Parke Godwin

Parke Godwin (January 28, 1929 – June 19, 2013) was an American writer.^[1] He won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella in 1982 for his story “The Fire When It Comes.”^[2] He was a native of New York City, where he was born in 1929.^[3]

Works

Godwin is known for his novels of legendary figures placed in realistic historical settings, written in a lyrical yet precise prose style and sardonic humor. His retelling of the Arthur legend, Firelord in 1980, Beloved Exile in 1984 and The Last Rainbow in 1985, is set in the 5th century during the collapse of the Roman empire, and his reinterpretation of Robin Hood (Sherwood, 1991, and Robin and the King, 1993) takes place during the Norman conquest and features kings William the Conqueror and William Rufus as major characters. His other well-known works include Waiting for the Galactic Bus (1988) and its two sequels: The Snake Oil Wars, and The Snake Oil Variations, both in 1989. These were humorous critiques of American pop culture and religion.

His short fiction has appeared in several anthologies. His short story "Influencing the Hell out of Time and Teresa Golowitz," was the basis of an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Godwin has also been a radio operator, a research technician, a professional actor, an advertising man, a dishwasher and a maitre d' hotel.

In 2011, he was the Guest of Honor at the World Fantasy Con.^[4] He was placed in a close care facility in 2012 due to a decline in his long- and short-term memory.^[5] He died in 2013.^[6]

Bibliography

• Darker Places, 1973
• A Memory of Lions, 1976
• A Cold Blue Light, 1983 (with Marvin Kaye) (Berkley Books, 1983)
• The Fire When It Comes, 1984 (collection of short stories) (Hugo nominee)
• The Last Rainbow, 1985
• A Truce with Time, 1988
• Invitation to Camelot, 1988 (editor)
• Limbo Search, 1995
• The Tower of Beowulf, 1995
• Lord of Sunset, 1998
• Night You Could Hear Forever, 1999
• The Lovers: The Legend of Trystan and Yseult, 1999 (as Kate Hawks)
• Watch By Moonlight, 2001 (as Kate Hawks)
• Prince of Nowhere, 2011

The Masters of Solitude series

• The Masters of Solitude, 1978 (with Marvin Kaye)
• Wintermind, 1982 (with Marvin Kaye)

The novel A Cold Blue Light, 1983 (with Marvin Kaye) is sometimes listed as the third volume of the trilogy, but is unrelated; the third volume Singer Among The Nightingales has been written but, unfortunately, wasn't published before his death.

Firelord series

• Firelord, 1980
• Beloved Exile, 1984

The novel The Last Rainbow, 1985 is sometimes listed as the third volume of the Firelord series, but is actually an unrelated novel about Saint Patrick. Parke's third novel relate to the Arthurian mythos was The Lovers: The Legend of Trystan and Yseult, 1999, published under the pseudonym "Kate Hawks."

Snake Oil series

• Waiting for the Galactic Bus, 1988
• The Snake Oil Wars: or Scheherazade Ginsberg Strikes Again, 1989 (also published under the title The Snake Oil Variations)

Robin Hood series

• Sherwood, 1991
• Robin and the King, 1993 (also published under the title Return to Nottingham: A Novel)

References

External links

• Parke Godwin at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database