Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

A week from today (Saturday, April 29) at 2:00 p.m., there will be a panel at StokerCon titled "Thomas Ligotti and the Nightmare of Living".

S.T. Joshi, Ted Grau, and I will be discussing Tom's work aboard the Queen Mary. (A former luxury liner permanently docked in Long Beach, CA.) The panel will be in the Regent Room. Would love to see some TLO folks there.

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

Any chance of a live stream or later posted recording (video or sound) for those who have not succumbed to the Call of Cthulu(California)?

BTW: Nicole, I really enjoyed Mirrors. It read with a familiar while still wholly original voice.

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

That sounds wonderful. Wish I could be there. I hope you'll give us a report afterward, Nicole (and you, too, Ted, if you're listening).

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

I hope there's going to be a recording, because this sounds really good

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

There was some confusion, initially, if the panel was going to be held on Friday or Saturday.

As it's now settled into the Saturday schedule, I'm confirmed as a panelist, and very much looking forward to it. Should be fun.

As I can never say no to Matt Cardin, I will for sure provide a recap for the good folks at TLO.

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

I wish I could go. It would have been nice to have met you in person.

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

Hopefully, the event will spark interest in both Ligotti and the idea of "philosophical horror." I enjoy all things horror (well, not all things horror), but Ligotti as well as other practitioners of weird fiction represent the very summit of the genre itself.

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

Should there be a sudden downturn in Ligotti interest in the greater Los Angeles area beginning on April 29th, I have only myself to blame.

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

I'm obviously biased, but I think it's fair to say the panel was a huge success. I'm not sure I can provide an in-depth summary (as I'm still recovering from yesterday's lengthy trip home). However, here are some of the highlights.

1. A packed room.

Despite the fact that George R.R. Martin was signing books at the same time, we had a large audience for our panel. It was gratifying to see.

2. A mixed audience.

Based on some of the questions and comments from the audience, it seems that we had a mix of folks who were already acquainted with Ligotti's work and those who were unfamiliar, but curious.

3. I remembered to plug TLO.

Toward the end of the panel I remembered to mention this web community. Hopefully some audience members will be joining.

4. Discussion that hit a healthy balance between "Ligotti 101" and more in-depth topics. To pull that off in the space of an hour is remarkable, indeed.

5. A good mix of panelists. John Palisano did a superb job of moderating the panel. And my fellow-panelists S.T. Joshi and Ted Grau contributed their own unique perspectives on Ligotti's work. I think this was good: we weren't all just saying the same things. There was enough variation of opinion to keep things interesting, but enough of an underlying similarity of opinion to keep things focused.

6. I had met S.T. several times previous to this convention, but this was the first time I've met Ted Grau. After the panel, John Palisano took this photo of us and we had a chance to chat for about an hour afterwards, as we were scheduled to sign books at the same time. Always good to meet folks in the weird fic community who you haven't met before.

https://nicolecushing.files.wordpres...grau.jpg?w=604

Re: Ligotti Panel at StokerCon
 

That sounds dreamy, Nicole. Thanks so much for the recap. I deeply wish I had been able to attend!