Reading, Writing, Rowling

On this episode, we dish about this year’s Harry Potter Academic Conference and preview our new book, Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter (McFarland). Katy and Emily welcome Potterversity producer Laurie Beckoff and technical editor Emma Nicholson, as well as Louise Freeman, Mark-Anthony Lewis, and Lana Whited to talk about HPACs past and present. This year’s virtual conference allowed people from all over the world to come together, and we included the comments of other conference attendees in the webinar chat. We reminisce about our first experiences at the conference. Looking back helps us to see the evolution of Potter Studies through the last dozen years. What keeps us coming to the conference? Wonderful discussions, inspiration for new ideas, deep dives into the Potter stories, like-minded people, constructive argument and critique, and a space in which Harry Potter is taken seriously. There is always something new to say and fresh perspectives on the series, as well as the movie