S. T. Joshi

S. T. Joshi
S. T. Joshi (2002 promotional photo)
Born	June 22, 1958 (1958-06-22) (age 51) Pune, India
Occupation	Critic, Editor, Historian
Nationality	United States since 1978
Subjects	H. P. Lovecraft, Horror, Fantasy, Atheism, Contemporary Politics, Women's Studies, H. L. Mencken
Official website

Sunand Tryambak Joshi (b. 22 June 1958 in Pune, India) — known as S. T. Joshi — is an award-winning Indian American literary critic, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors of weird and fantastic fiction. Besides having written what critics such as Harold Bloom and Joyce Carol Oates consider to be the definitive biography of Lovecraft (H. P. Lovecraft: A Life, 1996),^[1][2] Joshi has prepared (with David E. Schultz) several annotated editions of works by Ambrose Bierce. He has also written on crime novelist John Dickson Carr and on Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood and M.R. James, and has edited collections of their works, as well as collections of the best work of several other weird writers. He has compiled bibliographies of Lovecraft, Bierce, Lord Dunsany, Ramsey Campbell and William Hope Hodgson. He is the general editor of Dover Horror Classics. Most recently he has turned his attention to collecting and editing the works of H.L. Mencken. He currently resides in Seattle, WA.

Literary criticism

Joshi discovered Lovecraft when he was 13 in the public library in Muncie, Indiana. He read L. Sprague de Camp's biography of Lovecraft on publication in 1975 and began thereafter to devote himself to the study of Lovecraft, guided in this by scholars such as Dirk W. Mosig, J. Vernon Shea and George Wetzel. He also wrote some Lovecraftian fiction such as the story The Recurring Doom. He elected to become a freshman at Brown University primarily because of the holdings of Lovecraft books and manuscripts in the John Hay Library. He later did graduate work at Princeton University. Having become a leading scholar of H.P. Lovecraft, he devoted years of research consulting manuscripts and early publications in preparing corrected editions of Lovecraft's collected fiction, revisions and miscellaneous writings in collaboration with Jim Turner (editor) for Arkham House; they were published in five volumes between 1984 and 1995.

His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question. His The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. Aside from his biography of Lovecraft, Joshi regards this book as his most notable achievement to date.^[3]

A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint.

The third of what amounts to a critical trilogy on the weird tale, The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004), includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.

Magazines Edited

In 1987 Joshi became the fifth Official Editor of the EOD amateur press association (see Esoteric Order of Dagon), an organisation devoted to the study of H.P. Lovecraft particularly but which also examines weird and fantasy fiction in all its forms. Joshi has maintained this role for over twenty years and is currently still Official Editor.

Joshi edited the journals Lovecraft Studies (1979-2001) and Studies in Weird Fiction (1986-2005), both published by Necronomicon Press; and Studies in the Fantastic (2008-09), published by the University of Tampa Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual (2007- ) and of Weird Fiction Annual, and co-editor of Dead Reckonings(2007 - ), journals published by Hippocampus Press.

Editions of Lovecraft's Letters

Having edited many volumes of Lovecraft's letters to individuals for Necronomicon Press (including those to Richard F. Searight, Robert Bloch, Henry Kuttner, Samuel Loveman and Vincent Starrett), for Night Shade Books (Mysteries of Time and Spirit: Letters to Donald Wandrei) and Letters from New York, and for University of Tampa Press (O Fortunate Floridian: Letters to Robert H. Barlow), Joshi and David E. Schultz are now progressively issuing volumes of H.P. Lovecraft's letters to individual correspondents through Hippocampus Press. Volumes already issued include Lovecraft's letters to Rheinhardt Kleiner, Alfred Galpin, August Derleth and Robert E. Howard. There may be twenty or more volumes of Lovecraft's letters in this series.

Other Work

Joshi edited the five-volume set of Lovecraft's Collected Essays issued by Hippocampus Press from 2004-2007. He edited two annotated volumes of Lovecraft's best work for Dell books (the second with Peter H. Cannon).

Joshi and David E. Schultz edited the collected poetry of Clark Ashton Smith, issued by Hippocampus Press (3 vols) (2007-2008), Joshi is working on the collected poetry of George Sterling. His projects relating to H.L. Mencken include a bibliography of Mencken, Mencken's Collected Poems, and an edition of Mencken's autobiographical writings;

Forthcoming works also include Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction and Encyclopedia of the Vampire (Greenwood Press); a three-volume edition of the letters of Ambrose Bierce; bibliogaphies of William Hope Hodgson (with Sam Gafford and Mike Ashley) and of Clark Ashton Smith and further work on Arthur Machen.

Hippocampus Press has announced their new two-volume edition of his unabridged Lovecraft biography (in excess of 500,000 words), to appear 2010 (as I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft); this restores 150,000 words cut for space reasons from the original edition, and is also thoroughly revised and updated in regard to new information on Lovecraft that has come to light since 1996.

Joshi will also be general editor of a new line of original Cthulhu Mythos works from Perilous Press, including works by Michael Shea and Brian Stableford.The first publication will be Shea's Copping Squid and Other Tales.

Social criticism

In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.

Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.

In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.

Personal life

Joshi formerly resided in New York City. He is a former senior editor at Chelsea House Publishers. Currently he lives with his wife and cats in Seattle, Washington.^[3]

Bibliography

Books Written

On H.P. Lovecraft & the Cthulhu Mythos

• H. P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1981). A completely updated/revised edition of this bibliography is to be issued by University of Tampa Press in 2010.
• An Index to the Selected Letters of H.P. Lovecraft (Necronomicon Press, 1980; 2nd ed, 1991). (This indexes the five volumes of Lovecraft's letters published by Arkham House).
• H. P. Lovecraft (Starmont Reader's Guide 13) (Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, 1982).
• H.P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography: Supplement, 1980-84 (with Leigh Blackmore) (Necronomicon Press, 1984)
• H. P. Lovecraft: The Decline of the West (Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, 1990).
• H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press, 1996). A condensed version was issued as A Dreamer and a Visionary: H.P. Lovecraft in His Time (Liverpool University Press, 2001). A revised/uncut edition (as I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft) (2 vols) is forthcoming 2010 from Hippocampus Press.
• A Subtler Magick The Writings and Philosophy of H. P. Lovecraft. (Wildside Press, December 1996). (A much revised and expanded version of Joshi's 1982 Starmont Guide on Lovecraft).
• An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia (with David E. Schultz) (Greenwood Press, 2001)
• Primal Sources: Essays on H. P. Lovecraft (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2003).
• The Rise and Fall of the Cthulhu Mythos (Poplar Bluff, MO: Mythos Books, 2008). ISBN 0-9789911-8-4.

Other Books Written

• The Weird Tale (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990).
• John Dickson Carr: A Critical Study (Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1990).
• Lord Dunsany: A Bibliography (with Darrell Schweitzer) (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1993).
• Lord Dunsany: Master of the Anglo-Irish Imagination (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995).
• The Core of Ramsey Campbell: A Bibliography & Reader's Guide (with Ramsey Campbell and Stefan Dziemianowicz) (West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press, 1995).
• Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography (Arkham House, 1999)
• The Modern Weird Tale (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, [March] 2001).
• Ramsey Campbell and Modern Horror Fiction (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, [June] 2001).
• God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, [June] 2003). ISBN 978-1591020806
• The Evolution of the Weird Tale (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2004).
• The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2006). ISBN 978-1591024637
• Gore Vidal: A Comprehensive Bibliography (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007). ISBN 0810860015.
• Emperors of Dreams: Some Notes on Weird Poetry (Sydney: P'rea Press, 2008). ISBN 978-0980462531 (paperback, 500 copies); ISBN 9780980462548 (deluxe hardcover, 25 numbered & signed copies)
• Classics and Contemporaries: Some Notes on Horror Fiction (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2009). ISBN 978-0-9814888-3-7
• Junk Fiction: America's Obsession with Bestsellers (forthcoming from Borgo Press/ Wildside Press)

Books Edited

Editions of Works by or About H.P. Lovecraft & the Cthulhu Mythos

• Uncollected Prose and Poetry by H.P. Lovecraft (with Marc A. Michaud) (3 vols, Necronomicon Press, 1978-1982)
• H. P. Lovecraft in "The Eyrie" (with Marc A. Michaud) (Necronomicon Press,1979).
• H. P. Lovecraft: Four Decades of Criticism (Ohio State University Press,1980).
• The Private Life of H. P. Lovecraft by Sonia H. Davis (Sonia Greene(Neccronomicon Press,1985).
• Uncollected Letters by H.P. Lovecraft (Necronomicon Press, 1986)
• An Epicure in the Terrible: A Centennial Anthology of Essays in Honour of H. P. Lovecraft (with David E. Schultz) (1991).
• H. P. Lovecraft in the Argosy (1994).
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft [The Illustrated/Annotated H.P. Lovecraft](Necronomicon Press, 1994; 2nd revised ed, 1997)
• Caverns Measureless to Man: 18 Memoirs of Lovecraft (1996).
• The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft (Dell Books, 1997)
• More Annotated H.P. Lovecraft (with Peter H. Cannon) (Dell Books, 1999)
• Lord of a Visible World: An Autobiography in Letters by H.P. Lovecraft (Ohio University Press, 2000).
• The Annotated Supernatural Horror in Literature by H.P. Lovecraft (Hippocampus Press, 2000).
• The Ancient Track: The Complete Poetical Works of H.P. Lovecraft (Night Shade Books, 2001).
• Lovecraft's Library: A Catalogue (revised & enlarged ed, Hippocampus Press, 2002).
• The Shadow Out of Time by H.P. Lovecraft (with David E. Schultz) (Corrected text ed, Hippocampus Press, 2003)
• Collected Essays by H.P. Lovecraft (NY: Hippocampus Press, 5 vols, 2004-2007). Hippocampus have also issued a searchable CD-ROM version containing the complete 5 volumes of Lovecraft's essays on one disc.
• The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories by H. P. Lovecraft (2005).
• O Fortunate Floridian: H. P. Lovecraft's Letters to R.H. Barlow(with David E. Schultz) (University of Tampa Press, 2007).
• Essential Solitude: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth (2 volumes) (with David E. Schultz, 2008).
• Black Wings (a collection of Cthulhu Mythos stories. (PS Publishing, 2009)
• A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard (2 volumes) (with David E. Schultz and Rusty Burke, 2009)

Editions of Works by Others, Reference Works, etc

• Collected Poems by Donald Wandrei (1988).
• The Count of Thirty: A Tribute to Ramsey Campbell (1993). (Critical appreciations of Campbell by various authors).
• Best Ghost Stories by Bram Stoker (with Richard Dalby and Stefan Dziemianowicz) (1997).
• A Night with Mephistopheles by Henry Ferris (1997).
• The Complete John Silence Stories by Algernon Blackwood (Dover Books, 1998).
• A Sole Survivor: Bits of Autobiography by Ambrose Bierce (with David E. Schultz) (1998).
• Documents of American Prejudice (edited) (New York: Basic Books, 1999).
• Great Weird Tales (Dover Books, 1999).
• Collected Fables by Ambrose Bierce (2000).
• Civil War Memories: Lost tales of the Civil War (2000).
• The Horror on the Stair and Other Weird Tales by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (2000).
• The Monster Maker and Other Stories by W. C. Morrow (with Stefan Dziemianowicz) (2000).
• The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce (with David E. Schultz) (2000).
• The Yellow Sign and Other Stories: The Complete Weird Tales of Robert W. Chambers by Robert W. Chambers (2000).
• Atheism: A Reader (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, [October] 2000).
• The Fall of the Republic and Other Political Satires by Ambrose Bierce (with David E. Schultz) (2000).
• The Mark of the Beast and Other Horror Tales by Rudyard Kipling (Dover Books, 2000).
• From Baltimore to Bohemia: The Letters of H. L. Mencken and George Sterling (2001).
• The Three Impostors and Other Stories by Arthur Machen (2001).
• The Return of the Soul and Other Stories by Robert S. Hichens (2001).
• The Black Diamonds by Clark Ashton Smith (2002).
• Great Tales of Terror (Dover Books, 2002).
• H. L. Mencken on American Literature (2002).
• Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood (2002).
• H. L. Mencken on Religion (2002).
• Eyes of the God by R. H. Barlow (with Douglas A. Anderson and David E. Schultz) (2002).
• Ramsey Campbell, Probably by Ramsey Campbell (2002).
• The Place Called Dagon by Herbert S. Gorman (2003).
• A Much Misunderstood Man: Selected Letters by Ambrose Bierce (with David E. Schultz) (2003).
• The Thirst of Satan: Poems of Fantasy and Terror by George Sterling (2003).
• The Pleasures of a Futuroscope by Lord Dunsany (2003).
• The White People and Other Stories by Arthur Machen (2003)
• Mencken's America by H. L. Mencken (2004)
• The Complete Jorkens (3 volumes) by Lord Dunsany (2004)
• In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales by Lord Dunsany (2004)
• The Terror and Other Tales by Arthur Machen (2005).
• Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopaedia (with Stefan Dziemianowicz) (2005)
• Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by M. R. James (2006).
• The Haunted Doll's House and Other Ghost Stories by M. R. James (2006).
• In Her Place: A Documentary History of Prejudice Against Women (2006).
• Icons of Horror and the Supernatural (Greenwood Press, 2006, 2 vols)
• Warnings to the Curious: A Sheaf of Criticism on M. R. James (with Rosemary Pardoe, 2007).
• The Agnostic Reader (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007).
• American Supernatural Tales (Penguin Books, 2007).
• Dreams of fear: Poems of Terror and the Supernatural (forthcoming from Mythos Books)

Books Translated

• Lovecraft: A Study in the Fantastic by Maurice Lévy (1988).

Magazines Edited

• Lovecraft Studies (Necronomicon Press)
• Studies in Weird Fiction (Necronomicon Press)
• Lovecraft Annual (Hippocampus Press)
• Dead Reckonings (edited with Jack M. Haringa) (Hippocampus Press)
• Studies in the Fantastic (University of Tampa Press)
• Weird Fiction Annual (Hippocampus Press)

Awards

• Horror Writers Association – Bram Stoker Award for Nonfiction [1]
  1996 H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (Necronomicon Press) – Author
  
• British Fantasy Society – British Fantasy Award for Best Small-Press Publication [2]
  1997 H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (Necronomicon Press) – Author
  
• International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts – IAFA Distinguished Critic Award [3]
  2003
  
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America – World Fantasy Award for Professional Scholarship [4]
  2005
  
• International Horror Guild – Outstanding Achievement in Horror & Dark Fantasy for Nonfiction [5]
  2005 Supernatural Literature of the World (Greenwood Press) – Co-editor
  
• International Horror Guild – Outstanding Achievement in Horror & Dark Fantasy for Nonfiction [6]
  2006 Icons of Horror and the Supernatural (Greenwood Press) – Editor
  

References

• Harksen, Henrik (ed). Out of the Shadows: An E.O.D. Tribute to S.T. Joshi. Odense, Denmark: H. Harksen Productions, 2004.
• Murray, Will. "S.T. Joshi: Re-editor". Comics Buyer's Guide (Nov 18, 1988); Dagon 24 (1989)

Notes

External links

• "Lurking Terror: H. P. Lovecraft's Socialism" - Interview with Dr. James Hughes (Changesurfer Radio)
• "YOG RADIO #29: Interview with S.T. Joshi" - Audio interview with Yog-Sothoth.com
• [7] Interview with S.T. Joshi at AcidLogic
• Official S. T. Joshi Website