Somtow, S. P.
Somtow, S. P.
(pop culture)S. P. Somtow, the pseudonym of Thai-America writer Somtow Sucharitkul, was born in Bangkok in 1952. He started writing early in life and his first published piece, a poem entitled “Kith of Infinity,” was written when he was eleven years old. It was seen by actress Shirley McLaine in the Bangkok Post. who, moved by its expression of alienation, and under the impression that it had been written by an ancient dead sage, reprinted it in her autobiographical book, Don’t Fall Off the Mountain. Somtow was educated in Switzerland where his uncle, a member of the diplomatic corps for Thailand, was stationed. He attended St. Catherine’s College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from which he received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Before Somtow was a writer, he was a musician. He composed numerous musical selections and was the director of the Bangkok Opera Society (1977–78). In 1978 he was the director of the Asian Composer’s Conference-Festival held in Bangkok. During the 1990s he has returned to music and wrote a ballet, Khaki, which was premiered at a royal command performance in Bangkok.
Somtow began writing science fiction in the 1970s and following the appearance of his novel, Starship and Haiku (1981), published a series of novels under his given name. Starship and Haiku won the Locus Award for Best First Novel and Somtow won the John W. Campbell Award as Best New Science Fiction Writer. His first vampire novel, Vampire Junction (1984), heralded as one of the finer examples of the genre, appeared as the first novel under his pseudonym. Recently it was cited by the Varma Gothic Literary Society as “an outstanding contribution to gothic literature in the twentieth century.” The novel traces the career of Timmy Valentine, a young boy made a vampire just as Vesuvius erupts and destroys his hometown.
Amazingly he has been able to survive, and has reappeared throughout history with his beautiful boyish voice. In the contemporary world he is a charismatic rock star. Vampire Junction prompted the writing of two sequels, Valentine (1992) and Veritas (1995).
Somtow has roamed across genres, and has written an outstanding werewolf novel, Moondance. He last returned to the vampire genre in the juvenile novel, The Vampire’s Beautiful Daughter (1997).
In the new century, Somtow’s musical side has come to the fore. Though continuing to write fiction, he is now the director of the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra and has written operas for its associated Bangkok Opera. In 2008, he announced that Vampire Junction was being adapted into an opera.
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