August William Derleth (1909–1971) was a highly prolific American author, editor, and publisher who made significant contributions to speculative fiction and regional literature. Born and raised in Wisconsin, Derleth's deep connection to his home state shaped much of his literary output. He is perhaps best remembered as the co-founder of Arkham House, a publishing company he established to preserve and promote the works of his late friend and correspondent, H. P. Lovecraft. Through Arkham House, Derleth became the first book publisher of Lovecraft's writings, helping to popularize the Cthulhu Mythos and introduce British supernatural fiction to American readers in hardcover format.\n\nBeyond his work in horror and weird fiction, Derleth was a dedicated regionalist. He considered his most serious and ambitious project to be the Sac Prairie Saga, a multi-genre collection of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and naturalist non-fiction designed to capture the life and landscape of Wisconsin. His writing in this vein also established him as a pioneering conservationist and naturalist.\n\nDerleth's versatility extended to several other genres, including detective fiction, science fiction, biography, and historical fiction. Notably, he created the character Solar Pons, a popular detective pastiche of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1938, Derleth left behind a vast and diverse body of work that bridged the worlds of regional realism and cosmic horror.
