J. C. A. Gaskin

John Charles Addison Gaskin was born in the reign of Edward VIII. He writes about philosophy, ghosts and travel. Sometimes all together...

EARLY YEARS

He was educated at the City of Oxford High School (the school of John Drinkwater and Lawrence of Arabia) and Oxford University. He worked in the Royal Bank of Scotland before taking a lectureship at Trinity College Dublin, where he became a Fellow and Professor of Naturalistic Philosophy.

PHILOSOPHY:

His books on philosophy, particularly Hume's Philosophy of Religion, The Quest for Eternity, and his editions of works by the Epicureans, Hobbes, and Hume are widely known to students and readers of philosophy. But he retired in 1997 to travel, "live more widely", and write. In 1997 he was awarded a D.Litt by Trinity College Dublin. He is a fellow and member of the Senior Common Room at Hatfield College, Durham.

FICTION:

A first collection of ghost stories, The Dark Companion, was published in Dublin by Lilliput Press in 2001. His second, The Long Retreating Day, was published in the UK by Tartarus Press in 2006. A limited edition of verse and observations, Moments From a Life, was published in the UK by Hesleyhurst in 2008. It is now a collector's item. A Doubt Of Death, a mystery novel set in Ireland, was published by Hesleyhurst in November 2011. A third volume of short stories "The Master of the House" was published by Tartarus Press in March 2014. A novella and four short stories - The New Inn Hall Deception - was published by Tartarus Press in October 2019.

TRAVEL:

John Gaskin has traveled widely in Europe, North Africa, North America and the Aegean. Recent years have seen travel in Bulgaria and Turkey. His guidebook, The Traveler's Guide to Classical Philosophy, was published in 2011 by Thames and Hudson. It is available for kindle and has been translated into German, Korean and several other languages.

ANTHOLOGIES:

Gaskin's short stories are in high demand. Rosalie Parker included one when she edited Strange Tales (Tartarus, 2003). That collection won the 2004 World Fantasy Award for best anthology.

Strange Tales volume 3 (Tartarus, 2009) and volume 4 (Tartarus, 2014) have also included stories.

Stephen Jones' Mammoth Book of Best New Horror volume 21 (Robinson, 2010) included Gaskin's "Party Talk", as did 'Haunts: Reliquaries of the Dead' (Ulysses Press, 2011) and the ebook 'Mammoth Books Presents That Haunted Feeling' (Robinson, 2012).

Dark World (Tartarus, 2013), a collection edited by Timothy Russell and sold to raise funds for the Amala Children's Home in India, included "Wolvershiel".

Wormwood 26 (Tartarus, 2016) included the essay "Reality within Supernatural Tales".

AUDIO BOOKS:

A 3 CD collection of Gaskin's stories "Tales of Twilight and Borderlands", read by the author and Sir Michael Hordern, was released in November 2018 and can be ordered from www.tartaruspress.com. Several stories are also available through soundcloud.com and youtube.

TO BE CONTINUED:

John Gaskin is married, with two grown up children and five grandchildren. They all live in the borderlands. Current plans include:

- Continued release of stories from the audio CD collection "Tales of Twilight and Borderlands".

- Promotion of the new novella, "The New Inn Hall Deception", through Barter Books, Oxford University and Tartarus Press.