Goreyesque is an online literary journal featuring work inspired by the spirit and aesthetic of Edward Gorey. Both a storyteller and illustrator, Gorey has crept into the imaginations of authors, poets, artists, filmmakers, and musicians. Goreyesque seeks to provide a forum for new and established creators in all genres, highlighting Gorey's cross-disciplinary influence.
Goreyesque was originally designed as an anthology celebrating the Chicago debut of Gorey’s work at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) in Chicago, Illinois. Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey (organized by the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust and the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania) and G is for Gorey (a companion exhibition from the Thomas Michalak Collection) were shown at LUMA from February 15 to June 15, 2014.
Chicago artist Kenneth Gerleve created an installation in conjunction with the exhibitions at LUMA. Inspired by Gorey's sensibilities and dark humor, Summerland: A Ghost Story appeared in the space adjacent to the gallery containing Gorey's work. Gerleve, a graduate of Columbia College Chicago's Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts MFA program, conceived of an idea with writer and editor-in-chief Todd Summar. The idea was to compile an online anthology of work inspired by Edward Gorey's legacy.
Summar works with editors Howard Simmons, Kori Klinzing, and Jess Millman to present selected submissions by anyone who is moved enough by Gorey's work to present their own interpretations.
Illustrations © The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust. All rights reserved.
Goreyesque Editorial Team
Todd Summar, Editor-in-Chief: Todd Summar is a fiction writer and editor who draws inspiration from dreams, nightmares, off-beat film and literature, and absurd humor. He works as a coordinator for Columbia College Chicago's Story Week Festival of Writers, one of Chicago's largest literary festivals. He is also the Managing Editor for the event's program booklet. He has over ten years of marketing and PR experience. He is currently pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing at Columbia. His work can be seen in PANK and Monkeybicycle.
Howard Simmons, Editor: Howard Simmons first discovered the power of the stories of Edward Gorey when he used "Gashleycrumb Tinies" to scandalize his classmates at the small Christian high school he attended. He worked in journalism for ten years as a reporter and copy editor. He is currently an MFA candidate in the Department of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago.
Corey Klinzing, Editor: Corey Klinzing is a Fiction MFA candidate at Columbia College and a newbie to the city of Chicago. She has previously been published in Furrow and on The Shepherd Express Poetry Blog, alongside such poets as James Liddy and Alison Townsend.
Jessica Millman, Editor: Jessica was supposed to be a lawyer, and her parents are very disappointed. She is a summa cum laude of DePaul University and a Follett Fellow at Columbia College Chicago’s Fiction MFA program. Favorite writing sins: violent dashes, superfluous hyphens, and unscrupulous semi-colons.