Pride 2024

 While I did post about #QueerAllYear, June is when Pride displays appear in most libraries. During this particular time, there is stress is some libraries about setting up a Pride display given the current political climate. Talk to your supervisor, your administration and work with them on creating the display that will best serve your community. It can be difficult but it is often a question of adjusting what you set up to both promote your collection while not having your June spent arguing with bigots rather than celebrating the LGBTQ community. Ideally, the would not have to make any changes but I understand that sometimes it will be necessary. 

As with all these celebratory months, please focus on something other than the darkest parts of history and tragedy. Include biographies about inspirational LGBTQ people and their successes. Do a display with queer artists, poets, and musicians. There are queer cooks, politicians, and humorists.  While there are always struggles and painful moments, every community is more than that.  

There are plenty of lists and articles out there. Use them pull out fiction by LGBTQ authors who your patrons have not discovered yet. Look past literary fiction to other genres and set up a display with romances, horror, and mysteries. Science fiction and fantasy also have a lot of great works by queer authors. 

Books for younger children and teens are often those which cause the most tension. I usually put most of the displays for these months in a central walkway, outside of the children’s department. This allows those who want and need the books to discover them, learn that we include them, and take them without asking for help or searching. The young adult fiction usually empties the fastest. 

Post your great Pride or Rainbow book month displays and tag me in your posts so I can see them. 

Stoker Awards Speech - Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Award

 I was asked several times about making the text of my Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Award speech available. The text is below. 

I would like to thank the board, including those who were on when I started. Meghan learned how many questions a librarian can ask after one makes a simple query. Love to the Halloween Librarians who are huddled out there somewhere. They volunteer to help get more horror in libraries and to promote the genre anyway they can. They have made StokerCon a wonderful gathering place for librarians curious about horror. Special thank you to Becky Spratford, our secretary and head Halloween Librarian. She is the one who convinced me to join the HWA and to volunteer. She has poured so much energy into the organization over the years. Those who volunteer as board members put in hours and hours of work every week and they deserve our thanks for helping to keep the HWA alive and running.  The StokerCon chairs and volunteers spend a year planning this conference. There are many people who are long time volunteers who have spent many hours doing the work that keeps everything moving forward. It’s not glamourous work but the managers and coordinators of our committees deserve our thanks as well.

When I see people snark online that the HWA should do this or why hasn’t the HWA done that, I consider responding. I don’t but I consider asking them how much more they want Linda Addison to do or if they are willing to tell Brian Matthews there is just one more thing we need him to do. Because when I think about the HWA, that’s what comes to my mind immediately – the wonderful individual souls who spend their free time helping the authors, poets, artists, publishers, editors, academics, librarians, and horror fans move the genre forward. I would encourage everyone here to remember when they talk about the HWA or interact with those who work in membership, chapters, social media, and all the other committees that they are talking to individuals who take time away from their own careers, families, and creative endeavors to help other horror creators and fans.

It's difficult to remember that because outside of this conference so much of our interactions are online. It is easy to forget that StinkySock87 on some website is also a person. But so is that big name author that you tagged in a post. Both may be giving up some of their time and energy to help the horror community that gathers in the unique place that is the HWA. It’s a special thing that was created – this unique organization that promotes horror. We don’t necessarily know their individual stories or what they are dealing with behind the screens and scenes. But we know they are human, and we can reserve some consideration, empathy, and understanding – whether they are mega big author 1000, someone just starting out, or someone in between.

We can all remember the legacy of Karen Lansdale, someone who came along, filled a void, and said “I’ll do it.” She did hours and hours of tedious work to help the Horror Writers Association grow from an idea to an organization. It wasn’t glamorous work. She photocopied, made calls, answered mail, typed up newsletters, had a full-time job and a family. The work she did is echoed in the work of all the volunteers who step up and join Karen Lansdale is repeating “I’ll do it.” They answer questions, post on social media, help chapters, process applications… I would like to thank all of them and to acknowledge the hard work they do, not for their personal glory or for recognition but because, like Karen, they see a need and are willing to do it for the love of an organization that allows all of us who love horror to come together, celebrate it, and to move it forward.