Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961), perhaps best known today for his association with H.P Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos, is in his own right a unique master of fantasy, horror and science-fiction. Highly imaginative, his genre-spanning visions of worlds beyond, combined with his profound understanding of the English language, have inspired an ever -increasing legion of fans and admirers.
For most of his life, he lived in physical and intellectual isolation in Auburn, California (USA). Predominantly self-educated with no formal education after grammar school, Smith wore out his local library and delved so deeply into the dictionary that his richly embellished, yet precise, prose leaves one with the sense that they are in the company of a true master of language.
Though Smith primarily considered himself a poet, having turned to prose for the meager financial sum it rewarded, his prose might best be appreciated as a "fleshed" out poetry. In this light, plot and characters are subservient to the milieu of work: a setting of cold quiet reality, which, mixed with the erotic and the exotic, places his work within its own unique, phantasmagoric genre. While he also experimented in painting, sculpture, and translation, it is in his written work that his legacy persists.
During his lifetime, Smith's work appeared commonly in the pulps alongside other masters such H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, August Derleth, and E. Hoffmann Price and like many great artists, recognition and appreciation have come posthumously. In recent decades though, a resurgence of interest in his works has lead to numerous reprintings as well as scholarly critiques.
The Eldritch Dark is a site to facilitate both scholars and fans in their appreciation and study of Clark Ashton Smith and his works.
Re: Question about CAS literary circle
3 Jul, 2026 3:47PM by thosragns
“Very interesting snippet-the 1949 timeframe is pretty significant, in Yasuda’s most famous book written much later (basically his doctoral dissertation) he credits his adviser at Tokyo University with the idea of using the resources and conventions of English poetry, like rhyme, for translating haiku, I hadn’t really thought to question his claim, but it looks… ”
Re: Question about CAS literary circle
3 Jul, 2026 2:55PM by Martinus
“On 22 November 1949, CAS wrote to DAW:
"I owe my interest in the latter form to a young Japanese poet (a native of this locality) who brought me a manuscript volume of haiku (translations from Japanese originals) several years ago, for criticism and advice. This poet, Kenneth Yasuda, has since had a volume of such… ”
Re: Question about CAS literary circle
3 Jul, 2026 12:36PM by Martinus
“According to a note in To Worlds Unknown, Yasuda lived in Auburn. CAS, being a local minor celebrity, would not have been hard to find. In my own unpublished article on CAS as a poet, I see that Yasuda sought him out to get help translating haiku into English, but I have no idea any… ”
Question about CAS literary circle
3 Jul, 2026 7:41AM by thosragns
“Hi all, I have been trying to find an answer to a minor mystery involving CAS-hé is mentioned in the acknowledgements for Kenji Yasuda’s book « Japanese Haiku: Its Essential Nature, History, and Possibilities in English ». Yasuda’s book is one of the pioneering works presenting a framework and analysis for the theory and practice of haiku… ”
Forthcoming CAS from Hippocampus Press
29 Jun, 2026 12:05PM by Martinus
“2027: Hyperborea collection
2027: The Curse of Runjut Singh (uncollected and unpublished juvenilia, HC)
2028: Judgments and Dooms (collection of non-cycle stories)… ”