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PROGRAMS / READING GROUPS / Spooky Action at a Distance

Is eeriness universal? Do different cultures “do” creepy differently?

OVERVIEW

In this group we’ll be exploring spooky works from around the world, dating from antiquity to the present day. Selections include horror, ghost stories, magical realism, and weird fiction. All of the readings will be in translation (unless you choose to read them in the original).

MEETING AND READING SCHEDULE

The Spooky Action at a Distance group will meet on the third Tuesday of the month, from 5-7pm, in the Athenæum’s Bound.

Tues, September 20
The Bacchae by Euripides [from The Bacchae and Other Plays (Penguin Classics)] (Ancient Greece)

Tues, October 18
The Saga of Grettir the Strong (Penguin Classics) (Iceland)

Tues, November 15
Selections from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Penguin Classics) by Pu Songling (China)

Tues, December 20
“Viy” by Nikolai Gogol (from The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol (Vintage Classics) (Ukraine) (available as a PDF) AND The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf (New York Review Books Classics) (Switzerland)

Tues, January 17
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula by Bram Stoker and Valdimar Ásmundsson (Iceland)

Thurs, February 9
E. T. A. Hoffmann stories: The Sandman, The Mines of Falun, and The Automata; AND “The Uncanny” by Sigmund Freud (PDF available) (Germany)

Thurs, March 9
Hadriana in All My Dreams by René Depestre (Haiti)

Tues, April 18
Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo (Mexico) (PDF available) AND Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin (Argentina)

Tues, May 16
Uzumaki by Junji Ito (Japan)

Tues, June 20
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi (Iraq)

GROUP FACILITATOR

Jonathan Migliori is a Providence native and teacher with a degree in Classics and Medieval Cultures from Brown University. When he isn’t doing this he is running RI’s hardest pub quiz, lecturing for Viking Cruises, or eating.

Bonnie Clayton is a Rhode Island native and Providence resident who graduated with a BA in English from the University of Hawaii. A former literacy instructor, she is currently doing the Devil’s work as a proofreader and copyeditor.

This group has reached capacity. To be added to a waitlist, please email readinggroups@provath.org with SPOOKY ACTION as the subject line.

The Athenæum is deeply grateful to our wonderful volunteer leaders. Please note library reading groups are not classes or courses, but rather a way for individuals to discuss readings together, guided by both expert and amateur enthusiasts. Participants should expect discussion-based, not lecture-style meetings.