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starladySo, I'm going to be at Sirens Conference 2012 in Skamania, WA this fall, and I'd like to impanel a panel on fan fiction there. Let me quote the 2012 theme for Sirens at you, and you'll see why:
This theme screams "fan fic and fandom" to me, and I'd like to have something about those things at the conference, partly because I'd like to avoid an entirely folklore-themed conference (especially given that the 2010 theme was Fairies), and partly because the last panel about fandom that I attended at Sirens (again in 2010) was…frankly a little bit uncomfortable, and weird. Everyone on the panel seemed ambivalent about fandom at best, and downright negative at worst (to be fair, everyone up there seemed to have been a veteran of the Potter fandom wars), and I wound up being that one audience member who kept disagreeing and wouldn't shut up. My fandom experience has been, on the whole, wonderful, and fandom and the friends I've made here have unequivocally been great forces for good things in my life. I don't want, or intend, to present a "fandom is 100% kittens and rainbows!" because anyone who reads this journal, hopefully, is well aware that I'm under no illusions on that score, and also because I do think the issues of fandom would be interesting to talk about in the context of Sirens' theme.
So, I have two questions, dear readers. One: if you're planning to attend Sirens, would you be interested in being on this panel? And two, what would you like the panel to discuss? Anything from specific topics to suggested ways to frame the panel discussion are more than welcome!
Within our focus on fantastic women, each year Sirens features a fantasy-related theme—and in 2012, that theme is "tales retold." Women have been storytellers, oral historians, and eloquent entertainers for thousands of years, and in 2012, Sirens will celebrate—and participate in—that tradition. Within the larger question of women in fantasy literature, we will examine and dissect retellings of tales from around the world.
This theme screams "fan fic and fandom" to me, and I'd like to have something about those things at the conference, partly because I'd like to avoid an entirely folklore-themed conference (especially given that the 2010 theme was Fairies), and partly because the last panel about fandom that I attended at Sirens (again in 2010) was…frankly a little bit uncomfortable, and weird. Everyone on the panel seemed ambivalent about fandom at best, and downright negative at worst (to be fair, everyone up there seemed to have been a veteran of the Potter fandom wars), and I wound up being that one audience member who kept disagreeing and wouldn't shut up. My fandom experience has been, on the whole, wonderful, and fandom and the friends I've made here have unequivocally been great forces for good things in my life. I don't want, or intend, to present a "fandom is 100% kittens and rainbows!" because anyone who reads this journal, hopefully, is well aware that I'm under no illusions on that score, and also because I do think the issues of fandom would be interesting to talk about in the context of Sirens' theme.
So, I have two questions, dear readers. One: if you're planning to attend Sirens, would you be interested in being on this panel? And two, what would you like the panel to discuss? Anything from specific topics to suggested ways to frame the panel discussion are more than welcome!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-03-08 00:05 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-03-08 23:19 (UTC)