Occupation Writer Role Author Name Edward Gorman | Period Since 196? Nationality American | |
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Pen name Daniel Ransom, E.J. Gorman Genre Mystery, horror fiction, western fiction, crime fiction Awards Macavity Awards for Best Critical/Biographical Mystery Work Nominations Edgar Award for Best Short Story Books City of Night, The Day the Music Died: A S, The Autumn Dead, Cavalry Man, Will You Still Love Me Tomo Similar People Bill Pronzini, Richard Chizmar, Loren D Estleman, James Reasoner, Mickey Spillane | ||
Edward gorman brohard
Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. (November 2, 1941 – October 14, 2016) was an American writer and short fiction anthologist who has published in almost every genre, but is best known for his work in the crime, mystery, western, and horror fields. His non-fiction work has appeared such places as The New York Times and Redbook.
Contents
He has contributed to many magazines and other publications including Xero, Black Lizard, Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, and the anthology Tales of Zorro.
Personal life
Gorman spent most of his life in his birthplace, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with extended stays in Des Moines, Iowa, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Chicago, Illinois. He was married twice, first to Catherine Anne Stevens for seven years, and then to the award-winning children's and young adult author Carol Gorman (née Maxwell) for thirty-four years until his death in 2016.
Writing career
After twenty-three years in advertising, public relations, writing political speeches and producing industrial films, Gorman published his first novel Rough Cut (1984) and soon after was able to quit his day job and dedicate himself to writing full-time (thanks to his wife Carol's full-time teaching job).
Gorman has written in many different fields, but he considers himself first and foremost a genre writer. In the 1970s Gorman was a winner of a short story contest sponsored by Charles Scribner & Sons. An editor there suggested he expand his winning story into a mainstream novel, but Gorman gave up after six months, saying, “I was bored out of my mind. I am a genre writer.”
Gorman’s novels and stories are often set in small Midwestern towns, like the fictional Black River Falls, Iowa (the Sam McCain series), or Cedar Rapids, Iowa (The Night Remembers). For his Dev Conrad series, Gorman drew upon his years as a political operative.
Gorman was one of the founders of Mystery Scene magazine, and served as editor and publisher until 2002. His column, “Gormania,” continues to appear regularly in its pages.
In comics, he has written for DC, Dark Horse, and most recently Short, Scary Tales, which will be publishing adaptations of his novel Cage of Night (as Cage of Night) and the short story "Stalker" (as Gut-Shot).
Kirkus Reviews has called him "One of the most original crime writers around." The Bloomsbury Review noted: "He is the poet of dark suspense." The Oxford Book of American Crime Stories said: "His novels and stories provide fresh ideas characters and approaches." Jon Breen at Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine once noted, "Ed Gorman has the same infallible readability as writers like Lawrence Block, Max Allan Collins, Donald E. Westlake, Ed McBain, and John D. MacDonald."
Though he was known for a long time as "prolific," his writing career slowed considerably after he was diagnosed with the incurable cancer multiple myeloma in 2002.
Awards
He won a Spur Award for Best Short Fiction for his short story "The Face" in 1992. His fiction collection Cages was nominated for the 1995 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection. His collection The Dark Fantastic was nominated for the same award in 2001. Gorman won the 1994 Anthony Award for Best Critical Work for The Fine Art Of Murder and has been nominated for multiple Anthonys in short story categories.
He is a winner of the Life Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, The International Horror Writers Award (previous winners include Stephen King and Richard Matheson), and been nominated for the Edgar Award.
Adaptations
His novel The Poker Club was adapted as a film in 2008 by director Tim McCann. His short stories “The Long Silence After” and “The Ugly File” were adapted as short films. In 2016, his novel Cage of Night and short story “Stalker” will be adapted as graphic novels, to be published by Short, Scary Tales.