Pen name Samuel M. Key Spouse MaryAnn Harris (1980–) Occupation Author Name Charles Lint | Nationality Canadian Albums Old Blue Truck Period 1983– | |
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Born December 22, 1951 (age 72)
Bussum, Netherlands ( 1951-12-22 ) Genre Fantasy, horror, Mythic fiction, Magical Realism, Urban Fantasy Role Writer · charlesdelint.com Awards World Fantasy Award for Best Collection, Crawford Award Influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien, William Morris, Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, James Branch Cabell Books Moonheart, The Onion Girl, Someplace to Be Flying, Memory & Dream, Dreams Underfoot Similar People Charles Vess, Terri Windling, Emma Bull, Mercedes Lackey, Marion Zimmer Bradley Profiles | ||
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Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer of Dutch origins. In 1974 he met MaryAnn Harris, and married her in 1980. They live in Canada.
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Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has written widely in the subgenres of urban fantasy, contemporary magical realism, and mythic fiction. Along with writers like Terri Windling, Emma Bull, and John Crowley, de Lint in the 1980s pioneered and popularized the genre of urban fantasy.
De Lint writes novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, and lyrics. His most famous works include: The Newford series of books (Dreams Underfoot, Widdershins, The Blue Girl, The Onion Girl, Moonlight and Vines, Someplace to be Flying etc.), as well as Moonheart, The Mystery of Grace, The Painted Boy and A Circle of Cats (children’s book illustrated by Charles Vess). His distinctive style of fantasy draws upon local American folklore and European folklore; De Lint was influenced by many writers in the areas of mythology, folklore, and science fiction, including J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord Dunsany, William Morris, Mervyn Peake, James Branch Cabell, E.R. Eddison etc. Some of his mythic fiction poetry can be found online on the Endicott Studio website.
As an essayist/critic/folklorist he writes book reviews for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Charles de Lint has also been a judge for the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award and the Bram Stoker Award. Furthermore, he has taught creative writing workshops in Canada and the United States, and served as writer-in-residence for two public libraries in Ottawa. Besides being an author, he is also a musician, together with his wife MaryAnn. He plays multiple instruments and sings and writes his own songs. In 2011 De Lint released his first album, Old Blue Truck, which was released alongside his wife MaryAnn Harris's album, Crow Girls in which he also contributes.
Early life
Charles de Lint was born in 1951 in Bussum, the Netherlands, and his family emigrated to Canada when he was four months old. He grew up in Canada, as well as overseas, but has lived in Ottawa since he was eleven. In his late twenties to early thirties, he worked in a record store and played with a Celtic band on the weekends. He now lives in Ottawa with his wife, artist and musician MaryAnn Harris, who is first editor of de Lint's fiction and also his business manager.
Career
Charles de Lint was one of the contributors to Flying Buffalo's Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes, Citybook II: Port O' Call supplement.
Charles de Lint started writing in 1983 and has been a full-time writer ever since, publishing around forty books between 1984 and 1997. He published three horror novels under the pseudonym Samuel M. Key which have subsequently been reprinted by Orb Books as by Charles de Lint.
His genre, that of contemporary fantasy, which combines the real world with the "otherworld", allows the co-existence of the natural and the supernatural. This has been called a metaphor for the lack of indigenous folklore in most of multi-cultural Canada living side-by-side with the living oral traditions of the Native Americans. De Lint, however, draws upon not only North American Aboriginal culture, but also the folklore of other cultures. For example, his novel, Moonheart, uses elements of both Native American and Welsh folklore.
Many of his early books are set in Ottawa, while others (1990–2009) have centered around his fictional North American city of Newford, inspired by de Lint's favourite aspects of various North American cities. A regular cast of characters make reappearances in many different books. More recently, de Lint published an adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (Tor 2009), set in his fictional Southwestern town of Santa de Vado Viejo, as was his most recent young adult novel, The Painted Boy (Viking 2010).
He has received many awards, including the 2000 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection for Moonlight and Vines, the Ontario Library Association's White Pine Award, as well as the Great Lakes Great Books Award for his young adult novel The Blue Girl (Viking, 2004). His novel Widdershins (Tor, 2006) won first place, Amazon.com Editors' Picks: Top 10 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2006. In 1988 he won Canadian SF/Fantasy Award, the Casper, now known as the Aurora for his novel Jack, the Giant-killer (Ace 1987).
De Lint has also published a children's book, A Circle of Cats, illustrated by artist Charles Vess.
In addition to being the author of numerous novels and short stories, de Lint is also a poet, musician, artist, folklorist, and critic. He plays folk, Irish and Celtic music with his wife MaryAnn; at one time playing at a local pub, and most recently doing concerts at FaerieWorlds and FaerieCon West in Seattle. His poetry can be found online in the Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts. His short stories tend to be characterized by marginalized protagonists.
His 1984 urban fantasy novel, Moonheart, was a best-selling trade paperback for Tor's Orb line. It has been described as a thriller, detective mystery, and otherworld mythic fantasy all in one.
De Lint has published 71 books (excluding foreign editions and reprints), thus gaining a reputation as a master in his field. He has taught creative writing workshops in Canada and the United States, and was writer‑in‑residence for two public libraries in Ottawa. He has also written original songs; his main instruments are flute, fiddle, whistles, vocals and guitar. In 2011, de Lint released his first CD, Old Blue Truck
A fan message board was created and named in his honor: de Lintiad, Charles de Lint, MoonHeart.
Among dozens of public appearances, on October 9, 2007, de Lint was one of the guests who appeared as part of the Bolen Books Fall Series (with Jack Whyte (Oct. 13), Will Ferguson (Oct. 16) and James Barber (Oct. 20). Bolen Books was awarded the 2007 Libris Award for Bookseller of the Year. Co-ordinator Robert Wiersema said this of him: "He’s a classic storyteller with a tremendously broad appeal. Readers who don’t know him would, I think, be surprised at how much they would like his work."