Storytelling is the oldest of all the arts. Down through the centuries, human beings have shared their experiences and feelings through spoken word. These words were later written down and preserved in tomes and texts, copied onto palm leaves, sandwiched between wood covers, or bound with vellum. Masterful storytellers have always been able to use their tales to make sense of the world and to share that understanding with others … or rather, in the words of Neil Gaiman, “I make things up and write them down.” Although to be fair, no one makes things up and writes them down with quite the same panache and whimsical flair as Gaiman.
Neil Gaiman, who will be at UCSB’s Campbell Hall on Saturday, May 11, to close the 2018-19 season for UCSB Arts & Lectures’ Word of Mouth series, is one of the most celebrated writers of our time; his popular and critically acclaimed books bend genres while reaching audiences of all ages. Gaiman’s best-selling works range from the groundbreaking Sandman graphic novels, to fantasy novel-turned-television-series American Gods, to beloved children’s literature such as Coraline and The Graveyard Book.
Multiple compilations of his short stories have been published, books stuffed to the brim with fantastical worlds and unusual creatures, but which are entirely human and painfully relatable at heart. His most recent book, Norse Mythology, crafts the ancient stories into a novelistic arc featuring the larger-than-life northern European gods in all of their fierce, passionate glory. Good Omens, a cheeky, apocalyptic adventure that was written in collaboration with renowned fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett, will be premiering as an Amazon Prime miniseries May 31. Gaiman has penned episodes of BBC’s Doctor Who (“The Doctor’s Wife” in season six remains a particular audience favorite) and Neverwhere, an original BBC series by Gaiman, was later reimagined as a novel, a graphic novel, a radio dramatization, and a play. His ability to move between and throughout every imaginable form of storytelling has lent itself to a worldwide recognition as one of the world’s greatest living storytellers.