Mark Valentine is an English short story author, editor and essayist on book-collecting.

Short stories

Valentine's short stories have been published in a number of collections and in anthologies. ''The Collected Connoisseur'' (Tartarus Press, 2010) is about the mystical encounters of an aesthete whose real name is never revealed, some written jointly with

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

. ‘The Descent of the Fire’, a story in this series by Valentine & Howard, was included in the 2004 World Fantasy Award winning anthology ''Strange Tales'' edited by

Rosalie Parker Rosalie Parker is an author, scriptwriter and editor who runs the Tartarus Press with R. B. Russell. Parker jointly won the World Fantasy Award "Special Award: Non-Professional" for publishing in 2002, 2004 and 2012. The Horror Writers Associat ...

. ''Herald of the Hidden'' (Tartarus Press, 2013) collects stories about Ralph Tyler, a Northamptonshire folklorist. Other short story collections include ''Selected Stories'' (2012) and ''Seventeen Stories'' (2013). His story ‘Vain Shadows Flee’ was chosen for ''Best British Short Stories 2016'' edited by Nicholas Royle (Salt Publishing). ''Secret Europe'' (2012) and ''Inner Europe'' (2018) are shared collections with John Howard of stories set in real and fictional European locations.

Studies and essays

He has written studies of

Arthur Machen Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. Hi ...

and Sarban. He also wrote numerous articles for ''Book and Magazine Collector'', and his essays on book-collecting, minor writers and related subjects have been collected in ''Haunted By Books'' (2015) and ''A Country Still All Mystery'' (2017).

As editor

Valentine has edited or introduced over forty books, mostly in the supernatural fiction field, including editions of work by

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultur ...

J. Meade Falkner John Meade Falkner (8 May 1858 – 22 July 1932) was an English novelist and poet, best known for his 1898 novel '' Moonfleet''. An extremely successful businessman, he became chairman of the arms manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth durin ...

and others. He has also edited anthologies, including ''The Werewolf Pack'' (Wordsworth, 2008), ''The Black Veil'' (Wordsworth, 2008) and ''The Scarlet Sin – Stories for Dorian Gray'' (The Swan River Press, Dublin, 2017). From 1985 to 1988, he edited ''Source'', a journal about ancient holy wells. He then co-edited (with

Roger Dobson Roger Alan Dobson (1954–2013) was a British author, journalist, editor and literary researcher. Dobson wrote the Arthur Machen entry in the '' Dictionary of National Biography''. He also edited John Gawsworth's biography of Machen and co-edite ...

) ''Aklo'', a journal of the fantastic, and edited '' Wormwood'', a biannual journal of fantastic literature, from 2003 to 2022.

Publishing

In small press publishing, with Roger Dobson he ran Caermaen Books, principally devoted to titles about Arthur Machen and, with Jo Valentine, he has issued handmade artist books under the Valentine & Valentine imprint. Valentine also published the first book by

Joel Lane Joel Lane (1963 – 26 November 2013) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, critic and anthology editor.Chris Morgan, "Lane, Joel", in David Pringle, ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers'' (London: St. James Press, 1998 ...

, a chapbook titled ''The Foggy, Foggy, Dew''.

Recordings

Valentine has also issued sound recordings. As The Mystic Umbrellas, he contributed "Journey to the West", a keyboard piece, to the ''Deleted Funtime'' tape (Deleted Records, Dec 009, 1980), and as Radio Dromedary contributed treated shortwave recordings to ''National Grid 2'' (Conventional Tapes, CON 015, 1981). He also issued ''The Sound of the Sea/The Sound of Pendeen Watch'', a sound recording of the sea and a Cornish lighthouse foghorn (Zennor Hill tapes, 1983).

Books

Fiction

*''In Violet Veils'',

Tartarus Press Tartarus Press is an independent book publisher based near Leyburn, Yorkshire, UK.

(Horam, Sussex), 1999 *''Masques and Citadels'', Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2003 *''The Rite of Trebizond and Other Tales'', with

, Ex Occidente Press (Bucharest, Romania), 2008 *''The Nightfarers'', Ex Occidente Press (Bucharest, Romania), 2009. Reprinted Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2020 *''The Collected Connoisseur'', with John Howard, Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2010 *''The Mascarons of the Late Empire & Other Studies'', Passport Levant (Bucharest, Romania), 2010 *''The Peacock Escritoire'', Passport Levant (Bucharest, Romania), 2011 *''Secret Europe'', with John Howard, Ex Occidente Press (Bucharest, Romania), 2012 *''Selected Stories'', Swan River Press (Dublin), 2012 *''Herald of the Hidden & Other Stories'', Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2013 *''Seventeen Stories'', Swan River Press (Dublin), 2013 *''The Uncertainty of All Earthly Things'', Zagava (Germany), 2018 *''Inner Europe'', with John Howard, Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2018 *''Powers and Presences'', with John Howard, Sarob Press (France), 2020 *''The Fig Garden'', Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2022

Poetry

*''At Dusk'', Ex Occidente Press (Bucharest, Romania) 2012 *''Star Kites: Poems & Versions'', Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2013 *''Astarology'', Salò Press (Norwich), 2021

Non Fiction

*''Arthur Machen'',

Seren Books Seren Books is the trading name of Poetry Wales Press, a small independent publisher based in Bridgend, Wales, specialising in English-language writing from WalesFelicity Wood (23 August 2013). Rhyme and reason: The poetry market is a notoriously ...

, 1985 *''Time, a Falconer: A Study of Sarban'', Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2010 *''Haunted By Books'', Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2015 *''A Country Still All Mystery'', Tartarus Press (North Yorkshire), 2017 *''The Secret Ceremonies: Critical Essays on Arthur Machen'' (co-edited with Timothy J Jarvis),

Hippocampus Press Hippocampus Press is an American publisher that specializes in, "the works of H. P. Lovecraft and his literary circle." Founded in 1999, and based in New York City, Hippocampus is operated by founder Derrick Hussey. As of 2017, it has issued ...

, 2019 *''A Wild Tumultory Library'', Tartarus Press, 2019 *''Sphinxes and Obelisks'', Tartarus Press, 2021

References

External links

Wormwoodiana

Interview with a Book Collector
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, Mark Living people English biographers English short story writers English horror writers Ghost story writers Year of birth missing (living people)