This is a panel I was on at Ad Astra 2010 in Toronto, about issues concerning the teaching of courses in speculative fiction. I’ve been teaching such a course since just about the time I first got to St. John’s, and so I was looking forward to finding out what other professors (in this case, Mike Johnstone and Bob Boyczuk) were doing in their classes. We had a small turnout (hey, I’m not sure I would be incredibly excited to attend a panel at 10 p.m. on a Friday night either!), but this was an informative panel, and we all (apparently) had a good time. (Keep in mind that although the audio quality was pretty good, there is still a spike or two in volume despite my best attempts to smooth them out.)
Tag: panel
Ad Astra, April 11, 2010–How to Get an Agent
This was my last panel appearance at Ad Astra 2010, and since it was about an important topic (getting the agent who can get your work sold), we had good turnout in a sizable room. Most interesting was that everyone on the panel (which included Megan Crewe, Adrienne Kress and Ian Keeling) had different paths to getting their agent, which is, I think, instructive…and I was told by a few of the attendees they were glad that we had a story or two of the “work at it and build up to an agent” variety, rather than everything being the “here’s what happened that time that lightning struck” kind. Watch out for the few audio spikes here!
Ad Astra, April 10, 2010–Each Character’s Voice
My third panel at Ad Astra 2010, this one on keeping characters’ voices distinct. This was the largest panel I was on (always kind of a problem when you’ve only got a little under an hour to cover the topic)–I joined Hayden Trenholm, Grant Carrington, Karin Lowachee and Kate Story. Again, watch out for the couple of spikes in the audio volume.
Ad Astra, April 9, 2010–Same Old Settings
My first of four panels (three posted here, one over on the Academic side of my site) at the 2010 Ad Astra convention in Toronto, and I thought this was the best–it was ostensibly a panel on “overdone” settings in fantasy and science fiction, but as it happened the discussion ranged more widely than that…but without going off the rails, which can sometimes happen. Thoughtful discussion and a good mix of writers in the group made for a good panel (and actually well-attended, despite starting at 9 p.m. on Friday night)! I joined Rick Wilber, Karina Sumner-Smith, and Derek Kunsken for this one. (Be warned that the audio for all the 2010 Ad Astra material, while good quality most of the time, has some occasional volume spikes despite my best attempts to smooth them out.)
Paper Presentation at the SAMLA Conference–November 11, 2007
This is a presentation I did at the SAMLA Conference in Atlanta on liminal space in Ben Jonson’s PRINCE HENRY’S BARRIERS–some of this material ended up in my academic book LIMINAL SPACE AND THE COURT MASQUE, published by Clemson University Press in the same year.
Paper Presentation at Virginia Woolf Conference–June 12, 2007
This is a presentation I did on sympathy in MRS. DALLOWAY at a conference in Ohio–which gave me the chance not only to talk about Virginia Woolf, but to see the home of the Miami Redhawks up close. And you thought Miami was an exclusive Florida creation!
Paper Presentation at Tenth Nordic Conference for English Studies–May 25, 2007
This was a presentation I did on V.S. Naipaul’s A HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS at a conference in Bergen, Norway. Not shown is the academic who asked me whether or not Naipaul was really “British enough” to be taken seriously as a critic of British imperialism. The mind boggles sometimes…
A Brief Excerpt From Writers’ Symposium, Gen Con, August 13, 2009–Great Opening Lines
This is a brief video excerpt of a panel I did at Gen Con for the Writers’ Symposium–you can find the full audio for the panel above. (Apologies for the audio and video quality, which was not the best.)
Gen Con, August 15, 2009–Writers’ Symposium–The Writer’s Spirit
Another of the Writers’ Symposium panels at Gen Con, this one on what motivates writers to do what they do, roughly speaking. But the panel ended up ranging widely through a number of topics, which was an interesting (and good) experience. I joined the inimitable Elizabeth Vaughan and Richard Lee Byers for this one.
Gen Con, August 15, 2009–Writers’ Symposium–Hunting Dragons
A second Writers’ Symposium panel at Gen Con, all about the scaled things which cast long shadows over the genre of fantasy. I joined Paul Genesse, Richard Lee Byers and Daniel Myers, all of whom have a lot more dragons as such in their work than I do in mine, for this one…lots of fun. (Apologies in advance for the subpar sound quality here.)
