Something Ghostly
The Supernatural Function of Literature
This event starts October 31, 2026.
Quentin S. Crisp will speak of the supernatural as a literary subject-matter and about literature as potentially supernatural in itself. He will compare the otherworldly atmosphere of supernatural horror to the Japanese aesthetic of yuugen and address the philosophical concept of intentionality as the basis of both language and literature, showing that the literature of supernatural horror employs the normal intentionality of language to ostend things outside of normal sensory experience. The event consists of one live Zoom session, approx. 1.5 hours long, delivered as a prepared talk with slides, followed by Q&A, and a dedicated space on Weirdosphere where the presenter and participants can post thoughts, share links, and engage in discussion before and after the event. A recording will be made available after the Zoom call and will remain available in the event space for all registrants. The event will be held on Saturday, October 31, at 3 p.m. EST / 8 p.m. GMT, and will take place over Zoom via the Weirdosphere learning platform. A video recording of the event will be made available to registrants after the event concludes. Enrollment opens October 14, 2026.Format
Schedule
Instructor Bio
Quentin S. Crisp was born in North Devon in 1972. He is the author of numerous novels and published collections of short stories. His work draws on western and Japanese traditions, spanning the supernatural, tanka poetry, and the I-novel. His first collection of fiction, The Nightmare Exhibition, appeared in 2001, followed by Morbid Tales, acclaimed as a keystone of ‘the new weird’, Blue on Blue, and Hamster Dam, among others. His novella Shrike was shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award in 2009. Quentin’s new novella, The Hermitage, will be published by Verdurin on December 1, 2026, and is available for pre-order.
Quentin studied Japanese at Durham University. After graduation, he taught English in Taiwan and studied the works of Higuchi Ichiyô at Kyoto University’s Faculty of Letters. In the late 2010s, he studied philosophy at Birkbeck College. He was a co-founder of and submissions editor for Chômu Press. He is also the subject of the experimental essay film, Duckweed (dir. Matthew Berka, 2024).