S.T. Joshi says....
 

Hey all. I just got back today from the Cthulhu One convention (great Con by-the-way). I figured I'd let you all know what S.T. Joshi had to say about Ligotti. During his lecture he was remarking about how Lovecraft was a more or less "unknown" in his time (as we all know). Later during the question and answer part of his lecture I asked him if he felt there were any great horror authors writing today that were fairly unknown as Lovecraft was in his day. I realize this was a fairly leading question as I had a pretty good idea what his answer would be; however, I asked it anyway so that the rest of the attendees would benefit from "Ligottian exposure". Joshi didn't' even hesitate, "Thomas Ligotti", he said "without question". I saw folks writing the name down too look up later. Ligotti was brought up the next day too, and both Joshi and Robert M. Price agreed that Ligotti was perhaps the best living horror author in their opinion. They also said Ramsey Campbell was right up there too, and will go down in history as one of the bests. It was wonderful hearing Tom's work get the recognition it deserves.

Re: S.T. Joshi says....
 

Thanks for sharing that experience. It is great to see TL's work getting the appreciation it deserves, and from such respected people in the field as Joshi and Price. I think the open-ended way you worded the question was very fair. At least you didn't say, "Hey, what about Ligotti?" Joshi's opinion of TL's work is complicated. At times, it is highly laudatory, but I think he erred in some of his harsh criticism regarding "The Notebook of the Night" section in NOCTUARY, and some of TL's purposely vague and surreal stories. This, of course, is examined by Matt in his brilliant essay "The Masters' Eyes Shining with Secrets."

Feel free to tell us more about the Cthulhu One Con.

I'm quite surprised by Joshi's enthusiasm...though in a good way. I'm also glad to see people taking Ligotti's name down. *expecting an influx of new members*

Re: S.T. Joshi says....
 

That's great news. Maybe Joshi has changed his opinion about Ligotti? Anyway, I hope he won't criticize him anymore. I wish Thomas Ligotti the best - I think he is on a good way to become very popular... but this needs time like in the case of Lovecraft.

This is most interesting to hear, Darrick. Like others who have posted to this thread, I wasn't aware that Joshi had changed his opinion of Tom's status and importance in the genre. The last I knew, he was naming Ramsey Campbell alone as the greatest living supernatural horror writer and the one who would certainly assume a permanent place in the genre's history along with Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen, etc.

Welcome back from your convention, by the way! I hope it went as well as you had been hoping and expecting. I still find it amazing, and quite cool, to know that you secured Joshi's and Price's participation for the event. I'm sure bendk and I aren't the only ones who would enjoy reading a full report on how things went. (If you've already posted such a report, then I'm sure I'll find it shortly; this is the first time I've checked all the new posts since yesterday morning.)

Bendk -- Thanks for the nod to my essay. Currently S.T. is considering it for possible publication in either LOVECRAFT STUDIES or STUDIES IN WEIRD FICTION. No guarantees, of course, but I remain hopeful, and it was certainly nice to have made first contact with him regardless of whether he can accept the essay.

Joshi, I know, was quite impressed with MWINYD:

Ligotti In Triplicate

It is so cool to imagine Joshi reading your essay, Matt. And I'll frankly be shocked if he doesn't publish it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your superb essay caused him to reevaluate some of his ideas about Ligotti's work. Your argument therein is highly persuasive (and chock full of ethos as well as logos).

Re: S.T. Joshi says....
 

Hi Matt. I think you may have me confused with TLO member Darrick.. I'm Kevin. (Easy to do with all these strange names) Darrick is the one who put Cthulhu One together. I attended it and helped Darrick out some.
Joshi also said (and I may be slightly paraphrasing) that when he first read Ligotti he received a chill, and that he had not felt that kind of chill since the first time he read Lovecraft. I thought that statement was fairly significant. He also commented on how Tom has been experimenting with longer works such as "My Work is Not Yet Done". Joshi saw the novella size as a good sign.
As far as other news of the Con.... There were over a dozen or so indie Lovecaft films screened, many of which I had never seen. People were playing Lovecraft role playing games, Lovecraft card games, and there were a lot of venders selling Lovecraftian wares. Everyone seemed to be having a really good time, and were eager for a Cthulhu Two.

Re: S.T. Joshi says....
 

Matt,
It would be great if your essay was published in either LOVECRAFT STUDIES or STUDIES IN WEIRD FICTION. I have a few issues of each magazine, but I don't purchase them on a regular basis. This would give me a reason to revisit these publications. I would be interested hearing Joshi's thoughts on some of your conclusions. Everyone interested in the work of Lovecraft and Ligotti would profit from such a constructive dialogue. If anyone can recognize a solid piece of literary scholarship, it would be S.T. Joshi.

From some of his humorous comments in the HPL documentary I saw, Joshi has some strong opinions on certain subjects and is not afraid to voice them. I'm sure some of his confidence comes from being so well-versed in his area of expertise. All fans of Lovecraft owe him a debt of gratitude. I have also enjoyed reading a couple of books that he edited: H.L. MENCKEN ON RELIGION (Highly recommended. Mencken is at his satiric best and is absolutely hilarious) and ATHEISM. In the latter book, I was impressed that Joshi included Lovecraft as a contributor; putting him among such 'respected' intellectual luminaries as Thomas Paine, Robert Ingersoll, and Clarence Darrow. And I agree with him. I think Lovecraft is an important intellectual produced in this country, and, despite whatever biases he may have had, should be heard. His ideas should not be marginalized because of his profession. (Irony alert: just like people of all races should not be marginalized due to their appearance)


Another interesting journal that publishes nonfiction is:
WORMWOOD "A Journal Dedicated to Writings about Fantasy, Supernatural, and Decadent Literature." Mark Valentine (ed.) Published by Tartarus Press. Mark Samuels had a short essay about Ligotti published in the first issue of this journal.

Re: S.T. Joshi says....
 

I'm too lazy to look this up right now but I thought Joshi had revised his opinion of Ligotti a few years back. If I recall correctly in The Modern Weird Tale he says something along the lines of he hated Songs of a Dead Dreamer when it came out but then, after reading more of Ligotti's work, was kicking himself for not recognising his talent sooner.

Matt, that would indeed be great if your essay got picked up by either of those publications. Fingers crossed.

Stu, Bendk, Jonathan -- Thanks for the well-wishes on the possible print publication of the essay.

Stu -- Yes, you're right, quite some time ago Joshi revised his earlier opinion of Tom as just a "fan writer" (speaking of which, can anybody direct me to where he made that initial judgment?). But even after he came to recognize Tom's legitimate place in contemporary horror literature, he still, as of the early and mid-1990s, thought there were significant problems and shortcomings in Tom's oeuvre taken as a whole -- too many vignettes and prose poems, etc., and not enough solid narrative stories, too much etherealism and surrealism and not enough supernatural realism, and so on -- which, unless they were addressed, would keep Tom from assuming a place in the permanent pantheon of classic horror fiction writers. That's why I find it interesting both that Tom has written something like MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE, which is so very much more realistic in narrative style than the vast majority of his other work, and that Joshi has duly responded to it with an enthusiasm that is nice to see.

Jonathan -- I really enjoyed Joshi's review of MWINYD when I first discovered it awhile back, and I'm glad you posted it here, since I'm guessing a lot of TLO members and visitors will find it of interest. I quoted from the review in a footnote to my recent essay, of course, but in the online HTML version the footnotes were stripped off -- which is something I really should fix, come to think of it, since as it stands the footnote indications in the text lead to nowhere -- because I thought it indeed significant that Joshi was revisiting Tom's work for the first time in awhile, and was really impressed with what he discovered.

Kevin -- Gah, of course you're not Darrick. Sorry. I was rushed when I read the post and replied to it, and I didn't even look to the left of the text to see who the poster was, but instead instantly assumed that it was Darrick since I knew Cthulhu One was his baby.

bendk -- I fully agree that Lovecraft rightfully belongs among the great American intellectuals, and I think, along with Joshi, that a wider recognition of his essays and letters -- especially the latter -- as opposed to his stories, would quickly accomplish this. (Tangentially, that's why I think the recent Library of America collection of Lovecraft's work is somewhat unfortunate, since it introduces him for the first time to much of the English-speaking intelligentsia by way of his stories alone, including, along with "The Call of Cthulhu" and other legitimately great works, such classics as -- drum roll -- "Herbert West, Reanimator" and "The Lurking Fear," and sans any of his Dunsanian and dream tales, which are crucial to understanding his full character.)

I once browsed Joshi's atheism anthology in a Borders bookstore and was much impressed. I've meant to acquire it ever since and have simply not gotten around to it. I think Joshi is a really solid, to the point of sometimes being awesomely impressive, critic and thinker. To have somebody of his obvious skill and passion spearheading Lovecraft's entry into the mainstream American literary canon for the past couple of decades has been most fortunate, regardless of the quibbles some of us may have with some of his judgments.

Finally, thanks, bendk, for reminding me of the existence of WORMWOOD. For some reason I hadn't even thought of it as a possible market, but now that you mention it, it does sound like a good next stop if the current possibility does not come to fruition.