text: Clark Ashton Smith - AbsoluteAstronomy.com
  Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet
  and author of fantasy, horror
  . He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling
  , for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne
  . As a poet, Smith is grouped with the West Coast Romantics (alongside Ambrose Bierce
  , Sterling, Nora May French
  Nora May French was a California poet and member of the bohemian literary circles of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club which flourished after the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906....
  , and others) and remembered as 'The Last of the Great Romantics' and 'The Bard of Auburn'.
  As a member of the Lovecraft circle, (Smith's literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft
  lasted from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937), Smith remains second only to Lovecraft in general esteem and importance amongst contributors to the pulp magazine
  , where some readers objected to his morbidness and violation of pulp traditions. (It has been said of him that "Nobody since Poe has so loved a well-rotted corpse.")
  His work is marked chiefly by an extraordinarily wide and ornate vocabulary, a cosmic perspective and a vein of sardonic and sometimes ribald humor.
  Smith was born January 13, 1893 in Long Valley, California, of English and Yankee parentage. He spent most of his life in the small town of Auburn, California
  , living in a small cabin built by his parents, Fanny and Timeus Smith. His formal education was limited: he suffered from psychological disorders including a fear of crowds, and although admitted to high school after attending eight years of grammar school (Long Valley School, whence dates the earliest known photo of him), he never went to high school. His parents decided it was better for him to be educated at home.
  However, he was an insatiable reader, and continued to teach himself after he left school. His education began with the reading of Robinson Crusoe
  (unabridged), Gulliver's Travels
  , the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson and Madame d'Aulnoy
  , the Arabian Nights and (at the age of 13) the poems of Edgar Allan Poe
  . He read an unabridged dictionary (the 13th edition of Webster's) through, word for word, studying not only the definitions of the words but also their derivations from ancient languages. Having an extraordinary eidetic memory, he seems to have retained most or all of it.
  The other main course in Smith's self-education was to read the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica through at least twice. Smith later taught himself French
  in order to translate verse out of those languages. Smith professed to hate the provinciality of the small town of Auburn but rarely left it until he married late in life.
  His first literary efforts, at the age of 11, took the form of fairy tales and imitations of the Arabian Nights. Later, he wrote long adventure novels dealing with Oriental life. By 14 he had already written a short adventure novel called The Black Diamonds which was lost for years until published in 2002. Another juvenile novel was written in his teenaged years—The Sword of Zagan (unpublished until 2004). Like The Black Diamonds, it uses a medieval
  , Arabian Nights–like setting, and the Arabian Nights, like the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm
  and the works of Edgar Allan Poe
  , are known to have strongly influenced Smith's early writing, as did William Beckford
  's Vathek
  However, it was primarily poetry that motivated the young Smith and he confined his efforts for poetry for more than a decade. In his later youth, Smith made the acquaintance of the San Francisco poet George Sterling
  through a member of the local Auburn Monday Night Club, where he read several of his poems with considerable success. On a month-long visit to Sterling in Carmel, California, Smith was introduced by Sterling to the poetry of Baudelaire.
  He became Sterling's protégé and Sterling helped him to publish his first volume of poems, The Star-Treader and Other Poems, at the age of 19. Smith received international acclaim for the collection The Star-Treader was received very favorably by American critics, one of whom named Smith "the Keats
  of the Pacific." Smith briefly moved among the circle that included Ambrose Bierce
  but his early fame soon faded away.
  A little later, Smith's health broke down and for eight years his literary production was intermittent, though he produced his best poetry during this period. A small volume, Odes and Sonnets, was brought out in 1918. Smith came into contact with literary figures who would later form part of H.P. Lovecraft's circle of correspondents; Smith knew them far earlier than Lovecraft. These figures include poet Samuel Loveman
  Samuel Loveman was a American poet, critic, and dramatist. His exotic and imaginative verse included 1926's the Hermaphrodite and Other Poems and 1944's the Sphinx Samuel Loveman (1887-1976) was a American poet, critic, and dramatist. His exotic and imaginative verse included 1926's the...
  and bookman George Kirk. It was Smith who in fact later introduced Donald Wandrei
  to Lovecraft. For this reason, it has been suggested that Lovecraft might as well be referred to as a member of a "Smith" circle as Smith as a member of a Lovecraft one.
  In 1920 Smith composed a celebrated long poem in blank verse, The Hashish Eater, or The Apocalypse of Evil which was published in Ebony and Crystal (1922). This was followed by a fan letter from H. P. Lovecraft
  , which was the beginning of 15 years of friendship and correspondence. With studied playfulness, Smith and Lovecraft borrowed each other's coinages of place names and the names of strange gods for their stories, though so different is Smith's treatment of the Lovecraft theme that it has been dubbed the 'Clark Ashton Smythos'.
  In 1925 Smith published Sandalwood. He wrote little fiction in this period with the exception of some imaginative vignettes or prose poems. Smith was poor for most of his life and often did hard manual jobs such as such as fruitpicking and woodcutting in order to support himself and his parents. He was an able cook and made many kinds of wine. He also did well digging, typing and journalism, as well as contributing a column to The Auburn Journal and sometimes worked as its night editor.
  Most of Smith's weird fiction falls into four series set variously in Hyperborea, Poseidonis
  Poseidonis is an imagined last remnant of the lost continent of Atlantis, detailed in a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith. Smith based Poseidonis on Theosophical scriptures about Atlantis, and his concept of "the last isle of foundering Atlantis" is echoed by the Isle of Meneltarma in...
  , Averoigne
  Averoigne is a fictional counterpart of a historical province in France, detailed in a series of short stories by the American writer Clark Ashton Smith. Smith based Averoigne on the actual province of Auvergne.- History :...
  and Zothique
  Zothique is an imagined future continent featured in a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith. Zothique is also the title of the cycle of tales which take place there. In terms of number and extent, the Zothique cycle is the largest collection of stories written by Smith...
  . Hyperborea, which is a lost continent of the Miocene period, and Poseidonis, which is a remnant of Atlantis, are much the same, with a magical culture characterized by bizarreness, cruelty, death and postmortem horrors. Averoigne is Smith's version of pre-modern France, comparable to James Branch Cabell
  's Poictesme. Zothique exists millions of years in the future. It is "the last continent of earth, when the sun is dim and tarnished." These tales have been compared to the Dying Earth sequence of Jack Vance
  In 1933 Smith began corresponding with Robert E. Howard
  , the Texan creator of Conan the Barbarian
  . From 1933-1937, Smith, Howard and Lovecraft were the leaders of the Weird Tales
  school of fiction, and corresponded frequently although they never met. The writer of oriental fantasies, E. Hoffman Price
  Edgar Hoffmann Trooper Price was an American writer of popular fiction for the pulp magazine marketplace. He collaborated with H. P...
  , is the only man known to have met all three in the flesh.
  In Sept 1937, Smith's mother Fanny died. Smith spent the next two months nursing his father through his last illness. Timeus died in December 1937. Aged 44, Smith now virtually ceased writing fiction. He had been severely affected by several tragedies occurring in a short period of time: Robert E. Howard
  's death by suicide (1936), Lovecraft's death from cancer (1937) and the deaths of his parents, which left him exhausted. As a result, he withdrew from the scene, marking the end of Weird Tales Golden Age
  . He began sculpting and resumed the writing of poetry. However, Smith was visited by many writers at his cabin, including Fritz Leiber
  , Rah Hoffman, Francis T. Laney and others.
  In 1942, three years after August Derleth
  founded Arkham House
  for the purpose of preserving the work of H.P. Lovecraft, Derleth published the first of several major collections of Smith's fiction, Out of Space and Time (1942). This was followed by Lost Worlds (1944). The books sold slowly, went out of print and became costly rarities. Derleth published five more volumes of Smith's prose and two of his verse, and at his death in 1971 had a large volume of Smith's poems in press.
  In 1953 Smith suffered a coronary attack. Aged 61, he married Carol(yn) Jones Dorman on 10 November 1954. Dorman had much experience in Hollywood and radio public relations. After honeymooning at the Smith cabin, they moved to Pacific Grove, California
  , where he set up a household with their children. (Carol had been married before and had three children). For several years he alternated between the house on Indian Ridge and his wife's house in Pacific Grove. Having sold most of his father's tract, in 1957 the old house burned - the Smiths believed by arson, others said by accident.
  Smith now reluctantly did gardening for other residents at Pacific Grove, and grew a goatee. He spent much time shopping and walking near the seafront but despite Derleth's badgering, resisted the writing of more fiction. In 1961 he suffered strokes. In August 1961 he quietly died in his sleep, aged 68. After Smith's death Carol remarried (becoming Carolyn Wakefield) and subsequently died of cancer.
  The poet's ashes were buried beside, or beneath, a boulder to the immediate west of where his childhood home (destroyed by fire in 1957) stood; some were also scattered in a stand of blue oaks near the boulder. There was no marker.http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18549 However in more recent times a plaque to his memory has been erected at the Auburn, California
  Placer County Library.http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=18549&PIpi=26712944
  Bookseller Roy A. Squires was appointed Smith's "west coast executor", with Jack L. Chalker
  as his "east coast executor". Squires published many letterpress editions of individual Smith poems.
  Smith's literary estate is represented by his stepson, Prof William Dorman, director of CASiana Literary Enterprises. Arkham House
  owns the copyright in many Smith stories, though some are now in the public domain.
  For 'posthumous collaborations' of Smith (stories completed by Lin Carter), see the entry on Lin Carter
  Smith published most of his volumes of poetry in this period, including the aforementioned The Star-Treader and Other Poems, as well as Odes and Sonnets (1918), Ebony and Crystal (1922) and Sandalwood
  (1925). His long poem
  The Hashish-Eater; Or, the Apocalypse of Evil was written in 1920.
  Smith wrote most of his weird fiction
  and Cthulhu Mythos
  stories, partially inspired by H. P. Lovecraft
  . Creatures of his invention include Aforgomon, Rlim-Shaikorth, Mordiggian
  Mordiggian is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. "He" is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and appears in his short story "The Charnel God" .-Mordiggian in the mythos:...
  , Tsathoggua
  Tsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....
  , the wizard Eibon, and various others. In an homage to his friend, Lovecraft referred in some of his stories to a great dark wizard, "Klarkash-Ton."
  Smith's weird stories form several cycles, called after the lands in which they are set: Averoigne
  , Hyperborea
  The Hyperborean cycle is a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea . Various elements in Smith's cycle have been borrowed by H. P. Lovecraft, most notably the "toad-god" Tsathoggua...
  , Poseidonis
  , Zothique
  . To some extent Smith was influenced in his vision of such lost worlds by the teachings of Theosophy
  and the writings of Helena Blavatsky. Stories set in Zothique belong to the Dying Earth subgenre. Amongst Smith's science fiction tales are stories set on Mars
  and the invented planet of Xiccarph
  Xiccarph is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the forty-first volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in February 1972. It was the third themed collection of Smith's works...
  His short stories originally appeared in the magazines Weird Tales
  , Strange Tales
  , Astounding Stories, Stirring Science Stories
  and Wonder Stories
  Clark Ashton Smith was the third member of the great triumvirate of Weird Tales, with Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard
  Many of Smith's stories were published in six hardcover volumes by August Derleth
  under his Arkham House
  imprint. For a full bibliography to 1978, see Sidney-Fryer, Emperor of Dreams (cited below). S.T. Joshi is working with other scholars to produce an updated bibliography of Smith's work.
  "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros
  "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" is a short story written in 1929 by Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Hyperborean cycle, and first published in the November 1931 issue of Weird Tales...
  " — Weird Tales November 1931 LW2
  By this time his interest in writing fiction began to lessen and he turned to creating sculptures from soft rock such as soapstone
  . Many examples are reproduced in Dennis Rickard's The Fantastic Art of Clark Ashton Smith (Baltimore, MD: The Mirage Press, 1973). Smith also made hundreds of fantastic paintings and drawings.
  Out of Space and Time is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1942 and was the third book published by Arkham House. 1,054 copies were printed....
  Lost Worlds is a collection of Fantasy, Horror and Science fiction short stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1944 and was the author's second book published by Arkham House. 2,043 copies were printed....
  Genius Loci and Other Tales is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1948 and was the author's third book published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 3,047 copies...
  The Dark Chateau is a collection of poems by Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1951 and was the author's fourth book to be published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 563 copies...
  Spells and Philtres is a collection of poems by Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1958 and was the author's fifth book and second collection or poetry to be published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 519 copies. The book was a second stop-gap volume following The Dark Chateau...
  The Abominations of Yondo is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1960 and was the author's fourth collection of stories published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 2,005 copies...
  Tales of Science and Sorcery is a collection of stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1964 and was the author's fifth collection of stories published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 2,482 copies...
  Poems in Prose is an illustrated collection of prose poems by Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1965 and was published by Arkham House in an edition of 1,016 copies. The book is a nearly complete collection of Smith's prose poetry.-Contents:...
  Other Dimensions is a collection of stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1970 and was the author's sixth collection of stories published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 3,144 copies...
  Selected Poems is a collection of poems by Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1971 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,118 copies. The collection also includes several translations of French and Spanish poems...
  The Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith is a transcription of a notebook that was kept by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1979 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,588 copies. The book was transcribed from Smith's notebook by Donald Sidney-Fryer and Robert A. Hoffman. Appended to the...
  A Rendezvous in Averoigne is a collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1988 by Arkham House in an edition of 5,025 copies...
  Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith is a book of letters by Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 2003 by Arkham House in an edition of approximately 3,000 copies. The collection was edited by David E. Schultz and Scott Conners.-Contents:...
  Zothique is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the sixteenth volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in June 1970. It was the first themed collection of Smith's works...
  Hyperborea is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the twenty-ninth volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1971. It was the second themed collection of Smith's works...
  Poseidonis is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifty-ninth volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in July 1973. It was the fourth themed collection of Smith's works...
  Averoigne (reportedly compiled by series editor Lin Carter
  The Emperor of Dreams is a collection of fantasy author and poet Clark Ashton Smith's short tales arranged in chronological order. It was published by Gollancz as the 26th volume of their Fantasy Masterworks series. The collection contains stories from Smith's major story cycles of Averoigne,...
  (not part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
  Wildside Press is an independent publishing company located in Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1989 by John Gregory and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both trade and limited editions, it has broadened out somewhat since then, both...
  Timescape Books was a science fiction line from Pocket Books operating from 1981 to 1985. Pocket Books is an imprint of Simon and SchusterIt was named after the Gregory Benford novel Timescape, which was not published by the Timescape imprint. The imprint was founded by David G. Hartwell. It...
  Sidney-Fryer, Donald. Clark Ashton Smith: The Sorcerer Departs. West Hills, CA: Tsathoggua Press, Jan 1997. Dole: Silver Key Press
  Silver Key Press is the anglophone imprint of the French non-profit small press La Clef d'Argent specializing in weird fiction, fantastique, fantasy and science fiction.It was named as an explicit homage to H. P...