Clark Ashton Smith: Author & Poet Admired by REH

[Ningauble]

This forthcoming documentary about the great Klarkash-Ton, correspondent of both Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft, looks very promising:

[robp]

Looking forward to this! Feel CAS often gets overshadowed by the other two, he wrote some great stories and was a very interesting guy

[zarono]

Very cool! A documentary about CAS is long overdue.
 Writer Doug Moench gives a tip of the hat to CAS in this panel from Marvel's Doc Savage #7  jan 1977 (art is Val Mayerik and Tony Dezuniga)

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This is for a good cause and for serious CAS fans...

A major CAS scholar I know is going through a rough spell. I'll let him take it from here:

I received some very bad news today about a job for which I had high hopes. I still have two copies of IN THE REALM OF MYSTERY AND WONDER: THE PROSE POETRY AND ARTWORK OF CLARK ASHTON SMITH, available. It will be published by Centipede Press next year (it's at the printers), and will probably run $200 or more. I am offering advance orders on my contributor's copies for $150. I also have books from CAS' library (some signed, some simply inscribed, many by Samuel Loveman) that I will sell. I hate to beg, so I am offering value here, but I am in a bad situation at the moment. Any help would literally be a lifesaver.


If you are interested in helping him out and getting some great deals on Smithian books, just message me. This is absolutely legit. I'll let you know who it is if you message me and I'll get you in touch with him. I just don't want to throw his name and misfortune out there for Crom and whoever to see. These are rough times.  

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Clark Ashton Smith was and is a towering figure in weird literature. Robert E. Howard highly admired him, as did Lovecraft. CAS was a major influence on CL Moore and Fritz Leiber, and himself wrote some of the very first sword-and-sorcery tales ever. The Eldritch Dark is the website devoted to the life and work of Mr. Smith:

www.eldritchdark.com/

At ED, you'll find texts of many of CAS's stories, poems and letters. Also, his artwork and sculptures, along with many photos of the man. There is a forum as well, where one can interact and ask questions from other CAS fans and scholars. Check it out.  

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A good post about CAS with some discussion about the Smith-inspired "Castle Amber" module from TSR:



harbingergames.blogspot.com/2016/10/adding-to-appendix-n-clark-ashton-smith.html

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Courtesy of Ningauble...



The collected correspondence of Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith is now up for pre-order at: 


www.hippocampuspress.com/h.p-lovecraft/collected-letters/dawnward-spire-lonely-hill-the-letters-of-h.-p.-lovecraft-and-clark-ashton-smith

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A belated shout-out from myself to Klarkash-Ton. Happy 124th birthday (yesterday), Mr. Smith!


www.eldritchdark.com/

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A short homage to the weird fiction of Klarkash-Ton:


toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/2010/05/clark-ashton-smith.html

[ChrisLAdams]

I've haunted The Eldritch Dark CAS fan page for years and years now.  As such I've long since listened enrapt as Smith intoned his own lines of poetry, read online versions of Smith's work I'd yet obtained a hard copy of and in general just enjoyed immersing myself in a webpage dedicated to the works and information about one of my favorite authors.

Only recent as mid 2016 however did I take time to listen to examples of the spoken word recordings of some of Smith's short stories, and really enjoyed this reading of The Door to Saturn.

By the gods, I wish I could get this guy to record some of my stuff!

The Door to Saturn

Read by Zibethicus

[emerald]

Didn't Harlan Ellison write a little essay in praise of Smith? 
Many years ago I heard him speak and, while he was (and is) much better known for his barbed and angry remarks about things he despises, it was a real treat to hear him wax eloquent about two authors he actually admires, CAS and Fritz Leiber. 

In this cynical and self-conscious age, it seems that people are most comfortable running down the things they dislike, and often snide dismissal takes the place of criticism, especially in arts and entertainment.  It's a fine thing when someone stands up for a work or a creator they love.  I got out of Ellison's talk and went right home to read some Smith and Leiber.   

Hey, when was the last time you had your mind blown?  Got a little time to let CAS do it for you?

Check this out.  The complete text of Smith's THE HASHISH EATER or THE APOCALYPSE OF EVIL over on Black Gate.

www.blackgate.com/2011/03/11/of-secret-worlds-incredible-a-psychedelic-journey-into-clark-ashton-smith%e2%80%99s-poetic-masterpiece/

Every time I read this poem it amazes me. 
Every. Single. Time.

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Virgil Finlay's painting for CAS' The Garden of Adompha:

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Interesting maps of Averoigne and Zothique.

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This was the first CAS collection I ever owned. Blew my mind.

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Say what you want about Lin Carter as a fiction writer, but the man was a fine editor, an excellent historian of fantasy/weird lit and he generally had good taste. Here's a look at Carter's views on CAS:


www.beyond49.ca/Carter/Lin_Carter_and_Clark_Ashton_Smith.htm