Charles de Lint

He writes novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, and lyrics. His most famous works include: the Newford series of books (Dreams Underfoot, Widdershins, The Blue Girl, The Onion Girl, Moonlight and Vines, Someplace to be Flying, etc.), as well as Moonheart, The Mystery of Grace, The Painted Boy and A Circle of Cats (children's book illustrated by Charles Vess). His distinctive style of fantasy uses American folklore and European folklore; de Lint was influenced by many authors of mythology, folklore, and science fiction, including J. Tolkien, Lord Dunsany, William Morris, Mervyn Peake, James Branch Cabell, and E. Some of his mythic fiction poetry can be found online on the Endicott Studio website.

The recorded working language is Canadian English. William Morris, Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany and Mervyn Peake are recorded as an influence. Residence is recorded at Ottawa and North Holland. Works named in the authority record are Moonlight and Vines. Distinctions recorded are Crawford Award and World Fantasy Award for Best Collection.

• Name — Charles de Lint • Pen Name — Samuel M. Key • Born — 22 December 1951 • Birthplace — Bussum, Netherlands • Occupation — Author • Period — 1983–present • Genre — Fantasy, horror, mythic fiction, magical realism, urban fantasy • Spouse — MaryAnn Harris (m. 1980; d. 2024) • Website — charlesdelint.com

Charles de Lint was born in 1951 in Bussum, in North Holland in the Netherlands. His family emigrated to Canada when he was four months old. He grew up in Canada, as well as overseas, but has lived in Ottawa since he was age eleven. In 1974, he met MaryAnn Harris, and they married in 1980. They lived in Ottawa. Harris was first editor of de Lint's fiction and also his business manager. MaryAnn Harris was hospitalized on September 6, 2021 for Powassan virus, a rare and debilitating tick-borne disease. On his author Facebook page, de Lint announced that MaryAnn passed away as a result of the disease on June 3, 2024. Her obituary noted that she had been de Lint's inspiration, co-musician, first editor, business manager, and artist for many of his published works. The Bruyère Foundation was suggested for memorial donations made in her name as well as to other causes that were important to her, including groups devoted to aiding youth, Indigenous peoples, animal shelters, and the environment.

During his late twenties to early thirties, de Lint worked in a record store and played with a Celtic musical band during weekends.

Charles de Lint started writing in 1983 and has been a full-time writer ever since, publishing about forty books between 1984 and 1997, and 71 books (excluding foreign editions and reprints), in total, thus gaining a reputation as a master of fantasy. Charles de Lint was one of the contributors to the 1984 Citybook II: Port O' Call role-playing game supplement from Flying Buffalo. He published three horror novels using the pseudonym Samuel M. Key which have subsequently been reprinted by Orb Books as by Charles de Lint. He has also published a children's book, A Circle of Cats, illustrated by artist Charles Vess.

His main genre, that of contemporary fantasy, which combines the real world with the "otherworld", allows the co-existence of the natural and the supernatural. This has been termed a metaphor for the lack of indigenous folklore in most of Canada living side-by-side with the living oral traditions of the Native Americans. De Lint, however, draws upon not only North American Aboriginal culture, but also the folklore of other cultures. For example, his novel, Moonheart, uses elements of both Native American and Welsh folklore. Many of his early books are set in Ottawa, while others (1990–2009) have been set mainly in his fictional North American city of Newford, inspired by de Lint's favourite aspects of various North American cities. A regular set of characters are used in many different books. More recently, de Lint published an adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (Tor 2009), set in his fictional Southwestern US town, Santa de Vado Viejo, as was his most recent young adult novel, The Painted Boy (Viking 2010).

De Lint has received many awards, including the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2018. Other awards include the 2000 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection for Moonlight and Vines, the Ontario Library Association's White Pine Award, as well as the Great Lakes Great Books Award for his young adult novel The Blue Girl (Viking, 2004). In 1988, he won the Canadian SF/Fantasy Award, the Casper (now known as the Aurora) for his novel Jack, the Giant-killer (Ace 1987). He also received the award for Under My Skin in 2013 and Out of This World in 2015. The Cats of Tanglewood Forest received a Sunburst Award in 2014. His novel Widdershins (Tor, 2006) won first place, Amazon.com Editors' Picks: Top 10 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2006. His 1984 urban fantasy novel, Moonheart, was a best-selling trade paperback for Tor's Orb line and won a Crawford Award. It has been described as a thriller, detective mystery, and otherworld mythic fantasy.

In addition to being the author of numerous novels and short stories, de Lint is also a poet, folklorist, and critic. His poetry can be found online in the Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts. He has taught creative writing workshops in Canada and the United States, and was writer‑in‑residence for two public libraries in Ottawa. He has also written original songs; his main instruments are flute, fiddle, whistles, vocals and guitar. In 2011, de Lint released his first CD, Old Blue Truck De Lint has also been a judge for the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award and the Bram Stoker Award.

De Lint plays folk, Irish and Celtic music with his wife MaryAnn; at one time playing at a local pub, and most recently doing concerts at FaerieWorlds and FaerieCon West in Seattle. He plays multiple instruments and sings and writes his own songs. In 2011 de Lint released his first album, Old Blue Truck, which was released alongside his wife MaryAnn Harris's album, Crow Girls in which he also contributes.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * • The Wild Wood (Brian Froud's Faerielands, Illustrated by Brian Froud) (1994) • Memory and Dream (1994) • Someplace to Be Flying (1998) • The Road to Lisdoonvarna (2001) • The Blue Girl (2004) • The Mystery of Grace (2009) • Eyes Like Leaves (2009) • Under My Skin (2012) • Over My Head (2013) • Out of This World (2014) • The Wind in His Heart (2017) • Juniper Wiles (2021) • Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls (2022) • Juniper Wiles Does Not Want to Be Queen (2025)

Some additional young adult novels are listed under their series name below. • Little (Grrl) Lost (2007) • The Painted Boy (2010) • The Cats of Tanglewood Forest (illustrated by Charles Vess) (2013) • Seven Wild Sisters: A Modern Fairy Tale (illustrated by Charles Vess) (2002)

• Berlin (1989) • The Fair in Emain Macha (1990) • Our Lady of the Harbour (1991) • Paperjack (1992) • Death Leaves an Echo (part of three novella collection, Cafe Purgatoriam) (1991) • A Circle of Cats (illustrated by Charles Vess) (2003) • Promises to Keep (2007, Tachyon Publications) • A Tangle of Green Men (2011)

• Laughter in the Leaves (1984) • Ghosts of Wind and Shadow (1991) • Refinerytown (2003) • This Moment (2005) • Make A Joyful Noise (2006) • Old Man Crow (2007) • Riding Shotgun (2007) • Yellow Dog (2008)

Newford is a fictional North American city where Charles de Lint has set many of his novels and short stories. Human beings share the city with European and Native American mythological legends, finding common ground as they live out their daily lives or find themselves swept up in adventures. • The Dreaming Place (young adult, illustrated by Brian Froud) (1990) • From a Whisper to a Scream (first published under the pseudonym Samuel M. Key) (1992) • I'll Be Watching You (first published under the pseudonym Samuel M. Key) (1994) • Memory and Dream (1994) • Trader (1997) • Someplace to Be Flying (1998) • Forests of the Heart (2000) • The Onion Girl (2001) • Seven Wild Sisters (Novella illustrated by Charles Vess) (2002) • Spirits in the Wires (2003) • A Circle of Cats (2003) (written as a children's book) • Medicine Road (illustrated by Charles Vess, Tachyon Publications) (2004) • The Blue Girl (young adult) (2004) • Widdershins (2006) • Promises to Keep (2007, Tachyon Publications) • Old Man Crow (2007) • Dingo (young adult) (2008) • Juniper Wiles (2021) • Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls (2022) • Juniper Wiles Does Not Want to Be Queen (2025) • Newford Series Collections • Dreams Underfoot (1993) • The Ivory and the Horn (1995) • Moonlight and Vines (1999) • The Newford Stories (compiles Dreams Underfoot, The Ivory and the Horn & Moonlight and Vines) (1999) • Tapping the Dream Tree (2002) • The Hour Before Dawn (2005) • Riding Shotgun (2007) • Muse and Reverie: A Newford Collection (2009) • Newford Stories: Crow Girls (2015) • Newford Stories: The Blue Fiddle (2022)

• "The Valley of the Troll" in Sword and Sorceress I (1984) • "Cold Blows The Wind" in Sword and Sorceress II (1985) • "The Weeping Oak" in Sword and Sorceress IV (1987) • "Into the Green" in Sword and Sorceress V (1988) • "One Chance" in Werewolves (edited by Jane Yolen and Martin H. Greenberg). Reprinted in Bruce Coville's Book of Spine Tinglers (1988) • "Conjure Man" in After the King: Stories In Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien (1991) • "Somewhere in My Mind There is a Painting Box" in The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest (2002) • "Companions to the Moon" in Realms of Fantasy (June, 2007). Reprinted in Peter S. Beagle's The Urban Fantasy (2011) • "Ten for the Devil" in Battle Magic (Daw Books). Reprinted in Tim Pratt's Sympathy for the Devil (2010) • "The Butter Spirit's Tithe (2004) in Emerald Magic De Lint also scripted several comic books for Barry Blair's Aircel Publishing in the mid-1980s. His short story, "The Sacred Fire", was made into a short film by Peter Billingsley and Robert Meyer Burnett in 1994. Originally set on and near the campus of Butler University, the setting was changed to Beverly Hills for the film. It was also adapted as an episode of The Hunger in January 2000.

• Cafe Purgatorium (1991) (with Dana. M. Anderson & Ray Garton)

• De Lint writes a regular review column called "Books to Look For" for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. • Wrote several reviews in 1978 edition of Beyond the Fields We Know: Tales of Fantasy magazine as well as published poem Far from the Rush. • Wrote several reviews in Fanzine Dragonfields: Tales of Fantasy #3, Summer 1980 edition. • Wrote several reviews in Fanzine Dragonfields: Tales of Fantasy #4, Winter 1983 edition.