Convention Alley Programming Schedule Posted!

[Phyllis]

The Convention Alley Planning Committee is pleased to announce the
creation of the programming schedule for the very first conference
devoted to grown-up Harry Potter fans to be held in Canada. This
event, sponsored by the Harry Potter for Grown-Ups literary
discussion group, will be held at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa,
Ontario, from July 30 to August 1, 2004.

Convention Alley will feature presentations by fans from both the
academic and non-academic worlds. Subjects of discussion include how
the series is able to overcome culture-specific limitations to appeal
to readers from around the world; J.K. Rowling's transformation of
Harry from a fairy tale hero into a resentful teenager in The Order
of the Phoenix; and analyses of characters in the Harry Potter
series, such as the inscrutable Professor Severus Snape and the
traitorous Peter Pettigrew.

The complete programming schedule may be found here:

http://www.conventionalley.org/programming.html

Directed discussion groups and two guest speakers will complement the
formal programming sessions. Steve Vander Ark will present the
keynote address "The Hidden Message: It's All About Lee Jordan" at
Saturday's birthday banquet. His address will discuss some of the
problems of overanalyzing the Harry Potter books, and he will offer
suggestions on how to distinguish red herrings from true clues. Steve
is the creator and editor of the Harry Potter Lexicon website, a
comprehensive reference tool on the Potterverse extensively used by
both fans and scholars.

Dr. Judith Robertson will present "What Happens to Our Wishes:
Magical Thinking in Harry Potter" at the Sunday luncheon. Her
presentation will focus on the elements in the Harry Potter series
that make these books so vividly compelling to young readers. Dr.
Robertson is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, and
has written over twenty articles and chapters that have appeared in
peer-refereed sites in children's literature, English education,
curriculum theory and teacher education.

For more information or to register for the conference, please
visit: http://www.conventionalley.org/ .

Phyllis Morris
2004 Convention Alley Planning Committee
and Programming Co-Chair