Following on from the news of the Marked to Die anthology last year, we are very pleased to make another Mark Samuels-related announcement. Written in Darkness, the fifth collection of short fiction by Mark Samuels, and the twenty-eighth title from Chômu Press, is officially released today. Originally available as a limited edition hardback from Egaeus Press, it is now generally available as a Chômu paperback, with lush new cover artwork from Christopher Conn Askew and book design by David Rix.

Samuels’s fourth collection, The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Weird Tales, released in paperback by Chômu in 2011, has proven exceptionally popular with our readers, and we are sure that the current collection will be enjoyed just as widely and deeply. With a further refinement of the author’s concise, elegant style and a broadening of his themes and subject matter, the nine apocalyptic tales included in Written in Darkness are testament to Samuels’s secure and growing place in the consciousness of the connoisseur as an authentic practitioner of weird fiction.

From the back cover: “Europe decays, but the Bloody Baron’s spirit will not rest. A lone yachtsman is becalmed at sea, and confronts madness, or something greater than madness. A condemned office building is besieged by the forces of transcendent decay. In the city of exiles, an unguessable secret awaits.” For all this and more, book your one-way ticket to the heart of the labyrinth here. Or, if you would first like a sample of the contents, you can listen to Quentin S. Crisp reading the final story, ‘In Eternity—Two Lines Intersect’, by arrangement with the author, at Soundcloud, here:

For further information, the author talks informally to Quentin S. Crisp about the collection, about weird fiction, psychogeography, Thomas Ligotti and many other things, in the following YouTube vlog interview:

Other stimulating news—of Chômu Press and miscellaneous matters

Although Chômu’s release schedule has slowed down recently, news abounds in relation to our authors and the surrounding small-press world. In January, for the first time, one of our titles was mentioned in the New York Times. In interview, Roxane Gay was asked, “What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?”, and replied: “I Am a Magical Teenage Princess, by Luke Geddes.” Of course, our readers can claim to have been ahead of the pack here; we hope that many more will follow their excellent lead.

On BBC Radio 2, in February, talking to Jonathan Ross about his ‘hidden treasures’, Marc Almond recited a poem by the Chômu-published poet (beloved of Björk and J.G. Ballard), Jeremy Reed. Marc Almond, of course, collaborated with Jeremy Reed for his Against Nature project, putting the seminal decadent novel by J.-K. Huysmans to music; the lyrics for that project, written by Reed, are included in the fantastic miscellany, Nothing But a Star.

The first of a three-part interview, in which artist and musician Rachel Margetts talks to Chômu author Quentin S. Crisp about the relevance of the Dao De Jing to the 21st century, has recently been uploaded to YouTube. The interview was conducted by Skype, and the image and ambient background audio are provided by Rachel Margetts.

The Cutest Girl in Class, by Quentin S. Crisp, Justin Isis and Brendan Connell, now in paperback.

The (as the name suggests) friendly press, Snuggly Books, have been very busy of late. Last month, they released in paperback the three-author collaborative novel The Cutest Girl in Class, by Quentin S. Crisp, Justin Isis and Brendan Connell (reviewed by Publishers Weekly here). Other recent releases include An Ossuary of the North Lagoon, by Frederick Rolfe a.k.a. Baron Corvo, and a collection of seasonal tanka, October, by Quentin S. Crisp.

To keep up to date with all Chômu and related news, and if you are not already signed up, please do subscribe here to our e-mail list.

Today we are happy to announce the release of our twentieth title, Crandolin, by Anna Tambour, a book which very much deserves the distinction. Set in Literaturnaya typeface, with a matte laminate jacket and back and front cover art from Christopher Conn Askew, Crandolin is a dizzyingly tall tale of mediaeval cookbooks, heraldic beasts, time anomalies, railways, secret recipes for helva and moustaches, music, food, maidens in towers, science, superstition… and a donkey. Please purchase your one-way ticket on the Crandolin Express here.

We couldn’t fit all the praise so far received for Crandolin on the back cover, so here are a couple of quotes that we did not manage to include:

Epicurean fantasy at its finest. Crandolin is an uncanny mating of passion and precision: that Anna Tambour is billed as ‘author’ and not ‘magician’ belies the virtuosity with which she coaxes a whirlwind of gluttonous carnality into her scintillatingly intricate narrative web.

- Rachel Edidin

For gourmands literary and culinary, Tambour is always a treat, and Crandolin is Tambour at her best. Bold and subtle, rich and delicate, this is fiction to savour, fiction to sustain the soul.

- Hal Duncan

Please note, at the time of writing, some Amazon sites are listing waiting times of up to 8 weeks to order Crandolin. This figure should go down soon. If you are concerned about receiving the book in time for Christmas, however, the Book Depository, which has free worldwide delivery, is already stocking the book and promises dispatch within 48 hours. We are also hoping to release a hardback edition of Crandolin. As yet there is no definite schedule for this, but news will follow as soon as we have any concrete details. And now, details of this month’s prize draw:

Prize Draw for uniquely inscribed copy of Crandolin

The prize this month is a uniquely inscribed copy of Crandolin. Here are the rules for anyone unfamiliar with them: To be entered for this draw, please sign up here to our mailing list (or using the ‘Free updates’ widget on our home page) and send an e-mail with the subject heading ‘borscht borscht borscht’ to info at chomupress dot com. If you are already on our mailing list, of course there is no need to sign up again – simply send an e-mail with the ‘borscht borscht borscht’ subject heading to the address mentioned. Only one entry allowed per person. Deadline for draw, the 30th of November.

Those on our mailing list can also expect exclusive interviews from Chômu authors. The next interview will be with D.F. Lewis, author of Nemonymous Night.

The summer of 2012 draws towards its melancholy end. Bathed in the red and gold rays of its dying sun is our September release, All God’s Angels, Beware!, by Quentin S. Crisp, originally a limited edition hardback (Ex Occidente, 2009), now released as a paperback for the first time. This re-release, revised and with lush wraparound cover art from Christopher Conn Askew, is Crisp’s fourth, and according to Ziesings Books, a “much anticipated” collection of shorter fiction. If this is all the recommendation you need, then please proceed to obtain a copy here. Be aware, however, that, as well as the title itself, this book appears to come with warnings attached:

Quentin S. Crisp is one of those writers whose voice is so strong that the essential features of his fiction remain constant whether the trappings are science fiction, horror, fantasy, or contemporary minimalist fiction. It’s not something that all readers will be able to bear. His characters’ awkwardness, suffering, self-pity will turn off those for whom such modes of existence are impossible to understand. But for those who are epicures of the upsetting, the degraded, and the unexpectedly numinous, he is (superlative alert) among the finest of contemporary writers.

- Brendan Moody, The Stars at Noonday

Crisp (Shrike) stakes his claim to the territory of existential dread with this … edition of a short fiction collection first published in 2009. The stories are largely told in the first person, touching on themes of Japanese culture, the pointlessness of everyday life, and the terrors of intimacy. Moments of unexpected tenderness leaven the relentless gloom: “Italiannetto” is a genuinely sweet reminiscence of love and inspiration, made all the more powerful by the surrounding unsettling tales of sexual dysfunction like “The Fox Wedding” and “Asking for It.” The narrator of “A Cup of Tea” may be painfully incapable of surviving in the workaday world, but is still very capable of affection even in the midst of despair. The book’s saving grace is that ability to mitigate the worst of the overwrought self-indulgence of the neurasthenic narrators with flashes of emotion, making it simultaneously deeper and more accessible than its many characters might have wished.

- Publishers Weekly

If you are one of those who will be in attendance at this month’s FantasyCon, in Brighton, please also remember that, as well as Chômu Press having a table in the dealers’ room, Quentin S. Crisp will be signing copies of All God’s Angels, Beware! and Reggie Oliver of The Dracula Papers, Book I: The Scholar’s Tale, late on the morning of the Saturday of that weekend. Details of this month’s prize draw are to follow:

Prize Draw for uniquely inscribed copy of All God’s Angels, Beware!

The prize this month is, of course, for a uniquely inscribed copy of All God’s Angels, Beware!. Here are the rules here for anyone unfamiliar with them: To be entered for this draw, please sign up here to our mailing list (or using the ‘Free updates’ widget on our home page) and send an e-mail with the subject heading ‘I’m not afraid anymore’ to info at chomupress dot com. If you are already on our mailing list, of course there is no need to sign up again – simply send an e-mail with the ‘I’m not afraid anymore’ subject heading to the address mentioned. Only one entry allowed per person. Deadline for draw, the 1st of October.

Those on our mailing list can also expect exclusive interviews from Chômu authors. The next interview will be with D.F. Lewis, author of Nemonymous Night.

Copies of Celebrant, by Michael Cisco, have already leaked out and found their way into the hands of the keen-eyed and well-informed, but today is the official release date. With lush wraparound art from Christopher Conn Askew, Celebrant is Chômu’s sixteenth release. As Publishers Weekly summarises, the novel is set in the possibly mythical city of Votu, “a fantastical realm where time runs backward, the inhabitants worship five ‘natural’ robots that formed spontaneously, and gangs of theriomorphic waifs (rabbit girls and pigeon girls) struggle to survive as urban scavengers.” Reporting intrepidly from Votu, China Miéville informs us, “With Michael Cisco doing things like this, sometimes it feels like the rest of literature might as well get up and head home.” What should you expect in Votu? Pick up your ticket to the frontiers of reality here. And before you leave, a brief excerpt from the travel guide:

In Votu, time is commonly supposed to run backward. It is insisted, however vaguely, that, everywhere else, what exists is understood to protrude from the past into the present. In Votu, what exists is understood to protrude from the future into the present. Time pours out in a stream whose current goes toward the past, although their preferred metaphor for this is a burning incense stick: the past is ashes, still retaining the shape of the stick for a time, then dispersing to dust, while the future is unground leaves, and the present is the ring of fire.

See below for details of the Celebrant prize draw, or, to find or lose yourself straight away in Votu, buy yourself a copy here.

Other news

Because of the large number of submissions already received, regretfully, Chômu is temporarily closed for submissions. The good news is that, among those submissions read so far, there is already more great material than we can hope to schedule – good news for us and our readers, of course. Sadly, there will be many submissions that we cannot take on. Many thanks to all those who have submitted, on whom we rely, for your patience and understanding.

Our schedule for 2012 is now full and looks like this:

May – Dadaoism (An Anthology) (already released)
June – Celebrant, by Michael Cisco (released today)
July – I Am a Magical Teenage Princess, by Luke Geddes
August – summer break and a chance for you to catch up with the Chômu back catalogue
September – All God’s Angels, Beware!, by Quentin S. Crisp
October – Human Pages, by John Elliott
November – Crandolin, by Anna Tambour (page recently uploaded on site)
December – (title to be announced), by Brendan Connell

There is also a new name at the bottom of the ‘Our Books’ page.

Prize Draw for uniquely inscribed copy of Celebrant

As usual, we are presenting another prize draw this month. Before we do so, however, we would like to announce the winner of last month’s prize draw, for a uniquely inscribed copy of Dadaoism (An Anthology). And the winner is… Brian Warfield of Philadelphia. The editors of the anthology will be personalising a copy to send his way soon.

The prize this month, of course, is a uniquely inscribed copy of Celebrant. We will repeat the rules here for anyone unfamiliar with them: To be entered for this draw, please sign up here to our mailing list (or using the ‘Free updates’ widget on our home page) and send an e-mail with the subject heading ‘Celebrate – for all you’ve changed me’ (remember the important apostrophe) to info at chomupress dot com. If you are already on our mailing list, of course there is no need to sign up again – simply send an e-mail with the ‘Celebrate – for all you’ve changed me’ subject heading to the address mentioned. Only one entry allowed per person. Deadline for draw, the 29th of June.

Next week, we release Dadaoism (An Anthology), a book that has been absorbing a great deal of our energy for some time. A review of the anthology has already gone online here. Gordon Hauptfleisch describes the book as:

…an often challenging but ultimately rewarding collection of angst, anxiety, and alienation as conveyed in whimsy, wit, and wordplay.

In June and July, we return to single-author volumes, with the novel Celebrant, by Michael Cisco (a work of which China Miéville, has said, “With Michael Cisco doing things like this, sometimes it feels like the rest of literature might as well get up and head home”), and a debut collection of short fiction – I Am a Magical Teenage Princess – by the inestimable Luke Geddes. This latter features a cover design from special guest designer, Rian Hughes. Both books have been reviewed favourably by Publishers Weekly. And here are the links of the Publishers Weekly reviews for Celebrant and I Am a Magical Teenage Princess.

Christopher Conn Askew, who produced beautiful wraparound cover art for Celebrant, will also be producing another lush wraparound cover for the September paperback reprint of Quentin S. Crisp’s collection All God’s Angels, Beware! (previously an Ex Occidente limited edition). October, November and December willl bring work from John Elliott, Anna Tambour and Brendan Connell. Please watch this site or subscribe to our mailing list at this link (or using the ‘Free updates’ widget on our home page) for further details.

For a more in-depth view of what is happening at Chômu, and greater detail on some of the books mentioned here, as well as some of those not mentioned here, please read Jason Rolfe’s interview with Quentin S. Crisp at Bibliomancy.

Finally, Chômu would like to congratulate Reggie Oliver and Michael Cisco for their nominations in the novel category for the 2011 Shirley Jackson Awards (thank you for entrusting your novels to us), and to thank whomever nominated Chômu Press to the shortlist for the PS Publishing Independent Press Award. Thank you, and get suavée!