About Clive Barker's Shop
Painter, Poet, Playwright, Author, Director
BIOGRAPHY
Clive Barker (Liverpool, 1952-)
A visionary, fantasist, poet and painter, Clive Barker has expanded the reaches of human imagination as a novelist, director, screenwriter and dramatist. An inveterate seeker who traverses between myriad styles with ease, Clive has left his indelible artistic mark on a range of projects that reflect his creative grasp of contemporary media -- from familiar literary terrain to the progressive vision of his Seraphim production company. The 1998 movie, Gods and Monsters, which he executive produced, garnered three Academy Award® nominations and an Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay. The following year, Clive joined the ranks of such illustrious authors as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Annie Dillard and Aldous Huxley when his collection of literary works was inducted into the Perennial line at HarperCollins, which then published The Essential Clive Barker, a 700-page anthology with an introduction by Armistead Maupin.
Clive began his odyssey in the theatres of Liverpool and London, scripting original plays for his group The Dog Company, including The History of the Devil, Frankenstein in Love and Crazyface. Soon, Clive began publishing his The Books of Blood short fiction collections; but it was his debut novel, The Damnation Game that widened his already growing international audience.
Clive shifted gears in 1986 when he directed Hellraiser, based on his novella The Hellbound Heart, which became a veritable cult classic on its release the following year, spawning a slew of sequels, several lines of comic books, and an array of merchandising.
In 1990, he adapted and directed Nightbreed from his short story Cabal. Two years later, Clive executive produced the housing-project story Candyman, as well as its 1995 sequel, Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh. Also that year, he directed Scott Bakula and Famke Janssen in the noir-esque detective tale, Lord of Illusions.
Clive’s literary works include such best-selling fantasies as Weaveworld, Imajica, The Great and Secret Show, Everville, Sacrament, Galilee and Coldheart Canyon, The Scarlet Gospels and the children’s fable, The Thief of Always.
The first of his quintet of children’s books, Abarat, was published in 2002 to resounding critical acclaim, followed by Abarat II: Days of Magic, Nights of War and Abarat III: Absolute Midnight; Clive is currently completing the fourth in the series, alongside writing a new novel, Deep Hill.
He has been an accomplished artist and photographer for as long as he has been a wordsmith. His canvases and works on paper have been shown in solo exhibitions in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and his artwork has been celebrated in the eight volume series of Imaginer books.
In 2012 Clive was given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association, for his outstanding contribution to the genre.
