Graham Joyce

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 150px
name = Graham William Joyce
caption =
birthdate = 1954
birthplace = Keresley, England
occupation = Writer and teacher
genre = Novel, Novella, Short Story
movement = Speculative Fiction
influences = Alan Garner, Arthur Machen, J. R. R. Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Mervyn Peake, M. John Harrison, Angela Carter, Ernest Hemingway
website = http://www.grahamjoyce.net/

Graham Joyce (born 1954) is an English writer of speculative fiction and the recipient of numerous awards for both his novels and short stories. He grew up in a small mining village just outside of Coventry to a working class family. After receiving a B.Ed. from Bishop Lonsdale College in 1977 and a M.A. from the University of Leicester in 1980 [Review of " [http://www.sfsite.com/07a/le203.htm The Limits of Enchantment] " by Victor Gollancz] , Joyce worked as a youth officer for the National Association of Youth Clubs until 1988. He subsequently quit his position and moved to the Greek islands of Lesbos and Crete to write his first novel, "Dreamside". After selling "Dreamside" to Pan Books in 1991, Joyce moved back to England to pursue a career as a full-time writer.

Presently, Graham Joyce resides in Leicester with his wife, Suzanne Johnson, and their two children, Joseph and Ella. He teaches Creative Writing to graduate students at Nottingham Trent University. [Graham Joyce's official [http://www.grahamjoyce.net/about/ biography] ]

tyle and Themes

Both publishers and critics alike have found difficulty in classifying Joyce as a writer. His novels have been categorized as fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mainstream literature--with some even overlapping genres. Narratively, Joyce utilizes a wide variety of settings and character perspectives. Settings include the English Midlands, Greece, the Middle East, and the jungles of Thailand. He has penned for both adult and juvenile protagonists, with an emphasis on strong female characters. The greater unity in Joyce's works, however, lies in their thematic and philosophical topics. Bill Sheehan, who wrote the introduction for "Partial Eclipse", states:

The mystical or supernatural often play a pivotal role in Joyce's works. For this, he taps the mythical or folkloric associations of his settings. Joyce's treatment of these experiences is what distinguishes his novels from genre fiction. The supernatural is not seen as a conflict or an obstacle to be overcome, but rather an integral part of a natural order that a character must accept and integrate. Running parallel to these phenomena is the possibility of a rational or psychological explanation. This literary approach is influenced in part by Joyce's experiences with his own family:

This particular quality has prompted some critics to classify Joyce as a magic realist in the vein of such Latin writers as Gabriel García Márquez or Julio Cortázar. Joyce disagrees with this, feeling that his lineage is tied more closely to writers of the English “weird tale” such as Arthur Machen or Algernon Blackwood. He calls his style of writing “Old Peculiar.” [ [http://trashotron.com/agony/audio/graham_joyce.mp3 Audio Interview by Rick Kleffel] ]

Film

Currently, there are no films based on Joyce's novels or shorts. However, the film rights to "Dreamside", "The Tooth Fairy", and "Dark Sister" have all been optioned. As of March 2007, only "Dreamside" and "The Tooth Fairy" are in active talks.

Bibliography

According to his official site and the Internet Database of Speculative Fiction, Graham Joyce has published thirteen novels and twenty-six short stories to date. [Summary bibliography at the [http://isfdb.tamu.edu/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Graham_Joyce Internet Database of Speculative Fiction] ]

Novels and short story collections

* "Dreamside" (1991) ISBN 978-0-312-87546-6
* "Dark Sister" (1992) ISBN 978-0-312-87254-0
* "House of Lost Dreams" (1993) ISBN 978-0-7472-4248-2
* "Requiem" (1995) ISBN 978-0-312-86452-1
* "The Tooth Fairy" (1996) ISBN 978-0-312-86833-8
* "The Stormwatcher" (1997) ISBN 978-1-892389-36-7
* "" (1997) ISBN 978-1858815275
* "Indigo" (1999) ISBN 978-0-671-03937-0
* "Smoking Poppy" (2001) ISBN 978-0-671-03939-4
* "The Facts of Life" (2002) ISBN 978-0-7434-6342-3
* "Partial Eclipse and Other Stories" (2003) ISBN 978-1-931081-62-7
* "The Limits of Enchantment" (2005) ISBN 978-0-7434-6344-7
* "TWOC" (2005) ISBN 978-0-571-22513-2
* "Do the Creepy Thing" (2006) ISBN 978-0-571-23035-8

hort Stories

* "Monastic Lives" (1992)
* "The Careperson" (1992)
* "Last Rising Sun" (1992)
* "The Ventriloquial Art" (1993)
* "The Apprentice" (1993)
* "Under the Pylon" (1993)
* "Gap-Sickness" (1993)
* "Eat Reecebread" (1994) with Peter F. Hamilton
* "The Reckoning" (1994)
* "Black Ball Game" (1995)
* "A Tip from Bobby Moore" (1996)
* "The White Stuff" (1997) with Peter F. Hamilton
* "Pinkland" (1997)
* "The Mountain Eats People" (1998)
* "As Seen on Radio" (1998)
* "Leningrad Nights" (1999)
* "Candia" (1999)
* "Incident in Mombassa" (1999)
* "Horrograph" (1999)
* "Partial Eclipse" (2000)
* "Xenos Beach" (2000)
* "Coventry Boy" (2001)
* "Leningrad Nights" (2002)
* "The Coventry Boy" (2002)
* "First, Catch Your Demon" (2002)
* "Black Dust" (2002)

Articles

* [http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/06/29/amis/index.html Working Class Monster] (June 2000)
* [http://www.grahamjoyce.net/about/opinion/greeks.html Greek Virtues]
* [http://www.grahamjoyce.net/about/opinion/machen.html The Great God Pan]
* [http://www.grahamjoyce.net/about/opinion/sw.html Two weeks, three couples and six kids equals hell]

Awards

According to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, Joyce has won the following awards: [Excerpt of awards summary at the [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/eaw.cgi?Graham%20Joyce Internet Speculative Fiction Database] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.grahamjoyce.net Author's Official Website]
* [http://www.literature-map.com/graham+joyce.html Literature Map of Joyce]
* [http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=7&pid=358149 Simon & Schuster Profile Page]
* [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/j/graham-joyce/ Profile at Fantastic Fiction]
* [http://www.actusf.com/spip/?article4572 Interview at Actusf]
* [http://www.therainfarm.com/paradigm3 August 2007 interview. Located under "Fiction"]