Thomas M. Disch

Thomas M. Disch (February 2, 1940 – ) is an American science fiction author. He has been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards several times.

Biography

Thomas Michael Disch came into the world in Des Moines, Iowa, on 2 February 1940. Because of a polio epidemic in 1946, his mother Helen home-schooled him for a year. As a result, he skipped from kindergarten to second grade. Disch's first formal education happened at Catholic schools; this experience shows itself parts of his work, which contain scathing criticisms of the Catholic Church. The family moved in 1953 to the Twin Cities in Minnesota, rejoining both pairs of grandparents. In Minneapolis public schools, Disch discovered his long-term loves of science fiction, drama, and poetry. He describes poetry as his stepping-stone to the literary world. A teacher, Jeannette Cochran, assigned 100 lines of poetry to be memorized. Disch wound up memorizing ten times as much (Heacox). His early fascination continues to influence his work with poetic form and the direction of his criticism.

Related Topics:
2 February - 1940 - Polio - Epidemic - 1946 - Home-schooled - Kindergarten - Catholic - 1953 - Twin Cities - Minnesota - Minneapolis - Drama - Poetry

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After graduating from high school in 1957, he worked a summer job as a trainee steel draftsman - just one of the many jobs on his path to becoming a writer. Saving enough to move to New York City, he found a Manhattan apartment and began to cast his energies in many directions. He worked as a (literal) spear-carrier for the Metropolitan Opera, then at a bookstore, then for the newspaper. Just when he seemed to be getting work closer to his love of language, he turned 18 and enlisted in the army. Disch's incompatibility with the armed forces quickly resulted in a nearly three-month commitment to a mental hospital. After his discharge, he returned to New York and continued to pursue the arts in his own indirect way: a job in a theater cloakroom that let him peer in on Broadway. Eventually, he got another job with an insurance company and went to school. A brief flirtation with architecture school led him to night school at New York University, where classes on novella writing and utopian fiction developed his tastes for some of the common forms and topics of science fiction. In May of 1962, he decided to write a short story instead of study for his midterms. He sold the story, The Double Timer, for $112.50 (Francaville). Having begun his literary career, he did not return to NYU but rather took another series of odd job such as bank teller, mortuary assistant, and copy editor - all of which served to fuel what he referred to as his night-time "writing habit". Over the next few years he wrote more science fiction stories, but also branched out into poetry; his first published poem, "Echo and Narcissus", appeared in the Minnesota Review's Summer 1964 issue (Davis).

Related Topics:
High school - 1957 - Trainee - Draftsman - New York City - Manhattan - Metropolitan Opera - Army - Mental hospital - Theater - Cloakroom - Broadway - New York University - Novella - Utopian - 1962 - Teller - Mortuary - Minnesota Review - 1964

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Writing had become the dominant focus of his life. Disch described his personal transformation from dilettante to "someone who knows what he wants to do and is so busy doing it that he doesn't have much time for anything else." Several books followed, including science fiction novels and stories, gothic works, criticism, plays, a libretto for an opera of Frankenstein, prose and verse children's books such as A Child's Garden of Grammar, and ten poetry collections. His poetry includes experiments within traditional forms, such as a collaborative sonnet cycle Highway Sandwiches and Haikus of an AmPart, while others like ABCDEFG HIJKLMNO PQRST UVWXYZ and The Dark Old House mix stricter and freer form. Like other popular American poets, he often relies on humor and irony to power his poems. His two major books of poetry criticism, The Castle of Indolence: On Poetry, Poets, and Poetasters and The Castle of Perseverance: Job Opportunities in Contemporary Poetry focus on what make poetry work, what makes it popular, and how poetry can re-establish a place in modern popular culture. His writing includes substantial freelance work, such as regular book and theater reviews for The Nation, Harpers, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and Entertainment Weekly. Recognition from his award-winning books led to a year as "artist-in-residence" at William and Mary College. Currently, he writes from his upstate New York home, which he shares with his partner of three decades.

Related Topics:
Gothic - Criticism - Libretto - Opera - Sonnet - Humor - Irony - The Nation - Harpers - The Washington Post - The Los Angeles Times - Entertainment Weekly - William and Mary College

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