Conlon, Christopher 1962-

PERSONAL: Born August 7, 1962. Education: Humboldt State University, B.A.; University of Maryland, M.A.

ADDRESSES: Home— Silver Spring, MD. Office— The Nora School, 955 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER: Poet, writer, and educator. Nora School (formerly the Washington Ethical High School), Silver Spring, MD, teacher, 1995—. Peace Corps Volunteer, Botswana, 1988-90.

AWARDS, HONORS: Peace Corps Poetry Prize for Gilbert and Garbo in Love: A Romance in Poems; Pushcart Prize nomination for What There Is.

WRITINGS

Saying Secrets: American Stories (short stories), Writers Club Press, 2000.

A Stained Dawn: Poems about Africa, Mango Biscuit Press (Silver Spring, MD), 2001.

What There Is (poetry), Argonne Hotel Press (Washington, DC), 2002.

Gilbert and Garbo in Love: A Romance in Poems, Word Works (Washington, DC), 2003.

(Editor) Filet of Sohl: The Classic Scripts and Stories of Jerry Sohl, BearManor Media (Boalsburg, PA), 2003.

The Weeping Time: Elegy in Three Voices (poetry), Argonne House Books (Washington, DC), 2004.

(Editor) The Twilight Zone Scripts of Jerry Sohl, Bear-Manor Media (Boalsburg, PA), 2004.

(Editor) Poe’s Lighthouse: All New Collaborations with Edgar Allan Poe, Cemetery Dance Publications (Forest Hill, MD), 2006.

Thundershowers at Dusk: Gothic Stories, introduction by Gary A. Braunbeck, Rock Village Publishing (Middleborough, MA), 2006.

Also author of novella, “The Wild Track,” issue 9 of the online literary journal The King’s English. Contributor of poetry to periodicals, including Santa Barbara Review, Wind, Poet Lore, and America; contributor of fiction to literary journals, including The Long Story and to anthologies, including Masques V; contributor of nonfiction to periodicals, including Poets & Writers and Filmfax and to collections, including September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond, Etruscan Press.

SIDELIGHTS: Christopher Conlon writes poetry and fiction. In Saying Secrets: American Stories, the author presents five stories in which young people suffer physical pains and/or mental torments. For example, in “The Map of the World,” a black girl finds herself in a hospital after being raped and burned by racists. She makes friends with another burn victim, who, like her, no longer has an identifying racial skin color. Karl Luntta, writing on the Peace Corps Writers Web site, commented: “Early on in Saying Secrets, it is evident that Christopher Conlon is—in the best tradition of writers of any genre—an honest writer.”

Conlon writes poetry about Botswana, where he was stationed in the Peace Corps, in his book A Stained Dawn: Poems about Africa.“To his credit, Conlon steers away from the confessional road it might have been convenient to take with such material,” wrote Ann Neelon on the Peace Corps Writers Web site.

In Gilbert and Garbo in Love: A Romance in Poems, the author presents a fictionalized portrayal of the lives of silent-film stars John Gilbert and Greta Garbo. “This is a tour de force for author Christopher Conlon,” wrote Grace Cavalieri on the Montserrat Review Web site. Cavalieri went on to note the author’s “mastery of form for each poem,” adding: “The poet writes narrative poems, lyric poems, scenes, and meditations all within the story’s frame.” Tony Zurlo, writing on the Peace Corps Writers Web site, noted that “narrative skill and lyrical imagination coalesce” in the collection of poems.

The Weeping Time: Elegy in Three Voices is a story about the Civil War and slavery in poetry form. It begins with Georgian Pierce Butler setting free his slaves and follows Butler, his British actress wife, and a slave named Jack in a story that Peace Corps Writers Web site contributor Ann Neelon compared to Gone with the Wind. Neelon wrote: “Ultimately, the strength of The Weeping Time lies in its commitment to the bigness of the story, to giving us Pierce and Fanny and Jack in cinemascope.” In his 2006 collection Thunder-showers at Dusk: Gothic Stories, Conlon presents five stories about loss, yearning, and past ghosts. “Each tale is dark, and exposes the pit of what is deep inside us, yet isn’t shared,” wrote Christina Francine Whitcher on Yet Another Book Review Site.

Conlon has also served as editor of several books, including Poe’s Lighthouse: All New Collaborations with Edgar Allan Poe, which features twenty-three stories based on fragments of the tale started by Edgar Allan Poe and reworked and completed by other writers. “If you’re a fan of Poe, or of any of his collaborators. . . then Poe’s Lighthouse is well worth your time,” wrote Martina Bexte on the BookLoons Web site. Benjamin Boulden, writing on the SFReader.com Web site, commented: “The better of the stories tend to lean away from Poe’s narration and tell their own stories; they are the visions of their modern author’s rather than a revamped ‘what would Poe have written?’ version.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Publishers Weekly, February 22, 2006, review of Poe’s Lighthouse: All New Collaborations with Edgar Allan Poe.

ONLINE

BookLoons, http://www.bookloons.com/ (November 20, 2006), Martina Bexte, review of Poe’s Lighthouse.

Christopher Conlon Home Page, http://christopherconlon.com (November 20, 2006).

Gazette.net, http://gazette.net/ (July 18, 2003), Ellyn Wexler, “Silver Screen Legends Give Author Golden Opportunity.”

Montserrat Review, http://www.themontserratreview.com/ (November 20, 2006), Grace Cavalieri, review of Gilbert and Garbo in Love: A Romance in Poems.

Peace Corps Writers, http://www.peacecorpswriters.org/ (November 20, 2006), Ann Neelon, reviews of The Weeping Time: Elegy in Three Voices and A Stained Dawn: Poems about Africa; Tony Zurlo, review of Gilbert and Garbo In Love; Karl Luntta, review of Saying Secrets: American Stories.

SFReader.com, http://www.sfreader.com/ (November 20, 2006), Benjamin Boulden, review of Poe’s Lighthouse.

Sidereality, http://www.sidereality.com/ (November 20, 2006), Gilbert Wesley Purdy, review of Gilbert and Garbo in Love.

Yet Another Book Review Site, http://www.yetanotherbookreview.com/ (November 20, 2006), Christina Francine Whitcher, reviews of Thundershowers at Dusk: Gothic Stories and Poe’s Lighthouse.