Michael R. Collings Explained

Birth Date:	29 October 1947
Birth Place:	Rupert, Idaho
Occupation:	Writer, bibliographer, literary critic, poet, professor (retired)
Language:	English
Nationality:	United States
Education:	Master's degree (English) Ph.D. (English literature)
Alma Mater:	Bakersfield College (AA) Whittier College (BA) University of California, Riverside (MA and PhD)
Period:	1979 - current
Genres:	fantasy, horror, science fiction
Subjects:	Orson Scott Card, Stephen King
Notableworks:	In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card
Spouse:	Judi Collings
Children:	Michaelbrent Collings

Michael Robert Collings (born October 29, 1947)^{[1] [2]} is an American writer, poet, literary critic, and bibliographer, and a former professor of creative writing and literature at Pepperdine University.^{[2] [3]} He was Poet in Residence at Pepperdine's Seaver College from 1997 to 2000.^[4]

Collings has had multiple collections of his poetry published on subjects such as Latter Day Saint theology, Joseph Smith, Christmas, science fiction, and horror.^[4] He is known for his literary critiques and bibliographies of the works of Orson Scott Card and Stephen King,^{[2] [4]} though he has also published critiques and bibliographies of the works of Peter Straub, Dean Koontz, C. S. Lewis, Brian W. Aldiss, and Piers Anthony.^{[2] [4]} His In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card was the first book-length academic look at Card's works.^{[4] [5]}

Biography

Michael Robert Collings was born in Rupert, Idaho.^[6] He graduated from Bakersfield College in 1967 with an Associate's degree, then graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from Whittier College two years later. After graduating with a Master's degree in English from the University of California, Riverside in 1973, Collings received his Ph.D. in English literature from UCR in 1977, specializing in Milton and The Renaissance.^[7]

Before he began teaching creative writing and literature at Pepperdine University,^[2] Collings taught at UCR, San Bernardino Valley Community College, and UCLA. He taught at Pepperdine from 1979^[7] until 2010, when he retired. He now lives in Idaho with his wife, Judi. His son, Michaelbrent Collings, is a fantasy and horror writer.

Collings was introduced to Stephen King's work by a student, David A. Engebretson, in 1983, and published his first book on him, The Many Facets of Stephen King, in 1985; reading King led to his also studying and publishing on Koontz and Robert McCammon.^[8]

The World Horror Convention awarded him their Grand Master Award in 2016.^[9]

Selected bibliography

Articles and papers

• "C. S. Lewis and the Music of Creation" (July–August 1979), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
• "The Mechanisms of Fantasy" (January 1980), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
• "To Be Still a Man: Abstraction and Concretion in C. S. Lewis" (January 1982), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
• "Beyond Deep Heaven: Generic Structure and Christian Message in C. S. Lewis's Ransom Novels", (December 1986), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
• "Brothers of the Head: Brian W. Aldiss's Psychological Landscape" (1988), Spectrum of the Fantastic: Selected Papers from the Fifth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Greenwood Press
• "Brian W. Aldiss" (1989), Reader's Guide to Twentieth Century Science Fiction Writers, American Library Association
• "To See the World the Poet's Way" In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization, and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card. New York: Greenwood Press, (1990), Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed.Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 279. Detroit: Gale, 2010

Sources:^[4]

Non-fiction books

• The Many Facets of Stephen King (1985), Starmont House,
• The Shorter Works of Stephen King (1985), with David A. Engebretson, Starmont House,
• Stephen King as Richard Bachman (1985), Starmont House,
• The Annotated Guide to Stephen King: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography of the Works of America's Premier Horror Writer (1986), Starmont House,
• The Films of Stephen King (1986), Starmont House,
• Card Catalogue: The Science Fiction and Fantasy of Orson Scott Card (1987), Hypatia Press,
• The Stephen King Phenomenon (1987), Starmont House,
• In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card (1990), Greenwood Press,
• Scaring Us to Death: The Impact of Stephen King on Popular Culture (1997), Borgo Press,
• The Work of Orson Scott Card: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide (1997), with Boden Clarke
• Hauntings: The Official Peter Straub Bibliography (2000), Overlook Connection Press,
• Storyteller: The Official Guide to the Works of Orson Scott Card (2001), Overlook Connection Press,
• Horror Plum'd: An International Stephen King Bibliography and Guide 1960-2000 (2003), Overlook Connection Press,
• Stephen King Is Richard Bachman, (March 2008), Overlook Connection Press,

Sources:^{[2] [4] [5]}

Novels

• The House Beyond the Hill (2007, Wildside Press,)
• Singer of Lies (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
• The Slab (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
• Static! (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
• Shadow Valley (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
• Writing Darkness (2012, CreateSpace,)

Wordsmith series

1. The Veil of Heaven (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
2. The Thousand Eyes of Flame (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
3. Three Tales of Omne (2010, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,, published in an omnibus with The Elder of Days by Robert Reginald)

Epic poem

• The Nephiad: An Epic Poem in XII Books (1996, Zarahemla Motets,)

Poetry and fiction collections

• Naked to the Sun (1986, Starmont House,)
• Dark Transformations: Deadly Visions of Change (1990, Starmont House,)
• All Calm, All Bright: Christmas Offerings (2007, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
• In the Void: Poems of Science Fiction, Myth and Fantasy, & Horror (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
• Wer Means Man and Other Tales of Wonder and Terror (2010, Borgo Press/Wildside Press,)
• Dear Emily and Other Poems (2016, CreateSpace,)
• In the Haunting Darkness (2022, Hemelein Publications,)

Sources:^{[4] [6] [10]}

See also

• Fire in the Pasture

Notes and References

1. U.S. Public Records Index Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
2. Web site: Michael R Collings. FantasticFiction. 2008-02-16. D C. Wands. 2008-02-29.
3. Book: Beahm, George W. . Stephen King from A to Z: an encyclopedia of his life and work. registration . 1998. Andrews McMeel Publishing. 43. 0-8362-6914-4.
4. Web site: Michael R. Collings. Brigham Young University. 2003. 2008-02-29.
5. Web site: AML-List Review: In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization, and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card . Jonathan . Langford . 1997-10-21 . . 2008-02-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071026054057/http://www.aml-online.org/reviews/b/B199766.html . 2007-10-26 . dead .
6. Web site: Michael R. Collings - Summary Bibliography. Internet Speculative Fiction Database. May 5, 2015.
7. Web site: Michael R. Collings Bio Information. Pepperdine University. 2008-02-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20090105233533/http://arachnid.pepperdine.edu/humteachered/faculty/collings/bio_info.html. January 5, 2009.
8. Web site: Ben . Lindbergh . The King Chroniclers and the Reimagining of an Icon of American Letters . The Ringer . September 4, 2018 . September 10, 2018 .
9. Web site: World Horror Grandmaster 2016 . Science Fiction Awards Database . March 4, 2019 . March 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111404/http://www.sfadb.com/World_Horror_Grandmaster_2016. live.
10. Web site: The House Beyond the Hill by Michael R Collings. FantasticFiction. 2008-02-29.