Edgar Allan Poe’s writing transformed grief, obsession and psychological darkness into a lasting visual mythology. This original mixed-media portrait approaches that mythology through dense black marks, distorted features and restrained colour rather than a conventional author portrait. I wanted the face to appear suspended between control and collapse, echoing the unstable narrators and haunted interiors associated with his work. Created in Istanbul, the drawing forms part of my continuing series of writers, musicians, filmmakers and thinkers interpreted through a grotesque and underground visual language. Original Edgar Allan Poe portrait illustration by İlker Ortaç, an Istanbul-based writer, illustrator and visual artist.