And the list of birthday celebrations continues, with the master of the gothic, the macabre, and the darkly, seductively imaginative…Edgar Allan Poe, himself.
Poe was born in Boston (hooray!) on January 19, 1809, the child of two actors. His father abandoned the family when Poe was still an infant, and his mother died the following year. Poe was then taken in by the Allan family, and though never formally adopted by them, he remained a part of their family into his young adulthood. It was with the Allans that Poe moved to London as a child, a topic we mentioned during our first Postcards From Faraway Series, and John Allan also financed Poe’s tuition to West Point–though, when he failed as an officer’s cadet and declared his decision to become a writer and poet, he and John Allan parted ways for good.
Poe did earn quite a name for himself during his lifetime, both for his fictional writing and poetry, and for his irascible, cantankerous personality. His editorial reviews were often acidic, to put it mildly, and his public appearances were dicey events, at best. When invited by the Boston Lyceum to read his works, Poe grew annoyed that the first lecturer went on and on (and on…for over two hours). So, instead of reading from his wildly popular poem “The Raven”, he recited “Al Aaraff”, a very, very long poem, which he wrote in his teens. When he was attacked by the Boston press for his act, Poe used his own newspaper, the Broadway Journal, to respond:
We like Boston. We were born there – and perhaps it is just as well not to mention that we are heartily ashamed of the fact. The Bostonians are very well in their way. Their hotels are bad. Their pumpkin pies are delicious. Their poetry is not so good. Their common is no common thing — and the duck-pond might answer — if its answer could be heard for the frogs. But with all these good qualities the Bostonians have no soul.
We got over it, eventually, though, and put up this statue on the corner of the street where Poe was born:
But for all the fame and infamy Poe garnered during his life, and by his throughly mysterious death, his true immortality came from the influence his work had, no only on individual writers, but on American Literature as a whole. He invented the modern detective novel with his stories of Auguste Dupin, the man that Arthur Conan Doyle used as the inspiration for his own Sherlock Holmes. He gave us the real meaning of the macabre. He exploited our deepest fears and insecurities, and made them into something haunting, yes, and grim, certainly–but also something beautiful.
Stephen King has noted, “He wasn’t just a mystery/suspense writer. He was the first.” Louis Bayard, who wrote a fascinating novel featuring the young Poe, explained that “Poe is so ingrained in us—so deeply encoded into our cultural DNA—that we no longer recognize him. And yet whenever we write a mystery, whenever we write horror, whenever we write science fiction—whenever we write about obsession—we’re following in his tracks.”
Perhaps this is why the Mystery Writers of America have named their most prestigious award after our Edgar. They announce the shortlist for these awards, auspiciously, every year on Poe’s birthday. These awards honor “the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2015”, but are most associated with mystery novels, and are regarded as one of the highest awards a mystery writer can achieve.
This year’s shortlist was announced yesterday, on Poe’s 207th birthday, with the actual awards to be handed out at the end of April. You can check out the full list of nominees right here, and we’ll be breaking down some elements of this list in the weeks to come, but here are a few highlights for you to peruse, in honor of the good Mr. Poe’s legacy (and maybe have some pumpkin pie? Edgar seems to have been pretty partial to pumpkin pie…).
BEST NOVEL
The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter
The Lady From Zagreb by Philip Kerr
Life or Death by Michael Robotham
Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy
Canary by Duane Swierczynski
Night Life by David C. Taylor
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay
What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan
Woman with a Blue Pencil by Gordon McAlpine
Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
The Daughter by Jane Shemilt
BEST YOUNG ADULT
Endangered by Lamar Giles
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
Ask the Dark by Henry Turner
BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Episode 7,” – Broadchurch, Teleplay by Chris Chibnall
“Gently with the Women” – George Gently, Teleplay by Peter Flannery
“Elise – The Final Mystery” – Foyle’s War, Teleplay by Anthony Horowitz
“Terra Incognita” – Person of Interest, Teleplay by Erik Mountain & Melissa Scrivner Love
“The Beating of her Wings” – Ripper Street, Teleplay by Richard Warlow
