Q&A: Jeff Alford and Dustin Holland Resurrect Lord Dunsany’s THE GODS OF PEGANA in New Illustrated Edition, Now on Kickstarter!

Introducing readers to "unforgettable gods and a rich new mythology that would inspire H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K Leguin, and generations of fantasy and science fiction creators" following its initial publication in 1905, Lord Dunsany’s The Gods of Pegana is now being resurrected in a new illustrated edition with precise typesetting by Jeff Alford (founder of the Denver-based Wig Shop) and eerily vibrant artwork by Dustin Holland.

With the gorgeous new version of The Gods of Pegana now on Kickstarter, we had the great pleasure of catching up with Jeff and Dustin in a new Q&A feature to discuss breathing new life into the classic yet often underappreciated book, the impactful legacy of Lord Dunsany’s literature, and their approach to visualizing the book's "phenomenal cast of gods, monsters and prophets who bear witness to the beginning—and the end—of the universe."

Below, you can read our full Q&A with Jeff and Dustin, and we also have the official press release and a look at the stunning cover art and preview pages from the new illustrated edition of The Gods of Pegana. To learn more, be sure to visit the book's official Kickstarter page!

Thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us, Dustin and Jeff, and congratulations on the new illustrated edition of Lord Dunsany’s The Gods of Pegana! When did you each read The Gods of Pegana for the first time, and what was it about this book that resonated with you and made you want to bring it to renewed life as an illustrated edition?

Jeff Alford: I went on (and still am on) a big Lovecraft kick and have been enjoying lots of old classics published by Arkham House in the ’40s and ’50s. I was at a rare book fair many years ago looking for old Arkham House first editions and a bookseller showed me an incredible collection of Dunsany books. He explained that Dunsany was kind of the keystone to a whole generation of 20th century horror/fantasy books and he opened my mind up to Dunsany’s hugely influential oeuvre. I had the joy of reading The Gods of Pegana soon after that in a third edition copy published by Elkin Mathews in London in 1919. (I did all the typesetting of our edition using the 1919 copy as reference.) The book is a hardback but sort of looks like it’s bound in kraft paper, very unassuming. It has beautiful prints throughout from S.H. Hime, too, and it was just a wild reading experience, like I’d found some old magical book in the back of a haunted bookstore.

Also at this time I was hearing about Steamboat Willie and Pooh entering the public domain and thought it would be an exciting project to find something special from back then to reanimate. After talking with Dustin at a comic fair about books we were reading and ideas we had for projects, this one kind of just fell into line.

Dustin Holland: I first heard about Gods of Pegana when Jeff brought it up to me and immediately fell in love with it. It really does feel magical. I was really struck by how fun it is, too. It can be a real page-turner! Some of the gods Dunsany introduces are terrifying and some of them are absolutely ridiculous, and he gives you a lot of short, thrilling episodic stories that are then folded back into the larger narrative. It’s like sitting down to read Brothers Grimm or the Greek Myths without having any idea of what’s going to come next—so, for me, reading captured the feeling I had when I first fell in love with books.

For our readers who are unfamiliar with Lord Dunsany, what can you tell us about his writing and The Gods of Pegana in particular that made him such an influential (yet perhaps underappreciated) figure in modern fantasy literature?

Jeff Alford: The big thing is that he was (as far as I know) the first to create a pantheon of fictional fantasy gods. A lot of folks consider Lovecraft’s mythos as the defining moment for that ineffable system of cosmic forces, but Lovecraft was deeply influenced by Dunsany. Lovecaft said Dunsany’s “point of view is the most truly cosmic of any held in the literature of any period.”

Dustin Holland: In Pegana, Dunsany experiments with a few different approaches to story structure and world-building, all in the same relatively short book. The book presents itself as a religious text, but it features a lot of small, interconnected short stories that build into this wonderful world that feels dense and lived-in but leaves the reader with a ton of questions. I think you can see that approach to world-building and keeping some things secret front the audience become increasingly popular throughout 20th century fiction, especially horror. Obviously Dunsany wasn’t the only writer thinking about these things, but he was certainly ahead of his time.

Dustin, your fantastic paintings throughout this illustrated edition bring Lord Dunsany’s words to life with a haunting, vibrant beauty, making each page a cosmic and kaleidoscopic discovery. What was your artistic approach to visualizing Lord Dunsany's seminal story, and approximately how long did it take you to illustrate this new edition?

Dustin Holland: I want this edition to feel like an ancient Book of Hours or an illuminated manuscript—like when families would commission the artist in their town to paint in their copy of the Bible, but for this strange dreamy world of Pegana—so I researched classic medieval illustration, but I also wanted to leave my cartoony, surreal style in there. Part of what makes Lord Dunsany’s writing so compelling is how ethereal it is, so I tried to design the gods to be consistently recognizable but fluid. It took me about 15 months to complete the illustrations.

Jeff, your typesetting for The Gods of Pegana perfectly pairs Lord Dunsany’s prose with Dustin’s amazing artwork. As a typesetter (and the founder of the Denver-based Wig Shop), how do you balance giving the words and artwork enough room to breathe on their own while also allowing them to flow together and enhance the story on each page?

Jeff Alford: I think the book will be slightly divisive because at times we do not give the text enough room to breathe. Dustin’s art frequently overtakes the page in a way that I think is unusual and exciting. I wanted the book to be able to function both as a prose book to read and an art book to get lost in… if we left more room to breathe I think it would not be enough of an “art book,” but if we let the art go completely crazy it would run the risk of being unreadable. So we aimed to find a place between the two, and I hope it works. And I think in a weird way it does enhance the story and renders the whole thing even more dreamy and fevered.

Did either of you learn something new or gain a deeper appreciation about The Gods of Pegana or Lord Dunsany while breathing new life into this classic work of literature?

Jeff Alford: Doing a project like this means you have to read the book more times than you’ve probably read anything else. That in itself is a remarkable experience and lets you get deep in the primordial essence of the book, literally going word by word by word through it, time and time again.

Dustin Holland: Exactly! I’ve never had a reason or an opportunity to study a book like this. It was a real gift, and I hope this new edition can encourage people to revisit the story again and again, as it really does reward multiple readings. I’m definitely excited to have found Dunsany. I will be reading more of his stuff soon!

Do you each have a favorite moment from The Gods of Pegana that you’re especially excited for readers to experience in this new illustrated edition?

Jeff Alford: Prose-wise, I quite like a chapter called “The River”; it’s the penultimate chapter and the first to introduce a narrator’s voice and gives the prose this really beautiful earthbound dreaminess. Visually, I’m excited for readers to catch on to recurring motifs that Dustin laced throughout the book. And there are some knockout chapter illustrations: Siddith getting “whelmed” is a favorite, as are Dustin’s depictions of Sish and Slid.

Dustin Holland: There are a lot of great moments, but there’s a chapter where the prophet Imbaun meets the god Dorozhand (or maybe he’s just dreaming?), and Dorozhand walks him through the history of human conflict and struggle. It’s really psychedelic and scary and sort of heartbreaking. Especially looking back at the book 120 years after it was published, it’s sort of eerie to see Dunsany’s view of the future. The audience sort of ends up in the prophet’s shoes for a second, which makes the rest of that character’s arc especially compelling to me. I had a lot of fun painting it.

A Kickstarter campaign has now launched for this illustrated edition of Lord Dunsany’s The Gods of Pegana. What types of goodies can supporters of the campaign look forward to?

Jeff Alford: We’re offering a tier of original art from the book. The pages are just incredible in person. It’s very exciting to think that these will eventually be in the hands of some collectors.

Dustin Holland: In addition to original art, folks will be able to get copies of some of my self-published comics, stickers, art prints, and all sorts of fun stuff.

Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away from this illustrated edition of Lord Dunsany’s The Gods of Pegana?

Jeff Alford: The book is a fantasy novel from over a hundred years ago, from a time when people dreamt things up because we didn’t have all the answers to everything. Nowadays we give ourselves less and less room for wonderment. If readers enjoy The Gods of Pegana and ask where this sort of thinking went, I’d love for them to journey further back there.

Dustin Holland: Yeah, I think this is a very free, imagination-driven book, and that approach to storytelling and life in general can lead to amazing things. There’s a character in here that’s the god of mirth, and another that’s the god of small dreams and fancies. I think, especially considering the madness of the world, it can be worthwhile to take a moment to recognize the value of those things.

What advice would you give to writers or artists who are just getting started?

Jeff Alford: Try to stay humble and assume everyone is doing the best they can. Be an unabashed fan of what you like. Tell an artist you like their work. Send a note. Your creative community is probably a lot smaller and more niche than you think, and these moments of human compassion and connection will help create a space for your work to emerge, and later, grow.

Dustin Holland: Oh man, I feel like I’m definitely still just getting started myself. But I think it is important and helpful to be really mindful about how you measure success. Aiming for fame, fortune, and perfection seems like a recipe for disappointment and burnout. Doing the thing has to be its own reward. Every time I sit down to draw or paint or write, I just hope I do a little better than I did the day before, and if I don’t, that means I’m making mistakes I can learn from. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have people in my life who encourage me to keep plugging away at it, and having that support and the opportunity to learn from other artists and writers and art lovers is such a gift.

I am really proud of this book, and obviously I hope millions of people back the Kickstarter, but at the end of the day, I got to spend a year and a half painting and reading a beautiful book and working with my pal Jeff, who I’m immensely grateful to for inviting me into the world of Pegana.

In addition to this new illustrated edition of The Gods of Pegana, what other projects do each of you have coming up that you can tease for our readers? Do you have any plans to release illustrated editions of other stories by Lord Dunsany?

Jeff Alford: In terms of publishing projects, I have a few vague discussions in the works with some comic artists, but nothing firm enough to really talk about! Hopefully something new will take shape for 2027. If our Dunsany book is a success I’d love to do another literary project. Perhaps an edition of The King in Yellow?

Dustin Holland: Right now I’m working on editing a book of my brother Nick Holland’s art and short fiction which is going to be a really beautiful collection, and I’m in the very early stages of writing and painting a new comic about cryptids, mad scientists, and motorcycle gangs, but I have a ways to go on that! I don’t have any concrete plans for another illustrated edition, but this was a ton of fun. I’d love to do something like it again!

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From the Press Release: First published in 1905, Lord Dunsany’s THE GODS OF PEGANA is one of the most important and influential works of modern fantasy literature. The groundbreaking, imaginative novel introduced readers to a pantheon of unforgettable gods and a rich new mythology that would inspire H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K Leguin, and generations of fantasy and science fiction creators. Now Denver’s Wig Shop, a prestige publisher and purveyor of independent comics and art books is collaborating with artist Dustin Holland on a hallucinatory visualization of Dunsany’s kaleidoscopic cosmic fancies featuring full-color paintings on every page. The 7X10, 139-page deluxe paperback is coming soon to Kickstarter.

“There are islands in the Central Sea, whose waters are bounded by no shore and where no ships come -- this is the faith of their people.” From there, Dunsany introduces readers to a phenomenal cast of gods, monsters and prophets who bear witness to the beginning - and the end - of the universe. A literary experiment decades ahead of its time, THE GODS OF PEGANA lays the groundwork for metatextual works of horror and fantasy like Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos while delivering a nuanced exploration of faith, religion, and mortality. 120 years after its first publication, Dunsany’s epic still stands as a singular and fascinating work of literature.

Drawing inspiration from medieval illuminated manuscripts, the work of Leonora Carrington, Max Ernst, The Fleischer Brothers, and cartoonists like Gary Panter, Marc Bell and Julie Doucet – Holland vividly illustrates all 130+ pages of this classic tome with a contemporary outsider-art flair. Each chapter features a full-page painting, and every page features painted borders that are as decorative as they are illustrative.

“It has been a real pleasure to illustrate this new edition of THE GODS OF PEGANA,” says Holland. “It’s rare to find a book with so many ideas-per-page. I hope these paintings invite readers to revel in Dunsany’s imagination and really celebrate the dreamy world he’s built.”

“It’s a great honor to dust off this forgotten tome and introduce it to a new generation of readers,” says Alford. “And I can’t think of a better artist to accompany such a cosmic oddity. By the drumming of Skarl, Dustin has conjured worlds, suns, and put light in the houses of the sky.”

“UNEXCELLED in the sorcery of crystalline singing prose, and supreme in the creation of a gorgeous and languorous world of iridescently exotic vision, is Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Eighteenth Baron Dunsany, whose tales and short plays form an almost unique element in our literature.

Inventor of a new mythology and weaver of surprising folklore, Lord Dunsany stands dedicated to a strange world of fantastic beauty, and pledged to eternal warfare against the coarseness and ugliness of diurnal reality. His point of view is the most truly cosmic of any held in the literature of any period.”

-HP Lovecraft

In addition to the book, Holland’s original art and other exclusives will be available as part of the Kickstarter campaign. To receive a notification when the campaign launches, sign up on the prelaunch page, and be sure to follow Wig Shop and Dustin Holland for more updates.