves around near mythical Japan, which has been destroyed in a vaguely described natural cataclysm several decades before the story opens. The generation that remembers "Old Japan" appears to have...
by Pat Cadigan.
In the late 90's, he formed a collective for offbeat authors which included D. Harlan Wilson
D. Harlan Wilson
D. Harlan Wilson is an American short-story writer and novelist whose body of work has been associated with the genres of irrealism, science fiction, fantasy, horror, bizarro fiction, megalofiction, splatterpunk, absurdism, literary fiction, ultraviolence, and postmodernism...
, Kevin L. Donihe, Vincent Sakowski, among others, and the publishing company Eraserhead Press. This scene evolved into the Bizarro fiction
Bizarro fiction
Bizarro fiction is a contemporary literary genre, which often utilizes elements of absurdism, satire, and the grotesque, along with pop-surrealism and genre fiction staples, in order to create subversive works that are as weird and entertaining as possible. The term was adopted in 2005 by the...
movement in 2005.