TOD 010 The Outer Dark Symposium, Part I: Readings by Selena Chambers, Kristi DeMeester, Anya Martin, & Michael Wehunt and The Weird Novel Panel

In this podcast The Outer Dark presents the first installment of The Outer Dark Symposium, including readings by Selena Chambers, Kristi DeMeester, Anya Martin, and Michael Wehunt, as well as the first panel on “The Weird Novel.” These segments were recorded live on Friday March 24 and Saturday March 25. The broadcast also includes an introductory interview with Selena Chambers.

Introduction

(00:02:10) In an exclusive new segment, author/editor Selena Chambers talks about the inaugural The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird, held in March in Atlanta. She sets the stage for the first round of readings Friday March 24 at My Parents Basement, a spec-lit-friendly pub in the suburb of Avondale Estates, as well as talking about her current projects including Nasty Writers, a Trump-response resistance magazine by women for women, and her debut collection, Calls for Submission (Pelekinesis) just released May 2017.

Show Notes

(00:13:07) The episode begins with the prelude to The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird at My Parents Basement on the evening of Friday March 24, 2017, including an introduction by Scott Nicolay and readings by (00:16:44) Anya Martin (prologue, “The Un-Bride or No Gods and Marxists,” Eternal Frankenstein), (00:28:40) Michael Wehunt (“The Inconsolable,” Greener Pastures) and (00:46:45) Selena Chambers (“The Last Session,” Dunhams Manor Press chapbook and Calls for Submission).

Next, the action shifts to The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird, Saturday March 25 at Decatur CoWorks. (01:15:04) Kristi DeMeester provides the first reading of the day, the opening two chapters from Beneath, her first novel released from Word Horde in May 2017. Then (01:31:40) “The Weird Novel ” panel was moderated by Scott and features Kristi DeMeester, John C. Foster, Nicole Givens Kurtz, and Michael Wehunt. Though there have always been great Weird novels such as Die Andere Seite, The House on the Borderland, The Haunting of Hill House, and Our Lady of Darkness, many still see The Weird as a creature of the short form. Does this perception stem from a fixation on the writers associated with Weird Tales magazine? Is this perception a mistake? The current decade has seen a major boom in novel-length Weird including Jeff VanderMeer’s bestselling Southern Reach trilogy, with more to come including novels by some symposium participants. Why now, and what are the challenges and benefits of sustaining the Weird across a longer narrative?

Stay tuned for more of The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird on future episodes of The Outer Dark. Thank you as always to our show sponsor, Rabbits podcast (2:15:45), and to all the sponsors and Indiegogo supporters who helped make something Weird happen in Atlanta.