S. P. Somtow

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S.P. Somtow

S.P. Somtow (a rearrangement of his real name Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; Thai: สมเถา สุจริตกุล) born December 30, 1952, is a Thai musical composer. He is also an English science fiction and horror author.

In 2000 he composed Madana the first orchestral western opera by a Thai composer and based on a Thai language play by King Rama VI.[1] The opera was in English. He has also composed five symphonies and a ballet, which have all been performed. His second opera on a Thai theme, Mae Naak, premiered in 2003 and a third opera, Ayodhya, was first performed in November, 2006.[2] Other musical compositions include the "Requiem: In Memoriam 9/11", commissioned by the government of Thailand as a gift for the victims of the 9/11 tragedy and inspired by the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and T.S. Eliot.

As a science fiction writer, he is known for several series, among which are Mallworld, Inquestor, and Aquila. He was first published as Somtow Sucharitkul in the late 1970s in the pages of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and wrote several stories and novels under that name before changing his byline to S. P. Somtow for personal reasons. In the horror genre, he wrote Vampire Junction and a series of related novels and stories. He was president of the Horror Writers Association from 1998 to 2000.

He is currently artistic director of the Bangkok Opera.[3] In 2006 Somtow Sucharitkul conducted the first Wagner opera in Southeast Asia Das Rheingold, as part of a five year project to bring the entire Ring Cycle to Southeast Asia by the year 2010.[4]

Somtow Sucharitkul has won the World Fantasy Award, for which he was four times previously nominated. He has won the International Horror Guild Award, the John W. Campbell Award, the Locus Award, the HOMer Award, and numerous other awards and been nominated for two Hugos and five Bram Stoker Awards.