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| NecronomiCon Providence | |
|---|---|
| Name | NecronomiCon Providence |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Horror, Weird fiction, Speculative fiction |
| Venue | Rhode Island Convention Center |
| Location | Providence, Rhode Island |
| Country | United States |
| First | 2013 |
| Organizer | Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council |
NecronomiCon Providence NecronomiCon Providence is a biennial convention and festival dedicated to the legacy of H. P. Lovecraft and related Weird fiction authors, drawing scholars, authors, artists, and fans to Providence, Rhode Island. Founded and organized by the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council, the event blends academic panels, literary readings, art exhibitions, and film screenings with community programming linked to H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, Robert E. Howard, and other figures of early 20th-century speculative fiction. The convention has attracted partnerships with institutions such as the John Hay Library, Brown University, and the Rhode Island School of Design.
NecronomiCon Providence originated in 2013 following initiatives by the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council and fundraising campaigns that engaged civic actors including the City of Providence and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. Early editions foregrounded archival recoveries from the John Hay Library and symposiums involving scholars from Brown University and Providence College. Subsequent iterations expanded programming to include international guests connected to the Weird Tales tradition, the Arkham House publishing legacy, and studies of authors such as Clark Ashton Smith, M. R. James, Robert Bloch, and Algernon Blackwood. The convention has periodically coordinated with retrospectives at the RISD Museum and with local heritage organizations preserving sites associated with H. P. Lovecraft's life, while also responding to debates about Lovecraft's legacy in relation to figures like W. E. B. Du Bois and contemporary writers such as Octavia E. Butler.
Programming is curated by the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council in collaboration with academic partners including Brown University's Department of English, the John Hay Library, and independent presses like Arkham House and Centipede Press. Panels often feature scholars from institutions such as Yale University, University of Chicago, New York University, University of Oxford, and University of Edinburgh alongside authors represented by presses like Tor Books, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The convention's organizers coordinate film strands with festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival and Fantasia International Film Festival, and collaborate with art directors linked to galleries in New York City, Boston, and Los Angeles. Volunteer staffing draws on networks including the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the Hugo Awards community.
NecronomiCon Providence has hosted a mix of authors, academics, editors, and artists: novelists associated with Tor Books and Gollancz; scholars from Brown University, Harvard University, Columbia University; editors from Weird Tales revival projects; and visual artists with ties to Sideshow Collectibles and the Society of Illustrators. Notable participants have included historians of literature affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, critics from The New Yorker and The Atlantic, filmmakers from A24 and Universal Pictures', and comic creators working with Dark Horse Comics and Image Comics. Panels have featured voices connected to legacy institutions such as Arkham House, collectors associated with Miskatonic University-themed societies, and translators who have worked on editions for Penguin Classics and Oxford University Press.
Typical festival activities include scholarly panels, book launches, guided walking tours of Providence neighborhoods tied to H. P. Lovecraft's biography, art exhibitions showcasing illustrators influenced by Frank Frazetta and H. R. Giger, and film screenings of adaptations linked to studios like A24 and distributors such as Criterion Collection. The convention also runs writing workshops with instructors affiliated with Iowa Writers' Workshop and retreats organized by press collectives like Small Beer Press and Tachyon Publications. Evening programming has included masquerades, lectures on occultism connected to scholars of Aleister Crowley and Hermann Hesse contexts, and staged readings of texts associated with Robert E. Howard and Lovecraft Circle authors.
Primary venues have included the Rhode Island Convention Center, hotel spaces such as the Omni Providence Hotel and the Biltmore Hotel in Providence, and academic spaces at Brown University and the John Hay Library. Attendance has drawn international visitors from locations including London, Tokyo, Toronto, Sydney, and Paris, with delegates from societies like the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society and scholarly organizations such as the Modern Language Association and the International Gothic Association. Festival logistics engage local municipal partners including the Providence Tourism Council and cultural venues such as the RISD Museum.
The convention has influenced renewed scholarly attention to H. P. Lovecraft and the broader Weird fiction canon, encouraging critical work at universities such as Brown University, University of California, Berkeley, and New York University. It has catalyzed publications from small presses like Centipede Press and Subterranean Press, inspired exhibitions at the RISD Museum and the John Hay Library, and provoked debates in outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and The New Yorker concerning literary legacy, race, and cultural memory. Community responses have included collaborations with local artists linked to AS220 and discussions involving scholars focused on authors like Octavia E. Butler and Toni Morrison.
Coverage of the convention has appeared in national and international media such as The New York Times, BBC News, NPR, The Guardian, and genre outlets including Locus Magazine, Tor.com, and Weird Fiction Review. Academic outputs tied to panels have been published in journals like Studies in Weird Fiction, Journal of Modern Literature, and edited volumes from academic presses including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and University of Chicago Press. Small-press catalogs and convention program books have been produced in collaboration with publishers such as Centipede Press, Arkham House, Subterranean Press, and Tachyon Publications.
Category:Literary conventions in the United States Category:Science fiction conventions in the United States