Entry tags:

events, nonfiction

Will you be hanging out by the bay with me at Azkaban?
For any who haven't heard, there is a Harry Potter convention this upcoming July 18-21 in San Francisco -- named for the real life and fictional island prisons -- Azkaban.

My husbands were fantastic enough to gift me a membership to the con for Yuletide a few months ago. And since I live just across the bay, I am definitely planning to be there. I will be sharing a hotel room with my wonderful friend and beta brknhalo241 and hopefully a couple other fun fans.

Today, I received confirmation that the panel I submitted was also accepted. So I and a few other queer fanfic writers will be talking on "Queers in the Wizarding World and Ours."

One of the most popular forms of Harry Potter fan fiction is “slash” – the pairing of canon characters in homosexual and/or bisexual relationships. While real world queers are fighting for equal rights in everything from employment, to marriage, to adoption, stories about Harry Potter and his friends facing the same issues are read by thousands of fans around the world. What is the relationship between the two realms? Are queer-themed fan fiction helping the struggle or is it just voyeurism by mostly straight fans? How do queer fans experience these stories? Do these stories educate or perpetuate myths? How do gay, lesbian and bisexual fans feel about this aspect of fandom? This panel of queer fans who are also slash writers discuss these questions.

About the organizer: Slashpervert, a.k.a. D.M. Atkins, is an openly bisexual author of fan fiction, original fiction and queer studies non-fiction. Atkins is an anthropologist with a number of scholarly works published on LGBT identity and community as well as years as an activist in queer issues. She was one of the co-authors of the Santa Cruz anti-discrimination ordinance and a co-founder of several bisexual organizations.

Panelists: A group of fan fiction writers and betas who self identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

I'd love to hear from you if you are planning on attending.

Maybe we could have some kind of meet-up during? Should I host one of my teas for our visitors?

Would folks want me to do a reading from my new book?

Also, if you, or anyone you know is a bisexual, gay or lesbian HP fan fiction writer, and are attending the convention, I could use a couple more people for the panel. Two of the folks originally tapped for it, have had to change their plans to attend.