Last Thursday I and a group from the LGMG went to the Kitschies event at Blackwells Bookshop in Charing Cross. The Kitschies are an annual award in the field of genre fiction which appear to be the marketing brainchild of the producers of a brand of rum, and this year focused on Gothic, aiming to stimulate discussion about the nature of Gothic fiction. We were a very small proportion of the audience of 60 or 70 gathered to listen to John Courtenay Grimwood giving a reading, Marcus Hearn and Christopher Fowler talking very entertainingly about Hammer films, line up for a tot of rum (which I couldn't partake of it being a breach of my Lenten discipline), and walk about talking to a variety of people. Tanith Lee was there - I remember reading all of her books in the school library when I was about 15, but decided not to tell her this. Instead I spoke to Jonathan Rigby, the author of English Gothic and American Gothic; he complimented my on my new tie pin, which bears, I had to admit, the Seal of Rassilon. I'm not sure he was very impressed by that. We thought on balance that the event was a bit oversold (not many 'labyrinthine halls' or indeed 'shadowy figures' in evidence, unless you counted ours) but it was rather amusing. I caused great consternation by actually trying to buy a book which turned out not to be 'on the system'.
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Talking Gothic
Last Thursday I and a group from the LGMG went to the Kitschies event at Blackwells Bookshop in Charing Cross. The Kitschies are an annual award in the field of genre fiction which appear to be the marketing brainchild of the producers of a brand of rum, and this year focused on Gothic, aiming to stimulate discussion about the nature of Gothic fiction. We were a very small proportion of the audience of 60 or 70 gathered to listen to John Courtenay Grimwood giving a reading, Marcus Hearn and Christopher Fowler talking very entertainingly about Hammer films, line up for a tot of rum (which I couldn't partake of it being a breach of my Lenten discipline), and walk about talking to a variety of people. Tanith Lee was there - I remember reading all of her books in the school library when I was about 15, but decided not to tell her this. Instead I spoke to Jonathan Rigby, the author of English Gothic and American Gothic; he complimented my on my new tie pin, which bears, I had to admit, the Seal of Rassilon. I'm not sure he was very impressed by that. We thought on balance that the event was a bit oversold (not many 'labyrinthine halls' or indeed 'shadowy figures' in evidence, unless you counted ours) but it was rather amusing. I caused great consternation by actually trying to buy a book which turned out not to be 'on the system'.
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