Upcoming Arnzen Events – Spring 2012
MARCH 21-25, 2012 | Orlando, FL | ICFA-33
DIVERSE READINGS & PANELS
“The Monstrous Fantastic”: The 33rd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts will be held at the Orlando Airport Marriott. I will be respondent to a roundtable discussion about my article on horror pedagogy, “The Unlearning: Horror and Transformative Theory.” I’m also scheduled to read from my new book, The Gorelets Omnibus, and moderate a panel on contemporary horror film directors. Other writers in attendance include featured guests China Mieville and Kelly Link, Bruce Boston, Marge Simon, Andy Duncan, Bryan Dietrich and many more.
MARCH 29-31, 2012 | Lafayette, LA | Media Technology and the Imagination
GUEST AUTHOR READING & PANEL
The Louisiana Conference on Literature, Language & Culture presents: Media, Technology and the Imagination. I’ll be moderating a panel discussion, and giving a reading presentation at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s annual literary conference.
More visits and events are in planning stages. I’ll update this page as things develop!
Appearances in August 2008
Aug 15-16 | HorrorFind | Adelphi, MD
Join us at Horrorfind for the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY for Raw Dog Screaming Press! (See my tribute to the press if you don’t know who they are). Arnzen will be reading with other RDSP authors throughout the day on Friday evening, 8/15, in Room 2112 at the UMUC Marriott, from 6pm – 10pm. Here’s the schedule:
6:00-6:30 Ronald Damien Malfi
6:30-7:00 Adam Golaski
7:00-7:30 Donna Lynch
7:30-8:00 D. Harlan Wilson
half hour buffer/break
8:30-9:00 Matthew Warner
9:00-9:30 John Edward Lawson
9:30-10:00 Michael A. Arnzen
On Saturday morning, Aug 16th, the film Exquisite Corpse will be part of the Indie Film screenings, launching at 10am in the convention’s Amphitheater! Other films slotted for this morning session include a claymation version of Poe’s The Pit & The Pendulum and an adaptation of F. Paul Wilson‘s Foet.
Saturday evening at 8pm, Raw Dog Screaming will be hosting a huge room party open to all comers.
This convention always has a superb dealer’s room brimming with more weird paraphrenalia than you can imagine, a non-stop carnival of film and fun, and a costume event that rivals any Hollywood film set. Other guests in attendance at this huge annual con for fans of horror film and fiction include writers like Jack Ketchum, F. Paul Wilson, Edward Lee, Thomas Monteleone, John Maclay, Kim Paffenroth, Michael Boatman, and too many more to mention, alongside media celebrities like Roddy Piper, William Forsythe, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Chainsaw Sally, and so many more.
Visit HorrorFind for more information.
FUTURE APPEARANCES:
Sept 26th, 3-5pm | “The Business & Life of Writing Horror” Panel | 010 Page Hall, Ohio State University | Columbus, OH
Join Lawrence C. Connolly, Lucy A. Snyder, Gary A. Braunbeck and myself for a panel discussion at Ohio State University on “The Business and Life of Writing Horror.” The panel — hosted by the OSU Center for the Teaching of Writing — will be followed by booksigning. A podcastwill likely be available online.
Sept 26-28 | Context-21 | Columbus, OH
I’ll be running a workshop on flash fiction writing (sorry, seats are sold out), reading and sitting on a few panels at this excellent literary convention in Ohio. I was Horror Guest of Honor last year at Context and loved every minute of it. Other horror fiction notables in attendance this year include Guest of Honor Brian Keene, Gary Braunbeck, Mike Laimo, Tim Waggoner, Paula Guran, Maurice Broaddus, Fran Friel, and Lucy Snyder. Apex publishing and Shroud Magazine will also be around, and I anticipate huge parties. Keep your eyes on the Context home page for specific details.
Oct 25-26th | Zombiefest 2008 | Monroeville Mall, Pittsburgh, PA
It returns! And like the living dead, I, too, will be crawling back to the mall. Zombiefest is a two-day zombie-themed convention held at the Monroeville Mall, site of the Romero zombie classic Dawn of the Dead, featuring vendor exhibits, film screenings, author discussion panels, live bands, games and other fun activities for zombie fans like games, concerts and a masquerade ball. And in 2008, it’s FREE admission! Details are still developing, but save the date, which will coincide with World Zombie Day!
Nov 8, 2-5pm | PARSEC Meeting | Pittsburgh, PA
“Horror Today”: Lawrence C. Connolly (author of Veins) and I discuss the state of the genre today with PARSEC: the Pittsburgh Area Science Fiction Enthusiast Club. Location TBA.
Fall 2007 Appearances
July 28-29th | Confluence 2007 | Pittsburgh, PA
I will be signing books, reading fiction, and sitting on two panels at Confluence, Pittsburgh’s annual con for fans of science-fiction and fantasy literature. A highlight this year will be the screening and discussion of the film based on my work, Exquisite Corpse, alongside the film adaptation of Lawrence C. Connolly’s classic short-short, Echoes.
Aug 11th | Horrorfind Weekend | Hunt Valley, MD
Raw Dog Screaming Press is hosting a CD release party for Audiovile at Horrorfind. I am not yet certain if I’ll be in attendance at this year’s convention, but if you’re there, join the party!
Sept 28-30th | Context 20 | Columbus, OH
I’m honored to be this year’s “Horror Guest of Honor” at this literary convention held annually in Ohio! In addition to the usual reading performance, panel discussions, and books signings, I’ll also leading a poetry writing workshop. There are still a few seats left, but you have to register early to get one (convention registration fees rise after Aug 11th, too).
Oct 19th 7:30pm | BottleWorks | Johnstown, PA
Poetry reading along with Gerry LaFemina at the Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center (3rd Avenue & Chestnut in Cambria City), sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
Oct 27-28th | Zombiefest | Monroeville Mall, PA
I’ll be reading and signing books at the Raw Dog Screaming Press table at Zombiefest — a brand new Convention of the Undead, which culminates with an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest “zombie walk” through the Monroeville Mall — the actual location for the original Romero film, Dawn of the Dead!
Stoker Interview and WHC 2007 Report
This year’s Bram Stoker Award ceremony was held last weekend in Toronto, concurrent with World Horror Convention. Winners included Stephen King, John Skipp, Lisa Morton, Gary Braunbeck, Jonathan Maberry and Kim Paffenroth. I was on hand to present the poetry award along with Don Hutchison to Bruce Boston for his winning poetry collection, Shades Fantastic.
[Ironically, The Horror Channel has just posted a bleary-eyed video interview with me, shortly after I stepped off the stage at the 2006 Bram Stoker Awards in Newark last June, when I won the award for Freakcidents. Good memories!]
World Horror Convention itself was a blast this year. It was one of the few times my wife Renate attends these things with me, and we had a great time together checking out Toronto. I met many old friends and made new ones, and though I wouldn’t dare try to list all of them here, it was nice to hang out with a few fellow faculty and alumnae from our Writing Popular Program at Seton Hill University, including Lawrence C. Connolly and Jean-Loup Benet (pictured below).
Among the personal highlights at the con….
Getting to taste Brian Keene’s bottle of Knob Hill during the opening night panel, “What is Horror, Exactly?” with Keene, Gary Braunbeck, Deborah LeBlanc, and the wonderful Mark Morris. Our audience was so large we had to move the panel out into the reception area, and this made it only larger, as snockered and curious passers-by joined in on the fun, and we sported with their comments. We never pinned horror down “exactly” and that was a very good thing, because I think we revealed the amorphous and wide range of the genre.
At the “mass autograph” session, in which all the major writers in attendance gather in a room to sign books, I had the odd opportunity to sign a jacket…which is now for sale on eBay to benefit a horror fan in need. (Go bid on it here — it’s a good cause.)
My screening of Exquisite Corpse drew a great conversation afterward, as we talked about how poetry and other experimental forms make different demands on the filmmaker and audience. At my fiction reading, I previewed some excerpts from my upcoming audiobook, Audiovile (and found it very difficult not to hear the accompanying music in my head as I read aloud).
And at the end of the convention, I sat on a panel called “Young Blood: New Writers to Look Out For” (starring Sarah Langan, Alexandra Sokoloff, Sarah Pinborough, and Violette Malan — all pictured above, though I wish we could see their faces rather than this offbeat ‘last supper’ look we’ve got going on). I assumed this panel would be a polling of who we thought people ought to be reading these days, but instead discovered that the panelist themselves were the ones who were being showcased (…which was fine by me, even though I’ve been publishing for about 18 years now). After we talked a bit about our work and the new challenges of the industry today, the panel quickly became a discussion about strategies for getting published, since there were a number of new writers in attendance with questions. Of course, one thing a new writer can and should do is attend the conventions in the trade, like next year’s WHC, which I can guarantee will be not only informative and career-rewarding, but also just a whole lotta fun.
March Update & Convention News
This certainly is a busy time of the year, and I’m dropping by here between points of departure. Here’s some quick updates:
+ I’ll be attending World Horror Convention in Toronto this weekend (3/29-4/1). If you’re also there, here’s where you can catch me:
Thurs, 11pm: PANEL: “What Exactly is Horror?” (Simcoe Room)
Fri, 11 am: Book Signing at HWA table
Fri, 8pm: Book Signing at Mass Autograph Session
Sat, 11:30am: READING (Simcoe Room)
Sat, 3pm: SCREENING: EXQUISITE CORPSE (King Room)
Sat, 8pm: Bram Stoker Award Banquet
Sun, 11am: PANEL: New Writers to Look Out For (Ballroom C)
+ As the Horror Guest of Honor at the Context literary convention this coming September in Columbus, Ohio, I’ll be running a special genre poetry writing workshop. Here’s a description of what’s planned:
Michael A. Arnzen: Writing SF/F/H Poetry
(Friday, September 28th, 7-10 pm)
Join award-winning poet and writing professor Mike Arnzen as he leads a 3-hour workshop on crafting poetry for science fiction, fantasy, and horror markets (which, unlike literary journals, actually do pay and don’t charge annoying reading fees!). SF/F/H poetry, in Arnzen’s view, is not simply a playful exercise in rhyme or an expression of emotion, but a “thought experiment” in the genre. “Free verse” (or open form) poetry will be emphasized in this workshop, but writers of all forms and all levels of experience — from novice to published — are warmly welcome to participate, as we explore the elements of good poetry through discussion of provided examples and fun, creative, in-class exercises.However, you have an (easy!) assignment: bring a ROUGH draft of a short poem (any style, fifteen lines or less) to the workshop, inspired by the following phrase, which must be the title of your poem: “Blood is not Red on the Moon”.
Participants are encouraged to share their work at the open poetry reading, which will be held Saturday night of the convention. $15
I’m posting about this now because you must sign up early to reserve a seat. For more details visit the Context workshop page.
If fiction is your bag instead of poetry, then don’t forget about the Odyssey Fiction Workshops; the deadline for applications is in about two weeks.
***
In other news:
+ The ICFA last weekend was a wonderful experience, and the panel discussion on Exquisite Corpse was a true highlight. (You can read Gina Wisker’s sharp essay on my short-shorts, called “Domestic Dissection” online). Next year’s conference will be on “the sublime” in fantasy/horror and I’m tentatively hopeful I’ll attend.
+ This site was given a Blog of the Day award while I was away last week. Neat.
+ I’ve turned in the bonus materials for the upcoming re-release of 100 Jolts: Shockingly Short Stories in hardcover later this Spring. The book will include “Aftershocks” (a batch of new stories), a new afterword that looks at short-shorts and their relationship to “snack media culture”, and a bundle of creative writing prompts based on the stories in the collection, in the vein of The Goreletter’s Instigation.
+ Progress is being made on my upcoming new collection, Proverbs for Monsters, to be published by Dark Regions Press this Summer. Proverbs is a career-long retrospective, featuring the short stories, flash fiction, humor, and poetry that readers have said are their favorites, along with a few new items. This book should be available in limited hardcover and trade paperback editions. Keep your eyes on the new Gorelets bibliography for news.
FUTURE APPEARANCES
March 14-18th 2007 | ICFA-28 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Reading with Peter Straub and Ellen Kleges; Exquisite Corpse screening & panel discussion; presentaton: “The Humor and Horror of Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive and ‘Trucks’”; group poetry reading;
March 29-April 1 | World Horror Convention | Toronto, Canada
Exquisite Corpse film screening; Panels: “What Exactly is Horror?” and “Young Blood: New Writers to Look Out For”; mass autograph session; HWA signing; Doorways magazine gathering; fiction reading
July 5-6 | Odyssey Fantasy Workshop | Mt. Vernon, NH
Guest Lecturer
Sept 28-30 | Context SF Convention | Columbus, OH
Horror Guest of Honor; programming tba
Exquisite Corpse Screening: 11/9
EXQUISITE CORPSE — a short horror “anthology” film based on excerpts from my books 100 Jolts and Gorelets: Unpleasant Poems — will be screened on the Seton Hill University campus in an event open to the public. I’ll be on hand to host a discussion following the screening and also sign books after the event. Here are the details:
What: EXQUISITE CORPSE. 17 minutes. Producer: Poeticollage/Jim Minton Design Group, 2006.
Preview the trailer online here: http://www.exquisitecorpsemovie.com
When: Thursday, November 9th, 8:30pm
Where: ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, ROOM 206
SETON HILL UNIVERSITY, Greensburg, PA
Who: Free and open to the public. (Parental Guidence suggested: PG-13)
*****
Read the Seton Hill University Press Release for details about the film.
Exquisite Corpse: Website Active!
UPDATE, 8/22: The trailer for the film is now running on the film’s website!
UPDATE, 8/27: We’re developing a myspace page for the film with updates on screenings, stills from the film and more…and it wants to be your friend!
More on Exquisite Corpse, from previous posts: see the movie poster and still from “The Scab”.
06/18/2013 at 8:43 am 
06/11/2013 at 2:11 pm 
