Barton Paul Levenson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes.
Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (February 2008)
Barton Paul Levenson
Born May 9, 1960 (1960-05-09)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Pen name BPL
Occupation Writer
Nationality United States
Genres Fantasy, Science fiction
Influences
BPL Home Page Official website

Barton Paul Levenson (May 9, 1960–present) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. He was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He is a 1983 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. [1] His first publication of fiction was a short story "Twenty Peasants" published in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine in 1991.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Barton was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1960. He lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania then Charlotte, North Carolina as a youth. Barton returned to Pittsburgh to study Physics at Carnegie-Mellon University. He started writing in 1974. He became a Christian in 1984 and many of his writings try to capture his religious philosophy. Barton has two novels under contract at the moment, each with an expected publication date in 2008. [2]

[edit] Pittsburgh influence

The City of Pittsburgh with its diverse population and architecture, along with its spectacular Victorian and Machine Age vistas, seems to be gaining its own reputation for depicting fantasy, science fiction and the macabre in the arts. This reputation may have started with the notable film director George Romero's definitive work Night of the Living Dead in 1968. Around this time, Chilly Bill Cardille's Chiller Theatre was on the air in the Steel City. Recently this genre has been reflected in Pittsburgh Film Director Rusty Cundieff's Tales from the Hood. Some films of the macabre genre made in Pittsburgh have included The Dark Half by Stephen King and The Silence of the Lambs. Some of this influence may be seen in the works of the members of the Pittsburgh Worldwrights Writers' Workshop founded by noted Pittsburgh Sci-fi/fantasy writer Mary Soon Lee. Barton is a long-standing member of the Worldwrights.

[edit] Style

Barton Paul Levenson's writing is unique and complex, often in the first-person and it sometimes takes on other genders or species. His early writing was somewhat jejeune but with the influence of the Worldwrights he developed his current peculiar style. Barton's works often contain Christian parables, cat-like aliens and complex scientific concepts. He often manipulates language and creates new words that fit the context or mood of his stories. Barton's work seems to be inspired by authors ranging from C.S. Lewis to Edgar Allan Poe. Note particularly the allegory in "The Closet" Chiarascuro, 2003, which reflects humankind's unwillingness to accept the consequences of their own choices. Alasdair Stuart, a fantasy writer and reviewer from England brings this story to life in a haunting reading on Pseudopod. The commentary reflects the dark complexity of the story as everyone who reads it seems to attach a different meaning depending on their perspective.

[edit] Bibliography

Fiction

  • "Twenty Peasants." Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, August 1991.
  • "Virtual Bridges." Confluence Program Book 1997 (First Prize Winner).
  • "Reality Forbidden." Confluence Program Book 1998 (First Prize Winner).
  • "The Physics of Space Beer Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Clones." Maelstrom, April 1999.
  • "Sometimes We Lie." Eternity On-Line, March 2000. ...Reprinted in the anthology Leaps of Faith 2003, (Writer's Cafe Press.)
  • "Scrunched Up." Future Orbits, Vander Neut Publications LLC February 2002.
  • "Along with Captain Gooding." Future Orbits, Vander Neut Publications LLC June 2002.
  • "Writer's Block." Dark Seasons, January 2003.
  • "The Closet." Chiaroscuro, March 2003.
  • "Temple Cat." Cricket, Vol. 32 Issue 10, p20-26, June 2005. [3]
  • "The Horror in the Monkey-Squeezing Room." ScienceFictionFantasyHorror.com, June 2005.
  • "The Problem of Pain." The Sword Review, July 2005. Forum
  • "Undead." Insidious Reflections, July 2005.
  • "Van Helsing in London." Hungur magazine Issue 1, Halloween 2005. See Review
  • "All the Horrible Dragons." The Sword Review, December 2005.
  • "Pet Cat." In the anthology Animal Magnetism [4] (2005)
  • "The Intruder." In the anthology, Travel Guide to the Haunted Mid-Atlantic Region [5](2006)
  • "Rain and Revenge." RAGE Machine Issue #2, [6]March 2006
  • "The Curse." In the anthology Shadow Regions [7](2006)
  • "The Extraordinary Circumstances On Board H.M.S. Steadfast." Cicada, January-February 2007.
  • "Problem in Logic." Staffs & Starships, issue 1, 2007
  • "The Rescue." Beyond Centauri, issue 18, 2007
  • "Dedication Day." Art & Prose, October 2007
  • "Katie Belle." Whispering Spirits, October 2007
  • "Side Trip." Science Fiction Trails, #2, 2007
  • "The Fate of the Crystal Eye." In the anthology Forbidden Speculation (2007)
  • "Wifey." Written Word, Holiday Edition 2007
  • "Wisdom." Anathema On-Line Anthology, January, 2008

Poems

  • "Off-Topic." Astropoetica Volume 4.2, Spring 2006

Nonfiction

  • "The Ideology of Robert A. Heinlein." The New York Review of Science Fiction, June 1998. ...Reprinted in Gigamesh (Spain) 1999. ...Reprinted in Ikarie (Czech Republic) 2003.
  • "James White's The Dream Millennium." The New York Review of Science Fiction, April 1999.
  • "Jeffrey Sackett's Candlemas Eve." The New York Review of Science Fiction, March 2001.
  • "S. L. Viehl's Stardoc." The New York Review of Science Fiction, November 2002.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Art & Prose Magazine, October 2007, p. 40. #61 Showcase Writer, Interview with B.P. Levenson
  2. ^ Art & Prose Magazine, October 2007, p. 40. #61 Showcase Writer, Interview with B.P. Levenson
  3. ^ Cited in Britannica Online Snow Leopard
  4. ^ Publisher: SFH Charity Anthologies Copyright: © 2005 by S.A. Parham and W. Olivia Race
  5. ^ Publisher: NSP BOOKS Copyright: © 2006
  6. ^ eBook Publisher: TIME m a c h i n e Books, March, 2006, Thomas, Hughes and Mackenzie, editors
  7. ^ Publisher: Surreal Books (Cavern Press) 2006 edited by César Puch