Writer RM Vaughan found dead days after going missing
Posted October 24, 2020 11:32 am.
Last Updated October 24, 2020 11:45 am.
Police in New Brunswick say missing writer Richard Vaughan has been found dead. He was 55.
The author and video artist, who wrote under the name RM Vaughan, was a revered figure in Canada’s LGBTQ arts scene.
Fredericton Police say his body was found on Friday, 10 days after he was reported missing, and that his death is not being treated as suspicious.
Born in Saint John, N.B, Vaughan recently returned to his home province from Montreal to serve as writer-in-residence at his alma mater, the University of New Brunswick for 2019-2020.
Police say he was last seen near his home in downtown Fredericton on Monday, Oct. 12, and he was reported missing the next day.
The news sparked a flurry of concern in literary circles, with many writers sharing posts urging people to keep an eye out for Vaughan.
Vaughan’s bibliography includes the poetry collections “A Selection of Dazzling Scarves,” “Invisible to Predators,” “Ruined Stars,” “Troubled” and “Ve1Xe”; the novels “Quilted Heart” and “Spells”; and the play “Camera, Woman” and “The Monster Trilogy.”
His works often touched on queer stories of coming-of-age and eroticism. He also had a taste for the supernatural and macabre, and was captivated by the world of the celebrity.
A contributor to a variety of publications and anthologies, Vaughan published the book of essays “Compared to Hitler” in 2013 featuring many of his takes on contemporary culture.
In the 2015 non-fiction book “Bright Eyed,” Vaughan examined the health and historical context of his lifelong battle with insomnia.
