China Miéville

China Tom Miéville (born September 6, 1972, Norwich) is a British writer of fantastic fiction. He is fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" (after early 20th century pulp and horror writers such as H.P. Lovecraft), and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird who consciously attempt to move fantasy away from commercial, genre clichés of Tolkien epigons.

Related Topics:
September 6 - 1972 - Norwich - British - Weird fiction - Pulp - Horror - H.P. Lovecraft - New Weird - Fantasy - Tolkien

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Miéville has lived in London since early childhood. When he was eighteen, he lived and taught English in Egypt, where he developed an interest in Arab culture and Middle Eastern politics. Miéville has a B.A. in social anthropology from Cambridge and a master's with distinction and PhD from the London School of Economics. A book version of his PhD thesis, titled Between Equal Rights: A Marxist Theory of International Law and inspired by the ideas of Evgeny Pashukanis, was published in 2004 by Brill Academic Publishers in their "Historical Materialism" series. Miéville has also held a Frank Knox fellowship at Harvard.

Related Topics:
London - Egypt - Social anthropology - Cambridge - London School of Economics - Evgeny Pashukanis - 2004 - Brill Academic Publishers - Frank Knox fellowship - Harvard

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He is a member of the British Socialist Workers Party, and stood unsuccessfully for the British House of Commons in the 2001 General Election as a candidate for the Socialist Alliance, gaining 459 votes, i. e. 1.2% http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/results_constituencies/constituencies/474.stm, in a traditionally Labour constituency http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/Ansible/a168.html.

Related Topics:
Socialist Workers Party - British House of Commons - 2001 General Election - Socialist Alliance

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His left-wing politics colour his writing (they are particularly evident in Iron Council, his latest novel) as well as his theoretical ideas about literature (he criticised The Lord of the Rings as reactionary); several panel discussions at conventions about the relationship of politics and writing which set him against right-wingers ended up in heated arguments.

Related Topics:
Left-wing - Iron Council - The Lord of the Rings - Convention - Right-wingers

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