TOD 056 The Outer Dark Symposium 2019, Part 5: Ecstatic Weird Panel PLUS Readings by Jeff Strand, Kurt Fawver, and Zin E. Rocklyn

In this podcast The Outer Dark presents the fifth installment of The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird 2019 including the panel ‘The Ecstatic Weird: The Weird as a Source of Transcendence and Awe’, moderated by Gordon B White and featuring Nadia Bulkin, Selena Chambers, Kurt Fawver, Orrin Grey, and Liv Rainey-Smith, as well as readings by Jeff Strand, Kurt Fawver, and Zin E Rocklyn. Also Gordon B White presents Reviews from The Weird including Spirits Unwrapped (Lethe Press), edited by Daniel Braum, and Luminous Body (Dim Shores), by Brooke Warra. The readings and panel were recorded live on Saturday March 23, 2019 at Silver Scream FX Lab in Atlanta, GA. Reviews from The Weird was recorded on Oct. 3, 2019.

Reviews from The Weird

After episode intro and sponsor acknowledgements, Gordon B White provides reviews of Spirits Unwrapped (Lethe Press), edited by Daniel Braum (0:09:00), and Luminous Body (Dim Shores), by Brooke Warra (0:13:23). Then Anya interviews Gordon about the panel, which he moderated.

Show Notes

In this podcast The Outer Dark presents the fifth and penultimate installment of The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird 2019 beginning with readings by Jeff Strand (0:28:30), Kurt Fawver (0:35:12) and Zin E Rocklyn (0:47:10). Then listen to the symposium’s fifth panel (1:00:03) ‘The Ecstatic Weird: The Weird as a Source of Transcendence and Awe’, moderated by Gordon B White and featuring Nadia Bulkin, Selena Chambers, Kurt Fawver, Orrin Grey, and Liv Rainey-Smith. The Weird exists along a spectrum between an omniferous vastness and a shivering void, between the awesome and the awful, yet its most prominent expressions gravitate towards the pole of cosmic pessimism. Although fear is an instinctive reaction to the unknown, encounters with the Weird also have the capacity to be transformative and even revelatory. The panel will ponder the examples of and opportunities for an ecstatic Weird, as well as what it has to offer contemporary artists and audiences. These segments were recorded live on Saturday March 23, 2019 at Silver Scream FX Lab in Atlanta, GA.

This episode was brought to you by The Outer Dark Symposium 2019 Gold Sponsors The Revelator, Signal Horizon, Trepidatio Publishing (a Journalstone imprint), and Undertow Publications, as well as our Platinum Sponsors PseudoPod, Innsmouth Free Press, Nightscape Press, Kino Lorber, and NecronomiCon Providence; and Emerald Sponsor Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing. Thank you to all our attending and supporting members, sponsors, and Indiegogo campaign supporters who help make Something Weird happen.

The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird is the only annual conference centered around contemporary Weird fiction. Our mission is to foster conversation and connect communities among the diverse slate of creators and audience members under the umbrella of speculative fiction—inclusive, safe and welcoming to women, LBGTQ+, and writers of color. The fourth annual symposium will be held March 26-27, 2020 at Silver Scream FX Lab. Find out more, including a link to purchase supporting and attending memberships, at TheOuterDark.org.