Lovecraft country symposium archive

Cults, cthulus and clansmen

Following our online Lovecraft Country Symposium ‘Cults, Cthulus, and Klansmen: The (Hi)stories within Lovecraft Country‘ which took place on 20 May 2021, we are curating an archive of materials inspired by the symposium that will continue the existing conversation surrounding Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country and the horrors of American history. You will find below playlists, images, talks, resources and other materials relating to the symposium and the series. If you would like to contribute to the archive any blogs/ vlogs, visual artwork, creative meditations (fictional and non-fictional), short films, music playlists, etc. that you may have created in relation to the series please get in touch with us at gothiccentre@sheffield.ac.uk.

Talks and Presentations

The (Ex-) Slave as Agent of Change in Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country (Transcript) by Michael Werning

Michael Werning is a doctoral student in the English Department at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His area of study is 19th-century African American literature, with a special interest in antebellum slave narratives. His dissertation examines the intersection of slavery, the Gothic, and disability studies and how the Gothic renders itself a powerful vehicle for ex-slave autobiographers to deal with, heal from, and fight back against the horrors of slavery. At Marquette, Michael also teaches the class “Foundations in Rhetoric,” in which he encourages his students to think through complex issues of social and racial justice.

Read the transcript.

The 19th-Century American Literary Roots of Magical White Privilege in HBO’s “Lovecraft Country”

A 19th-century Americanist and Poe scholar, Chuck Caruso, PhD, teaches English and creative writing at the Seattle Colleges. He is one of the featured academics in the PBS documentary “Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive” (2017). His debut crime novel, The Lawn Job (Cloud Lodge, 2017) won the Independent Publisher Book Award for Best Regional Fiction. His short fiction has appeared online, been published in a variety of print magazines and anthologies, and collected in The Meaning of Blood and Other Tales of Perversity (Cloud Lodge, 2018)

Presentation slides (PDF, 104MB)

Keynote Panel Discussion

Watch the Keynote panel discussion from ‘Cults, Cthulus, and Klansmen: The (Hi)stories within Lovecraft Country‘ featuring Maria Hamilton Abegunde, Kinitra Brooks, John Jennings, and Susana Morris.

Playlist Inspired by Lovecraft Country

(organised by M. Wester)

You can also listen to the playlist on YouTube.

  1. “Cold War” by Janelle Monae: https://youtu.be/lqmORiHNtN4

  2. “This is America” by Childish Gambino: https://youtu.be/VYOjWnS4cMY

  3. “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday: https://youtu.be/Web007rzSOI

  4. “Mississippi Goddam” by Nina Simone: https://youtu.be/LJ25-U3jNWM

  5. “Whitey’s on the Moon” (remix of Gil Scott Heron): https://youtu.be/oBQFy0iJlvQ

  6. “Yankee Go Home” by Bob Connelly: https://youtu.be/1qa1yTUnUUo

  7. “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan: https://youtu.be/h2mabTnMHe8

  8. “Pain Everyday” by Clipping: https://youtu.be/c0RYIIzsvFw

  9. “Catch the Fire” by Rob feat Sonia Sanchez: https://youtu.be/lgbKNnGbo2s

  10. “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” by Gil Scott Heron: https://youtu.be/UGqxU6PTRZk

  11. “Blood of the Fang” by Clipping: https://youtu.be/s9EsHbqmjN4

  12. “Problem #13” by Johnny Dangerous: https://youtu.be/mRowQGqkjRA

  13. “Revolution” by Arrested Development: https://youtu.be/nvKBeu1la78

  14. “Turntables” by Janelle Monae: https://youtu.be/8CFrCk6_0rM

Playlist Inspired by Lovecraft Country and Afrofuturism

(organised by J Simpson)

This is a playlist based around the idea of Gothic Afrofuturism and inspired by the series Lovecraft Country and J. Simpson’s talk on Afrofuturism at ‘Cults, Cthulus, and Klansmen: The (Hi)stories within Lovecraft Country‘. The playlist includes a cross-section of afrofuturistic music with a lot of songs from Africa including electronic music, jazz, funk, and new forms of traditional music as well as African-American music and Afropunk. You can listen to the playlist on Spotify.

Image gallery

Resources

Links to external resources relating to the series Lovecraft Country. If you would like to suggest any other resources please email us at gothiccentre@sheffield.ac.uk.