John Stevenson (writer)

John "Steve" Stevenson
John Stevenson (1968)
Born	1930
Pen name	Marcus van Heller, Stephen John
Occupation	Novelist, COI press officer
Nationality	British
Genre	Erotic fiction, biography

John "Steve" Stpeadoborn 1930) is a British writer who, under the pen name Marcus van Heller, wrote erotic fiction for the Traveller's Companion series of Olympia Press publisher (1955-1961). Later he also wrote under the pen name Stephen John.

In 1954, at the age of 23, John Stevenson arrived for a sojourn in Paris, where he socialized with the expatriate community behind the modernist literary magazine Merlin. He soon became the business manager for Merlin. As the magazine was not well known to the public, the job consisted mostly of selling copies on the street.

The main editor of Merlin, Alexander Trocchi, used to write erotic fiction for Olympia Press publisher in order to supplement his meagre income and suggested to Stevenson to do the same. Olympia Press specialized in books which could not be published (without legal action) in the English-speaking world, making use of the fact that the French were more sexually tolerant and few were able to read in English. The books were aimed at the English-speaking travellers and the British and American servicemen stationed in Europe in the wake of the Second World War.

The first erotic novel written by John Stevenson, Rape (1955), surprised Maurice Girodias (the founder of Olympia Press), who described it as "almost too brutal". The book was published under the pseudonym Marcus van Heller, a pen name which Stevenson continued to use for the subsequent novels, making it one of the most famous brand names published at Olympia Press. The success of the first novel was followed by other books, written in the years 1955-1961, making Stevenson the most prolific writer for the "Traveller's Companion" series of this publisher.

The second novel, The Loins of Amun (1955), was set in Ancient Egypt, marking the beginning of a specialization in erotica with grand historical settings. The elaboration of the story was based on his schooling in ancient history, supplemented by research at the British Council Library from Paris. Continuing in the same vein, Roman Orgy (1956) presented an intimate account of the private life of the rebel leader Spartacus, and The House of Borgia, parts 1 and 2 (1957, 1958), a fictional biography of the 15th century Italian noble family with an emphasis on their considerable depravity.