Leigh Blackmore
Leigh Blackmore | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 June , 1959 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Writer, freelance manuscript assessor, critic, editor, occultist |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Genre | Dark Fantasy, Weird Fiction |
| Website | |
| Blackmausoleum [1] | |
Leigh David Blackmore (born June 20, 1959) is an Australian horror writer, critic, editor and occultist. He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School (1971-72) and Waratah High School (1972-76) (then Newcastle Boys' High). He resides in Wollongong, NSW with his two partners, Margaret J. Curtis and Graham Wykes, (see polyamory) four cats, and a library of 10,000 volumes.
Works Edited
Terror Australis: Best Australian Horror (Hodder/Coronet, 1993)
Magazines Edited
- Mythopoeia: The Newsletter of Dymocks SF & Fantasy (co-edited with Glayne Louise) (1995-97)
- Terror Australis: The Australian Horror & Fantasy Magazine (co-edited with Chris G.C. Sequeira & Bryce J. Stevens) (1987-92)
- ThAT: Newsletter of Oceania Lodge, O.T.O. (1993-94)
Critical Writings & Bibliographies
Blackmore is co-author (with Dr Van Ikin) The Eternal Yes: The Affirmations of Terry Dowling (forthcoming); author Terry Dowling: Virtuoso of the Fantastic (R’lyeh Texts, 2005); author Harlan Ellison/Terry Dowling/Jack Dann: A Bibliographic Checklist (Sydney: R’lyeh Texts, 1996); co-author (with S.T. Joshi) H.P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: A Bibliographical Supplement 1980-84 (West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press, 1985); author, Brian Lumley: A New Bibliography (Sydney: Dark Press, 1984; San Bernadino CA: Borgo Press, 1986).
He has contributed to various scholarly works on speculative fiction including S.T. Joshi's Supernatural Literature of the World An Encyclopedia (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.) He is a co-editor (with chief editor Benjamin J. Szumskyj) of the bi-annual journal Studies in Australian Weird Fiction. Other critical writings & interviews with leading writers in speculative fiction have appeared in The Australian Horror and Fantasy Magazine, Calenture, Crypt of Cthulhu, Dagon, Dayspring, E.O.D., FuBar, Masque Noir, Outpost, Severed Head, Shadowplay, Shoggoth, Sirius, Tabula Rasa and tabula-rasa.info [2], Talents & Twilit Grotto.
Published Fiction
Blackmore's weird fiction, some of which is Lovecraftian, has appeared in Agog! Fantastic Fiction, Agog! Terrific Tales, Avatar, Bold Action, Micro, Phantastique, Pulse of Darkness, Tertangala and online at ligotti.net [3] and writingshow.com [4]. In 2004 his novella "Uncharted" was nominated for a Ditmar Award for Best Novella & received an Honourable Mention in The Year’s Best Horror & Fantasy (17th annual), ed. Ellen Datlow et al. His weird verse has appeared in Arkham Sampler, Avallaunius, Beastly, chaosmagic.com [5], EOD, Etchings & Odysseys, New Lovecraft Collector, Shoggoth, Telmar, & The Eldritch Dark.com [6], where he was Featured Poet of the Month Oct 2005. General poetry has appeared in Tertangala.
Blackmore has reviewed horror & fantasy fiction for AsIF.com [7], EOD, Galaxy Newsletter, Prohibited Matter, Science Fiction, Shoggoth, Skinned Alive & The Sydney Morning Herald. He regularly contributes the zine Mantichore to the SSFWT and Esoteric Order of Dagon amateur press associations.
He co-founded The Sydney Horror Writers & Artists Society (The Gargoyle Club) & has been NSW Correspondent for Australian SF Writers News, local representative for Horror Writers of America, & a judge on the annual George Turner Awards for Best First SF novel. He is an active member of the Sydney Passengers Sherlock Holmes Society.
As Occultist
Blackmore is a devotee of the Situationist International. He makes art (mixed-media collage) & practices high magick. He is a Thelemite and initiate of Ordo Templi Orientis (Oceania Grand Lodge)[8], and has performed in modern productions of the Rites of Eleusis. He is a former member of Thee Temple ov Psychic Youth[9].
As founder of Aurora Australis Thelemic Temple, he regularly runs esoteric workshops in the Illawarra region of NSW and with Margaret J. Curtis co-facilitates MoonSkin coven. His published esoteric work includes Transpersonal Magick (with Margi Curtis, forthcoming); & poetry & reviews for Beastly, Crossroads, Kwa, Shadowplay, Sirius, & Waratah magazines.
His regular column “Arts of the Craft” (with Margi Curtis) appears in each issue of internationally distributed magazine Spellcraft.
Blackmore worked for over 25 years in the book trade. Currently he is a freelance manuscript assessor for various agencies and is undertaking a Double Degree: BA Creative Arts (Writing) & Journalism at the University of Wollongong.
His brother is the mentalist, stage magician and author Kent Blackmore.
References
- Mike Ashley & William G. Contento. The Supernatural Index: A Listing of Fantasy, Supernatural, Occult, Weird and Horror Anthologies. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 118
- Russell Blackford, Van Ikin & Sean McMullen (eds). Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999, p. 169.
- Paul Collins(ed). The MUP Encyclopedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Melbourne, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1998, pp. 11, 46-47
- S.T. Joshi and Stefan Dziemianowicz (eds). Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005, pp. 1409-10.
- Bryce J. Stevens The Fear Codex: Australian Encyclopedia of Dark Fantasy & Horror (Jacobyte Books, CD-ROM, 2001).