NecronomiCon 2013 also saw the unveiling of the bronze bust of Lovecraft - created by Bryan Moore - in the Providence Athenaeum on Benefit Street. I was fortunate enough to be present at the unveiling, as well as a contributor (in a very small way) to the project's Kickstarter campaign. In the latter regard, I received the above postcard commemorating the project.
Since 2013 and the wake of the controversy surrounding the WFA, I have become somewhat conflicted regarding representations of Lovecraft - despite the fact that I own a number of them. Ultimately, I am glad that I supported this project. Lovecraft is, I believe, worthy of memorialising; but with a crucial proviso: that, whilst recognising his hugely important contribution to literature, this kind of remembrance does not constitute an excuse to unreflectively lionise and ennoble the man; rather, it should provoke ongoing critical interrogation of the (racialised) politics of his life and work and, crucially, in doing so endorse a direct engagement with the continuing significance of those politics within the field of modern weird literature and beyond.
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