D. Harlan Wilson puts his own twist on surrealism when writing novels. Using a blend of satire, dark fiction and dream-like environments, Wilson literally creates worlds of his own.
Wilson, a visiting assistant professor of English, started out writing poetry but made the switch to fiction writing at age 25, after beginning his master's degree in English at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. By 1995, Wilson had written some short stories and a few novels, but said, "None of them were worth a damn."
His first story was published in 1999, when Wilson began his English doctorate program at MSU. Wilson's first book, "The Kafka Effekt," was published in 2001.
"I'm still highly skeptical of my writing," Wilson said. "Sometimes it hurts me to read through ("The Kafka Effekt"). I want to give the book an editorial overhaul.
"I don't think I'll ever be completely happy with my writing, but I do take some comfort in its gradual improvement."
Wilson's latest book, "Pseudo-City," was released in hardcover on April 2005, with a paperback edition due out Sept. 30.
The State News talked to Wilson to hear about how he got started, why he writes in such a unique style and what he's currently working on. Due to scheduling conflicts, all questions were asked and responded to through e-mail.
The State News: What do you like to be known as? Why do you use the pseudonym D. Harlan Wilson?
D. Harlan Wilson: My full name is David Harlan Wilson. Most people just call me Dave or David. I use the configuration D. Harlan Wilson as a pseudonym simply because it's a little more unique and distinctive than David Wilson. There are hundreds of David Wilsons in Michigan alone.
SN: What message do you hope to project with "Pseudo-City?"
DHW: I usually don't think about my books in terms of a message; in my opinion, they tend to be more symptomatic of technoculture than meaningful or moralistic. Frankly, I'm just happy to be publishing consistently. I basically write dark, irreal comedies, and what I hope my readers get out of them is a laugh, a cringe and the occasional spark of cognition.
SN: What types of readers are you trying to draw with your stories?
DHW: I don't think about a readership when I write. If I did, I'd probably write very different stuff! I know that many of my readers are 20- and 30-something males.
SN: How would you describe your style of writing?
DHW: I write in a number of genres, but my favorite is a genre called irrealism, which combines a dreamlike quality with an absurdist sentimentality a la Franz Kafka, William S. Burroughs, Samuel Beckett, Nikolai Gogol, Russell Edson and others.
SN: Why do you choose this style of writing?
DHW: I like the irreal genre because it embraces so many others. Science fiction, fantasy, comedy, drama, mystery, romance, horror - all of these categories have a place in irrealism. Also, it invites experimentalism and allows me to redefine the boundaries of narrative, reality and the human condition.
SN: Where do you get your ideas?
DHW: When I began writing fiction, my ideas leaked directly out of my dreams. I used to keep a regular dream journal, and often I would revise my dreams into story form. I don't do this anymore. But my fiction continues to sustain a dreamlike aesthetic.
SN: How many works have you had published?
DHW: I've published about 150 or so stories in magazines, journals and anthologies throughout the world. My books include "The Kafka Effekt," "Stranger on the Loose," "Irrealities" and "Pseudo-City." All of these books are collections of more or less irreal stories and flash fictions. Also, 30 or 40 of my stories have been translated into Dutch by the writer Yorgos Dalman and published in numerous magazines in the Netherlands, and recently a Spanish publisher, Verdehalago, began translating "The Kafka Effekt."
SN: Which is the one you are most proud of?
DHW: "Pseudo-City." I think my writing and my ideas are at their strongest in this book. I wrote it in the vein of Sherwood Anderson's modernist novel "Winesburg, Ohio," a collection of stories set in the same imaginary small town. Likewise are the fictions in "Pseudo-City" all set in the same imaginary metropolis, although they're much more outlandish, technologized and violent than Anderson's.
SN: What projects are you currently working on?
DHW: In addition to writing new stories, I'm a little over halfway finished with a speculative fiction novel called "Dr. Identity." It contains elements of irrealism, but it's turning out to be a more conservative text than I'm used to writing. It's set in a futuristic, overgrown suburb called Bliptown where people from all walks of life surrogate themselves on a regular basis with android look-alikes so as to avoid the "drama of life." The action concerns a nameless English professor and his psychotic android, Dr. Identity, who cannot stop mass murdering people. The novel attempts to combine a light-hearted silliness with a dire, ultraviolent painfulness. I plan to finish a draft early in 2006. It's scheduled for release early in 2007.
