Southern, Nile 1960-

(Mantis)

PERSONAL:

Born December 29, 1960, in New Haven, CT; son of Terry (a writer) and Carol (an editor) Southern; married Theodosia Theodoridou (a leadership coach and consultant), August 29, 1992; children: Nephele Marie, Chloe Caroline. Education: Attended University of California, Los Angeles, 1979-81, New York University, 1981-83, and Columbia University, 1986-87. Politics: "Progressive, Green, Democrat." Religion: Greek Orthodox. Hobbies and other interests: Music, community activities, skiing, collage, film.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Longmont, CO. E-mail—nile@explodinglimo.com.

CAREER:

Pyramid Club, creator of film installations for music club, 1985-88; Pablo Ferro Associates, film editing assistant, 1986-87; Montage Group, New York, NY, worked in research and development, 1986-91; D.A. Pennebaker Associates, New York, NY, film editing assistant, 1987-89. KGNU Community Radio, board member, 1998-2004; Terry Southern Literary Trust, trustee.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Colorado Book of the Year, Colorado Center for the Book, for nonfiction; Colorado Endowment for the Humanities.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Josh Alan Friedman) Now Dig This: The Unspeakable Writings of Terry Southern, 1950-1995, Grove Press (New York, NY), 2000.

The Candy Men: The Rollicking Life and Times of the Notorious Novel "Candy," Arcade Publishing (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor of articles and short stories to periodicals, including Stop Smiling and Open City. Also writes under the pseudonym Mantis.

SIDELIGHTS:

Nile Southern told CA: "I was drawn to writing at an early age, primarily for the thrill of exploring the fantastical. My strongest influence has been my father, who was an accomplished prose stylist (first and foremost) and notorious screenwriter as well. Satire was his ‘thing’ and I have a great affinity for that mode of extreme (yet credible) storytelling. In terms of differences, I'd say I'm more visually oriented. I love working with images. I communicated for many years using ‘Via Foto’ postcards—self-laminating collage missives in which one can distil and ‘broadcast’ (via U.S. mail) bizarre aspects of pop and contemporary culture. Filmmaking is also an early love of mine, and I'm just now returning to it.

"I often write in Greece, where my wife's parents live (Thessaloniki), as the isolation I find there is quite conducive to getting into a project. I listen to music when I write—and find most of my new music through friends and my community radio station in Boulder/Denver: KGNU. Some music I've been listening to lately: Kaya Project, Manu Chau, Amadou and Miriam, DJ Kicks, Amon Tobin, Triloc Gurtu, Negativland, Natascha Atlas, Cheb i Sabbah.

"I'm still surprised at how difficult it is to make a living as a writer. It seems to be a profession as useful and valued as horseshoe repair.

"I like my book The Candy Men: The Rollicking Life and Times of the Notorious Novel "Candy," as it combines writing my father did over fifty years ago, with my own writing today. Its dual use offers mutual support—my father and I are working together to tell a story, a joke, a movement in history. My favorite writing, however, are my own pure visions. These blossomed while living in London for three years with my fiancée—the visions of ECO-DUB and (for example) the Exhaust Suckers—stories that have no direct references to my father at all. I've been influenced by William Burroughs, William Gibson, Tariq Ali, Arundhati Roy, DJ Spooky, and also my old friend and occasional publisher, Mark Amerika.

"I hope that my books about my father will cause people to reexamine or discover Terry's singular voice and vision—and that he will one day join the pantheon of ‘great American Writers’—which is where he belongs. In terms of my own original work—I intend to focus on developing these stories for a wider audience—through film, books and new media."