Clark Ashton Smith

1893–1961

1 series 3 books in order 1922–1974

Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961) was an American writer and artist known for his poetry and fiction. He gained early recognition through the support of George Sterling, and was associated with the West Coast Romantics, including Joaquin Miller, Nora May French, and Sterling. He was referred to as "The Last of the Great Romantics" and "The Bard of Auburn." Smith was part of the "big three of Weird Tales" alongside Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft. His work was praised by contemporaries, including Lovecraft, who called him "perhaps unexcelled" in "daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception," and Ray Bradbury, who noted Smith's imaginative worlds. Smith was a member of the Lovecraft circle and maintained a literary friendship with Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937. His writing featured a rich vocabulary, a cosmic perspective, and a sardonic or ribald sense of humor. Smith described his style as using "verbal black magic" to create an illusion of the impossible.

Born

1893

Active years

1922–1974

Known for

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series

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