| Richard Calder | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1956 London |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Genres | Postcyberpunk Science Fiction |
Richard Calder (born 1956, London) is a notable British science fiction writer who lives and works in the East End of London, but who spent over a decade in Thailand (1990–1997) and the Philippines (1999–2002).
He began publishing stories in 1989, and first came to wider notice with the postcyberpunk novel Dead Girls (1992). Dead Girls expanded into an acclaimed trilogy of books, for which he was compared to William Gibson, J.G. Ballard and Alfred Bester. The Edge said: "Richard Calder's 'Dead' trilogy was perhaps the most extraordinary of the many postcyberpunk science fictions." In 2004 Dead Girls was reportedly under option to a film production company.
Since 1992, he has produced a further nine novels, and about twenty short stories. A notable theme running through his work (most notably the 'Dead' trilogy) is agalmatophiliac male lust for young female gynoids, as well as the darker undercurrents of British national culture. His novels and stories have links and plot overlaps between one another, and together form a mythos. His "epic masterpiece" ("Reading Richard Calder", Claude Lalumière) is said to be Malignos (2000).
He cites as inspirations Angela Carter and Georges Bataille, among others. His Dead trilogy is analysed in the third section of the book Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought by Patricia Melzer (University of Texas Press, 2006). His work is also discussed in the books Consuming Youth: Vampires, Cyborgs and the Culture of Consumption, and The Body's Perilous Pleasures: Dangerous Desires and Contemporary Culture.
He is currently adapting his novel Dead Girls into a graphic novel, which is being illustrated by Filipino artist Leonardo M Giron. The graphic novel is serialised in the quarterly magazine Murky Depths. Act 1 - The Last of England featured in Murky Depths #9 to #12 and has since been published in full colour as a limited edition (signed and numbered 1 to 100) hardback. Act 2 - The Big Weird is currently running in Murky Depths and started with #16.