Skip to main content

Part 2- Random Fandom

The following are literature-related fandoms.

The Mary Sue
www.themarysue.com/the-psychology-of-fandom/
Billing itself as the "heartbeat of geek culture", The Mary Sue explores a wide range of all things "fan". This particular article explores the psychology of fandom, providing insights into the brain science and the philosophy behind empathizing with characters and actors, as well as the emotional attachment that devotees may develop.

National Book Festival
loc.gov/bookfest
This is the place to be if you are a bibliophile. Held in Washington D.C., the festival boasts a giant main stage, more than 100 authors, the Library of Congress Pavilion, and a variety of family friendly events. The NBF bring fans and book creators together in a celebration of the written word.

Nerdcon: Nerdfighteria
nerdconnerdfighteria.com
The first ever Nerdfighteria Con will convene in winter 2017.  According to the preliminary site, those interested can "join members of the Nerdfighter community for panels, discussions, Q & As, activities, fan-led programming, concerts, live podcasts, fan activism, and all manner of excellent goofiness".  Inspired by John Green and brother Hank, nerdfighters are folks who "try to do awesome things and have a good time and fight against world suck".

Vidcon
vidcon.com
Kids and teens get so much of their communication through video, be it Snapchat, Reddit, or YouTube. Vidcom is a place where video consumers and creators come together to debate and celebrate. This con has grown from 1,400 attendees in 2010 to more than 25,000 in 2016.

BroadwayCon
broadwaycon.com
Get to know Broadway from behind the curtain as well as in the front row. Panels, sing-alongs, performances, and interviews feature performers, creators, and those working all aspects of the making of Broadway shows.


Comic-Con
comic-con.org
The San Diego show is the granddaddy of them all. Panels, signings, vendors, cosplay, and meet-ups all make up this show. Rest assured, there are many varieties of comic cons throughout the country on different scales.

LeakyCon
leakycon.com
Started by Harry Potter fans, this con is dubbed as an immersive Harry Potter experience and a place where fans can be themselves. Past presenters here have included Laurie Halse Anderson, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, and Holly Black.

Star Trek Convention
creationent.com/cal/st_lasvegas.html
This weeklong convention in Las Vegas celebrates all things Star Trek, from the original series to the films.  Featuring signings, panels,  and cosplay, this con celebrates a franchise that is still gathering new fans.

DragonCon
dragoncon.org
Whereas some events focus on a specific community, DragonCon prides itself in embracing many kinds of fandoms, such as science fiction and fantasy, comics, art, literature, gaming, and movies.  Fans of all kinds flock to this event, which boasts a serious cosplay parade.

Anime Expo
anime-expo.org
Organized by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, this convention celebrates all things anime with gaming, tabletop play, panels, a battle of the bands, and other competitions.  There are also screening rooms showing anime day and night.  There were more than 100,000 attendees last year, and anime fandom continues to grow in the United States.

Universal Fan Con
kickstarter.com/projects/universalfancon/universal-fan-con
Funded via Kickstarter, this will be the first "multi-fandom Con dedicated to inclusion, highlighting Women, LGBTQ, the Disabled, and Persons of Color". It's  no secret that many fandoms have been less than inclusive, and this upcoming con seems like an amazing and necessary event.

Enjoy! Remember, yes you con!






























Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dealing with Grief

Below are some sites that can help you cope with the grieving process. Death and Grief Teen Grief Support Help for Teens Teens and Grief Support for Grieving Teens Grief Speaks: Death of a Friend

CLASSIC YA BOOKS THAT MADE YOU FEEL SEEN

  K.W. Colyard   Jul 26, 2023 SPEAK   BY LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON I’m sure I’d heard of another book about rape before  Speak  came along. Hell, I might even have read one. But these days? This is the only book I can remember that dealt with one of the myriad possible reactions to sexual assault: silence.  Speak  and other books that deal with similar subject matter have the ability to empower victims of abuse to label what’s happened to them and seek help. ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET  BY JUDY BLUME Once a staple on banned books lists, Judy Blume’s most famous novel has been teaching preteens about puberty — including menstruation and boob exercises — since 1970.  Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret  was far ahead of its time, being one of the first children’s books to show an interfaith family on the page, and — along with Lois Lowry’s Anastasia Krupnik — depicted a child allowed to make up her own mind about which religion she wanted to follow. THE CAT ATE MY GYMSUIT  BY PAULA

JEWISH YA BOOKS: MORE THAN THE HOLOCAUST

 by  Jaime Herndon   Oct 27, 2021 I can remember the first time I really felt “seen” in a book. It was Judy Blume’s  Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret . Margaret’s parents had an interfaith marriage, like my parents. I’d never seen that before in a book, and it felt special to me. I don’t remember reading many of the Holocaust books people say they read as kids (Lois Lowry’s  Number the Stars  comes to mind, which is actually about a non-Jewish girl), although we did read  The Diary of Anne Frank  in school. To put it bluntly, we didn’t need to read many of those books at my Jewish day school. The history was in many of our families, with grandparents having numbers on their arms or stories of escape. It was in some of our teachers whose histories we whispered. We studied the Holocaust intensely our 8th grade year. I don’t think it was until after I graduated and went to a public high school that I realized Holocaust kid lit and YA lit was A Thing. Sometimes I cringe when looking at