TOD A12 Niels Hobbs: Where the Weird Is Going, Where It Has Been

In this archival podcast Scott Nicolay interviews Niels Hobbs, executive director of the Lovecraft Arts and Sciences Council and prime mover behind the biennial NecronomiCon Providence. It originally aired on September 22, 2015. This broadcast also includes bonus new content featuring a follow-up interview with Niels about NecronomiCon 2017.

Again we welcome our first show sponsor, Tanis Podcast (0:0:35 and 1:59:38). Thank you, Bob Pastorella!

Bonus New Content: Niels Hobbs Returns to Preview NecronomiCon 2017

(0:01:49) In an exclusive new segment, Niels Hobbs, executive director of the Lovecraft Arts and Sciences Council, returns to preview the exciting plans for NecronomiCon Providence (Aug. 17-20, 2017), which promises to be the biggest global gathering of the Weird to date. Niels discusses the symbiotic relationship between this con and the Weird Renaissance, selecting a dynamic slate of guests of honor across the greater landscape of Weird fiction, a future book project that delves back to the roots of the Weird, the Weird outside the Anglophone sphere, and how this year’s programming will go beyond H.P. Lovecraft to explore other classic Weird authors, as well as the state of Weird fiction now and where it’s going.

Show Notes

(0:38:40) Niels Hobbs discusses why he and others resurrected the biennial NecronomiCon Providence and its emergence as the essential summit for writers, editors, artists, and academics in the world of Weird, the exponential growth of contemporary high-quality Weird fiction, the small press explosion and its mutual support network, the importance of pie, the generally good-hearted nature of the Weird community, his early love of fiction and the arts, H.P. Lovecraft as a gateway drug on the way to the complex, vibrant and international continuum of the Weird, punk rock, marine biology, the unique weirdness of Providence, confronting and moving beyond racism/sexism/homophobia in Lovecraft’s work and some corners of his fandom, the fantastic array of artists embracing the Weird today and the joy of assembling the Ars Necronomica exhibitions of 2013 and 2015, triumphs and challenges of the 2015 NecronomiCon, and looking ahead to NecronomiCon 2017 without abandoning Lovecraft but expanding to a broader, global vision of the Weird.