Introduction


Charles de Lint
In addition to being the master of the contemporary fantasy genre, Charles de Lint is also a musician, romantic, and believer in human potential. De Lint’s 1984 novel Moonheart is still in print and well received, perhaps because it is “fantasy for people who normally don’t read fantasy.” De Lint’s most recent work is set in the fictional city of Newford and features many recurring characters. De Lint was born in the Netherlands, but his family moved to Canada when he was a baby, and he still resides there. De Lint has written a great deal of poetry and a children’s book as well as his trademark fantasy novels. He has also taught creative writing workshops in Canada and the U.S. and has been writer-in-residence for several public libraries in the Ottawa area.

Essential Facts

  1. De Lint won the 2000 World Fantasy Award for his collection Moonlight and Vines.
  2. De Lint wrote several novels under the pseudonym Samuel M. Key, but they have since been published under his real name.
  3. Always eclectic, de Lint also wrote comic books for Aircel Publishing in the 1980s.
  4. In 1994, his short story “The Sacred Fire” was adapted into a film by Peter Billingsley and Robert Meyer Burnett.
  5. De Lint has said that he feels the most gratification as a writer “the moment when a reader tells me that something I’ve written has inspired them to go out and create something of their own.”