Clark Ashton Smith right Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 - August 14, 1961) was a poet, sculptor, painter, and in his time, a successful author of horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered for today. Clark Ashton Smith, H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard were the three most successful contributors to Weird Tales. Biography Smith spent the main part of his life in the small town of Auburn, California, living in a small cabin with his parents, Fanny and Timeus Smith. He began writing stories at the age of 11, of which some - The Sword of Zagan and The Black Diamonds - have recently been published. Both stories are written around a medieval, Arabian Nights-like setting. The Arabian Nights, as well as the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the works of Edgar Allan Poe, are known to have influenced the early writings of Smith. Smith's formal education was rather limited - he only attended 8 years of grammar school and never went to high school. He preferred an autodidactic approach and is known to have read several encyclopedias from beginning to end. A major influence on Smith was his association with the San Francisco poet George Sterling, who helped him to publish his first volume of poems, The Star-Treader and Other Poems, at the age of 19. The Star-Treader was received very favorably by the critics, who named Smith "the Keats of the Pacific." Smith made the acquaintance of Sterling through a member of the local Auburn Monday Night Club, to whose members he read several of his poems, with considerable success. The publication of Ebony and Crystal in 1922 was followed by a fan letter from H. P. Lovecraft, which was the beginning of 15 years of correspondence. After his marriage to Carol Jones Dorman on 10 November 1954, he moved to Pacific Grove, California, where he set up a household together with her and her children. He spent most of his life in a state of poverty and was often forced to take menial jobs such as fruit picking and woodcutting in order to support himself and his parents. Phases of preferred art forms While Smith was always an artist who used multiple forms of expression, it is possible to mark three distinctive phases in which one form of art had precedence over the others. Poetry: Until 1925 It was in this phase that Smith published most of his volumes of poetry, including the aforementioned The Star-Treader and Other Poems, as well as Odes and Sonnets published in 1918, Ebony and Crystal (1922) and Sandalwood (1925). Weird Fiction: 1926-1935 It was during this period that Smith wrote most of his weird fiction stories, possibly inspired by H. P. Lovecraft. Sculpture: 1935- By this time his interest in writing fiction began to lessen and he turned to creating sculptures from soft rock. Books Hippocampus Press The Black Diamonds The Last Oblivion: Best Fantastic Poems of Clark Ashton Smith The Sword Of Zagan And Other Writings Letters Of George Sterling And Clark Ashton Smith The Freedom Of Fantastic Things Arkham House The Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith A Rendezvous in Averoigne Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith Selected Poems Millennium Fantasy Masterworks The Emperor of Dreams Wildside Press The Double Shadow External link The Eldritch Dark - This website contains almost all of Clark Ashton Smith's written work, as well as a comprehensive selection of his art, biographies, a bibliography, a discussion board, readings, fiction tributes and more. FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Ashton_Smith