Richard Harland
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Richard Harland (born 15 January 1947 in Yorkshire) is an English fantasy and science fiction writer, living in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia. He was born in 1947 in
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
, United Kingdom and migrated to Australia in 1970. He has been an academic, performance artist and writer, publishing 15 full-length works of fiction, three academic books, short stories and poems. He is the author of the ''Eddon and Vail'' science fiction thriller series, the ''Heaven and Earth'' young adult fantasy trilogy and the illustrated ''Wolf Kingdom'' series for children. He has been awarded the Australian
Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...
on five occasions for his fiction.


Life and academic career

Richard Harland completed undergraduate studies at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, graduating with a BA and majoring in English. After graduation, he planned an ambitious doctoral thesis, focusing on a global theory of the language of poetry and approached numerous universities around the globe seeking funding for his research. Support was unforthcoming until an offer from the University of Newcastle in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, consequently he migrated to Australia in 1970 to take advantage of this opportunity. He originally only intended to remain in the country until his PhD was completed, but after some months decided to settle permanently.Humphries, Glen (29 August 1997). "Beyond the Dark Edge". ''
Illawarra Mercury The ''Illawarra Mercury'' is a daily newspaper serving the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has been published since 1855, making it one of Australia's oldest newspapers and the second oldest regional newspaper in New South Wa ...
''. Weekender Section. Page 4.
Work on his thesis was slow, and he eventually reduced its scope to an MA, before moving away from his studies for several years, while he worked as a singer, songwriter and poet in and around Sydney. He published poetry and short stories during this period in a number of literary magazines. He returned to academic life in the 1980s through a tutoring position at the
University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...
and continued work on his doctoral thesis, which was published as ''Superstructuralism: The Philosophy of Structuralism and Post-Structuralism'' in 1987. The volume sold well, was well received, and secured him a lecturing position in English at the
University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...
, where he remained for ten years. During his academic career he published full-length works and a number of articles on literary theory.


Fiction writing

He scored an early success in childhood with a short story which won a prominent United Kingdom competition, and also wrote and distributed stories while at school, exchanging ongoing instalments for sweets and other tokens when other pupils were reluctant to part with legal tender. He is best known for several series of novels, but commenced his novel writing career relatively late in life. He had been eager to write full length tales from late childhood but suffered from writer's block, which prevented him making significant headway with novel projects (and also many short stories) for much of the next 25 years. He was able to produce academic books during this period, however, and he attributes the writer's block partly to his belief that he had to write serious literary novels rather than what he found most enjoyable to work on. It was not until writing the comic horror novel ''The Vicar of Morbing Vyle'' (1993) that he managed to conquer this obstacle. However he had published short stories prior to this, some of which were collected in ''Testimony'' (1981), which also included his poetry. He was still lecturing at the
University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...
when he wrote ''The Dark Edge'', the first novel of his "Eddon and Vail" science fiction thriller series. His senior lecturing role was a secure tenured position, much sought after by professional scholars, however, with a sequel to ''The Dark Edge'' having been commissioned by his publisher,
Pan Macmillan Australia Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
, set to appear the following year, he felt unable to juggle the demands of full-time academic life with fiction writing. Despite an uncertain future in a small Australian publication market, where relatively low volume sales are considered a best-seller and there are few full-time writers, he resigned his position in 1997 to concentrate on his fiction. He has been a full-time writer ever since. He remains an Honorary Senior Fellow in English at the
University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...
.Van, Ikin (1 March 2003). "Nothing too fancy". '' Sydney Morning Herald''. Spectrum Section. Page 2. He has also taught summer courses at the university, most recently on children's and young adult fantasy literature.


Novels

Many of Harland's novels contain
map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
s. He has confessed to a fascination with
map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
s, sometimes spending hours studying them. He has also admitted to often viewing his fictional worlds as though seen from an elevated distance, something he feels is a common feature among fantasy writers. Following the 1999 publication of ''Hidden from View'', the final volume in his Eddon and Vail series, all of his novels have been written either for young adults or children, with the exception of ''The Black Crusade'' (2004). Some of his novels have also been published as
audio books An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...
.


The "Vicar" series

The first volume of this series, ''The Vicar of Morbing Vyle'', was Harland's first published novel. He set up his own publishing company to bring it to press, and approached individual booksellers in the Australian cities of
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, Canberra,
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and Sydney to promote it. While it is no longer in print, it has since attained a cult status, something he claims was his original intention when marketing the book. It was followed in 2004 by '' The Black Crusade'', a prequel to ''The Vicar of Morbing Vyle''. It describes the journey of the hapless Basil Smorta, a multi lingual bank clerk, who is forced into the company of a group of "fundamental Darwinists" by their imprisonment of the object of his undying love, Australian singer, Volusia, in a mobile iron box. The group travel across Eastern Europe during 1894, and encounter ghosts, blood donating vampires and other comic horror curiosities. The novel, which shows the origin of the 'vyle' Marquis of Morbol Villica from the first volume in the series, plays with the notion of the tale's reliability as a factual narrative, including fictional footnotes, apparently inserted by the publisher, to show their disdain and disagreement with Basil's actions and their unheroic qualities.(2005-03-01). "Doctor's fantasy a winner". ''
Illawarra Mercury The ''Illawarra Mercury'' is a daily newspaper serving the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has been published since 1855, making it one of Australia's oldest newspapers and the second oldest regional newspaper in New South Wa ...
''. IQ Section. Page 37.
The novel was published by Chimaera Publications, which also produces
Aurealis ''Aurealis'' is an Australian speculative fiction magazine published by Chimaera Publications, and is Australia's longest running small-press science-fiction and fantasy magazine. The magazine is based in Melbourne. History and profile ''Aurea ...
, a magazine which publishes and promotes Australian speculative fiction, and originated the
Aurealis Awards The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 b ...
(although these awards have been administered entirely independently from Chimaera by another organisation since 2004). The novel won an
Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...
in 2004 in both the "Best Horror Novel" and the overarching "Golden Aurealis Best Novel" categories.


The ''Eddon and Vail'' series

In this series of three science fiction novels with both mystery and supernatural elements, Inspector Eddon Brac, a male detective with traditional sleuth leanings, is partnered with assistant Vail ev Vessintor, a female goth noble with expertise in the psychic sciences. Each novel presents the pair with a murder mystery with an unorthodox and surprising origin and also explores the tension between them. The series is set against the background of the colonial
hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over oth ...
of the planet Terra, whose influence has spread across the cosmos, but is increasingly threatened by the Anti-Human, an unknown menace, which follows a steady path from the boundaries of the universe towards the core, consuming Terran colonies as it advances. The first volume, ''The Dark Edge'' was a finalist for the 1997
Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...
in both the Horror Novel and Science Fiction Novel categories and the third, ''Hidden from View'', was nominated for the 1999
Ditmar Award The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise a ...
in the Best Novel category.


The ''Heaven and Earth'' trilogy

This trilogy for young adults is set in Australia 1000 years into the future and concerns a war between heaven and earth. Each book includes an 'angelology'. In preparation for writing the trilogy, Harland extensively researched
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s and
cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
, including both the mainstream and unorthodox sources of Christian, Islamic and Judaic lore on the subjects. He was particularly concerned to present angels as beings which departed from the comforting 'Disney' representations of some previous works, and were awe inspiring, beautiful and disturbing, while remaining characters readers could still empathise with. The first book he read on angels was ''A Dictionary of Angels'' by American poet
Gustav Davidson Gustav Davidson (December 25, 1895 in Warsaw, Poland – February 6, 1971 in Santa Cruz, United States) was an American poet, writer, and publisher. He was one time secretary of the Poetry Society of America. Biography Gustav Davidson was bor ...
, and he has returned to this book numerous times since to help with inspiration on subsequent fiction projects. He has also stated that the
Ghent Altarpiece The ''Adoration of the Mystic Lamb'', also called the ''Ghent Altarpiece'' ( nl, De aanbidding van het Lam Gods), is a large and complex 15th-century polyptych altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. It was begun around the mid-1420 ...
by Jan van Eyck greatly assisted in creating his vision of heaven.(2002-03-31). Atkinson, Frances (compiled by). "Influences – Richard Harland". ''
The Sunday Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...
''. Agenda Section. Page 10.


The ''Wolf Kingdom'' series

The ''Wolf Kingdom'' Series comprises four illustrated fantasy books, aimed at older pre-adolescents, commencing with ''Escape!'' and completed by ''The Heavy Crown'', all published in 2008. Harland wrote the story, and Laura Peterson provided illustrations which head each chapter and are mostly full page. Each tale functions as a self-contained narrative, but the series also interlinks as a larger story arc. The books were launched in association with the Children's Book Council of Australia. A race of talking, bipedal
wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
have overrun and enslaved humankind, leaving only a determined resistance, known as the "Free Folk", who shelter in a subterranean refuge and plot to liberate themselves from their animal overlords and must discover how these creatures have risen from their former bestial state, to become oppressive rulers of humankind. The books focus on two children, a brother and sister, whose parents are taken by the wolves, and who subsequently join the "Free Folk" and become key to the success of the rebellion. Harland has long been fascinated with wolves; during his childhood in the United Kingdom he passed an ominous wood named 'Wolves Wood' on daily basis in a school bus and this left a marked impression upon him. The series won the 2008
Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...
for the "best children's illustrated work/picture book" category. In awarding the series an Aurealis the judges, acknowledging the dual work of Harland and his illustrator partner, Laura Peterson, commented: "The illustrations help to bring alive aspects of the story – muscular pictures for a muscular tale. Laura Peterson has shown attention to detail in all the artwork pertaining to the wolves and helps to support the atmosphere of peril that Richard Harland has created."


''Worldshaker''

Harland's most recent series of novels commenced with ''Worldshaker'', a young adult steampunk novel partly inspired by the work of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, released in May 2009 in Australia. The main inspiration for this book was the dream he had which is now one of the scenes in the book. The principal character is Col, who lives in the privileged upper sections of a mountain-sized city-ship. He has been selected to become the next commander of the craft, but is forced to question his world when a girl who has escaped from the lower decks, seeks his help and reveals to him the poverty and exploitation below the elite world of his upbringing. The novel sold to US publisher Simon & Schuster for a substantial advance. The story itself is very similar to the plot of the film
Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...
. Both feature a young man who is the heir to a futuristic society where the wealthy live "above" and the poorly treated workers "below", with a young woman of the worker class teaming together with the young man to overthrow the cruel establishment. Harland began developing the ideas for ''Worldshaker'' in the mid 1990s and took five years to write the novel, passing through 3 complete rewrites. It was first entitled ''Leviathan'', later ''Juggernaught'' before finally being published as ''Worldshaker''. The sequel to ''Worldshaker'' has been published as ''Liberator''.


Other young adult fiction novels

*''Walter Wants to Be a Werewolf'' (2003) It is part of the Aussie Chomps series for teenagers. Walter is a young member of a family of
werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...
, but struggles to manifest true werewolf characteristics when the full moon rises, and subsequently visits a doctor hoping to find a cure for his condition. *''Sassycat: The Night of the Dead'' (2005) It was a finalist for the 2005
Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...
for best children's (8–12 years) long fiction.


Shorter works of fiction

Richard Harland has published nearly 20 short stories and novellas. His work has been included in anthologies such as
Encounters Encounter or Encounters may refer to: Film *''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar *Encounter (2013 film), ''Encounter'' (2013 film), a Bengali film *Encounter (2018 film), ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film *Encounte ...
, Outcast, and the 2008 published ''Dreaming Again'', the second anthology of Australian speculative fiction compiled by prolific editor and anthologist,
Jack Dann Jack Dann (born February 15, 1945) is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-edit ...
. He has also published shorter works in magazines in Australia and the United States. Several of his stories have received honourable mentions in the prominent ''Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' anthologies, edited by
Ellen Datlow Ellen Datlow (born December 31, 1949) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist. She is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award (Horror Writers Association). Career Datlow began her career ...
&
Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958 in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram S ...
. His shorter fiction has been both nominated for and won Australian speculative fiction awards.


Author's website

His website is notable for presenting the substance and background of each of his fiction projects, and dozens of pages of writing tips. It also includes an extended biography, describing the development of his writing career, including his protracted battle with writer's block. Harland has a second website created solely to provide advice to writers. The result of a four-month break from his writing it has over 140 pages of advice and tips and is located at http://www.writingtips.com.au.


Awards

Richard Harland has won the following awards: ''The Black Crusade'' *2004 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel *2004 Golden Aurealis for Best Novel "Catabolic Magic" *2004 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story (tie with Louise Katz) "The Greater Death of Saito Saku" *2005 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story (tie with Rosaleen Love) 'The Wolf Kingdom series' (''Escape!, Under Siege, Race to the Ruins, The Heavy Crown'') *2008 Aurealis Award for Best Children's Illustrated Work/Picture Book (with Laura Peterson as Illustrator) He was guest judge on the 2007 Australian Shadows award.


References


External links

*
Richard Harland Writing Tips Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harland, Richard 1947 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists Australian science fiction writers People from Huddersfield Australian fantasy writers Australian children's writers Australian horror writers Australian male short story writers University of Wollongong faculty 20th-century Australian short story writers 21st-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers