Conferences: Zombies: Walking, Eating and Performance, Plymouth, 13 April 2013; and Cannibals: Cannibalism, Consumption and Culture, Manchester, 25-26 April 2013

For the brave amongst us, April 2013 presents a cornucopia of UK conference choices to whet the appetite of the serious horror buff. On 13 April, Plymouth University hosts a one-day symposium entitled Zombies: Walking, Eating and Performance, designed "to explore, interrogate and celebrate zombies as a cultural phenomenon through the paradigms of performance, as well as models of performance through the quintessential zombie activities of eating and walking". Contributors are asked to focus on the contemporary (rather than historical) zombie mythos, and are encouraged to take an interdisciplinary approach to a wide range of topics from the ethics of survival in zombie landscapes to zombie gaming and acting dead.

The deadline for proposals to this symposium is set for 30 November of this year. All delegates will also be invited to a zombie film festival which takes place the evening of 12 April and will have the option to participate in an "early morning performance, Just after Dawn of the Dead, in the streets of Plymouth, followed by a conference breakfast".

Manchester-based creative writing and literature collective Hic Dragones follows up zombie marches with a like-minded conference focus, Cannibals: Cannibalism, Consumption and Culture, on 25-26 April 2013. Not quite as specifically concentrated on contemporary modes, this two-day conference seeks papers from all disciplines which address cannibalism in any setting, "from contemporary horror film to Eucharistic devotion, from Freudian theory to science fiction" and beyond. It seeks proposals on topics such as theorisations of cannibalism, maternal infanticide and eating the enemy. The deadline for proposal submission is set at 31 December 2012.

Interview: Alan Saunders with Damon Young, "Beating and Nothingness: Martial Arts and Philosophy", The Philosopher's Zone, Radio National

In a recent interview with grappler and fellow in philosophy Damon Young, Young states that "combat teaches you to lose, and lose honestly". Young's ethics of "losing well" thread through the remainder of this twenty-minute interview concerning his philosophical ethos of honst combat led by Alan Saunders, in which they discuss Young's leading chapter for the edited book, Martial Arts and Philosophy.

Influenced heavily by the customs and manners involved in various styles of Japanese martial arts (karate, aikido and judo in particular), Young conversationally presents his perspective on Platonic sportsmanship, Confucianism and Shinto and Zen Buddhist traditions, blended with a little conceptual spontaneity and epistemological honesty, in order to explore where the intersection of martial arts practice and ethical praxis may occur.

"[Martial arts] is partly physically intimate because you are hurting and you are touching this other person's body, but it's also intimate because you start to understand that other person's rhythms, their cadence, their physical style. In order to do that you have to be honest."

Young edited Martial Arts and Philosophy: Beating and Nothingness with Graham Priest in 2010 as part of the Open Court's Pop Culture and Philosophy series. Anyone engaging in this field of thought may also be interested in Martial Arts and Philosophy Conference taking place in Halifax, Canada on 8-9 June of this year, at which Damon Young is also a keynote speaker.