NecronomiCon Providence! Is happening next week. I am the Poet Laureate and I've also got a schedule:
Welcoming Ceremony
Thursday 5 pm
Our convention Poet Laureate Sonya Taaffe, Guests of Honor, and local historians and luminaries, will welcome attendees to this historic and symbolic Providence landmark. Barnaby Evans, executive director of WaterFire, will emcee, and renowned organist Stephen Martorella will provide a musical accompaniment to the ceremony.
Songs the Sandman Sings: The Legacy and Influence of E.T.A. Hoffmann
Friday 10:30 AM
Christa Carmen, Michael Dirda, Sean Moreland (M), Sonya Taaffe, L.C. von Hessen
German Romantic and polymath E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) was an early pioneer in science fiction and fantasy, with macabre sensibilities that influenced Poe, Kafka, and Hitchcock. Perhaps best known for his stories The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, The Sandman, and Automata, his work and ideas connected fantasy, mesmerism, dreams, and machine culture in ways sometimes overlooked today. Our panelists discuss his work and illuminate his enduring influence on weird fiction.
Her Own Dark Mythos: Tanith Lee
Friday 1:30 PM
Daniel Braum, Thomas Broadbent, Paul Di Filippo, Craig Gidney, Allison Rich, Sonya Taaffe (M)
Tanith Lee (1947–2015) wrote broadly, including work for children and adults, poetry, and television. With her lush, dark, and often deeply psychosexual prose, she created bizarre fantasy worlds and turned familiar horror tropes upon their heads. Join our panelists as they explore the work of this grand master of the decadently weird and impossibly strange.
Author Readings
Friday 3:00 PM
Frank Coffman, Maxwell I. Gold, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Sonya Taaffe, Bryan Thao Worra
Poetry Hour!
Guests of Honor
Friday 4:30 PM
Peter Cannon, Kenneth Hite, Victor LaValle, Sonya Taaffe, Molly Tanzer, Dempow Torishima, Paul Tremblay, s.j. bagley (M)
Please join us as we introduce and celebrate the Guests of Honor for NecronomiCon Providence 2019, followed by a discussion with the audience.
Contemporary Challenges and Opportunities in Weird Verse
Saturday 4:30 PM
Frank Coffman, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Sonya Taaffe, Starry Wizdom, Bryan Thao Worra (M)
Poetry has been a critical component of weird literature since the beginning and continues to be a vital movement. Our panelists discuss their approach to speculative poetry, their inspirations, and the advantages of poetry as a medium for approaching the strange. The status of genre poetry and state of the industry will also be considered.
Dust, Ash, and Iron: The Use and Presentation of Alchemy and Magic in the Works of H.P. Lovecraft
Saturday 6:00 PM
Scott R. Jones, Robert Levy, Sonya Taaffe, Anthony Teth (M), Douglas Wynne
From Charles Dexter Ward to the Whateley family in The Dunwich Horror, alchemy and magic appear in Lovecraft's fiction in ways that range from the faint to the ferocious. What are the significance and prevalence of these themes in his oeuvre? Why are cultists a common element in his stories? How accurate where Lovecraft's writings when compared to the alchemical writings significant during his lifetime, or inclusive of that which was perceived as "true" magic? What is Lovecraftian-themed occultism, and how accurately does it depict the content of Lovecraft’s fictional universe?
Poetry Workshop
Sunday 10:30 AM
Thomas Broadbent, Starry Wizdom, Sonya Taaffe, Donald Sidney-Fryer
Come join our resident poets Thomas Broadbent and Starry Wizdom, as well as poet laureates Sonya Taaffe (2019) and Donald Sidney-Fryer (2017), and share some of your favorite poetry or discuss the form—and maybe be inspired by the muses.
I foresee a lot of napping in my future. May I hope to see any of you there?
Welcoming Ceremony
Thursday 5 pm
Our convention Poet Laureate Sonya Taaffe, Guests of Honor, and local historians and luminaries, will welcome attendees to this historic and symbolic Providence landmark. Barnaby Evans, executive director of WaterFire, will emcee, and renowned organist Stephen Martorella will provide a musical accompaniment to the ceremony.
Songs the Sandman Sings: The Legacy and Influence of E.T.A. Hoffmann
Friday 10:30 AM
Christa Carmen, Michael Dirda, Sean Moreland (M), Sonya Taaffe, L.C. von Hessen
German Romantic and polymath E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) was an early pioneer in science fiction and fantasy, with macabre sensibilities that influenced Poe, Kafka, and Hitchcock. Perhaps best known for his stories The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, The Sandman, and Automata, his work and ideas connected fantasy, mesmerism, dreams, and machine culture in ways sometimes overlooked today. Our panelists discuss his work and illuminate his enduring influence on weird fiction.
Her Own Dark Mythos: Tanith Lee
Friday 1:30 PM
Daniel Braum, Thomas Broadbent, Paul Di Filippo, Craig Gidney, Allison Rich, Sonya Taaffe (M)
Tanith Lee (1947–2015) wrote broadly, including work for children and adults, poetry, and television. With her lush, dark, and often deeply psychosexual prose, she created bizarre fantasy worlds and turned familiar horror tropes upon their heads. Join our panelists as they explore the work of this grand master of the decadently weird and impossibly strange.
Author Readings
Friday 3:00 PM
Frank Coffman, Maxwell I. Gold, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Sonya Taaffe, Bryan Thao Worra
Poetry Hour!
Guests of Honor
Friday 4:30 PM
Peter Cannon, Kenneth Hite, Victor LaValle, Sonya Taaffe, Molly Tanzer, Dempow Torishima, Paul Tremblay, s.j. bagley (M)
Please join us as we introduce and celebrate the Guests of Honor for NecronomiCon Providence 2019, followed by a discussion with the audience.
Contemporary Challenges and Opportunities in Weird Verse
Saturday 4:30 PM
Frank Coffman, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Sonya Taaffe, Starry Wizdom, Bryan Thao Worra (M)
Poetry has been a critical component of weird literature since the beginning and continues to be a vital movement. Our panelists discuss their approach to speculative poetry, their inspirations, and the advantages of poetry as a medium for approaching the strange. The status of genre poetry and state of the industry will also be considered.
Dust, Ash, and Iron: The Use and Presentation of Alchemy and Magic in the Works of H.P. Lovecraft
Saturday 6:00 PM
Scott R. Jones, Robert Levy, Sonya Taaffe, Anthony Teth (M), Douglas Wynne
From Charles Dexter Ward to the Whateley family in The Dunwich Horror, alchemy and magic appear in Lovecraft's fiction in ways that range from the faint to the ferocious. What are the significance and prevalence of these themes in his oeuvre? Why are cultists a common element in his stories? How accurate where Lovecraft's writings when compared to the alchemical writings significant during his lifetime, or inclusive of that which was perceived as "true" magic? What is Lovecraftian-themed occultism, and how accurately does it depict the content of Lovecraft’s fictional universe?
Poetry Workshop
Sunday 10:30 AM
Thomas Broadbent, Starry Wizdom, Sonya Taaffe, Donald Sidney-Fryer
Come join our resident poets Thomas Broadbent and Starry Wizdom, as well as poet laureates Sonya Taaffe (2019) and Donald Sidney-Fryer (2017), and share some of your favorite poetry or discuss the form—and maybe be inspired by the muses.
I foresee a lot of napping in my future. May I hope to see any of you there?