Author Archives: William the Bloody

About William the Bloody

Cat lover. 18C scholar on the dialogue and novel. Co-convenor OGOM Project

CFP: FINNCON 2016: Fantastic Visions from Faerie to Dystopia, July 1–3, 2016, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

Yet another exciting conference on the fantastic–Fantastic Visions from Faerie to Dystopia. Finncon 2016 is one of the largest events in Europe for anyone interested in science fiction and fantasy. By tradition, it is free of membership fee, and offers … Continue reading

Posted in CFP (Conferences) | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Song of the Sea

More on selkies, who are exercising their fascination over me more and more. If I disappear, it will be because I have become spellbound by a sea maiden. This trailer for Song of the Sea was passed on to me … Continue reading

Posted in Film Clips | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Angela Carter: Lisa Appignanesi on ‘The Company of Wolves’

More on Angela Carter (I forgot to include this!). A special showing of Neil Jordan’s brilliant film The Company of Wolves, based on Carter’s stories: 26 February 2016 at 7 p.m., London Review Bookshop: Lisa Appignesi introduces it. Neil Jordan’s … Continue reading

Posted in Events | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Angela Carter: Masterclass with Marina Warner; Critical Essays and Discussions

I think Angela Carter must be one of the presiding spirits haunting (benevolently) the OGOM Project. Her rich and startling prose, full of intelligence and humour, draws on all strands of fantastic narrative–fairy tale, Gothic, science fiction, horror. She has … Continue reading

Posted in Courses, Resources | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

CFP: Fantasies of Contemporary Culture, Cardiff University, 23 May 2016

There are so many exciting conferences coming up this year; they usually get winnowed down for me by my forgetting to meet the deadlines. This Fantasies of Contemporary Culture conference, at Cardiff University, is yet another very tempting event on … Continue reading

Posted in CFP (Conferences) | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Origins of the Fairy Tale

Kaja recently commented on and posted links here to articles describing the research by Dr Jamie Tehrani (Durham University) and Sara Graça da Silva (New University of Lisbon) on the origins of fairy tales. I found this fascinating but had … Continue reading

Posted in Critical thoughts | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

New links and things

I’ve updated the link to MMU’s Centre for Gothic Studies, which they’ve just redesigned (and it looks great!). Try it–it’s in the Related Links section on the right-hand sidebar. I’ve also added a link to the fabulous Sussex Centre for … Continue reading

Posted in News | 1 Comment

David Bowie, science, and Gothic absurdity

A few more Bowie-related links, here. Science Fiction is, one might say, a rationalising mode of the fantastic; SF motifs feature frequently in Bowie’s work from ‘Space Oddity’ to his penultimate single ‘Blackstar’ (the video of which combines elements of … Continue reading

Posted in Critical thoughts | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

David Bowie, Neil Gaiman, Yoshitaka Amano

More on the interaction of David Bowie and fantastic literature. If Bowie’s various personae–the masks and images he was constantly recreating and presenting to an audience–can be seen as texts, then they lie in an intertextual relationship with a story … Continue reading

Posted in Critical thoughts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

David Bowie, Cat People

We’re not quite in the Company of Wolves, but Bowie’s theme song for Paul Schrader’s 1982 remake of the classic Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur feline shapeshifting film Cat People (1942) is yet another OGOM link.

Posted in Film Clips | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment