Harry Potter Conferences
J.K. Rowling's Books Inspire Major Academic Conventions
Groups like Harry Potter for Grownups and Harry Potter Education Fanon are dedicated to creating ongoing discussion of the Harry Potter series through educational conferences. This year alone, there are no less than 5 major conferences on Harry Potter:
- Convention Alley 2008 in Ottawa, ON, Canada, took place June 19-22
- Portus 2008: A Harry Potter Symposium in Dallas, TX will run July 10-13
- Accio 2008 at Magdalen College, Oxford, UK will be held July 25-27
- Terminus in Chicago, IL, will take place August 7-11
- An academic conference will be held at Northern Illinois University October 31 - November 2
What Are Harry Potter Conferences?
Harry Potter conferences have been a part of the subculture of Potter fandom for 5 years. Hundreds of Harry Potter fans come to share academic presentations, join round table discussions to debate issues, display Potter-inspired artwork, gather around for fan fiction readings, and attend Wizard Rock (WRock) concerts. Games of Quidditch and Wizard Chess, magical balls, and viewings of the Potter movies are all part of a conference. Attendees are welcome to come in Muggle attire or dressed in Wizarding robes.
Academic Presentations
What is most surprising, perhaps, about these conferences is the academic programming, which usually runs from just after breakfast to just before dinner each day. Everyone from wide-eyed Potter fans to published university professors lend their perspective and expertise by delving into the literary, cultural, and historical depths of J.K. Rowling's novels.
As strange as this might sound to some, the Harry Potter novels are made for this sort of thing; on Larry King Live on CNN, October 20, 2000, J.K. Rowling called Harry Potter "a book for obsessives." It's a book with multiple layers of of mythological, archetypal, religious, psychological, and sociocultural meaning, and obsessives are having a blast with it at these conferences.
This is evident enough by considering some of the titles of presentions at the upcoming Portus 2008 conference:
- All's Fair in Love & Quidditch: Games as Metaphors for Love and War Throughout the HP Series
- Christ in the Forest: Aslan and Harry Walk to their Deaths
- Clean Socks and Sacrifice: Motherhood in HP
- Harry Potter’s Literary Magic: Results of an Empirical Reader Study in a German Bookstore
- Hogwarts, A (Haunted) History: Lovecraftian Fear in Harry Potter
Harry Potter Conferences, Past and Future
Past conferences have contributed to the growth of the Harry Potter subcultural phenomenon by creating venues for all the obsessives, who had been discussing the series on internet forums and blogs, to meet face-to-face.
Because these conferences began while the series was still being released, they opened up the possibility of almost immediate academic response to new developments in the series. For example, Sectus 2007 in the UK and Prophecy 2007 in Toronto, Canada took place within the first two weeks following the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
With four more conferences slated for this year and several more already scheduled for years to come - including LeakyCon in Boston, May 21-24, 2009, and Infinitus 2010 at the forthcoming Harry Potter Theme Park in Orlando, Florida - it's safe to assume Harry Potter conferences will be alive and well for years to come.
Want to go to a Harry Potter conference? You can find registration any of the conferences listed above by Googling the conference title. Portus 2008, less than a month away, is the next one on the schedule. Jim Dale, the voice of the U.S. audiobooks, and the art of Mary Grand Pre, illustrator of the U.S. versions, will both be there.
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