exhibitions
Do the Hula and Figbash in the Same Afternoon
The substantial Gorey collection donated by music composer John Carollo in 2003 to the University of Hawaii at Manoa makes its second showing in ‘Musing of Mystery and Alphabets of Agony: The Work of Edward Gorey’ showing September 26 through December 10, 2010. The exhibit will contain over 500 of the collection’s 1000 items, with additional works loaned by the EG Charitable Trust and The Edward Gorey House. Andreas Brown will give the opening night's keynote address. Located just a mile or so from Diamond Head or a reasonable trot from Waikiki Beach, ‘Musing…’ at the university Art Gallery promises to be an unexpected diversion in paradise.
Orlando Museum of Art
Hosts Elegant Enigmas
The OMA brings the acclaimed tour 'Elegant Enigmas' to Florida August 13 to October 31, 2010. Visit OMA for more information.
Elegant Enigmas by Karen Wilkin, Pomegranate and the Brandywine, continues as the exhibition's catalog.
Hardcover, 124 pages, 175+ color and b&w illustrations, with exhibit checklist. ISBN 978-0-764948046. $29.95
More at Pomegranate or Amazon.
Nothing F.M.R.L. About It
If there’s something familiar about the name Alpern, take another look at Gorey’s F.M.R.A., that fascinating collection of illustrations encased in a clamshell box, published in 1980. It shouldn’t be surprising to find, 30 years later, that Mr Alpern kept at building a superior Gorey collection while pursuing his day job as author, architectural historian and attorney. In addition to publishing F.M.R.A., Andrew Alpern authored Holdouts [1984], New York’s Fabulous Luxury Apartments [1987] and 101 Questions About Copyright [1999], and several others. On May 3rd this year, Columbia University Libraries announced that it had received a donation of over 700 items of Mr Alpern’s collection of Gorey’s books, original art, etchings, and ephemera. As Columbia University’s libraries are among the top five academic research library systems in North America, this can be seen as a big deal, marking a beginning for contextualizing Gorey’s work as it's defined in American arts and letters. An exhibition of Alpern’s collection cannot be far behind.
Boston Athenæum to Host
Elegant Enigmas
The exhibition of original Gorey artwork moves to Boston in 2011. Visit the Athenæum for more information.
Read our impressions of the original Chadds Ford show.
awards
And the Winner is...
Malcolm Whyte, Gorey publisher and author, wins an award from the American Library Association
Music to the Ears
NPR's All Things Considered co-hosts Linda Wertheimer and Noah Adams lovingly recite The Gashlycrumb Tinies from NPR's Edward Gorey obituary page on April 17,2000. A nice interview with Andreas Brown included.
PBS & WGBH presents Mystery! The official PBS Mystery! site, with a 1996 Gorey interview by Ron Miller. Derek Lamb writes about Gorey's collaboration for the legendary Mystery! animations. And finally a tribute by Animation World magazine to Derek Lamb [1936-2005] which mentions the animation collaboration.
Hamanaka-San, Arigato
Housing the largest Gorey collection in Japan, the Wonderful World of Edward Gorey website is the brainchild of Toshinobu Hamanaka, is also a book by the same name. Edited by Mr. Hamanaka, published by Kawade Shobo in 2002, it's a beautiful volume. In Japanese.
Read more on Edward Gorey in Japan in our East Wing
What the Doubtful Guest does on stage is everybodys business in Hoipolloi & Theatre Royal Plymouth's production, which ran March 13 thru April 12, 2008. From London, the company toured Liverpool, Ipswitch, then Newcastle. The show was met with enthusiasm from both The Times and The Guardian -- "...a piece of visual theatre that captures all the Victorian pastiche, fantastical imagination and ominous air of Gorey's original." - Lyn Gardner, The Guardian.
Hoipolloi Artistic Director Shôn Dale-Jones discovered 'Doubtful' while touring the US in 2005. "I went into a children’s bookstore to look for one of [Edward Lear's] titles, but couldn’t find one. The clerk asked if he was the guy Edward Gorey did some illustrations for. She handed me a collection of Gorey’s books – including Lear’s The Jumblies. Before I knew it I had looked through the whole book and was asking the shop attendant for more Edward Gorey...by the time I left the USA later that month I’d bought every title I could find in every bookstore I walked into. On the plane journey home I kept returning to The Doubtful Guest and got hooked on the world of this illustrated story."
Visit Hoipolloi's blog for some snapshots of this memorable production.
The Edward Gorey House
Gorey's residence in Yarmouth Port is now a museum. It's mission: "The Edward Gorey House celebrates and preserves the life and works of Edward Gorey...[and] honors Gorey's passion and concern for animals, raising awareness about local and national animal welfare issues." Gorey's favorite yellow sweater and tennies are on view as well.
Minneapolis's own Irwin Terry introduced the Goreyana blog in October 2008, and has been diligently posting interesting Gorey details, with pictures. Talk amongst yourselves!
Gorey Serif Font
TrueType font based on the distinctive hand lettering from many of Gorey's books. From Damian Hess, it's quite a delicious, no-cost treat.
OgdredWeary by nonDairy Fonts. Complete your collection of Edward Gorey fonts with another no-cost TrueType or MacFont font, inspired by Gorey's The Curious Sofa.
Funeral Consumers Alliance
"First you're born, you live a little, and then you die..." To that end, the FCA is here to help, with Gorey-emblazoned mugs [The Gashlycrumb Tinies or The Osbick Bird], tee shirts, and end-of-life planning kit [booklet with magnet set]. Embrace the inevitable.
Edward Gorey Bibliography
A comprehensive bibliography of Gorey's works.
Doubtful Guest film 'In Development', Slated for 2010
Fox, Walden, Hensen Join Forces
"A charming mischievous creature shows up at a family-owned bed & breakfast, and turns the funny family's life upside down." If all goes well, we should see the results of the joint collaboration of Jim Hensen Co, Walden Media, and Fox 2000 sometime in 2010.
Brad Peyton will direct the live-action feature with a script written by Matthew Huffman. Our dear little Doubtful Guest will be created by the Henson Creature Shop.
IMDBPro.com shows The Doubtful Guest is 'in development', Fox 2000 lists The Doubtful Guest as an 'optioned property'. An 'optioned property' is like a betrothed script, and all loaded with caveats.
Read the latest Jim Hensen Company PDF press release here. Information on Matthew Huffman and Brad Peyton as well.
Photographs and text by Kevin McDermott, sheds new light on Mr. Gorey through his residence (a.k.a. 'The Elephant House') in Yarmouth Port. Fifteen etchings and lithos are reproduced. Introduction by John Updike. Published by Pomegranate.
Visit Kevin McDermott online for more imagery and information from Elephant House, now in it's 2nd printing.
Goreyography talks to Kevin about the making of Elephant House. Read our review of Elephant House.
A voyeuristic view of Gorey's studio as it stood in Yarmouth Port before it was tidied up after his death in 2000. Viewer plugin required and may take some time to load. Worth the wait.
The Hapless Antiquarian
directed by Anthony Penta, pays "homage to Edward Gorey."
Winner of Best Short Film Under 10-min at the 2001 East Lansing Film Festival. "Graceful and wildly imaginative..." -- Christopher Potter, Ann Arbor News. 16mm, B&W, 06:30, 2001. Available on DVD.
The Unfortunate Gift
Film written and directed by Mark G.E. A dark, strangely beautiful work. An homage to Ogdred Weary. "The 50 eight-second tableaux of The Unfortunate Gift have a daguerreotype quality of Wisconsin Death Trip." -- Duane Dudek, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal. DVD, B&W, 08:00, 1998.
Documentary Enters Post
Yes, the Gorey video documentary is still in post-production. Five years in the shooting, film maker Christopher Seufert of Mooncusser Productions has produced award-winning docs such as Gillnetting and Fishtown. As a prelude, a website is devoted to the production process, whetting our appetites.