G. Sutton Breiding (born August 17, 1950) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

of Speculative poetry,

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

, and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

poetry characterized by

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

black humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

and references to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Biography

Born in Elkins, WV, G. Sutton Breiding lived at Oglebay Park in

Wheeling, WV Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

until 1962, in

Morgantown, WV Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as th ...

from 1962 until 1968, San Francisco, CA from 1968 to 1986. Between 1968 and 1986 he lived in Greenbank, WV during 1971 and in Morgantown WV and near

Orono, ME Orono () is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Located on the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers, it was first settled by American colonists in 1774. They named it in honor of Chief Joseph Orono, a sachem of the indigenous Penobscot n ...

during 1977. He returned to Morgantown WV in 1986, moved to

Columbiana, OH Columbiana is a city in northern Columbiana and southern Mahoning counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 6,559 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Salem micropolitan area and the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. The ...

in 2007 and returned to Morgantown in 2009. "He began writing at age fourteen, and in a Catholic high school outraged his teachers with his first newsletter. Breiding's poetry and essays have been featured in Foxfire (magazine), Star*Line, Bleak December, The Romantist, The Diversifier, Nyctalops, Fantôme, Grue, Grue Magazine, and Figment. He won the 1990 Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem for "Epitaph for Dreams" which first appeared in Narcopolis & Other Poems edited by

Peggy Nadramia Peggy may refer to: People * Peggy (given name), people with the given name or nickname Arts and entertainment * ''Peggy'' (musical), a 1911 musical comedy by Stuart and Bovill * ''Peggy'' (album), a 1977 Peggy Lee album * ''Peggy'' (191 ...

. His poems were nominated for the Rhysling Award in 1993, 2005, 2011, and 2014. In the introduction to his collection of selected poems "Autumn Roses," published in 1984 by Silver Scarab Press,

Donald Sidney-Fryer Donald Sidney-Fryer (born September 8, 1934) is a poet and entertainer principally influenced by Edmund Spenser and Clark Ashton Smith. Born and raised in the Atlantic coastal community of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Sidney-Fryer enlisted in ...

writes that Breiding ranks as a modern example of California Romantics including

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...

, George Sterling,

Nora May French Nora May French (1881 – November 13, 1907) was an American 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. Biography French was b ...

, and

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Algernon Charles Swinburne ...

. Autumn Roses is annotated by Steve Eng in the Fantasy and Horror Poetry chapter of Neil Barron's 1999 Critical and Historical Guide to Fantasy and Horror. Eng calls Breiding one of the "most talented genre bards in the past two decades." Eng also notes his eroticism and humorous sense of irony. Influences remarked on by Eng, Sidney-Fryer, and D. S. Black, include

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

, Arthur Machen, George Trakl, Emil Cioran,

Edmond Jabès Edmond Jabès (; ar, إدمون جابيس; Cairo, April 14, 1912Edmond Jabès, ''From the Book to the Book: An Edmond Jabès Reader'' (Wesleyan University Press, 1991) p xxi – Paris, January 2, 1991) was a French writer and poet of Egy ...

Li He Li He ( – ) was a Chinese poet of the mid-Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Changji, and he is also known as Guicai and Shigui. He was prevented from taking the imperial examination due to a naming taboo. He died very young, and was note ...

, Bruno Schulz, West Coast Romantics, Dada,

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

Existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...

, New York School,

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

, and

Punk subculture The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...

. Sidney-Fryer's introduction to Breiding's Journal of an Astronaut, a 1992 back-to-back publication with

Janet Hamill Janet Hamill (born July 29, 1945 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American poet and spoken word artist. Her poem "K-E-R-O-U-A-C" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her fifth collection, titled ''Body of Water'', was nominated for the Wil ...

's Nostalgia of the Infinite, describes Breiding's futuristic vision as including "appealing remnants of Appalachian life and such of its wilderness as actually survives, the cicada, the

titmouse ''Baeolophus'' is a genus of birds in the family Paridae. Its members are commonly known as titmice. All the species are native to North America. In the past, most authorities retained ''Baeolophus'' as a subgenus within the genus ''Parus'', bu ...

, the chickadee, the wren, together with the steadfast presence of old barns and old homesteads, as well as rare old stands of trees. His reader experiences a particularly modern sense of dislocation expressed in a particularly modern style." Along with horror, the reader will also experiences "a unique sense of wonder and wonder and marvel and transcendent mystery, as well as a healing sense of wholesomeness of our planet-biosphere and of the very earth itself, the tenderness and even delicacy displayed in the infinitude of green growing things and of the fauna sustained on that flora." Journal of an Astronaut/Nostalgia of the Infinite is listed in the Beat Poetry Collection in the Special Collections and Archives at Utah State University. Special library collections including his books, correspondence, manuscripts, and zines are held at the University of California at Berkeley, West Virginia University, Utah State University, and the University of Iowa.

Zine Publishing

The Punk-Surrealist Cafe was on display in the October, 2009 exhibition Punk Passage: San Francisco First Wave Punk, a display and event at the

San Francisco Public Library The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as ''Library Journals L ...

curated by and featuring photographer Ruby Ray. Breiding's Zine's are featured in the M. Horvat Science Fiction Fanzine Collection housed at the University of Iowa Libraries. Additional zine titles Breiding published include Black Wolf, A Clerk's Journal, Dumdum, Ebon Lute, Eremite's Column, Folklore, Personals, Phantom Poet, and Surrealist Exchange.

Awards

* 1990 Rhysling Award (Best Short Poem winner for "Epitaph for Dreams")

Nominations

* 2010 Rhysling Award for Best Long Poem (for "Postcards from Mars") Originally published in Star*Line 32.4 July/August 2009 http://www.sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline32.4.html http://sfpoetry.com/sl/edchoice/32.4-3.html * 2012 Rhysling Award for Best Long Poem (for "Letter from the Golden Age") * 2014 Rhysling for Best Short Poem (for "There Are Signs of Faerie Everywhere")

Bibliography

* Breiding, G S. ''Autumn Roses: Selected Poems of G. Sutton Breiding'' Albuquerque, NM: Silver Scarab Press, 1984. OCLC# 15643562 * Breiding, G S, Caré Galbraith, Lance Alexander, and D S. Black. ''Necklace of Blood'' San Francisco: Atlantis Express, 1988. OCLC# 62409677 * Breiding, G S, Don Herron, William Breiding, Chet Clingan, Walter Shedlofsky, and Tina Said. ''G. Sutton Breiding Papers'' , 1974. OCLC# 39514735 * Hamill, Janet, and G S. Breiding. ''Nostalgia of the Infinite. Journal of an Astronaut'' Denver, CO: Ocean View Books, 1992. OCLC# 25202333 * Black, D S, and G S. Breiding. ''Memory Leaves'' San Francisco: Atlantis Express, 1989. OCLC# 26941644 * Joshi, S. T. and Steven J. Mariconda, eds. ''Dreams of fear: poetry of terror and the supernatural'' New York: Hippocampus Press, 2013. * The 1990 Rhysling Anthology: Nominees for the Best Fantastic Poetry of 1989'' Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA): 1990. * Dutcher, Roger, Jane Yolen, G S. Breiding, Etal. ''The Alchemy of Stars: Rhysling Award Winners Showcase'' United States: Science Fiction Poetry Association, 2005. OCLC# 67764763 * Gardner, Lyn C. A, Mary A. Agner, G S. Breiding, Etal. ''The 2012 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Poetry of 2011.'' Covina, CA: Science Fiction Poetry Association, 2012. OCLC# 798838113 * Ristow, Rich. Ed. ''The 2015 Rhysling Anthology'' Hadrosaur Press, 2015. * Walters, Jerad. ''Stigmata: An Anthology of Writing and Art'' Denver, CO: Cocytus Press, 2001. OCLC# 50022052 * Breiding, G S. ''Hallucinating Jenny'' Napa Valley, Calif: Miniature Sun Press, 2000. OCLC#312140009 * Breiding, G S. ''Interstice 1: At Work'' Charlottesville, Va.: Juxta Press, 1996. OCLC# 36592105 * Breiding, G S., Ed. ''Black Wolf'' San Francisco, Calif: Crow Mountain Pressworks, 1974. OCLC# 70889562 * Nadramia, Peggy, ed. ''Narcopolis & Other Poems'' New York: Hell's Kitchen Publications, 1989. OCLC# 22778785 * Allen, Thomas Allen, ed. ''Nouveau's Midnight Sun: Transcriptions from Golgonooza and Beyond'' Edmonds WA: Ravenna Press, 2014. * Breiding, G S., "Untitled" Eye to the Telescope: The Science Fiction Poetry Online Journal of Speculative Poetry. Male Perspectives. Simon, Marge, ed
Issue 21, July 2016
Online. * Breiding, G. Sutton.
Crayon Journals: Book 2: October
" FLIPHTML5. 2016. Web. * Breiding, G Sutton.
Manuscript Found on the Golden Gate Bridge
" SoundCloud. 2016. Web.

References

External links

* West Virginia & Regional History Center at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

G. Sutton Breiding, Poet, Essays, Poems, and Other Material

The Writings of G. Sutton Breiding 1984-2010 official website
* *

Collection Guide to the G. Sutton Breiding papers, 1974-1996
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breiding, G Sutton Living people 1950 births American male poets People from Elkins, West Virginia Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area Poets from West Virginia 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers