American writer
Michael R. Collings
Born (1947-10-29 ) October 29, 1947 (age 76)
Rupert, Idaho Occupation Writer, bibliographer, literary critic, poet, professor (retired) Language English Nationality
United States Education
Master's degree (English)
Ph.D. (English literature) Alma mater
Bakersfield College (AA)
Whittier College (BA)
University of California, Riverside (MA and PhD) Period 1979 - current Genres
fantasy ,
horror ,
science fiction Subjects
Orson Scott Card ,
Stephen King Notable works In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card Spouse Judi Collings Children
Michaelbrent Collings
StarShine and Shadows
Michael Robert Collings (born October 29, 1947)
[1]
[2] is an American writer,
poet ,
literary critic , and
bibliographer , and a former professor of
creative writing and
literature at
Pepperdine University .
[2]
[3] He was Poet in Residence at Pepperdine's Seaver College from 1997 to 2000.
[4]
Collings has had multiple collections of his poetry published on subjects such as
Latter Day Saint theology ,
Joseph Smith ,
Christmas ,
science fiction , and
horror .
[4] He is known for his literary critiques and bibliographies of the works of
Orson Scott Card and
Stephen King ,
[2]
[3]
[4] though he has also published critiques and bibliographies of the works of
Peter Straub ,
Dean Koontz ,
C. S. Lewis ,
Brian W. Aldiss , and
Piers Anthony .
[2]
[4] His In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card was the first book-length academic look at Card's works.
[4]
[5]
Biography
Michael Robert Collings was born in
Rupert, Idaho .
[6] He graduated from
Bakersfield College in 1967 with an
Associate's degree , then graduated with a
Bachelor's degree in English from
Whittier College two years later. After graduating with a
Master's degree in
English from the
University of California, Riverside in 1973, Collings received his
Ph.D. in
English literature from UCR in 1977, specializing in
Milton and
The Renaissance .
[7]
Before he began teaching
creative writing and
literature at
Pepperdine University ,
[2] Collings taught at UCR,
San Bernardino Valley Community College , and
UCLA . He taught at Pepperdine from 1979
[7] until 2010, when he retired. He now lives in Idaho with his wife, Judi. His son,
Michaelbrent Collings , is a fantasy and horror writer.
Collings was introduced to Stephen King's work by a student,
David A. Engebretson , in 1983, and published his first book on him, The Many Facets of Stephen King , in 1985; reading King led to his also studying and publishing on Koontz and
Robert McCammon .
[8]
The
World Horror Convention awarded him their
Grand Master Award in 2016.
[9]
Selected bibliography
Articles and papers
"C. S. Lewis and the Music of Creation" (July–August 1979), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
"The Mechanisms of Fantasy" (January 1980), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
"To Be Still a Man : Abstraction and Concretion in C. S. Lewis" (January 1982), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
"Beyond Deep Heaven: Generic Structure and Christian Message in C. S. Lewis's Ransom Novels", (December 1986), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
"Brothers of the Head : Brian W. Aldiss's Psychological Landscape" (1988), Spectrum of the Fantastic: Selected Papers from the Fifth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts ,
Greenwood Press
"Brian W. Aldiss" (1989), Reader's Guide to Twentieth Century Science Fiction Writers ,
American Library Association
"To See the World the Poet's Way " In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization, and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card. New York: Greenwood Press, (1990), Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed.Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 279. Detroit: Gale, 2010
Sources:
[4]
Non-fiction books
The Many Facets of Stephen King (1985), Starmont House,
ISBN
0-930261-14-3
The Shorter Works of Stephen King (1985), with
David A. Engebretson , Starmont House,
ISBN
0-930261-02-X
Stephen King as Richard Bachman (1985), Starmont House,
ISBN
0-930261-00-3
The Annotated Guide to Stephen King: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography of the Works of America's Premier Horror Writer (1986), Starmont House,
ISBN
0-930261-80-1
The Films of Stephen King (1986), Starmont House,
ISBN
0-930261-10-0
Card Catalogue: The Science Fiction and Fantasy of Orson Scott Card (1987), Hypatia Press,
ISBN
0-940841-01-0
The Stephen King Phenomenon (1987), Starmont House,
ISBN
0-930261-12-7
In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card (1990), Greenwood Press,
ISBN
0-313-26404-X
Scaring Us to Death: The Impact of Stephen King on Popular Culture (1997), Borgo Press,
ISBN
0-930261-37-2
The Work of Orson Scott Card: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide (1997), with
Boden Clarke
Hauntings: The Official Peter Straub Bibliography (2000), Overlook Connection Press,
ISBN
1-892950-15-4
Storyteller: The Official Guide to the Works of Orson Scott Card (2001), Overlook Connection Press,
ISBN
1-892950-26-X
Horror Plum'd: An International Stephen King Bibliography and Guide 1960-2000 (2003), Overlook Connection Press,
ISBN
1-892950-45-6
Stephen King Is Richard Bachman , (March 2008), Overlook Connection Press,
ISBN
1-892950-74-X
Sources:
[2]
[4]
[5]
Novels
The House Beyond the Hill (2007,
Wildside Press ,
ISBN
1-4344-0066-2 )
Singer of Lies (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-5710-3 )
The Slab (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-1207-2 )
Static! (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-3530-9 )
Shadow Valley (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-3521-7 )
Writing Darkness (2012, CreateSpace,
ISBN
978-1-4793-8404-4 )
Wordsmith series
The Veil of Heaven (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-0280-6 )
The Thousand Eyes of Flame (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-0281-3 )
Three Tales of Omne (2010, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-1177-8 , published in an omnibus with The Elder of Days by Robert Reginald)
Epic poem
Poetry and fiction collections
Naked to the Sun (1986, Starmont House,
ISBN
0-930261-76-3 )
Dark Transformations: Deadly Visions of Change (1990, Starmont House,
ISBN
1-55742-196-X )
All Calm, All Bright: Christmas Offerings (2007, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-0172-4 )
In the Void: Poems of Science Fiction, Myth and Fantasy, & Horror (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-5761-5 )
Wer Means Man and Other Tales of Wonder and Terror (2010, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,
ISBN
978-1-4344-1187-7 )
Dear Emily and Other Poems (2016, CreateSpace,
ISBN
978-1541095892 )
In the Haunting Darkness (2022, Hemelein Publications,
ISBN
978-1-64278-060-4 )
Sources:
[4]
[6]
[10]
See also
References
^ U.S. Public Records Index Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
^
a
b
c
d
e
f Wands, D C (2008-02-16).
"Michael R Collings" . FantasticFiction. Retrieved 2008-02-29 .
^
a
b Beahm, George W. (1998).
Stephen King from A to Z: an encyclopedia of his life and work .
Andrews McMeel Publishing . p.
43 .
ISBN
0-8362-6914-4 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Michael R. Collings" .
Brigham Young University . 2003. Retrieved 2008-02-29 .
^
a
b Langford, Jonathan (1997-10-21).
"AML-List Review: In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization, and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card" .
Association for Mormon Letters . Archived from
the original on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2008-02-29 .
^
a
b
"Michael R. Collings - Summary Bibliography" .
Internet Speculative Fiction Database . Retrieved May 5, 2015 .
^
a
b
"Michael R. Collings Bio Information" .
Pepperdine University . Archived from
the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved 2008-02-29 .
^ Lindbergh, Ben (September 4, 2018).
"The King Chroniclers and the Reimagining of an Icon of American Letters" . The Ringer . Retrieved September 10, 2018 .
^
"World Horror Grandmaster 2016" . Science Fiction Awards Database.
Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
^
"The House Beyond the Hill by Michael R Collings" . FantasticFiction. Retrieved 2008-02-29 .
International National Other