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{{short description|American novelist}}

{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| image =
| name = Nick Mamatas
| name = Nick Mamatas
| image = Nick Mamatas.jpg
| image_size = 175px
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1972|2|20|mf=y}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1972|2|20|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Long Island, New York]]
| birth_place = [[Long Island, New York]]
| occupation = Novelist, Short Story Author, Essayist, Editor
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Novelist
| nationality = [[United States]]
* short story author
| genre = horror, fantasy, science fiction, personal essay
* essayist
* editor
}}
}}
| nationality = American
'''Nick Mamatas''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Νικος Μαμμάτας) (born February 20, 1972) is an American [[Horror fiction|horror]], [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]] author and [[editor in chief|editor]] for the Haikasoru line of translated [[Japan]]ese science fiction novels for [[Viz Media]]. His fiction has been nominated for several awards, including several [[Bram Stoker Award]]s, while he has also been recognised for his editorial work with a [[Bram Stoker Award]], as well as [[World Fantasy Award]] and [[Hugo Award]] nominations. He funded his early writing career by producing term papers for college students, which gained him some notoriety when he described this experience in an essay for [[Drexel University]]'s online magazine ''The Smart Set''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/11/28/03|title=The Paper Market|date=2008-11-28|publisher=[[On the Media]]}}</ref>
| education = [[Stony Brook University]]<br>[[The New School|New School University]]<br>[[Western Connecticut State University]] ([[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]])
| genre = Horror, fantasy, science fiction, personal essay
}}
'''Nick Mamatas''' ({{langx|el|Νίκος Μαμματάς}}) (born February 20, 1972) is an American [[Horror fiction|horror]], [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]] [[author]] and [[editor in chief|editor]] for Haikasoru's line of translated Japanese science fiction novels for [[Viz Media]]. His fiction has been nominated for a number of awards, including several [[Bram Stoker Award]]s. He has also been recognised for his editorial work with a Bram Stoker Award, as well as [[World Fantasy Award]] and [[Hugo Award]] nominations. He funded his early writing career by producing [[Term paper|term papers]] for college students, which gained him some notoriety when he described this experience in an essay for [[Drexel University]]'s online magazine ''The Smart Set''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/11/28/03 |title=The Paper Market |date=2008-11-28 |publisher=[[On the Media]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323084450/http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/11/28/03 |archivedate=2009-03-23 }}</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==


Nick Mamatas was born on [[Long Island, New York]] and attended the [[State University of New York at Stony Brook]] and [[New School University]]. He is also a graduate of the MFA program in creative and professional writing at [[Western Connecticut State University]], which he attended only after publishing a number of books, short stories, and articles. During his early writing career he wrote not just non-fiction, but also worked as a ghostwriter for college students needing term papers, an experience he later described in an essay called "The Term Paper Artist".<ref name="smartset">[http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article10100801.aspx "The Term Paper Artist"], article in ''The Smart Set'' by Nick Mamatas</ref> His non-fiction work has appeared in ''[[Razor Magazine]]'', ''[[The Village Voice]]'', and various [[Disinfo|Disinformation Books]] and [[BenBella Books]]' [[Smart Pop Books]] anthologies.
Nick Mamatas was born on [[Long Island, New York]] and attended [[Stony Brook University]] and [[New School University]]. He is also a graduate of the [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]] program in creative and professional writing at [[Western Connecticut State University]], which he attended only after publishing a number of books, short stories, and articles. During his early writing career he wrote not just nonfiction but also worked in a [[essay mill]] as a ghostwriter for college students needing term papers, an experience he later described in an essay called "The Term Paper Artist".<ref name="smartset">[http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article10100801.aspx "The Term Paper Artist"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024185910/http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article10100801.aspx |date=2008-10-24 }}, article in ''The Smart Set'' by Nick Mamatas</ref> His non-fiction work has appeared in ''Razor Magazine'', ''[[The Village Voice]]'', and various [[Disinfo|disinformation books]] and [[BenBella Books]]' Smart Pop Books anthologies. His parents are [[Greeks]] from the island of [[Icaria]].

His first published fiction book was the 2001 novella ''[[Northern Gothic]]'' ([[Soft Skull]]), which was nominated for the [[Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction]] in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horror.org/stokerwinnom.htm#2001|title=2001 Bram Stoker Award Nominees and Winners|publisher=Horror Writers Association|accessdate=4 May 2011}}</ref> In 2007, a signed/limited hardcover edition, illustrated and with a slipcase, was published in German by Edition Phantasia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edition-phantasia.de/mamatas/gothic.html|title=Edition Phantasia's product page for Northern Gothic|publisher=Edition Phantasia|accessdate=8 May 2011}}</ref>

His first full-length novel, ''[[Move Under Ground]]'' (Night Shade Books, 2004/Prime Books, 2006), combined the [[beat generation|Beat]] style of [[Jack Kerouac]] with the [[cosmic horror]] of [[H. P. Lovecraft]]'s [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. This novel was nominated for both the [[Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horror.org/stokerwinnom.htm#2004|title=2004 Bram Stoker Award Nominees and Winners|publisher=Horror Writers Association|accessdate=4 May 2011}}</ref> and the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel in 2005, and made the [[Locus (magazine)|Locus Magazine]] Recommended Reading List for books published in 2004.

In 2006, ''Move Under Ground'' was one of the first books to be published in paperback by the German publisher Edition Phantasia. In early 2007 he decided to distribute it online for free under a [[Creative Commons]] license.

His science fiction satire ''[[Under My Roof]]'' (Soft Skull, 2007) has been published in both Germany and Italy in addition to its American publication. The German edition was nominated for the [[Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis]] for science fiction originally published in a foreign language. It came in last place in the voting.

In August 2006, Mamatas was named co-fiction editor of ''[[Clarkesworld Magazine]]''. In August 2008, he left ''Clarkesworld'' and began working for [[Viz Media]] to edit Haikasoru, the firm's line of Japanese science fiction, fantasy, and horror in translation. ''Clarkesworld's'' 2008 issues earned it a nomination for the [[Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine]]. Mamatas, along with editor Sean Wallace and publisher Neil Clarke, were named as the magazine's principals. The three were also nominated for the [[World Fantasy award]] for ''Clarkesworld'' in the nonprofessional special award category, also for the 2008 issues. Three years after leaving Clarkesworld, Mamatas was nominated for the [[Hugo award]] in the category of [[Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor#Long Form|Best Editor, Long Form]] in 2010,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.renovationsf.org/hugo-intro.php|title=The 2011 Hugo nominees|publisher=[[Renovation SF: The 69th Annual Hugo Awards]]}}</ref> for his work with the Haikasoru imprint of [[Viz Media]].

Mamatas edited the posthumous collection of short fiction, ''[[Queen of the Country]]'', by dark fantasist [[D. G. K. Goldberg]] in 2008.

A collection of short fiction, ''[[You Might Sleep...]]'', including a new novella, was published in March 2009.

"The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft," written by Mamatas and [[Tim Pratt]], was nominated for the Stoker award for achievement in Short Fiction in March 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horror.org/stokerwinnom.htm#2008|title=2008 Bram Stoker Award Nominees and Winners|publisher=Horror Writers Association|accessdate=4 May 2011}}</ref>

Mamatas co-edited the original horror anthology ''[[Haunted Legends]]'' with [[Ellen Datlow]] in 2010; the book won the [[Black Quill Award]] in the anthology category, won the 2010 [[Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horror.org/|title=Homepage|publisher=Horror Writers Association|accessdate=19 June 2011}}</ref> and was nominated for the [[Shirley Jackson Award]].

His third novel, ''[[Sensation]]'', was published in May 2011 by [[PM Press]], and in July a collaboration with [[Brian Keene]], ''[[The Damned Highway]]'', was released.

''[[Starve Better]]'',a short how-to guide made up primarily of reprinted blog posts and essays from magazines such as ''[[The Smart Set]]'' and ''[[The Writer]]'' was published in 2011, and nominated for the [[Bram Stoker Award]] in the category of Achievement in Non-Fiction.


==Career and themes==
==Career and themes==


Mamatas is most known for his horror and dark fiction, but claims broad influences.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apexbookcompany.com/blog/2009/04/nick-mamatas-a-career-in-thrashing-around-all-night/
Mamatas is most known for his horror and dark fiction but claims broad influences.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.apexbookcompany.com/blog/2009/04/nick-mamatas-a-career-in-thrashing-around-all-night/
|title=A Career In Thrashing Around All Night|date=April 2009|publisher=[[Apex Book Company]]}}</ref> Writer Laird Barron described the short fictions in [[You Might Sleep...]] as running "the gamut of science fiction, fantasy, metafiction, horror, generic lit, to the realms of the effectively unclassifiable."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://imago1.livejournal.com/35939.html
|title=A Career In Thrashing Around All Night
|date=April 2009
|publisher=[[Apex Book Company]]
|url-status=live
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517075925/http://www.apexbookcompany.com/blog/2009/04/nick-mamatas-a-career-in-thrashing-around-all-night/
|archivedate=2009-05-17
}}</ref> Writer [[Laird Barron]] described the short fictions in ''You Might Sleep...'' as running "the gamut of science fiction, fantasy, metafiction, horror, generic lit, to the realms of the effectively unclassifiable".<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://imago1.livejournal.com/35939.html
|title=On You Might Sleep by Mamatas (or I come not to praise Caesar but deliver the goods on Caligula)|date=September 2009|publisher=[[Imago1, Laird Barron's LiveJournal]]}}</ref>
|title=On You Might Sleep by Mamatas (or I come not to praise Caesar but deliver the goods on Caligula)
|date=September 2009
|publisher=[[Imago1, Laird Barron's LiveJournal]]
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818102408/http://imago1.livejournal.com/35939.html
|archivedate=2011-08-18
}}</ref>


[[The Internet Review of Science Fiction]], reviewing [[You Might Sleep]], contends that "J.D. Salinger [is] an obvious but unacknowledged influence" and also compares the work of Mamatas to "Lewis Carroll with an ISP, Mishima hammering out his death poem on a Blackberry or Harlan Ellison hyped up on crystal meth..." while suggesting a certain immaturity to Mamatas's themes: "Despite his tremendous gifts, Mamatas dares little. One wonders how he would handle more profound materials, how his narrative sorcery might encompass (for example) bereavement, real tragedy or loss of self through enlightenment or love."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10541|title=With Cautious Anticipation A review of You Might Sleep... by Nick Mamatas|date=May 2009|publisher=[[The Internet Review of Science Fiction]]}}</ref>
''[[The Internet Review of Science Fiction]]'', reviewing ''You Might Sleep'', contends that "[[J. D. Salinger|J.D. Salinger]] [is] an obvious but unacknowledged influence" and also compares Mamatas' work to "[[Lewis Carroll]] with an [[Internet service provider|ISP]], Mishima hammering out his [[death poem]] on a [[BlackBerry]] or [[Harlan Ellison]] hyped up on [[Methamphetamine|crystal meth]]..." while suggesting a certain immaturity to Mamatas's themes: "Despite his tremendous gifts, Mamatas dares little. One wonders how he would handle more profound materials, how his narrative sorcery might encompass (for example) bereavement, real tragedy or loss of self through enlightenment or love."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10541 |title=With Cautious Anticipation A review of You Might Sleep... by Nick Mamatas |date=May 2009 |publisher=[[The Internet Review of Science Fiction]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927023820/http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10541 |archivedate=2011-09-27 }}</ref>


A thematic touchstone for Mamatas is [[H.P. Lovecraft]]. His novel [[Move Under Ground]], which combines Lovecraftian and Beat themes, was declared one of the best [[Cthulhu Mythos]] stories not written by Lovecraft by [[Kenneth Hite]] in the book [[Cthulhu 101]]. Mark Halcomb of the [[Village Voice]] reviewed the book and its peculiar meshing of Lovecraft and Kerouac, writing, in part:
A thematic touchstone for Mamatas is [[H.P. Lovecraft]]. His novel ''[[Move Under Ground]]'', which combines Lovecraftian and [[Beat Generation|Beat]] themes, was declared one of the best [[Cthulhu Mythos]] stories not written by Lovecraft by [[Kenneth Hite]] in the book ''Cthulhu 101.'' Mark Halcomb of the ''[[Village Voice]]'' reviewed the book and its peculiar meshing of Lovecraft and [[Jack Kerouac|Kerouac]], writing, in part, "In fact, Kerouac's 'bebop prosody' and the Cthulhu mythos dovetail nicely, and what seems at first like literary stunt-casting actually gives Mamatas room to recast the Beats' fall from grace in fanciful terms unhindered by their tricky psychology, the strictures of reality and realism—or lingering platitudes."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2004-05-25/books/beat-happening/ |title=Beat Happening |date=May 25, 2004 |publisher=[[Village Voice]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101183133/http://www.villagevoice.com/2004-05-25/books/beat-happening/ |archivedate=November 1, 2010 }}</ref> ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' reviewed ''Move Under Ground'', discussing the novel's "credible pastiche" of Kerouac's voice and declared the book "sophisticated, progressive horror..."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-892389-92-3 |title=Fiction Review: Move Under Ground |date=April 12, 2004 |publisher=[[Publishers Weekly]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006180000/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-892389-92-3 |archivedate=October 6, 2012 }}</ref>


A number of his short works, such as the [[Novella|novelette]] ''Real People Slash'' and the [[flash fiction]] "And Then And Then And Then", also explicitly combine Lovecraftian themes with the voices of non-fantastical literature. The short story "That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable", first published in the anthology ''[[Lovecraft Unbound]]'' is a pastiche of Lovecraft and several of the works of [[Raymond Carver]]. ''The Damned Highway'' combines a character based heavily on [[Hunter S. Thompson]] and Lovecraftian themes.
"In fact, Kerouac's "bebop prosody" and the Cthulhu mythos dovetail nicely, and what seems at first like literary stunt-casting actually gives Mamatas room to recast the Beats' fall from grace in fanciful terms unhindered by their tricky psychology, the strictures of reality and realism—or lingering platitudes."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2004-05-25/books/beat-happening/|title=Beat Happening|date=May 25, 2004|publisher=[[Village Voice]]}}</ref>


Satire is also a significant element of Mamatas's fiction. [[Ed Park]], writing for his online ''[[The Los Angeles Times]]'' review column, described Mamatas's ''Under My Roof''&mdash;a short novel about the formation of a [[microstate]] on [[Long Island]]&mdash;as an "accurate, fast-moving satire that transcends mere target shooting by virtue of its narrator, Daniel’s 12-year-old son Herbie".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theunarchivable.blogspot.com/2007/11/review-of-brian-aldisss-harm-and-nick.html |title=Review of Brian Aldiss's HARM and Nick Mamatas's UNDER MY ROOF |date=April 2007 |work=[[latimes.com]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831020913/http://theunarchivable.blogspot.com/2007/11/review-of-brian-aldisss-harm-and-nick.html |archivedate=2011-08-31 }}</ref> A starred review in ''Publishers Weekly'' for the same title also highlighted the satirical elements in the work, declaring: "A big-bang ending caps the fast-paced novel, and there's much fun to be had watching Mamatas...merrily skewer his targets."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-933368-43-6 |title=Fiction Review: Under My Roof |date=December 18, 2006 |publisher=[[Publishers Weekly]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006092930/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-933368-43-6 |archivedate=October 6, 2012 }}</ref>
[[Publishers Weekly]] reviewed [[Move Under Ground]], discussing the novel's "credible pastiche" of Kerouac's voice and declared the book "sophisticated, progressive horror..."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-892389-92-3|title=Fiction Review: Move Under Ground|date=April 12, 2004|publisher=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref>


Mamatas's nonfiction work includes essays on [[publishing]], [[Internet culture|digital culture]], and politics. His ''[[Village Voice]]'' piece on the [[Otherkin]] phenomenon<ref name="elvenlikeme">{{cite journal|title=Elven Like Me |first=Nick |last=Mamatas |journal=The Village Voice, New York |date=February 20, 2001 |volume=46 |issue=7 |pages=35 |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0107,mamatas,22273,8.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007170418/http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0107%2Cmamatas%2C22273%2C8.html |archivedate=October 7, 2008 }}</ref> is cited as one of the earliest national publications on the subculture.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fn-Sh1nv7pQC&q=mamatas+otherkin&pg=PA256|title=The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English|year=2006|publisher=[[The McGraw-Hill Companies]]|isbn=9780071491631}}</ref> His essay about his settlement with the [[RIAA]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-03-01/music/meet-john-doe/ |title=Meet John Doe |date=March 1, 2005 |publisher=[[Village Voice]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110621234558/http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-03-01/music/meet-john-doe/ |archivedate=June 21, 2011 }}</ref> for [[File sharing|file-sharing]] has been cited in several [[law reviews]],<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/flr74&div=20&id=&page= |title=The Place of the User in Copyright Law |date=2005–2006 |page=347 |journal=[[Fordham Law Review]] |volume=74 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083511/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals%2Fflr74&div=20&id=&page= |archivedate=2016-03-04 |last1=Cohen |first1=Julie E. }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/cwrlrv55&div=47&id=&page= |title=Comment: Copyright's Public-Private Distinction |date=2004–2005 |page=963 |journal=[[Case Western Reserve Law Review]] |volume=55 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233555/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals%2Fcwrlrv55&div=47&id=&page= |archivedate=2016-03-03 |last1=Cohen |first1=Julie E. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/fiulawr3&div=11&id=&page= |title=Leave Them Kids Alone - A Proposed Fair Use Defense for Noncommercial P2P Sharing of Copyrighted Music Files |date=2007–2008 |publisher=[[Florida International Law Review]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232045/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals%2Ffiulawr3&div=11&id=&page= |archivedate=2016-03-03 }}</ref> as it is a relatively rare first-person account of the process of settlement with the RIAA. Essays from ''[[The Smart Set]]'', ''Village Voice'', ''[[The Writer]]'' and [[Tim Pratt]]'s [[fanzine]] ''Flytrap'' were compiled, along with original material, into the writing handbook ''Starve Better'' in 2011, and published by [[Apex Publications]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apexbookcompany.com/starve-better/ |title=Starve Better |year=2011 |publisher=[[Apex Publications]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513201004/http://www.apexbookcompany.com/starve-better/ |archivedate=2011-05-13 }}.</ref> His essay "The Term Paper Artist" originally from ''The Smart Set'', about his experiences as an academic ghostwriter for pay, has been discussed on [[National Public Radio]] and reprinted in a pair of textbooks, both published by [[Nelson Education]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hed.nelson.com/nelsonhed/instructor.do?product_isbn=9780176501877&disciplinenumber=307&maintab=About_the_Book&subtab=Table_of_Contents |title=Table of Contents: Essay Essentials |year=2011 |publisher=[[Nelson Education]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323141333/http://www.hed.nelson.com/nelsonhed/instructor.do?product_isbn=9780176501877&disciplinenumber=307&maintab=About_the_Book&subtab=Table_of_Contents |archivedate=2012-03-23 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://hed.nelson.com/nelsonhed/instructor.do?pagefrom=search&disciplinenumber=415&product_isbn=0176503625 |title=Canadian Content, 7th Edition |year=2011 |publisher=[[Nelson Education]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721081308/http://hed.nelson.com/nelsonhed/instructor.do?pagefrom=search&disciplinenumber=415&product_isbn=0176503625 |archivedate=2011-07-21 }}</ref>
A number of his short works, such as the novelette "Real People Slash" and the flash fiction "And Then And Then And Then", also explicitly combine Lovecraftian themes with the voices of non-fantastical literature. The short story "That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable", first published in the anthology [[Lovecraft Unbound]] is a pastiche of Lovecraft and several of the works of [[Raymond Carver]]. [[The Damned Highway]] combines a character based heavily on Hunter S. Thompson and Lovecraftian themes.


==Major works==
Satire is also a significant element of Mamatas's fiction. [[Ed Park]], writing for his online [[The Los Angeles Times]] review column, described Mamatas's [[Under My Roof]]—a short novel about the formation of a [[microstate]] on [[Long Island]]—as an "accurate, fast-moving satire that transcends mere target shooting by virtue of its narrator, Daniel’s 12-year-old son Herbie."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theunarchivable.blogspot.com/2007/11/review-of-brian-aldisss-harm-and-nick.html|title=Review of Brian Aldiss's HARM and Nick Mamatas's UNDER MY ROOF|date=April 2007|publisher=[[latimes.com]]}}</ref> A starred review in [[Publishers Weekly]] for the same title also highlighted the satirical elements in the work, declaring: "A big-bang ending caps the fast-paced novel, and there's much fun to be had watching Mamatas...merrily skewer his targets."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-933368-43-6|title=Fiction Review: Under My Roof|date=December 18, 2006|publisher=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref>


Mamatas's nonfiction work includes essays on publishing, digital culture, and politics. A [[Village Voice]] piece on the [[Otherkin]] phenomenon<ref name="elvenlikeme">{{cite journal| title=Elven Like Me| first=Nick| last=Mamatas| journal=The Village Voice, New York| month=February 20| year=2001| volume=46| issue=7| pages=35| url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0107,mamatas,22273,8.html}}</ref> is cited as one of the earliest national publications on the subculture.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Fn-Sh1nv7pQC&pg=PA256&lpg=PA256&dq=mamatas+otherkin#v=onepage&q=mamatas%20otherkin&f=false|title=The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English|year=2006|publisher=[[The McGraw-Hill Companies]]}}</ref> His essay about his settlement with the [[RIAA]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-03-01/music/meet-john-doe/|title=Meet John Doe|date=March 1, 2005|publisher=[[Village Voice]]}}</ref> for file-sharing, has been cited in several [[law reviews]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/flr74&div=20&id=&page=|title=The Place of the User in Copyright Law|date=2005-2006|publisher=[[Fordham Law Review]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/cwrlrv55&div=47&id=&page=|title=Comment: Copyright's Public-Private Distinction|date=2004-2005|publisher=[[Case Western Reserve Law Review]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/fiulawr3&div=11&id=&page=|title=Leave Them Kids Alone - A Proposed Fair Use Defense for Noncommercial P2P Sharing of Copyrighted Music Files|date=2007-2008|publisher=[[Florida International Law Review]]}}</ref> as it is a relatively rare first-person account of the process of settlement with the RIAA. Essays from [[The Smart Set]], [[Village Voice]], and [[The Writer]] and [[Tim Pratt]]'s fanzine '''Flytrap''' were compiled, along with original material, into the writing handbook [[Starve Better]] in 2011, and published by [[Apex Publications]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apexbookcompany.com/starve-better/|title=Starve Better|year=2011|publisher=[[Apex Publications]]}}.</ref> His essay "The Term Paper Artist" originally from [[The Smart Set]], about his experiences as an academic ghostwriter for pay, has been discussed on [[National Public Radio]], and reprinted in a pair of textbooks, both published by [[Nelson Education]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hed.nelson.com/nelsonhed/instructor.do?product_isbn=9780176501877&disciplinenumber=307&maintab=About_the_Book&subtab=Table_of_Contents|title=Table of Contents: Essay Essentials|year=2011|publisher=[[Nelson Education]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hed.nelson.com/nelsonhed/instructor.do?pagefrom=search&disciplinenumber=415&product_isbn=0176503625|title=Canadian Content, 7th Edition|year=2011|publisher=[[Nelson Education]]}}</ref>

==Major works==
===Novels===
===Novels===
* ''[[Northern Gothic]]'' (2001)
* ''Northern Gothic'' - [[Counterpoint (publisher)|Soft Skull Press]] (2001) {{ISBN|978-1887128742}}
* ''[[Move Under Ground]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Move Under Ground]]'' - [[Night Shade Books]] (2005) {{ISBN|978-1892389916}}
* ''[[Under My Roof]]'' (2007)
* ''Under My Roof'' - Soft Skull Shortlit (2007) {{ISBN|978-1933368436}}
* ''Sensation'' - [[PM Press]] (2011) {{ISBN|978-1604863543}}
* ''[[Sensation (novel)|Sensation]]'' (2011)
* ''[[The Damned Highway]]'' (2011)
* ''The Damned Highway'' (with [[Brian Keene]] ) - [[Dark Horse Comics|Dark Horse]] (2011) {{ISBN|978-1595826855}}
*''[[Bullettime]]'' (2012)
* ''[[Bullettime (novel)|Bullettime]]'' - ChiZine Publications (2012) {{ISBN|9781926851716}}
* ''Love is the Law'' - Dark Horse Books (2013) {{ISBN|978-1616552220}}
*''The Last Weekend: A Novel of Zombies, Booze, and Power Tools'' - Night Shade Books (2016 reprint) (2014) {{ISBN|978-1597808422}}
*''[[I Am Providence (Mamatas novel)|I Am Providence]]'' - Night Shade Books (2016)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/08/03/487634306/i-am-providence-is-a-love-hate-letter-to-a-literary-subculture |title='I Am Providence' Is A Love/Hate Letter To A Literary Subculture |last=Heller |first=Jason |date=August 3, 2016 |website=NPR |access-date=2017-03-07 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308133704/http://www.npr.org/2016/08/03/487634306/i-am-providence-is-a-love-hate-letter-to-a-literary-subculture |archivedate=March 8, 2017 }}</ref> {{ISBN|978-1597808354}}
* ''Sabbath'' - [[Tor Books]] (2019) {{ISBN|978-1250170118}}
* ''The Second Shooter'' - [[Rebellion Developments|Rebellion Publishing]] (2021) {{ISBN|978-1786184443}}


===Short story collections===
===Short story collections===
* ''[[3000 MPH In Every Direction At Once: Stories And Essays]]'' (2003)
* ''3000 MPH In Every Direction At Once: Stories And Essays'' - [[Wildside Press]] (2003) {{ISBN|978-1930997318}}
* ''You Might Sleep...'' - [[Prime Books]] (2009) {{ISBN|978-0809573127}}
* ''The Nickronomicon'' - [[Innsmouth Free Press]] (2014) {{ISBN|978-1927990087}}
* ''The People's Republic of Everything'' - [[Tachyon Publications]] (2018) {{ISBN|978-1616963002}}


===Anthologies edited by===
* ''[[You Might Sleep...]]'' (2009)
* ''The Urban Bizarre'' - Prime (2004) {{ISBN|978-1930997394}}
* ''Spicy Slipstream Stories'' (with [[Jay Lake]]) - [[Lethe Press]] (2008) {{ISBN|978-1590210253}}
* ''Haunted Legends'' (with [[Ellen Datlow]]) - Tor Books (2010) {{ISBN|9780765323002}})
* ''The Future is Japanese'' (with [[Masumi Washington]]) - Haikasoru (2012) {{ISBN|978-1421542232}}
* ''Phantasm Japan:Fantasies Light and Dark, From and About Japan'' (with Masumi Washington) - Haikasoru (2014) {{ISBN|978-1421571744}}
* ''Hanzai Japan:Fantastical, Futuristic Stories of Crime From and About Japan'' (with Masumi Washington) - Haikasoru (2015) {{ISBN|978-1421580258}}
* ''Mixed Up: Cocktail Recipes (and Flash Fiction) for the Discerning Drinker (and Reader)'' (with [[Molly Tanzer]]) - [[Skyhorse Publishing]] (2017) {{ISBN|978-1510718036}}


===Anthologies===
===Non-fiction===
* ''Kwangju Diary'' (with Jae-Eui Lee & Kap Su Seol) - [[University of California Press|University of California, Los Angeles]] (1999) {{ISBN|978-1883191030}}
* ''[[The Urban Bizarre]]'' (2004)
* ''Starve Better:Surviving the Endless Horror of the Writing Life'' - [[Apex Magazine|Apex Book Company]] (2011) {{ISBN|978-0984553587}}
* ''[[Spicy Slipstream Stories]]'' (with [[Jay Lake]]) (2008)
* ''Insults Every Man Should Know (Stuff You Should Know)'' - [[Quirk Books]] (2011) {{ISBN|978-1594745249}}
* ''[[Haunted Legends]]'' (with [[Ellen Datlow]]) (2010)
* ''Quotes Every Man Should Know (Stuff You Should Know)'' - Quirk Books (2013) {{ISBN|978-1594746369}}

* ''The Battle Royale Slam Book:Essays on the Cult Classic by Koushun Takami'' (with Masumi Washington) - Haikasoru (2014) {{ISBN|978-1421565996}}
===Non-Fiction===
* ''[[Kwangju Diary]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Starve Better]]'' (2011)
* ''[[Insults Every Man Should Know]]'' (2011)


===Poetry===
===Poetry===
* ''[[Cthulhu Senryu]]'' (2006)
* ''Cthulhu Senryu'' Prime - (2006) {{ISBN|978-0809562411}}


===Editor===
===Work as editor===
* ''Phantom Magazine'', Issue #0 (November 2005)
* ''Phantom Magazine'', Issue #0 (November 2005)
* ''[[Clarkesworld Magazine]]'' (August 2006-August 2008)
* ''[[Clarkesworld Magazine]]'' (August 2006-August 2008)
* ''[[Viz Media]]'' (August 2008–present)<ref>[http://nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com/1133767.html Nick Mamatas's Livejournal] Entry about editorial job at Viz Media</ref>
* [[Viz Media]] (August 2008–present)<ref>[http://nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com/1133767.html Nick Mamatas's Livejournal] Entry about editorial job at Viz Media</ref>

==Personal life==
Mamatas is a student of [[Chen-style tai chi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article04020901.aspx |title=The Good Fight |date=April 2, 2009 |publisher=[[The Smart Set]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019135443/http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article04020901.aspx |archivedate=October 19, 2012 }}</ref> In 2012, he won a [[push hands]] competition<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kungfuchampionship.com/sanfrancisco/results/2012/results_TaijiOtherInternal_TaijiPushHands.html|title=San Francisco Kung Fu Tournament Results for 2012: Taiji Push Hands|date=Sep 22, 2012|publisher=[[International Chinese Martial Arts Championships]]}}</ref> at the 3rd Annual "Golden Gate" Chinese Martial Arts Championship in [[San Francisco|San Francisco, California]]. In 2015, he won the silver medal in push hands at the twenty-third Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cmat.calwushu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CMAT-23-Scores.html|title=Berkeley CMAT Scores|date=March 16, 2015|publisher=[[Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament]]}}</ref> In 2019, he came in second in the 19th annual Mokomoko Invitational's gi-sumo competition, in the 180+ pound division.


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
<div>
<references/>
</div>


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.moveunderground.org/ Online version of ''Move Under Ground'']
* [http://www.moveunderground.org/ Online version of ''Move Under Ground'']
* [http://www.3ammagazine.com/litarchives/2002_sep/interview_nick_mamatas.html 2002 interview]
* [http://www.3ammagazine.com/litarchives/2002_sep/interview_nick_mamatas.html 2002 interview]
* [http://www.sturgeonslaw.com/stulaw038.html 2006 interview on the Sturgeon's Law podcast]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926222051/http://www.sturgeonslaw.com/stulaw038.html 2006 interview on the Sturgeon's Law podcast]
* [http://www.clarkesworldmagazine.com Clarkesworld Magazine]
* [http://www.clarkesworldmagazine.com Clarkesworld Magazine]
*{{isfdb name|id=Nick_Mamatas|name=Nick Mamatas}}
*{{isfdb name|id=Nick_Mamatas|name=Nick Mamatas}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130830003112/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-bullettime-by-nick-mamatas Story behind Bullettime - Online Essay by Nick Mamatas]

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata
| NAME = Mamatas, Nick
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = February 20, 1972
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Long Island, New York]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamatas, Nick}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamatas, Nick}}
[[Category:American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American short story writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:American horror writers]]
[[Category:American horror writers]]
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:1972 births]]
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[[Category:Stony Brook University alumni]]
[[Category:Stony Brook University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Brookhaven, New York]]
[[Category:People from Brookhaven, New York]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American male essayists]]
[[Category:21st-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American essayists]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American writers of Greek descent]]

Latest revision as of 22:14, 20 December 2024

Nick Mamatas
Born (1972-02-20) February 20, 1972 (age 52)
Long Island, New York
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • short story author
  • essayist
  • editor
NationalityAmerican
EducationStony Brook University
New School University
Western Connecticut State University (MFA)
GenreHorror, fantasy, science fiction, personal essay

Nick Mamatas (Greek: Νίκος Μαμματάς) (born February 20, 1972) is an American horror, science fiction and fantasy author and editor for Haikasoru's line of translated Japanese science fiction novels for Viz Media. His fiction has been nominated for a number of awards, including several Bram Stoker Awards. He has also been recognised for his editorial work with a Bram Stoker Award, as well as World Fantasy Award and Hugo Award nominations. He funded his early writing career by producing term papers for college students, which gained him some notoriety when he described this experience in an essay for Drexel University's online magazine The Smart Set.[1]

Biography

[edit]

Nick Mamatas was born on Long Island, New York and attended Stony Brook University and New School University. He is also a graduate of the MFA program in creative and professional writing at Western Connecticut State University, which he attended only after publishing a number of books, short stories, and articles. During his early writing career he wrote not just nonfiction but also worked in a essay mill as a ghostwriter for college students needing term papers, an experience he later described in an essay called "The Term Paper Artist".[2] His non-fiction work has appeared in Razor Magazine, The Village Voice, and various disinformation books and BenBella Books' Smart Pop Books anthologies. His parents are Greeks from the island of Icaria.

Career and themes

[edit]

Mamatas is most known for his horror and dark fiction but claims broad influences.[3] Writer Laird Barron described the short fictions in You Might Sleep... as running "the gamut of science fiction, fantasy, metafiction, horror, generic lit, to the realms of the effectively unclassifiable".[4]

The Internet Review of Science Fiction, reviewing You Might Sleep, contends that "J.D. Salinger [is] an obvious but unacknowledged influence" and also compares Mamatas' work to "Lewis Carroll with an ISP, Mishima hammering out his death poem on a BlackBerry or Harlan Ellison hyped up on crystal meth..." while suggesting a certain immaturity to Mamatas's themes: "Despite his tremendous gifts, Mamatas dares little. One wonders how he would handle more profound materials, how his narrative sorcery might encompass (for example) bereavement, real tragedy or loss of self through enlightenment or love."[5]

A thematic touchstone for Mamatas is H.P. Lovecraft. His novel Move Under Ground, which combines Lovecraftian and Beat themes, was declared one of the best Cthulhu Mythos stories not written by Lovecraft by Kenneth Hite in the book Cthulhu 101. Mark Halcomb of the Village Voice reviewed the book and its peculiar meshing of Lovecraft and Kerouac, writing, in part, "In fact, Kerouac's 'bebop prosody' and the Cthulhu mythos dovetail nicely, and what seems at first like literary stunt-casting actually gives Mamatas room to recast the Beats' fall from grace in fanciful terms unhindered by their tricky psychology, the strictures of reality and realism—or lingering platitudes."[6] Publishers Weekly reviewed Move Under Ground, discussing the novel's "credible pastiche" of Kerouac's voice and declared the book "sophisticated, progressive horror..."[7]

A number of his short works, such as the novelette Real People Slash and the flash fiction "And Then And Then And Then", also explicitly combine Lovecraftian themes with the voices of non-fantastical literature. The short story "That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable", first published in the anthology Lovecraft Unbound is a pastiche of Lovecraft and several of the works of Raymond Carver. The Damned Highway combines a character based heavily on Hunter S. Thompson and Lovecraftian themes.

Satire is also a significant element of Mamatas's fiction. Ed Park, writing for his online The Los Angeles Times review column, described Mamatas's Under My Roof—a short novel about the formation of a microstate on Long Island—as an "accurate, fast-moving satire that transcends mere target shooting by virtue of its narrator, Daniel’s 12-year-old son Herbie".[8] A starred review in Publishers Weekly for the same title also highlighted the satirical elements in the work, declaring: "A big-bang ending caps the fast-paced novel, and there's much fun to be had watching Mamatas...merrily skewer his targets."[9]

Mamatas's nonfiction work includes essays on publishing, digital culture, and politics. His Village Voice piece on the Otherkin phenomenon[10] is cited as one of the earliest national publications on the subculture.[11] His essay about his settlement with the RIAA[12] for file-sharing has been cited in several law reviews,[13][14][15] as it is a relatively rare first-person account of the process of settlement with the RIAA. Essays from The Smart Set, Village Voice, The Writer and Tim Pratt's fanzine Flytrap were compiled, along with original material, into the writing handbook Starve Better in 2011, and published by Apex Publications[16] His essay "The Term Paper Artist" originally from The Smart Set, about his experiences as an academic ghostwriter for pay, has been discussed on National Public Radio and reprinted in a pair of textbooks, both published by Nelson Education.[17][18]

Major works

[edit]

Novels

[edit]
  • Northern Gothic - Soft Skull Press (2001) ISBN 978-1887128742
  • Move Under Ground - Night Shade Books (2005) ISBN 978-1892389916
  • Under My Roof - Soft Skull Shortlit (2007) ISBN 978-1933368436
  • Sensation - PM Press (2011) ISBN 978-1604863543
  • The Damned Highway (with Brian Keene ) - Dark Horse (2011) ISBN 978-1595826855
  • Bullettime - ChiZine Publications (2012) ISBN 9781926851716
  • Love is the Law - Dark Horse Books (2013) ISBN 978-1616552220
  • The Last Weekend: A Novel of Zombies, Booze, and Power Tools - Night Shade Books (2016 reprint) (2014) ISBN 978-1597808422
  • I Am Providence - Night Shade Books (2016)[19] ISBN 978-1597808354
  • Sabbath - Tor Books (2019) ISBN 978-1250170118
  • The Second Shooter - Rebellion Publishing (2021) ISBN 978-1786184443

Short story collections

[edit]

Anthologies edited by

[edit]

Non-fiction

[edit]

Poetry

[edit]

Work as editor

[edit]

Personal life

[edit]

Mamatas is a student of Chen-style tai chi.[21] In 2012, he won a push hands competition[22] at the 3rd Annual "Golden Gate" Chinese Martial Arts Championship in San Francisco, California. In 2015, he won the silver medal in push hands at the twenty-third Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament.[23] In 2019, he came in second in the 19th annual Mokomoko Invitational's gi-sumo competition, in the 180+ pound division.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Paper Market". On the Media. 2008-11-28. Archived from the original on 2009-03-23.
  2. ^ "The Term Paper Artist" Archived 2008-10-24 at the Wayback Machine, article in The Smart Set by Nick Mamatas
  3. ^ "A Career In Thrashing Around All Night". Apex Book Company. April 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-05-17.
  4. ^ "On You Might Sleep by Mamatas (or I come not to praise Caesar but deliver the goods on Caligula)". Imago1, Laird Barron's LiveJournal. September 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-08-18.
  5. ^ "With Cautious Anticipation A review of You Might Sleep... by Nick Mamatas". The Internet Review of Science Fiction. May 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.
  6. ^ "Beat Happening". Village Voice. May 25, 2004. Archived from the original on November 1, 2010.
  7. ^ "Fiction Review: Move Under Ground". Publishers Weekly. April 12, 2004. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012.
  8. ^ "Review of Brian Aldiss's HARM and Nick Mamatas's UNDER MY ROOF". latimes.com. April 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-08-31.
  9. ^ "Fiction Review: Under My Roof". Publishers Weekly. December 18, 2006. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012.
  10. ^ Mamatas, Nick (February 20, 2001). "Elven Like Me". The Village Voice, New York. 46 (7): 35. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008.
  11. ^ The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English. The McGraw-Hill Companies. 2006. ISBN 9780071491631.
  12. ^ "Meet John Doe". Village Voice. March 1, 2005. Archived from the original on June 21, 2011.
  13. ^ Cohen, Julie E. (2005–2006). "The Place of the User in Copyright Law". Fordham Law Review. 74: 347. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  14. ^ Cohen, Julie E. (2004–2005). "Comment: Copyright's Public-Private Distinction". Case Western Reserve Law Review. 55: 963. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  15. ^ "Leave Them Kids Alone - A Proposed Fair Use Defense for Noncommercial P2P Sharing of Copyrighted Music Files". Florida International Law Review. 2007–2008. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  16. ^ "Starve Better". Apex Publications. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13..
  17. ^ "Table of Contents: Essay Essentials". Nelson Education. 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23.
  18. ^ "Canadian Content, 7th Edition". Nelson Education. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21.
  19. ^ Heller, Jason (August 3, 2016). "'I Am Providence' Is A Love/Hate Letter To A Literary Subculture". NPR. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  20. ^ Nick Mamatas's Livejournal Entry about editorial job at Viz Media
  21. ^ "The Good Fight". The Smart Set. April 2, 2009. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012.
  22. ^ "San Francisco Kung Fu Tournament Results for 2012: Taiji Push Hands". International Chinese Martial Arts Championships. Sep 22, 2012.
  23. ^ "Berkeley CMAT Scores". Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament. March 16, 2015.
[edit]
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