Joel Lane (1963 – 26 November 2013) was a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer,

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 w ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or gover ...

and anthology editor.Chris Morgan, "Lane, Joel", in

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...

, ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers'' (London: St. James Press, 1998), pp. 345–46. He received the

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

in 2013 and the

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

twice.

Life

Born in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, he was the nephew of tenor saxophonist

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: * Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...

. At the time of his death, Lane was living in south

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, where he worked in health industry-related publishing. His location frequently provided settings for his fiction.

Works

The majority of Lane's short stories can be categorised as horror or

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 d ...

, and he cited Robert Aickman,

Ramsey Campbell Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...

and

M. John Harrison Michael John Harrison (born 26 July 1945), known for publication purposes primarily as M. John Harrison, is an English author and literary critic.Kelley, George. "Harrison, M(ichael) John" in Jay P. Pederson (.ed) ''St. James guide to sci ...

as influences on his fiction. His short stories were usually published in small-press books and magazines. Lane's work was also anthologized by both

Karl Edward Wagner Karl Edward Wagner (12 December 1945 – 14 October 1994) was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. He ...

(in Wagner's ''The Year's Best Horror Stories'' series) and Stephen Jones (in Jones' ''Best New Horror'' series). Much of Lane's fiction is set in

and the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ...

. Nicholas Royle, "Joel Lane: The Conscience of the Circuit", ''

Black Static ''Black Static'', formerly ''The 3rd Alternative'', is a British horror magazine edited by Andy Cox. The magazine has won the British Fantasy Award for "Best Magazine" while individual stories have won other awards. In addition, numerous stories ...

'' 38, January/February 2014, pp. 4-9. Lane's novels are more overtly mainstream. ''From Blue to Black'' (2000) is a portrait of a disturbed

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

ian, whilst ''The Blue Mask'' (2003) follows the aftermath of a brutal and disfiguring attack. ''Something Remains'', edited by Peter Coleborn and Pauline E. Dungate (Alchemy Press, 2016), is a collection of stories by other hands "based on and inspired by the notes left by Joel Lane". ''This Spectacular Darkness'', edited by Mark Valentine and John Howard (Tartarus Press, 2016), is a collection of his critical essays on fantasy and horror fiction, together with appreciations of his work.

Guest appearances

Lane addressed the Birmingham Science Fiction Group in March 2002. Together with his friend Steve Green, he was a guest speaker at

Microcon Microcon was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held annually at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, England since 1982, usually over the first weekend in March. It is organised by the Exeter University Science Fiction and ...

30 at Exeter University in March 2010.

Politics

Lane was described in an obituary as "a passionate supporter of equality and a tireless scourge of fascism", was strongly left wing and opposed to the politics advocated by

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

and

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

. He joined the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

in 2009 and contributed to its newspaper, '' The Socialist'', and its journal, ''Socialism Today''.Obituary: Joel Lane, 1963–2013
, ''The Socialist'', 11 December 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.

Partial bibliography

Novels

*''From Blue to Black'' (2000) *''The Blue Mask'' (2003)

Novella

*''The Witnesses Are Gone'' (2009)

Short story collections

*''The Earth Wire and Other Stories'' (1994) *''The Lost District and Other Stories'' (2006) *''The Terrible Changes'' (2009) *''Do Not Pass Go'' (booklet, 2011) *''Where Furnaces Burn'' (2012) *''Scar City'' (2015) *''The Anniversary of Never'' (2015)

Poetry

*''The Edge of the Screen'' (1998) *''Trouble in the Heartland'' (2004) *''The Autumn Myth'' (2010) *''Instinct'' (pamphlet, 2012)

Anthologies edited

*''Birmingham Noir: Urban Tales of Crime and Suspense'' (2002, co-edited with Steve Bishop) *''Beneath the Ground'' (2003) *''Never Again'' (2010, co-edited with Allyson Bird)

Awards

*1993:

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by British poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. In 2021, the seve ...

(poetry) *1994:

, best anthology / collection, ''The Earth Wire and Other Stories'' *2008:

, best short story, ''My Stone Desire'' *2008:

Shirley Jackson Award The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic are presented a ...

, novella finalist, ''The Witnesses are Gone'' *2013:

, best collection, ''Where Furnaces Burn'' (PS Publishing, 2012)

References

External links

Partial bibliography, including short story appearances
* *

by Joel Lane, ''Socialism Today'', October 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Joel 1963 births 2013 deaths British horror writers English fantasy writers English horror writers Science fiction editors World Fantasy Award-winning writers Socialist Party (England and Wales) members English anti-fascists British male poets English male short story writers English short story writers English male novelists 20th-century English poets 20th-century English novelists