Join Durham County Library for another special lecture and musical performance at Moon Dog Meadery!

Ever since nineteenth-century astronomers believed they saw artificial canals on Mars, we have wanted the red planet to harbor life. What began as a curious quest for our alien neighbors later morphed into campaigns to move human life to Mars. This talk takes a step backward from current obsessions with Mars as real estate, resource cache, and technology’s most coveted trophy. We will instead roam the red planet with guides from Eastern Europe, who will show us Mars’ special status in science, film, and literature from beyond the Iron Curtain.

Following the lecture, local electronic music artist Permanent will bring the spirit of Mars to Durham with a special performance of cosmic space sounds inspired by the night's journey to the red planet. 

Please note that capacity at Moon Dog Meadery is limited and entrance to the event will be on a first come, first serve basis!

Eliza Rose, PhD is Assistant Professor and Laszlo Birinyi Sr. Fellow in Central European Studies in the Department of Germanic & Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research on art, film, and science fiction has been published in journals such as Science Fiction Studies and Studies in Eastern European Cinema. She is an alumna of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop, and her science fiction stories have been published in English, Polish, and French.

Permanent is the solo electronic project of Mimi Luse, currently based out of Durham, NC. Since its inception in 2020, Luse has worked through a constantly unfolding exploration of genre techniques.The throughline between these different approaches has been the combination of hardware and creative manipulation of found sound, lending a compelling quality to her productions. She was recently featured on the UK label Industrial Coast’s Women Invented Noise Vol. II cassette compilation and will be contributing to a benefit compilation issued by that label in early 2023.