Richard Murray Vaughan (March 2, 1965 – October 2020)[1] was a Canadian writer and artist.[2]
Biography
editBorn in Saint John, New Brunswick, Vaughan graduated from the creative writing program at the University of New Brunswick.[3] He was playwright-in-residence at Toronto's Buddies in Bad Times from 1994-95, and published numerous works, including poetry, fiction, stage plays and journalism for Utne Reader, Xtra! and The Globe and Mail.[4] He was openly gay.[5]
His books included the poetry collections a selection of dazzling scarves (1996), Ruined Stars (2004), and Troubled: A Memoir in Poems (2008), the plays Camera, Woman (2001) and The Monster Trilogy (2003), and the novels A Quilted Heart (1998) and Spells (2003). His 2015 book Bright Eyed is a memoir of his struggles with insomnia.[6]
In October 2020, he was reported missing in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where he was working as writer in residence at the University of New Brunswick.[7] Vaughan was found dead by Fredericton Police on October 23, 2020.[3]
Pervatory, an unfinished novel manuscript, was published in 2023.[8]
Works
edit- The InCorrupt Tables (Wild East/Salamanca Chapbooks, 1992 (reprinted 1995), poetry)
- William Forrestali's (Muted) Cornucopia (Studio 21 Halifax, 1992, art catalogue)
- Beyond Bad Times (Snowapple Press, 1993, anthology)
- Expressions: Writing About Psychiatric Survival (Expressions Press, 1993, anthology)
- Shout and Speak Out Loud: Atlantic Canadians on Child Sexual Abuse (Wild East, 1993, anthology)
- Semiotext(e) CANADAS (Semiotext(e) Publications, 1994, anthology)
- Plush (Coach House Press, 1995, anthology)
- Symbiosis: The Clinic (Symbiosis Collective, 1995, art catalogue)
- The Last Word (Insomniac Press, 1995, anthology)
- a selection of dazzling scarves (ECW Press, 1996, poetry)
- DISCovering Authors: Canadian Series (Gale Research, 1996, CD Rom)
- Carnival: A Scream In High Park Reader (Insomniac Press, 1996, anthology)
- Painted, Tainted, Sainted by Sky Gilbert (PUC Press, 1996, introduction)
- Blues and True Concussions: 6 New Poets (House of Anansi, 1996, anthology)
- To Monsieur Desmoulins... (Tortoise Shell and Black, 1997, poetry chapbook)
- Gay Love Poetry (Robinson Publishing U.K. 1997, anthology)
- The Ecstatic Moment: The Best of Libido (Dell Books, 1997, anthology)
- 96 Tears (in my jeans) (Broken Jaw Press, 1998, poetry chapbook)
- A Quilted Heart (Insomniac Press, 1998, novel)
- Contra/Dictions: Queer Male Fiction (Arsenal Pulp Press, 1998, anthology).
- Written in the Skin (Insomniac Press, 1998, anthology)
- Rhubarb-O-Rama! (Blizzard Press, 1998, anthology of plays)
- Restless Requiem: Catherine Hale's Seductive Altars (Art Centre, University of New Brunswick Press, 1998, art catalogue)
- Invisible to Predators (ECW Press, 1999, poetry)
- Camera, Woman (2001, drama)
- Spells (2003, novel)
- The Monster Trilogy (2003, drama)
- Ruined Stars (2004, poetry)
- Troubled: A Memoir in Poems (2008, poetry)
- Compared to Hitler (Tightrope Books, 2013, selected essays)
- Bright Eyed (Coach House Press, 2015, memoir)
- Vaughan, R. M. (2018). One year after. New Brunswick chapbook series #6. Victoria, BC: Frog Hollow Press. ISBN 978-1-926948-62-1.
- Vaughan, R. M. (2019). Ve1xe. New Brunswick Chapbook Series #11. Victoria, BC: Frog Hollow Press. ISBN 9781926948843.
- Pervatory (Coach House Press, 2023, novel, published posthumously)
References
edit- ^ "Obituary of Richard Vaughan". Brenan Group Ltd. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ^ Colin H. Smith, "'A psychotic assembly of Post-it notes'; R.M. Vaughan's latest exhibit challenges our need to order pictures and words". Telegraph Journal, March 25, 2000.
- ^ a b "Missing New Brunswick writer Richard Vaughan found dead". Global News. October 24, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
- ^ Nathaniel G. Moore, "Writer RM Vaughan lived with me during COVID-19, before he died — we were friends, confidantes, collaborators". Toronto Star, October 25, 2020.
- ^ Mitchel Raphael, "Where gay goes after the mainstream". Toronto Star, May 17, 1998.
- ^ Brett Josef Grubisic, "RM Vaughan tries to keep Bright Eyed in new book" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Daily Xtra, May 14, 2015.
- ^ Rachel Cave, "N.B. writers and LGBTQ community 'very worried' about missing mentor Richard Vaughan". CBC News New Brunswick, October 14, 2020.
- ^ Christopher DiRaddo, "Posthumous books by Canlit legends Marie-Claire Blais and RM Vaughan". Xtra Magazine, November 13, 2023.
