I could not be more pleased to let you know, PCA folks, that the 2026 Lynn Bartholome Eminent Scholar Recipient is the fabulous AMY HALE! She will be speaking on ‘Understanding This Golden Age of Magic’ about magic and art and popular culture and this moment in which we find ourselves. I am so delighted…
Tag: Popular Culture Association
Open Your Heart of Wild Honey #PCA2025
In lieu of the usual #TarotTuesday Irreverent Tarot I give you a slapped-together live recording of my talk at PCA this past weekend, ‘Open Your Heart of Wild Honey’: Occult Medievalism in Leonora Carrington’s The Hearing Trumpet. I very lightly edited the audio so it’s still full of ahhs and umms and stumbles of various…
Divination, Witchcraft & the Occult: PCA New Orleans
I am so excited to be launching the new topic area DIVINATION, WITCHCRAFT & THE OCCULT at PCA this year which is back in the wonderful Crescent City, New Orleans. It’s such a fun conference — and not just because it usually means hanging out with Miss Wendy! — and there is probably no better…
MAPACA & Witches
MAPACA kicks off today and the rest of the week will be a blur obviously because of ISSS Surrealisms, too. Yes, I am grateful that my two presentations do not overlap (though both are Saturday, argh). I am grateful, too, that I know ISSS panels will be viewable for a couple weeks after the conference…
Upcoming Events
Who’s super busy? Me. Yes, I am saying no to things — mostly so I can say YES to things I am enthusiastic about (yes, it’s still a struggle not to overburden my time). Some of them quite fun. I have two conference presentations coming up next month and another in December. I have a…
#PCAACA21 Virtual ‘Reality’ & Horror
Just about every year since…? 1995? 1996? I have headed off around Easter time to attend the Popular Culture Association National Conference — except last year it was cancelled and this year it was pushed back to June. Everything is off-kilter, eh? It’s a great conference: fun and informative, covering a wide range of topics…
#Noirvember: Dorothy B. Hughes
In my unceasing efforts to get people to understand Dorothy Hughes as one of the godmothers of noir, I gave a presentation at the NEPCA Conference this past weekend on her early novel The Cross-Eyed Bear Murders. I actually have this lovely Dell Mystery edition with the map back (probably by Ruth Belew). Everything about this…
PCA in Indy with Miss Wendy
I know I’ve been a bit remiss in sharing my travel adventures for your vicarious pleasure but I confess I am overwhelmed, exhausted and looking forward to escaping back to Scotland. This summer the plan remains no conference presentations. Temptations arise, but I have beat them back like St Anthony. Having grown up in the (northern)…