I’ll be attending Arisia January 15 – 18, 2016 in Boston. My panel schedule is below.
Friday, 5:30 pm, Bulfinch
“Guilty Pleasures: The Fast and the Furious”
After appearing to be stalled (so to speak) post-Tokyo Drift, the Fast & The Furious franchise has taken off over the last decade to become a monstrous success. There are few guiltier pleasures, but also few major action movies that regularly feature women and people of color, and certainly few that get praised by the likes by Roxane Gay. Let’s talk about what makes this at-times ludicrous franchise work so well, from the cast to the amazing action sequences.
Terri Bruce (moderator); Michael Toole; Victoria Janssen; Kris
Saturday, 10:00 am, Marina 2
“The Founding Mothers of SF”
As we know, women invented all our favorite stuff! Mary Shelley defined science fiction with Frankenstein; Baroness Emma Orczy invented the superhero with The Scarlet Pimpernel. Let’s discuss the founding mothers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Catherine Lundoff (moderator); Greer Gilman; Debra Doyle; Victoria Janssen; Jo Vanderhooft
Saturday, 7:00 pm, Marina 3
“Haus De Fraction: Milkfed Criminal Masterminds”
With successes like Captain Marvel, Bitch Planet, Hawkeye and Sex Criminals under their belts, comics has a new power couple in Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction. These gifted writers are using the comics medium to address issues regarding representation, diversity and feminism in wildly creative ways. This panel will explore their amazing talents and enduring popularity with their dedicated fans.
Jaime Garmendia (moderator); Mehitabel; Thom Dunn; Victoria Janssen
Sunday, 10:00 am, Marina 1
“Headcanon and SF/F”
In 2013 Michelle Nijhuis had an article in Slate about her daughter’s insistence that Bilbo Baggins is a girl. In 2015, on Buzzfeed, Alanna Bennett discusses the popular headcanon of Hermione Granger as black. This panel is about headcanons. The ones that catch on, the ones that address lack of representation in original works (and whether that is a distraction from the need for more diverse original work), and where headcanons drift into entirely different characters.
A. J. Odasso; Victoria Janssen; Catt Kingsgrave-Ernstein; JoSelle Vanderhooft
Sunday, 2:30 pm, Marina 1
“In Which the Author Has Run Out of F!?ks to Give”
Often, over the course of a long series, it becomes clear that the author has run completely out of f!?ks and is spinning their wheels. You can almost see the departure of the last f!?k the author had to give. Let’s discuss series that continue way past the exhaustion of inspiration.
Shira Lipkin (moderator); Meredith Schwartz; Victoria Janssen; Eric in the Elevator, Daniel Miller
