Barbara Roden
Barbara Roden (born 1963) is a Canadian writer, editor, publisher and Sherlockian/Doylean scholar.
Biography
With her husband Christopher Roden, she is closely associated with both The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003) and the wider Sherlockian world. She contributed to and was editor of the society's publications, especially A.C.D. — The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society and The Parish Magazine, where her articles, reviews and editorials appeared throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.
Barbara is also known as a publisher and editor. With Christopher Roden she ran Calabash Press, which published Doylean and Sherlockian titles, and the Ash-Tree Press, devoted to supernatural and ghost fiction. Her own collection I Am Inclined to Think...: Musings on Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle was published by Calabash Press in 2004.
Within the Sherlockian community, Barbara Roden was awarded the title of Master Bootmaker by the Bootmakers of Toronto, Canada's national Sherlock Holmes society, and contributed a regular column to Canadian Holmes. She and Christopher Roden also donated Sherlockian correspondence material to the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota, including material connected with John Bennett Shaw and Jack Tracy.
In addition to her Doylean and Sherlockian work, Roden is an established writer and editor in the field of ghost and supernatural fiction (see her fiction bibliography).
Outside her literary activities, Barbara has also been active in local public life in British Columbia: she was elected mayor of Ashcroft in 2018 and was acclaimed for a further term in 2022.
Doylean Works
Books
- I Am Inclined to Think...: Musings on Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle (Ash Tree Press, 2004)
Articles
- Fiery Passions and Icy Realms: "The Captain of the Pole-Star" and "Wuthering Heights" (ACD Journal, Vol. 3, 1992)
- The Parish Magazine No. 8: Editorial (The Parish Magazine No. 8, May 1993)
- Edinburgh '93 (The Parish Magazine No. 8, May 1993)
- Edinburgh '93 — Memories and Adventures (ACD Journal, Vol. 4, 1993)
- Re: Vampyres (ACD Journal, Vol. 4, 1993)
- Closing Editorial (ACD Journal, Vol. 4, 1993)
- Through the Magic Door Again: Toronto 1994 Revisited (ACD Journal, Vol. 5, 1994)
- Closing Editorial (ACD Journal, Vol. 5, 1994)
- Closing Editorial (ACD Journal, Vol. 6, 1995)
- Important_Information (The Parish Magazine No. 15, January 1997)
- Closing Editorial (ACD Journal, Vol. 9, 1999)
- Closing Editorial (ACD Journal, Vol. 10, 2000)
Reviews
- The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales, by Chris Baldick (ACD Journal, Vol. 3, 1992)
- Victorian Ghost Stories, by Michael Cox & R. A. Gilbert (ACD Journal, Vol. 3, 1992)
- Victorian Tales of Mystery and Detection, by Michael Cox (ACD Journal, Vol. 3, 1992)
- The D. Case, or The Truth about The Mystery of Edwin Drood (ACD Journal, Vol. 3, 1992)
- The Lost World of Willis O'Brien, by Roy Kinnard (ACD Journal, Vol. 4, 1993)
- The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits, by Mike Ashley (The Parish Magazine No. 9, December 1993)
- Willis O'Brien: Special Effects Genius, by Steve Archer (The Parish Magazine No. 14, September 1996)
- The Rise and Fall of the Victorian Servant, by Pamela Horn (The Parish Magazine No. 14, September 1996)
Sherlockian Works
Books
- The Case Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Musgrave Ritual (Calabash Press, 1995/1996) co-editor
- The Case Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Speckled Band (Calabash Press, 1997) co-editor
- The Case Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Dying Detective (Calabash Press, 1998) co-editor
- The Case Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Blue Carbuncle (Calabash Press, 1999) co-editor
- On the Shoulders of Giants: Jack Tracy and The Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana (BSI, 2001) co-editor
- I Am Inclined to Think...: Musings on Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle (Calabash Press, 2004)
Articles
- The Mysterious Case of the Musgrave Ritual (ACD Journal, Vol. 7, 1996/7)
- Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (in 'The Case Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Musgrave Ritual, Calabash Press, 1995/1996)
Reviews
- Sherlockian Bookplates,, by W. E. Butler (ACD Journal, Vol. 3, 1992)
- A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The Parish Magazine, No. 9, December 1993)
- Complete Sherlock Holmes & Other Detective Stories, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (ACD Journal, Vol. 5, 1994)
- The SH Reference Library: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Leslie S. Klinger (ACD Journal, Vol. 9, June 1999)
- The SH Reference Library: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Leslie S. Klinger (ACD Journal, Vol. 10, May 2000)
- Sherlock Holmes Screen and Sound Guide, by Gordon E. Kelley (The Parish Magazine, No. 14, September 1996)
- Is Heathcliff a Murderer? Puzzles in 19th-Century Fiction, by John Sutherland (The Parish Magazine, No. 14, September 1996)
- Sherlock Holmes: Classic Themes from 221B Baker Street, audio CD (The Parish Magazine, No. 14, September 1996)
