I am so excited to announce Death Salon, a new yearly gathering of intellectuals, scholars and independent thinkers engaged in the exploration of our shared mortality. This year it will be held over four days in October in Los Angeles, hence the name Death Salon LA.
When we say salon, we mean salon in the sense of, “a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation.” Basically the greatest death people in all the land hanging out together and presenting on their area of expertise. I’m thrilled that the Order is partnering with Morbid Anatomy and Atlas Obscura, two places I have nothing but respect and awestruck admiration for, to curate three days of death scholarship. There are also incredible independent scholars involved, you can meet all the organizers here.
Here is main organizer (and USC rare books librarian) Megan Rosenbloom’s description of the event:
“The idea for Death Salon LA came about when the new round of inductees to the Order of the Good Death and other like-minded folks wanted to meet each other and talk about each other’s work. One thing led to another, and now Death Salon LA is a full fledged conference, with public symposia, short film, and musical performances. We will also be bringing attendees the best of morbid LA by providing wares from like-minded local businesses at our events. If you’re interested in having a pop-up shop at our event or for providing beverages or food, we’d love to hear from you.
Our preliminary list of impressive presenters hail from all over the world and from many different perspectives. Friday’s programming is being curated by Caitlin Doughty, star of Ask a Mortician and leader of The Order of the Good Death. Joanna Ebenstein of Morbid Anatomy Library will curate Saturday’s programming, which will include many contributors to the wildly successful Morbid Anatomy Anthology. Sunday there will be a thematically-appropriate field trip hosted by our friends at Atlas Obscura. Keep an eye out on our meetings page for updates on the weekend’s presenters…the list just keeps getting better and better!
We’re very excited to be hosting the daytime Death Salon events at the Center for Inquiry in Hollywood. CFI is a great organization that helps foster the kind of discussion we at Death Salon like to encourage. Also, there is free parking on-site, which for Hollywood is nothing short of a miracle!”
Click here for a description of the meetings, events, field trips, and presentations we have scheduled thus far. It’s only April, so who knows how death-filled and wondrous this will look by October!
Follow Death Salon on Twitter for event updates.