The Howling Fantods

DFW19, the annual David Foster Wallace Conference at Illinois State University is this week!

Check out the schedule here.

The most exciting part is that anything scheduled in Room A is likely to be live streamed via Facebook. From the schedule:

Room A is our Livestream Room.  If you're assigned to this room, you should have the opportunity to stream your presentation to our Facebook page.  We've only assigned presenters here who expressed a positive interest, but you are not required to have your presentation recorded.

I'll be tuning in to a few of these (if I can stay awake / get up early enough).

Episode 37 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Andrea Laurencell Sheridan & Diego Báez

I got to this episode from back in April way too late. Finally listened to it week ago.

You should too.

This episode's guests from the International David Foster Wallace Society's diversity team, Andrea Laurencell Sheridan and Diego Báez (Some of the team's work here), reveal how deeply and seriously Wallace scholars and readers address problematic aspects of his writing (and personality) without ignoring or making light of it. A compelling episode.

(This is the same ep. I posted about on twitter last week)

Episode 37 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Andrea Laurencell Sheridan & Diego Báez

(Follow the show on twitter @ConcavityShow and subscribe to the podcast here)

The topic of much conversation over the weekend has concerned Mary Karr's tweet re: David Foster Wallace. Karr's responses and follow-ups in the twitter thread give more depth and context. Jezebel also ran an article with an overview.

Head over to the Bloomsbury Literary Studies blog for a series of blog posts by three big names in Wallace scholarship to honor the 56th anniversary of David Foster Wallace's birth and to celebrate the mark he has made on contemporary culture and literature.

David Hering - Thinking About David Foster Wallace, Misogyny and Scholarship

Clare Hayes-Brady - Belatedness: reading David Foster Wallace in 2018

Marshall Boswell - The Wallace Effect

Great reading.

The Year in Review episode is always a great change of pace with many things to follow up afterwards!

Ep 36 is a fascinating exploration of Infinite Jest cartography.

Episode 35 - 2017 Year in Review

Episode 36 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with William Beutler and Bill Lattanzi

(Follow the show on twitter @ConcavityShow and subscribe to the podcast here)

So...

Hello.

I've taken a bit of a break to re-evaluate the site and my relationship with it. We both need a bit of work I think.

I've spoken to some of you about how things might develop and change here.

It's not going to disappear. Thanks for reading.

I'm still super active on twitter with DFW stuff and to a lesser extent on Facebook. I'm on the board of the International David Foster Wallace Society (Which you should join!) and I'm now one of the people responsible for the DFW Society Twitter account too, @DFWSociety.

More soon,

Nick