Day two of alt.fiction was
basically a morning full of fantasy so I couldn’t really ask for more. It began
with a discussion of they who were not to be named throughout the panel, or the
EDFF. For those not in the know that’s the Extremely Dangerous Fairy Folk and
centred on the darker side of the EDFF – this is not your Disney fairies. In
fact an interesting revelation was that initially J. M. Barrie intended Peter
Pan to be the antagonist in the story and that is why when Peter Pan is first
introduced we do not know whether he is a force for good or evil.
Graham Joyce and Kate Laity had
an animated discussion about the subject of the EDFF and it really was a
pleasure to watch. Joyce admitted that he is an atheist but believes in the
EDFF. Because of his stance, he has to believe that EDFF’s come from within
humans initially, almost like the Maori believe in their spirits that come out
of them and have “malevolent intent”.
The most interesting aspect of
the conversation for me was relating to memory and the fact that we humans
reconstruct our memories to make them safe. It is a mechanism for explaining
and compartmentalising our memories and that is why our perception of an event
or our beliefs may actually be an inaccurate recollection of the real event but
feel as real and relevant to us as they first did.
What was also interesting was
Laity’s acknowledgement that she can’t always remember writing sections of her
books, that she must tap into her subconscious when writing and doesn’t know
where some elements come from. The spirits within perhaps. For me it was a
relief to hear that, as there are sections of my novel that upon reading I
realised I had no recollection of writing them. It was reassuring to hear
someone else say the same thing.
The next panel was ‘diversity in
fantasy’ with Mark Charan Newton, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Anne Lyle and Sarah
Cawkwell. The panel began with speaking about the representation of minority
groups in fantasy and explored race and sexual orientation and how readers
react to it. The explicit gay sex scenes of Richard Morgan were among the
examples given, and another revelation was finding out that the only real
negative reaction Mark C. Newton’s character received was that he was “not gay
enough”.
What was most notable for me
during the day though was gender representation in fantasy. Particularly
interesting for me as a reviewer, was the fact that (concluded in a Strange
Horizons poll) there are more reviewers that are male than female, and more
male authors being reviewed than female authors. Anne Lyle confirmed this was
true in terms of reviews she has received for her book. A book, which I must
point out as a female reviewer, I reviewed! I am officially the minority.
Thinking about recent blogs I’ve
read, gender parity at conventions and in the genre community has been under
discussion. Paul Cornell recently stepped down from a panel and stated that he
would no longer be part of panels in which there was not gender parity, and of all the panels I saw him on at
alt.fiction this indeed had been adhered to.
Anyway the diversity in fantasy
panel also brought with it the revelation that Dumbledore was gay, a point that
I seem to have completely missed when I read the Harry Potter books. That must
have been a pretty low key and last minute reveal from the author, which again
reflects the reluctant attitude that still exists within the genre to exploring
and representing certain areas of society.
Finally religion in fantasy
provided an interesting ending and another revelation from the panel. Adrian
Tchaikovsky pointed out that fantasy has stock religions – the desert dwelling
fanatics, the evil catholic types and the strange pagans – something I have
never consciously noticed in fantasy, but yet have managed to unknowingly write
into the world of my own novel. That has certainly given me food for thought,
and investigation.
So alt.fiction day two was really
an eye-opener on many levels with the overall theme of the day being the growth
of the under represented. The conclusion and the happy thought I took away with
me is that fantasy is moving in the right direction, and perhaps this is a
really exciting time for me to be breaking into fantasy writing and hopefully
contributing to these positive changes on a wider scale. A great convention and
an immersion into the genre. Alt.fiction 2012. The end.
Elloise Hopkins.
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