I’m very much looking forward to this conference, ‘Summer of 1816: Creativity and Turmoil’, celebrating that moment of the Shelley-Byron circle when both Frankenstein and the literary vampire were born
‘The year without a summer’, as 1816 was known, was the year in which Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin (later Shelley), Lord Byron, John Polidori and Claire Claremont came together, for the first time, in Geneva.
This looks a fantastic conference on all things Whedonesque:
Here are dates for the diary – Slayage – the Biennial Conference on the Whedonverse is coming to the UK in 2016. Here is the CFP. I hope to see loads of you there.
Call for Papers
7th Biennial Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses
Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, England, UK
7-10 July 2016
Slayage: The Journal of the Whedon Studies Association, the Whedon Studies Association, and conveners Stacey Abbott and Tanya R. Cochran solicit proposals for the seventh biennial Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses (SCW7). This conference dedicated to the imaginative universe(s) of Joss Whedon will be held on the campus of Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, England, UK, 7-10 July 2016. Simon Brown of Kingston University will serve as local arrangements chair, supported by the Euroslayage organizing committee Bronwen Calvert, Lorna Jowett, and Michael Starr.
We welcome proposals of 200-300 words (or an abstract of a completed paper) on any aspect of Whedon’s television and web texts (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Dollhouse, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.); his films (Serenity, The Cabin in the Woods, Marvel’s The Avengers, Much Ado About Nothing, The Avengers: Age of Ultron); his comics (e.g. Fray; Astonishing X-Men; Runaways; Sugarshock!; Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Nine, and Ten; Angel: After the Fall; Angel & Faith Season Nine and Ten); or any element of the work of Whedon and his collaborators. Additionally, a proposal may address paratexts, fandoms, or Whedon’s extracurricular—political and activist—activities, such as his involvement with Equality Now. As this is the first Slayage conference to take place in Europe, we also welcome proposals about Whedon’s work in relation to notions of Britishness, heritage, globalization, language, as well as its transnational and international reception. We invite presentations from the perspective of any discipline: literature, history, communications, film and television studies, women’s studies, religion, linguistics, music, cultural studies, and others. In other words, multidisciplinary discussions of the text, the social context, the audience, the producers, the production, and more are all appropriate. A proposal/abstract should demonstrate familiarity with already-published scholarship in the field, which includes dozens of books, hundreds of articles, and over a dozen years of the blind peer-reviewed journal Slayage.
An individual paper is strictly limited to a reading time of 20 minutes, and we encourage, though do not require, self-organized panels of three presenters. Proposals for workshops, roundtables, or other types of sessions are also welcome. Submissions by graduate and undergraduate students are invited; undergraduates should provide the name, email, and phone number of a faculty member willing to consult with them (the faculty member does not need to attend). Proposals should be submitted online through the SCW7 website and will be reviewed by program chairs Stacey Abbott, Tanya R. Cochran, and Rhonda V. Wilcox. Submissions must be received by Monday, 4 January 2016. Decisions will be made by 1 March 2016. Questions regarding proposals can be directed to Rhonda V. Wilcox at the conference email address: slayage.conference@gmail.com
A very productive OGOM meeting today, preparing the programme for the Company of Wolves conference in September, with Sam, Kaja, Teddy, Willow, and I. A glorious lunch of sandwiches, tea, and cakes was prepared by Sam.
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Catherine Spooner, who has contributed to OGOM since the beginning, has co-edited a new collection of essays with Fred Botting: Monstrous media/spectral subjects: Imaging Gothic from the nineteenth century to the present (from Manchester University Press, who have an excellent Gothic list, including the OGOM book itself). The approach and the range of topics looks fascinating and innovative.
Monstrous media/spectral subjects explores the intersection of monsters, ghosts, representation and technology in Gothic texts from the nineteenth century to the present. It argues that emerging media technologies from the phantasmagoria and magic lantern to the hand-held video camera and the personal computer both shape Gothic subjects and in turn become Gothicised.
Deliciously camp, erotic, creepy and funny adaptation of one of the ‘Red Riding Hood’ variants (most likely, this one collected by Paul Delarue), with echoes of Doré’s illustrations and German Expressionist cinema.
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16-year-old Christina Ricci stars as a not-so-innocent Red Riding Hood in writer/director David Kaplan’s LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. With narration by Quentin Crisp, based on the folktale “The Story of Grandmother.” A DVD short film collection available on Amazon includes Kaplan’s rare award-winning short films “The Frog King” and “Little Suck-a-Thumb” as well as audio commentary from Kaplan and folklore scholar Jack Zipes
This storytelling event at the South Bank looks marvellous:
IT’S LANDED! The Crick Crack Club’s Fabularium – a nomadic haven of fairytales for grown-ups and myths for kids – comes to the South Bank this summer!
Eric Smith reviews 12 new YA books–fantasy, paranormal romance, dystopias, fairytale retellings, as well as conventionally realistic novels. There are some here that look very promising.
A stimulating review of the ten best vampire films from the Gothic scholar Roger Luckhurst of Birkbech College. Some familiar ones, some new ones, and some rarely discussed choices.
An interview with Prof. Robert Maslen of the University of Glasgow on their exciting new M.Litt in fantasy literature.
The YA Gothic and fantastic writer Neil Gaiman discusses the boundaries of genre with the writer of ‘literary fiction’ Kazuo Ishiguro, whose latest novel draws on epic fantasy.
