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William Ashbless is a fictional poet, invented by
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
writers
James Blaylock
James Paul Blaylock (born September 20, 1950) is an American fantasy author. He is noted for a distinctive, humorous style, as well as being one of the pioneers of the steampunk genre of science fiction. Blaylock has cited Jules Verne, H. G. Wel ...
and
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels ''Last Call (novel), Last Call'' and ''Declare''. ...
.
Invention
Ashbless was invented by Powers and Blaylock when they were students at
Cal State Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...
in the early 1970s, originally as a reaction to the low quality of the poetry being published in the school magazine. They invented nonsensical
free verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French ''vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech.
Definit ...
poetry and submitted it to the paper in Ashbless's name, where it was reportedly enthusiastically accepted.
As a character
Ashbless is, however, best known in his incarnation as a 19th-century poet, in which guise he appears in Powers' ''
The Anubis Gates
''The Anubis Gates'' is a 1983 time travel fantasy novel by American writer Tim Powers. It won the 1983 Philip K. Dick Award and 1984 Science Fiction Chronicle Award.
Plot summary
In 1801 the British have risen to power in Egypt and suppress ...
'' (1983) and as a lesser character in Blaylock's ''
The Digging Leviathan'' (1984). Neither author was aware that the other's novel contained a William Ashbless until the coincidence was noticed by the editor responsible for both books, who suggested that the two consult one another so that their references would be consistent. Ashbless also features (as Sir William Ashbless) in Powers' 1979 novel ''
The Drawing of the Dark
''The Drawing of the Dark'' is a historical fantasy novel by Tim Powers published in 1979 by Del Rey Books.
Plot summary
The year is 1529, and Brian Duffy, a world-weary Irish mercenary soldier, is hired in Venice by the mysterious Aurelianus to ...
'', credited with a brief quote before the book's prologue:
In his 1992 novel ''
Last Call
In a Bar (establishment), bar, a last call (last orders) is an Wiktionary:announcement, announcement made shortly before the bar closes for the night, informing patrons of their last chance to buy alcoholic beverages. There are various means to ...
'' (), Tim Powers includes a poem attributed to William Ashbless in the introduction to Book One. The poem is "from" a later time period, as it mentions airplanes, cars, and blue jeans.
As a supposed writer
In 1985, Powers and Blaylock produced ''Offering the Bicentennial Edition of the Complete Twelve Hours of the Night: 1785–1985'', a prospectus for a non-existent collection of Ashbless poetry, published by
Cheap Street Press. ("The Twelve Hours of the Night" had been mentioned in ''The Anubis Gates'' as Ashbless's most famous work.) The prospectus included a sample poem and a replica of Ashbless's signature (the "William" was signed by one, and the "Ashbless" by the other, of the authors). This was followed in 2001 by ''On Pirates'' ()—supposedly written by Ashbless, with an introduction by Powers, an afterword by Blaylock, and illustrations by
Gahan Wilson
Gahan Allen Wilson (February 18, 1930 – November 21, 2019) was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations.
Biography
Wilson was born in Evanston, Illinois, and was inspired by th ...
—and in 2002 by ''The William Ashbless Memorial Cookbook''.
Blog
In 2017,
Big Hit Entertainment
Big Hit Music (; formerly Big Hit Entertainment) is a South Korean music label established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk. It was re-branded and re-structured into an independent label under Hybe Corporation (formerly Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd.) ...
, the label behind K-Pop group
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...
, created a blog post on
Naver
Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...
that mentions Ashbless as a character. The blog post tells the fictional story of Ashbless as a 16th-century poet and playing card enthusiast who created a special card known as The Flower. The blog adds details to Ashbless' life in order to flesh out the narrative surrounding some of BTS' concepts. The post was deleted and then re-uploaded in 2018 to further support themes of time travel in BTS' fictional universe.
See also
*
Ern Malley
The Ern Malley hoax, also called the Ern Malley affair, is Australia's most famous literary hoax. Its name derives from Ernest Lalor "Ern" Malley, a fictitious poet whose biography and body of work were created in one day in 1943 by conservativ ...
, another invented poet, intended to satirise the allegedly low quality of free verse.
References
Tim Powers, The Mystery That Is William Ashblessis an intriguing brief biography of the poet
In Conversation With Tim Powers- the origin of William Ashbless is discussed on the second page
Literary forgeries
Nonexistent people used in hoaxes
Fictional writers
Fictional poets
Literary collaborations
Characters in American novels
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