Gothic Fairies conference a huge success!

Posted on 14th April 2021 by William the Bloody
Richard Dadd, Titania Sleeping

OGOM’s ‘Ill met by moonlight’: Gothic encounters with enchantment and the Faerie realm in literature and culture was a huge success, despite all the anxieties and problems with it being on line. It worked so well only because of the wonderful plenaries and contributors, all those who took part, and invaluable assistance from various people.

So I want to offer my thanks to people here. To Sam George, first and foremost, for the inspiration and research that birthed the conference. Daisy Butcher and Kaja Franck provided invaluable assistance, chairing, handling responses, and dealing with technical glitches. Then thanks to all the brilliant plenaries and those who presented such excellent papers. And everyone who took part made their own contributions, entering into a real dialogue and boosting the spirit of the conference.

My sister Caryl gave Sam and I generous hospitality, fabulous catering, and much patience. Special thanks to Matthew Frost and Bethan Hirst from Manchester University Press for their virtual booth. Thanks to Gray Associates of Sheffield for fabulous programme and poster design.

Recordings of the sessions will be available on line to attendees once we have edited the files. We will also be posting photos of people in their Fae garb, the results of the flash fiction competition, and images from your fairy makeovers. Highlights of the conference can be seen on Twitter with the hashtags #OGOMCon2021 and #GothicFairies, particularly with Kate Harvey’s (@harveygothick) virtuoso live tweeting (thanks, Kate!).

We’re aiming to publish at least one edited collection and a special journal issue, as with previous OGOM conferences. There was such a wealth of superb research that it will be hard to choose and thus we hope more publications will be added.

The conference was groundbreaking in its treatment of fairies as Gothic entities. Very much inspired by Prof. Dale Townshend’s recovery of the eighteenth-century sense of Gothic as enchantment, OGOM is opening up new directions in Gothic studies beyond the usual emphasis on horror and leading to the development of an ethical Gothic. We hope you will follow us and take part in future events.

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‘Ill met by moonlight’ Gothic Fairies programme

Posted on 25th March 2021 by William the Bloody

Preparations are going well for our fabulous conference, ‘Ill met by moonlight’: Gothic encounters with enchantment and the Faerie realm in literature and culture (online, 8-11 April 2021). Tickets are now sold out, alas (though there may be cancellations). You can browse the programme here–it’s a beautiful design!

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Corporeal Creations: Bodily Figurations of Creativity, Online Workshop – 24 March 2021

Posted on 22nd March 2021 by William the Bloody

You are warmly invited to attend the forthcoming workshop “Corporeal Creations: Bodily Figurations of Creativity,” to be held online via Zoom at Tübingen University on 24 March 2021. Please see the program below. The workshop will examine medieval and post-medieval examples of creative metaphors in literature which draw upon the corporeal and to consider their communicative functions. It’s free to attend, and it’ll include talks on medieval robots, vampires, zombies, monsters, and other wonderful things.

For the Zoom link and reserving a space, please email curtis.runstedler@philosophie.uni-tuebingen.de or sarah-jane.briest@uni-tuebingen.de. We look forward to seeing you there!

All times CET (GMT + 1)

9:00-10:15 a.m. The Birth of Creativity

The Poem as Embryo in William Scott’s Model of Poesy and Du Bartas
Translation
Peter Auger (Birmingham)

Creation and Procreation in Sidney’s Apology for Poetry, Milton’s Paradise
Lost and Shelley’s Frankenstein
Sarah Briest (Tübingen)

10:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Monstrous Creativity

Monster Theory, Hybridity, and Creativity
Sam George (Hertfordshire)

Vampire and Zombies – Perfect Monsters for All Times?
Monika Müller (Bochum)

John Gower’s Medieval Talking Head and Intellectual Pursuits in the
Confessio Amantis
Curtis Runstedler (Tübingen)

1:00-2:00 p.m. ƒ Creation and Reception

Disabling the Canon: Provocation in Modern Fiction
Michael Bradshaw (Worcester)

Concluding Discussion

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Fairy Conference Poster

Posted on 16th March 2021 by Sam George

OGOM are delighted to reveal the enchanting design for our Gothic Fairies Conference 8-11 April. There are only a few tickets remaining so do be quick and make sure you order your fairy wings for the wings and wine social!

Booking £10.00 a day (£7.00 concession) or £35.00 all in (£25.00 concession)
Book here

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Gothic Fairies Conference 8-11 April – Booking is Open

Posted on 3rd March 2021 by Sam George
J. A. Fitzgerald, ‘Fairies Looking Through A Gothic Arch’

We are excited to announce that booking has opened for our Gothic Fairies Online Conference  ‘Ill met by moonlight’: Gothic encounters with enchantment and the Faerie realm in literature and culture, 8‒11 April 2021 

Full Conference Programme  

Keynotes and Activities

Booking Link  Fees: £10/ day (full rate), £35 for all four days; £7/day (unwaged/student), £25 for all four days

This online conference is uniquely situated at the intersection between folklore, fairy tale, and the Gothic. It celebrates the darker aspects of fairies and their kin and marks the centenary of the publication by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of the infamous Cottingley Fairies photographs in the Strand Magazine (Dec 1920). It is broadly interdisciplinary, embracing literature, art, folklore, film, TV, photography, fashion, performance, gaming, and fairy fiction writing. Our journey into the history of the fae will explore a diversity of media and genres: from early modern burlesque poetry and Victorian fairy painting, to Steampunk, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult Fiction and Contemporary TV.  

The conference boasts eight keynotes, including Prof. Owen Davies, President of the Folklore Society on ‘Print Grimoires’ and Dr Merrick Burrows, Curator of the forthcoming Cottingley Fairies Exhibition (Brotherton Library) on ‘The Cottingley Fairies: Conan Doyle’s War on Materialism’. Other plenaries include Dr Sam George (Convenor, Open Graves, Open Minds project; Associate Professor of Research, University of Hertfordshire) on ‘Fairy Lepidoptera’; Prof. Diane Purkiss (Keble College, Oxford), ‘Where Do Fairies Come From?; Prof. Catherine Spooner (Lancaster University), ‘Glamourie: Fairies and Fashion’; Prof. Dale Townshend (Manchester Metropolitan University), ‘The fairy kind of writing’: Dr Maisha Wester (Indiana University; Global Professorship Fellowship, University of Sheffield), ‘Nalo Hopkinson’s Folkloric Revisions of Classic Fairytales and Myths’; Dr Ivan Phillips, Associate Dean, School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire, ‘What the Puck?’ Delegates are invited to take part in a range of exciting fairy themed activities, including a wine and wings social, a fairy flash fiction writing competition, and workshops by YA fantasy writer Betsy Cornwell (Tides, Mechanica, Venturess) on the creative adaptation of fairy lore. Dr Ceri Houlbrook (University of Hertfordshire; Magical Folk (2018)), will offer a workshop on Boggarts with outreach advice for postgraduate students and ECRs. 

We hope to see you there.  Tickets are selling out fast so please be quick!! 

And remember ‘All you need is a little faith, trust, and pixie dust’ (Peter Pan)  

Carnival Row (2019)

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The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (22nd Feb 17.00 Free online event )

Posted on 21st February 2021 by Sam George

A quick post to draw your attention to the following free online event at the university. Hope to see some of you there. 

The School of Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire’s Creative Conversations continues with a special guest, historian and author Hallie Rubenhold on 22 February 17:00-18:00 via Zoom. Hallie will talk about her award-winning non-fiction book The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper . The Five has featured in The New York Times, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, GQ, The Washington Post, the Oprah Winfrey Magazine and many more. For more information see the Press Release.

All welcome.

Zoom link

https://herts-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/94776040333?pwd=NUdBZFdEMXArSmJFN2w0NWZmcWhPUT09

Meeting ID: 947 7604 0333

Passcode: 504748

Contact: Andrew Maunder, Reader in Victorian Literature (Email: a.c. mander@herts.ac.uk)

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Gothic Fairies conference – new plenaries

Posted on 29th January 2021 by William the Bloody

We are beyond excited to announce that we have two more very special plenary speakers for OGOM’s online Gothic Fairies conference, ‘Ill met by moonlight’: Gothic encounters with enchantment and the Faerie realm in literature and culture, on 8-11 April 2021.

Fairies Looking through a Gothic arch.

Our current line up includes:

Prof. Owen Davies (President of The Folklore Society, University of Hertfordshire), ‘Print Grimoires, Spirit Conjuration, and the Democratisation of Learned Magic’

Dr Sam George (Associate Professor of Research, University of Hertfordshire), ‘Fairy Lepidoptera: the Dark History of Butterfly-Winged Fae’

Prof. Diane Purkiss (Keble College, Oxford), ‘Where Do Fairies Come From? Shifts in Shape’

Prof. Catherine Spooner (Lancaster University), ‘Glamourie: Fairies and Fashion’

Prof. Dale Townshend (Manchester Metropolitan University), ‘“The fairy kind of writing”:  Gothic and the Aesthetics of Enchantment in the Long Eighteenth Century’

And we have just added Dr Maisha Wester (Indiana University; Global Professorship Fellowship, University of Sheffield) who will be speaking on ‘Precious Revisions of Greedy Glass Bottle Tricks: Nalo Hopkinson’s Folkloric Revisions of Classic Fairytales and Myths’.

And Dr Merrick Burrows (Head of English & Creative Writing, University of Huddersfield) who is the curator of forthcoming Cottingley Fairies Centenary Exhibition. December 2020 marked the centenary of the publication by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of the infamous Cottingley Fairies photographs in the ‘Strand Magazine’. You can read about the exhibition below:

https://www.hud.ac.uk/news/2020/december/cottingley-fairies-hoax-centenary-exhibition/

https://library.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/1903/galleries-events/363/the-cottingley-fairies-a-study-in-deception

Dr Burrows will speak on ‘The Cottingley Fairies: Conan Doyle’s War on Materialism’.

I don’t think this fairy conference could get any more magical! Look out for registration and the full programme coming soon ooh!

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Events: Mary Shelley, Octavia Butler, Gothic ocean, Byron, Polidori

Posted on 28th January 2021 by William the Bloody

Despite the pandemic isolation, scholars in Gothic and allied fields are finding creative ways to keep literary and cultural dialogue flourishing with on-line events. here are a few we’ve noticed:

1. BARS Digital Event: ‘The Late Mary Shelley’, 18 February 2021

The British Association for Romantic Studies is delighted to welcome you to the fifth session of our Digital Events series: ‘The Late Mary Shelley’. Please join us on Thursday 18 February at 5pm GMT on Zoom for a roundtable discussion between Dr Antonella Braida, Kathleen Hurlock, Professor Michael Rossington, Professor Angela Wright, and Carly Yingst, chaired by Dr Amanda Blake Davis. During the session, our guests will belatedly mark the anniversary of Mary Shelley’s death on February 1st by discussing her later life, works, and legacy, celebrating Shelley’s many achievements beyond and after Frankenstein. After this, the audience will be invited to take part in a moderated Q&A session. 

2. The Octavia E. Butler Literary Society and the St. Catherine University Abigail Quigley McCarthy Center for Women Present:
The Confluence: Octavia E. Butler At the Intersection of Cultural Critique and Climate Collapse, 6-7 March 2021

A confluence is the place where two rivers meet. It is a place of not only great energy but great power and creativity. Located at one of the great confluences,  the Twin Cities occupy this place called Bdote – “where two waters come together” – that is sacred to the Dakota people. The Octavia E. Butler Literary Society invites you to join us virtually at this sacred place of power and creativity for the third biennial conference where we will feature work honoring Butler. Our host is St. Catherine University in St. Paul MN.

3. Returning to the Gothic Ocean: Maritime, Marine and Aquatic Uncanny in Southern Waters, 12 February 2021

Returning to the Gothic Ocean is a one day interdisciplinary virtual symposium dedicated to an exploration of the haunted waters stretching around and across Australia, the oceans, seas and inland waterways. The symposium title is inspired by Elspeth Probyn’s (2018) ominous description of the otherness and toxic “return” of the “mercurial” ocean, as well as the fluid regional geographies of “Australia” that stream into the realms of Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, the Asia-Pacific, and Indo-Pacific.

4. Finally, The Byron Society has a series of online talks on all aspects of Byron and his circle, including Mary Shelley and John POlidori.

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Calls for submissions: Fairy tale and fantasy, Angela Carter and Barthes, sex and Supernatural

Posted on 28th January 2021 by William the Bloody

We have various calls for articles, creative writing, and reviews coming up:

1. Call for Submissions: Articles, creative writing, reviews and visual art relating to fairy tales, fantasy and speculative fiction, Gramarye.
Deadline: 21 March 2021

The Chichester Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction seeks articles, book reviews and creative writing relating to literary and historical approaches to fairy tales, fantasy, Gothic, magic realism, science fiction and speculative fiction for Gramarye, its peer-reviewed journal published by the University of Chichester.

2. Call for Papers: Special issue on Angela Carter and Roland Barthes, Barthes Studies.
Deadline: 30 June 2021

As recent forays into Carter’s interest in translation and her engagement with French feminist theory uncover ever more areas of exploration, researchers have yet to fully highlight the ways in which her works, both fictional and essayistic, respond to the texts of Roland Barthes. We welcome contributions on the intertextual connections between Carter and Barthes

3. Call for Chapters: Sex and Supernatural, edited volume.
Deadline: 1 March 2021

As the long-running series Supernatural (2005-2020) comes to a close, fans and scholars can finally consider the text as a closed canon that offers new possibilities for analysis. While previous volumes from throughout its run have examined the series through the lenses of genre, theology, and philosophy, this collection will analyze the show through the thus-far underused lenses of fan, gender, sexuality, and porn studies. Supernatural’s use and interpretations of sexualities, queerness, consumption of pornography and human bodies (sometimes literally) speaks to both horror tropes and to cultural anxieties. The longevity of the show also allows it to act as a litmus test for changing mores in sex and gender representation. The goal of this edited volume will be to analyze these topics across the breadth of the show and its related texts, including licensed novels and comics and fan fiction and meta.

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CFPs: Dark Economies, Lovecraft Country, Zombies

Posted on 28th January 2021 by William the Bloody

Some excitng CFPs for conferences here–the deadline for ‘Dark Econimies’ is very soon, so hurry!

1. ‘Dark Economies: Anxious Futures, Fearful Pasts‘, Falmouth University, UK, 7-9 July 2021. A face-to-face conference!
Deadline: 1 February 2021.

The present is dark. With the rise of Covid-19, right-wing populism, global migrations and immigrations, continued violence, abuse and crime, prejudice and intolerance, there is increasing anxiety about the future. The Earth itself is under threat from environmental catastrophe and a mass extinction event is anticipated. The collapse of society, morality, and the environment was often also feared in the past, particularly in Gothic, horror and dystopian fictions and texts. What were the monsters of the past? What are our monsters now?

2. ‘Cults, Cthulus, and Klansmen: The (Hi)stories within Lovecraft Country‘, Centre for the History of the Gothic at the University of Sheffield, 20 May 2021. On line.
Deadline: 15 March 2021

This online symposium, hosted by the Centre for the History of the Gothic at the University of Sheffield, seeks to unpack the history, theory, and sociopolitical commentary neatly woven into the series Lovecraft Country. Remaining mindful of the show as a Horror series, this symposium will evaluate Green’s manipulations of Gothic and Horror tropes in conveying a powerful and complex critique of contemporary America.

3. ‘Theorizing Zombiism 2 Conference: Undead Again‘, University of Gothenburg, 29-31 July 2021. On line.
Deadline: 10 March 2021

The zombie as an allegory for cultural, social, and scientific analysis spans almost every discipline including humanities, biology, mathematics, anthropology, economics, and political science. This range of use for the zombie narrative is a clear indication of its adaptability and viability as a distinct framework for critical theory. Theorizing Zombiism 2: Undead again will thus serve as a timely and much-needed platform for the development of international and interdisciplinary relationships between researchers, educators, practitioners and other interested parties.

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