Friday, January 28, 2011

Midwest Gothic Anthology

We have some exciting news about a new project and we can't wait any longer to share it. Since the spring of 2010, Jodee Stanley and I (Brian Kornell) have been at work putting together an anthology of Midwest Gothic stories. I first presented the idea of Midwest Gothic at the 2009 Winter Wheat Festival. All of the details are far from set. In the coming months we'll bring you more details as they are available.

In the meantime, you might be asking, "What is Midwest Gothic?" Excellent question. Here is our short description:

Often, too often, many people consider the Midwest to be synonymous with boring. But look again; things are more complicated than they first appear. Look closer still and you’ll see the Midwest is not just a place to flyover or pass through to more exciting destinations. There is a literary movement quietly happening: Midwest Gothic.

While Midwest Gothic shares many similar traits with Southern Gothic and Gothic literature, such as the grotesque, characters with strained mental states, and elements of the supernatural, it is not just a mere transportation of these elements to the Midwest. Two key ideas inform Midwest Gothic: restraint and the unspoken. Emotional restraint keeps characters from revealing their secrets and also isolates them from others. A lot is left unsaid between Midwesterners–this is how they can be outwardly friendly, surrounded by people, yet still be utterly and hauntingly alone. Geography mirroring the psychological landscape is also an important element in the Midwest Gothic aesthetic. At first, the flatness of the landscape appears one-dimensional, static, and dull—until you realize the vastness is overwhelming, limitless, and eternal. The void can swallow you. Running underneath all of this is a current of horror, which is sometimes overt and sometimes only alluded to or implied.

Stories in the Midwest Gothic vein refuse to comply with the plain and ordinary expectations of the region and reveal the darkness and complexity of the Midwest.

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