D. Harlan Wilson
Encyclopedia
D. Harlan Wilson is an American
short-story
writer and novel
ist 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
. He is the author of several books, and hundreds of his stories, essays, and flash fiction
have appeared in magazines, journals and anthologies in multiple languages.
Wilson is perhaps best known for his award-winning novel
Dr. Identity
and the subsequent Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance
, both of which he has fancifully categorized as examples of "splattershtick," a form that bridges a metafictional, literary representation of ultraviolence with the silly, gimmicky realm of pop aesthetics. His writing intellectualizes the stupidity of pop culture in order to satirize western society and illustrate the degree to which reality has evolved into a cinematic nightmare
.
An associate professor of English at Wright State University
, Wilson received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University
and two M.A. degrees, one in Science Fiction Studies from the University of Liverpool
and one in English from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. In addition to writing fiction, he is a prolific reviewer and essayist and has published a book of science fiction criticism called Technologized Desire
: Selfhood & the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction.
Wilson is the reviews editor of Extrapolation (journal)
and the editor-in-chief of The Dream People. He lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
short-story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer and novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist whose body of work has been associated with the genres of irrealism
Irrealism (the arts)
Irrealism is a term that has been used by various writers in the fields of philosophy, literature, and art to denote specific modes of unreality and/or the problems in concretely defining reality. While in philosophy the term specifically refers to a position put forward by the American...
, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
, 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...
, megalofiction, splatterpunk
Splatterpunk
Splatterpunk—a term coined in 1986 by David J. Schow at the Twelfth World Fantasy Convention in Providence, Rhode Island—refers to a movement within horror fiction distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence and "hyperintensive horror with no limits." It is regarded as a revolt...
, absurdism
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
, literary fiction
Literary fiction
Literary fiction is a term that came into common usage during the early 1960s. The term is principally used to distinguish "serious fiction" which is a work that claims to hold literary merit, in comparison from genre fiction and popular fiction . In broad terms, literary fiction focuses more upon...
, ultraviolence
Ultraviolence
Ultraviolence is an industrial/techno band formed in London in 1991 and headed by 'the Quentin Tarantino of techno' Johnny Violent . To date, they have released five studio albums, including a ten-year retrospective, and six EPs/singles...
, and postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
. He is the author of several books, and hundreds of his stories, essays, and flash fiction
Flash fiction
Flash fiction is a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity. There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the category...
have appeared in magazines, journals and anthologies in multiple languages.
Wilson is perhaps best known for his award-winning novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Dr. Identity
Dr. Identity
Dr. Identity is the fourth book and first novel by American author D. Harlan Wilson. Set in a dystopian, mediatized future where people surrogate themselves with android lookalikes, the novel focuses on the foils of an English professor , his psychotic android Dr. Identity (2007) is the fourth...
and the subsequent Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance
Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance
Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance is a short critifictional novel by American author D. Harlan Wilson. It is a series of vignettes, folk tales and pseudobiographical sketches that coalesce into two stories, one about a man named Felix Soandso who seeks vengeance on a gang of exploitation film...
, both of which he has fancifully categorized as examples of "splattershtick," a form that bridges a metafictional, literary representation of ultraviolence with the silly, gimmicky realm of pop aesthetics. His writing intellectualizes the stupidity of pop culture in order to satirize western society and illustrate the degree to which reality has evolved into a cinematic nightmare
Nightmare
A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror...
.
An associate professor of English at Wright State University
Wright State University
Wright State University is a comprehensive public university with strong doctoral, research, and undergraduate programs, rated among the 260 Best National Universities listed in the annual "America's Best Colleges" rankings by U.S. News and World Report. Wright State is located in Fairborn, Ohio,...
, Wilson received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
and two M.A. degrees, one in Science Fiction Studies from the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
and one in English from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. In addition to writing fiction, he is a prolific reviewer and essayist and has published a book of science fiction criticism called Technologized Desire
Technologized Desire
Technologized Desire: Selfhood & the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction is a book of literary and cultural criticism by American author D. Harlan Wilson. The book analyzes the evolution of technology, the self, subjectivity, culture, commodity fetishism and capitalism as it has been...
: Selfhood & the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction.
Wilson is the reviews editor of Extrapolation (journal)
Extrapolation (journal)
Extrapolation is an American academic journal covering speculative fiction. It was founded in 1959 by Thomas D. Clareson and was initially published at the College of Wooster. In 1979 it moved to the Kent State University Press. A decade later, Clareson stepped down as editor and was succeeded by...
and the editor-in-chief of The Dream People. He lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Books
- The Kafka EffektThe Kafka EffektThe Kafka Effekt is the debut book of American author D. Harlan Wilson. It contains forty-four irreal short stories and flash fiction and has been said to combine the milieu's of Franz Kafka and William S. Burroughs. Along with Carlton Mellick III's Satan Burger, Vincent Sakowski's Some Things...
(2001) - Stranger on the LooseStranger on the LooseStranger on the Loose is the second book by American author D. Harlan Wilson. It contains twenty-seven irreal short stories and flash fiction as well as a novella, "Igsnay Bürdd the Animal Trainer." Pieces in this collection originally appeared in magazines and journals such as Eclectica...
(2003) - Pseudo-CityPseudo-CityPseudo-City is the third book by American author D. Harlan Wilson. Referred to as a novel as often as a collection of stories -- Wilson himself has called it a "story-cycle" -- it contains twenty-nine irreal short stories and flash fiction that overlap and feature recurrent characters...
(2005) - Dr. IdentityDr. IdentityDr. Identity is the fourth book and first novel by American author D. Harlan Wilson. Set in a dystopian, mediatized future where people surrogate themselves with android lookalikes, the novel focuses on the foils of an English professor , his psychotic android Dr. Identity (2007) is the fourth...
, or, Farewell to Plaquedemia: Book 1 of the Scikungfi Trilogy (2007) - Winner of the Wonderland Book Award - Blankety Blank: A Memoir of VulgariaBlankety Blank: A Memoir of VulgariaBlankety Blank: A Memoir of Vulgaria is a novel by American author D. Harlan Wilson. The novel critiques the idea of the memoir as a form of truth-telling and problematizes history and narrative itself as possible modes of truth...
(2008) - Technologized DesireTechnologized DesireTechnologized Desire: Selfhood & the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction is a book of literary and cultural criticism by American author D. Harlan Wilson. The book analyzes the evolution of technology, the self, subjectivity, culture, commodity fetishism and capitalism as it has been...
: Selfhood & the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction (2009) - Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent RomancePeckinpah: An Ultraviolent RomancePeckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance is a short critifictional novel by American author D. Harlan Wilson. It is a series of vignettes, folk tales and pseudobiographical sketches that coalesce into two stories, one about a man named Felix Soandso who seeks vengeance on a gang of exploitation film...
(2009) - They Had Goat Heads (2010)
- Codename Prague: Book 2 of the Scikungfi Trilogy (2011)
- The Kyoto Man: Book 3 of the Scikungfi Trilogy (Forthcoming)
- "Battle without Honor or Humanity: Vol. I" (Forthcoming)
- "Battle without Honor or Humanity: Vol. II" (Forthcoming)
- "Curd" (Forthcoming)
- Cultographies: They Live (Forthcoming)
Films
- The Cocktail Party (2006) - Co-written with director Brandon Duncan, this short, animated, rotoscoped filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
is a highly abstracted and philosophical (post)postmodern meditation on the narcissistic themes of consumerism, redundant self-analysis and rampant hypocrisy. The film won several awards, including a Platinum Remi Award (WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival 2007), Grand Jury Award Best of Show (Fear No Film Festival 2007), Best Student Film (Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee 2007), and Best Animation (ACE Film Festival 2007).