First, great news out of Quincy, MA this past week. Then, an update on (very limited) stock of Mooncalves. Finally, some programming updates re: Necronomicon 2024 in Providence, RI.
Very pleased to pass on the news Mooncalves has been selected as a finalist in the “Edited Anthology” category for the 2023 Shirley Jackson awards! I couldn’t be happier.
It’s a great honor to be nominated (especially for our first release!) and placed among such distinguished company. The nominees for the category, including shared credits:
- Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic, edited by Jolie Toomajan (Cosmic Horror Monthly)
- Featuring Christi Nogle’s story “Bitter Makes the Sweet so Sweet”.
- Mooncalves, edited by John WM Thompson (NO Press)
- Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (Vintage Books)
- Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, edited by Jordan Peele & John Joseph Adams
- Shakespeare Unleashed, edited by James Aquilone (Monstrous Books)
- Featuring Steve Rasnic Tem’s story “X”, and L. Marie Wood’s story “Watch”.
It’s also worth noting that our friend and collaborator JAW McCarthy is simultaneously a finalist in the novella category Sleep Alone (Off Limits Press), a wonderful and ominous tale of off-vampiric traveling musicians. Check it out if you haven’t!
The Shirley Jackson Awards will be held at Readercon 33 in Quincy, MA on July 13, 2024. I unfortunately will not be able to attend, but I went last year and it was a blast — if you’re near Boston at that time, check it out. Based on public participant lists, it appears the inimitable Sofia Samatar will be in attendance. I’m currently reading her collaborative (with Kate Zambreno) book-length meditation on Tone, which will prove intoxicating to anyone with an interest in the theory and practice of narrative art.
I’ve always held the (Shirleys? Jacksons?) in high esteem; the category prizes are juried, so there is always a method and vision to their madness. To be selected as a finalist is profoundly humbling.
The limited edition hardcover run of Mooncalves has sold steadily since its debut and is now very near to being completely tapped out — reserving a few copies for Necronomicon (more on that below) and a small number for possible mail loss (thankfully absent from shipments thus far) occur, we are at 11 copies left. Now that the book is up for a Shirley Jackson, I fully expect them to be gone, and soon. It’s a bittersweet feeling.
If you want a copy of the hardcover, now is the time to order one. There will be no reprint of the hardcover or its interior art, but depending on interest, a paperback run in POD could follow (especially if it wins the SJA!) The digital version will remain available from both the NO Press site and Amazon.
I’ll be attending Necronomicon (“The international festival of weird fiction, art, and academia”) 2024, to be held in Providence, RI from August 15-18. I’ll appear on three panels — I don’t have precise times yet, but here are their titles, descriptions, and panelists:
- This Place Is Not For You: Impossible Architecture In Weird Fiction.
Join us as we explore the abandoned halls of alien and forgotten races, non-Euclidean spaces, liminal passageways, and labyrinths of mysterious origin. At the Mountains of Madness, House of Leaves, Piranesi, Labyrinths, Solaris, and Mapping the Interior are just some of the many titles that employ strange structures. How do authors use the scale, design, and function of buildings and other designed spaces to disturb and disorient the reader in weird fiction? What is the psychological impact of these factors on characters?
Panelists: Brandon O’Brien, Catherine Scully (M), Sheree Renée Thomas, John Thompson, Jeff VanderMeer - White Space, Implication, Inference. The Reader as Collaborator in
Weird Fiction.
While every reader experiences their own version of a book, this is even more true in weird literature where ambiguity and uncertainty are more central than most genres. Our panelists discuss writing uncertain narratives and supporting multiple interpretations in weird fiction. What is the contract we enter into with the reader in setting expectations? How do we conceptualize the reader’s role? How do we deliver a satisfying experience without definitive answers or explanations?
Panelists: Paula D. Ashe, Nadia Bulkin, Thomas Olivieri (M), John Thompson, Paul Tremblay, Jeff VanderMeer, Douglas E. Winter - Editing for the Small Press.
The small press has always been critical to keeping literature weird. Small press champions discuss the challenges of producing and distributing anthologies and magazines on a small budget. How do you keep the doors open? What are the challenges in fulfilling your vision for a particular project?
Panelists: Scott Dwyer, Curtis Lawson (M), Kristi Petersen Schoonover, Stephen Rainey, Justin Steele, John Thompson
Adam Golaski will also be in attendance, and featuring on two panels:
- Bleak and Decaying Landscapes: The Weird Fiction of Joel Lane.
Lane (English, 1963 – 2013) is best known for his short work in horror and dark fantasy, most often set in the economically depressed industrial cities of central England. His characters are often as isolated and broken as the urban centers they haunt. He also wrote poetry, noir novels, and essays on horror and fantasy, some of which are collected in This Spectacular Darkness. Our panelists discuss his work, influences, and place in the history of weird fiction.
Panelists: Matthew Cheney, Adam Golaski (M), Timothy Jarvis, Billy Martin, Justin Steele, Simon Strantzas - Leonora Carrington: A Portrait.
Mary Leonora Carrington (English-Mexican, 1917 – 2011) was an author, artist, and political activist, who rebelled against convention even within the Surrealist movement. Her work is suffused with symbolism, magic and the examination of self, embodiment, and femininity. Our panelists discuss her life and work, and her enduring impact on the weird in art, film. and literature.
Panelists: Victoria Dalpe, Adam Golaski, Anya Martin (M), Gabriel Mesa,
Jeff VanderMeer
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for news re: the hardcover edition of Adam Golaski’s Stone Gods, and (possibly, eventually) a second volume of Mooncalves stories.