Korban Blake is a British multi-genre author whose work includes science fiction, horror and apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and a non-fiction

survivalism Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, as well as other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, civil disor ...

guide, as well as poetry, and news articles. Recent works are published by Archaeopteryx Books. Blake is also an

outsider artist Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates ...

and displays art work in exhibitions local to the East Anglia region of the United Kingdom. Blake is also an activist and campaigner for civil liberties, human rights and environmental issues.

Early life and education

According to Facebook, Blake currently resides in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, Norfolk (UK), and has been employed as a journalist, going on to become the editor for the local newspaper '' The Cromer Times''; and has also worked as a Private Investigator. Korban Blake studied Sustainability at the University of Illinois, and Disaster Preparedness at the University of Pittsburgh for book research purposes. Blake cites Roald Dahl, Andre Maurois (Fattipuffs and Thinifers) and Richard Adams (Watership Down) as childhood literary influences. Further, Blake says "In my teens my main influences were

James Herbert James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 l ...

and Stephen King, as I discovered the world of horror fiction." In another interview, Blake also cites

Shaun Hutson Shaun Hutson (born 1958) is a British novelist in the horror and crime genres. Under his own name and various pen names, he has written at least thirty novels. Background A native of Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, England, Hutson no ...

as an influence, and said "Without all of these influences, there very probably would be no Korban Blake."

Writing career

The first published short story book, ''Ringlands'', was written in 2012, and is dedicated to political organiser and

Internet activist Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular infor ...

Aaron Swartz Aaron Hillel Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) was an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and Internet hacktivist. A prolific programmer, Swartz helped develop the web feed format RSS, the tech ...

. The second book, ''Ravenous Cavernous'', was written in 2013. A non-fiction guide called ''Surviving The Cuts, And Other Disasters'' was published on 27 March 2013 by Archaeopteryx Books. In an interview, Blake talked about ''Surviving The Cuts, And Other Disasters'': "(Surviving The Cuts, and Other Disasters) is a guide designed to help people through the

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

and

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

difficulties we are facing." In another, Blake said of ''Surviving The Cuts, And Other Disasters'': "I wrote about

preppers Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, as well as other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, civil disord ...

in Surviving The Cuts, and the days of viewing those people who store food and essentials for their family 'just in case' as paranoid and crazy are really over. I think hurricane Katrina, and other terrible events have changed everything for thousands of ordinary people. We know that we cannot depend on Governments to take care of us, so we must do it for ourselves. Being ready to take care of ourselves and our families – that's prepping." Blake lives in the East Anglia region of England. Blake launched the first short story exclusively to the Amazon Kindle market in 2013. Anticipating that people purchasing eBooks would be looking for bargains, Blake priced the book at the minimum price for independent writers (approximately $.99 USD) in order to make it as accessible as possible, and sometimes offers the book for free. In November 2012 Blake took up the NaNoWriMo writing challenge and wrote 50,000 words of the forthcoming novel ''Extant'' in just 30 days.

Published works

Blake's books include themes of science fiction,

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

, humour,

internet activism Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular inf ...

, and

survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

. Settings are typically East Anglia. The

dark humour Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

short story 'Ravenous Cavernous' is set in a fictional land, following the wacky adventure of the main character, Poilu-Flux, on a journey of discovery about the interpretation of fear. The story contains numerous made up words.

Artwork

Blake is a multimedia artist, painter and photographer, and describes the work as ''

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrate ...

''. Blake shows art work in exhibitions locally in the

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and Suffolk areas.

Activism

Blake has stated in interview 'I very openly support causes that are important to me, I've attended peaceful protests, and will always defend the right to

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

.' Blake said: "There are political references in ''Extant'' too, and ''Ringlands'' talks about the danger of entering into a database state, the growing use of

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

s and excess CCTV in the UK. These topics are included because they are relevant to the story – in ''Ringlands'' they essentially are the story – I won't apologise for that. If it leads to more people reading more on the subjects I raise, then I would say that is a good thing. Not enough people know or understand just how little freedom we have left."

Bibliography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Korban Year of birth missing (living people) English science fiction writers Living people 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English painters English male painters English non-fiction writers Survivalists English environmentalists English human rights activists English male novelists 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers 21st-century English male artists