CV
- I am a Canadian, a retired art historian, and an independent scholar.
- Current Projects
The new edition of Tarot and Other Meditation Decks (First edition, McFarland 2004, second edition 2023) is now available! The second edition includes new material addressing Tarot in film and literature, a new chapter on developments in Tarot since the first edition, and 40 additional illustrations! I love the new cover McFarland has designed for it (see above). That is Monica Bodirsky's Shadowland Tarot paired with the Rider-Waite-Smith cards. - There is a new review by David Bratman of Nancy-Lou Patterson Reviews (compiled and edited by me and Janet Brennan Croft, 2018) in Mythlore 41.2 (Spring/Summer 2023): 266-71.
- My paper on "Alchemy in the Tarot Temperance Card" has been published in Coreopsis 10.2 (Autumn 2022).
- A paper I submitted to an anthology has passed editorial review and is now waiting for the book's copy-editor while I work with the publisher's permissions person on the illustrations.
- The publisher of an anthology to which I contributed two short pieces on Tarot is now working up contracts for the numerous contributors.
- I'm back working on my new book manuscript and also a possible paper for a conference later this summer.
- Links to my latest reviews can be found in the Tarot section of the Review page.
Degrees
- Art History (BA York University), History in Art (MA, PhD University of Victoria)
- English (BA Open University; MA University of Victoria)
Publications: Books
Tarot and Other Meditation Decks: History, Theory, Aesthetics, Typology. Jefferson: McFarland, 2004. Second edition 2023.
- ISBN 0-7864-1674-2; ebook (2011) ISBN 978-0-7864-8304-4
- Second Edition ISBN 978-1-4766-8679-0; ebook 978-1-4766-4720-3
- This study evolved out of my earlier interests in shamanism as a factor in the development of visual motifs, and in multi-culturalism and the theoretical dynamics of modernism and post-modernism. It includes discussions of the theoretical, art historical, and literary aspects of contemporary Tarot decks and of the growth in importance of "self" expression in art and multi-culturalism as factors in the creative revision of Tarot over the past thirty years, as well as a section on the influence of Native American culture on revisions of Tarot.
- The study of Tarot as a cultural form closely linked to the development of the novel and popular genres of literature presented in Tarot in Other Meditation Decks is further developed in my book Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010 (Intellect 2016)
- The second edition includes new material addressing Tarot in film and literature, a new chapter on developments in Tarot since the first edition, and forty additional illustrations!
- Publisher's Website
- Purchase on amazon.ca or amazon.com
- Excerpt of first edition in the July 2012 Association for Tarot Studies Newsletter
Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010. Bristol, UK: Intellect, 2016.
- Hardcover ISBN 9781783203314
- Discussion chapters address the history of the cards, with special note taken of those that make film appearances, the role of cartomancy scenes in film, and also the attributes and qualities associated with filmic cartomancers. The longest chapter addresses the traditional and revised meanings assigned to the Tarot trumps and Fool in film contexts. Includes appendices, bibliography, indexes, and a filmography listing almost 200 films, 150 of them with Tarot trumps.
- Review by Elizabeth Hazel at Facing North
- University of Chicago Press (distributor) Website
- Intellect (publisher) Website
- Purchase on amazon.ca or amazon.com
A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010. Valleyhome Books, 2016.
- A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010 is a companion volume to Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010. This 410 page filmography includes entries for 199 films incorporating cartomancy and/or Tarot scenes, b/w illustrations from over 30 cartomancy decks, numerous charts showing the cartomancy spreads used in specific films, and an index of the cross-listings between films.
- ISBN Hardcover 978-1-987919-02-8; Softcover 978-1-987919-07-3
- Review by Elizabeth Hazel at Facing North
- Purchase hardcover, available exclusively at Lulubooks
Purchase softcover at Lulubooks or amazon.ca or amazon.com - The eBook edition (2017) is divided into three files illustrated with colour pictures of the Tarot and other cards presented in the print edition in black-and-white. The eBooks also include the print-edition diagrams showing some of the card spreads appearing in the films.
- All three ebook volumes are available for library purchase (Overdrive).
- A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot 1940–1979 (50 films)
- ISBN 978-1-987919-14-1 Purchase eBook at Kobo
- A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot 1980–1999 (68 films)
- ISBN 978-1-987919-15-8 Purchase eBook at Kobo
- A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot 2000–2010 (81 films)
- ISBN 978-1-987919-16-5 Purchase eBook at Kobo
Tech-Noir Film A Theory of the Development of Popular Genres. Bristol, UK: Intellect, 2011.
- Hardcover and ebook ISBN 9781841504247
- In this study, I propose that tech-noir is the most recent of several popular genres that have dominated Western culture over the past two hundred and fifty years and as such indicates a fascination with the Prometheus myth as a narrative prototype. I show that an emphasis on different fields of discourse has led to the development of new popular genres, such that an emphasis on psychology is linked to the development of gothic fiction, sociology to detective fiction, science to science fiction, and aesthetics to tech-noir.
- University of Chicago Press (distributor) Website
- Intellect (publisher) Website
- Purchase ebook on Kobo
- Purchase on amazon.ca or amazon.com
- Google Books Preview
The Way of Inuit Art: Aesthetics and History In and Beyond the Arctic. Jefferson: McFarland, 2005.
- Hardcover ISBN 0-7864-1888-5; soft cover (2011) ISBN 978-0-7864-6412-8
- This book is about the cultural and multi-cultural influences that have affected the production of Inuit art. I lend particular attention to Western theoretical, methodological, and aesthetic contexts and concepts such as evolutionism, diffusionism, shamanism, modernism, post-modernism, and multi-culturalism as factors in the archaeology, revitalization, documentation, and representation of Inuit art. The first three chapters of this seven-chapter volume include research on prehistoric Inuit art that I started as an undergraduate and MA student, while the latter half of the book presents research I conducted as part of my PhD dissertation. The final two chapters present interview material I gathered during fieldwork in the Arctic in 1988 from Inuit artists about their own art and about that of non-Native Canadian artist Nicola Wojewoda.
Publications: Edited Works
About Tarot
Mythlore: Special Section: Divination in Mythopoeic Literature. Issue 132. Volume 36, Number 2. Spring/Summer 2018. Guest Editor Emily E. Auger.
Tarot in Culture. Valleyhome Books, 2014. [29 papers by 23 scholars and artists with a foreword by Rachel Pollack; supported by two external peer reviewers.]
- Purchase Volume One ebook on Kobo
- Purchase Volume Two ebook on Kobo
- Purchase Volume One (softcover or hardcover with jacket) on Lulu
- Purchase Volume Two (softcover or hardcover with jacket) on Lulu
- If you have trouble with the links, go to the main Kobo or Lulu site and search for the title.
- Interviewed by Gwendolyn Womack about Tarot in Culture (2017).
Papers by Nancy-Lou Patterson
Note: All of the ebook editions of the collected works of Nancy-Lou Patterson listed below are available for library purchase (Overdrive).
Re-envisioning Mythopoeia: Papers on the Works of Lloyd Alexander, Pauline Baynes, Madeleine L'Engle, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Others and Nancy-Lou Patterson's Mythopoeic Drawings by Nancy-Lou Patterson. Edited by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft. Valleyhome Books, 2020.
- ISBN Hardcover 978-1-987919-24-0; Softcover 978-1-987919-27-7; eBook 978-1-987919-26-4
- Purchase hardcover from Lulu Books
- Purchase softcover from Lulu Books
- Purchase ebook from Kobo Rakuten
Divining Tarot: Papers on Charles Williams's The Greater Trumps and Other Works by Nancy-Lou Patterson. Edited by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft. Valleyhome Books, 2019.
- ISBN Hardcover 978-1-987919-08-0; Softcover 978-1-987919-10-3; eBook 978-1-987919-09-7
- Purchase hardcover, exclusively available from Lulu Books
- Purchase softcover from Lulu Books
- Purchase ebook from Kobo
Nancy-Lou Patterson Reviews: Books By and About Dorothy L. Sayers, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Others by Nancy-Lou Patterson. Edited by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft. Valleyhome Books, 2018.
- ISBN Hardcover 978-1-987919-20-2; eBook 978-1-987919-21-9
- Purchase hardcover, exclusively available from Lulu Books
- Purchase ebook from Kobo
- Review by David Bratman in Mythlore 41.2 (Spring/Summer 2023): 266-71.
Detecting Wimsey: Papers on Dorothy L. Sayers's Detective Fiction by Nancy-Lou Patterson. Edited by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft. Valleyhome Books, 2017.
- ISBN Hardcover 978-1-987919-11-0; Softcover 978-1-987919-12-7; eBook 978-1-987919-13-4
- Purchase hardcover, exclusively available from Lulu Books
- Purchase softcover from Lulu Books
- Purchase softcover on amazon.com
- Purchase softcover on amazon.ca
- Purchase ebook from Kobo
Ransoming the Waste Land: Papers on C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, Chronicles of Narnia, and Other Works, Volumes I and II, by Nancy-Lou Patterson. Edited by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft. Valleyhome Books, 2016.
- Ransoming the Waste Land Volume I
- ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-987919-00-4; Softcover 978-1-987919-03-5; eBook 978-1-987919-04-2
- Purchase Hardcover, exclusively available on Lulu
- Purchase Softcover on Lulu
- Purchase Softcover on amazon.com
- Purchase Softcover on amazon.ca
- Purchase ebook on Kobo
- Ransoming the Waste Land Volume II
- ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-987919-01-1 Softcover 978-1-987919-05-9; eBook 978-1-987919-06-6
- Purchase Hardcover, exclusively available on Lulu
- Purchase Softcover on Lulu
- Purchase Softcover on amazon.com
- Purchase Softcover on amazon.ca
- Purchase ebook on Kobo
Publications: Articles in Journals and Anthologies
- "Alchemy in the Tarot Temperance Card." Coreopsis 10.2 (Autumn 2022).
- Review Essay: "Women Tarot Artists Inspired by the Golden Dawn: Recent Publications." Includes a discussion of Mina Bergson/Moina Mathers, Pamela Colman Smith, Jessie Burns Park, and Frieda Harris, as context for several recent publications from Fulgur Press: The Tarot of Leonora Carrington with contributions by Gabriel Weisz Carrington, Leonora Carrington, Susan Aberth, and Tere Arcq (2020); Major Arcana: Leonora Carrington (22 cards and pamphlet with essay by Rachel Pollack (2020); and Taro as Colour by Ithell Colquhoun with an Introduction by Amy Hale (2018). Mythlore 40.1 (Fall/Winter 2021): 242-48.
- "An Annotated List of Fantasy Novels Incorporating Tarot (1990-2005)." Mythlore 38.2 (Spring/Summer 2020): 139-61.
- "Introduction: Divination and Prophecy in Mythopoeic Fantasy." Mythlore 36.2 (Spring/Summer 2018): 162-64.
- "Tarot and T.S. Eliot in Stephen King's Dark Tower Novels." Mythlore 36.2 (Spring/Summer 2018): 185-213.
- "An Annotated List of Fantasy Novels Incorporating Tarot (1968-1989)." Mythlore 36.2 (Spring/Summer 2018): 231-250.
- "The Tarot of Jane Austen: Re-Envisioning the World." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture 12.4 (2013) On-line.
- "The Lord of the Rings' Interlace: The Adaptation to Film." Mythlore 30.1/2 (Fall/Winter 2011): 143-62.
- "Robots and Representation in Asimov's Detective-Science Fiction Novels." Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction (Published by the Science Fiction Foundation) 38.107 (2009): 21-38.
- "Grand Manner Aesthetics in Landscape: From Canvas to Celluloid." Journal of Aesthetic Education 43.4 (Winter 2009): 96-107.
- "The Lord of the Rings' Interlace: From Tolkien to Tarot." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 19.3 (2008): 317-30.
- "The Lord of the Rings' Interlace: Tolkien's Narrative and Lee's Illustrations." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 19.1 (2008): 70-93.
- "Male Gothic Detection and the Pre-Raphaelite Woman in Lady Audley's Secret." Clues: A Journal of Detection 26.3 (2008): 3-14.
- "Arthurian Legend in Tarot." King Arthur in Popular Culture. Eds. Donald Hoffman and Elizabeth Sklar. Jefferson: McFarland, 2002. 233-48.
- "The Cultural and Multi-Cultural Aesthetics of Baker Lake Inuit Artists." American Indian Art Magazine 26.3 (Autumn 2001): 48-59, 94-5.
- "Looking at Native Art through Western Art Categories: From the 'Highest' to the 'Lowest' Point of View." Journal of Aesthetic Education 34.2 (Summer 2000): 89-98.
- Rpt: "Inuit Women Artists and Western Aesthetics." Inuit Art Quarterly 14.4 (Winter 1999): 4-10.
- "Inuit Women Artists and Western Aesthetics." Dialogue and Universalism VII.4-5 (1997): 179-86.
- "William Noah Interviewed by Emily Auger." Artichoke: Writings About the Visual Arts 5.3 (Fall 1993): 28-35.
Publications and Projects: Other
- Family Histories 2012 ff. Follow the link in the side menu for more details.
- "The Third Archetype." In Delta by Ruben van Klaveren. Enschede, Netherlands: Dutch Art Institute, 2010. "The Third Archetype" is a prose narrative explicating the installation "Delta." The publication is based on a word done by Van Klaveren as part of a Master's course of study at the Dutch Art Institute. ISBN 978-90-73025-12-7]
- Researcher (1989) for New Zealand film director Vincent Ward's Map of the Human Heart.
Publications: Selected Reviews
See tab above for list
My reviews of books have appeared in
- Alaska Journal of Anthropology
- Canadian Journal of Native Studies
- Correspondences (forthcoming)
- Facing North
- Inuit Studies
- Journal of American Culture
- Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
- Journal of Popular Culture
- Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
- Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature
- Mythprint: A Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society
- Preternature
- Southwest Journal of Cultures
The general subject areas of the books I review include
- Tarot, or including essays on Tarot, and related Visual Arts
- Popular Literature, Film, and Visual Art
- Tolkien and Arthuriana
- Inuit, Native, and Northern Art and Culture
Conference Papers
Too numerous to mention, one or two a year from 1988 through 2019. I am less involved with conferences now that I am retired and want to dedicate more time to research and writing.
I was the founder and area chair for Tarot & Other Methods of Divination at the Popular Culture Association conference (2004-2019). Covid-19 made my participation in this conference difficult as I live in Canada and the conference is held in the United States.
I have presented papers at the
- Popular Culture / American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) conference (This is my favourite conference and I participate every year. I rarely attend the others any more.)
- Popular Culture Association of Canada (PCAC) conference
- Universities Art Association of Canada (UAAC) conference
- Canadian Society for Aesthetics conference (Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities)
- International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts
- Native American Art Studies Association conference
- International Congress of Aesthetics
- Inuit Studies Conference