The Very Hungry Caterpillar and I met up in Tucson on Saturday at the Festival of Books on the University of Arizona campus — and meeting celebrities like this wasn’t even the high point of my travels. If you’re interested, read on below the jump. If not, I’m back at home in my Lehigh Valley bunker now and will be re-joining the Hunger Games conversation here tomorrow. Stay tuned! Read the rest of this entry »
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I hope if you have five or ten minutes today that you will read ‘Why There Is No Jewish Narnia’ by Michael Weingrad in the Jewish Review of Books. I know very little about Judaism, but what Mr. Weingrad argues in his discussion of why there isn’t a Jewish fantasy tradition to speak of, confirms what I think to be the case about the origins of the English High Fantasy literary stream post Coleridge. Read the rest of this entry »
Travis Prinzi, James Thomas, and I record podCasts once or twice a month for The Leaky Cauldron’s ‘PotterCast.’ They call these segments ‘The Potter Pundits’ because we explore the artistry and meaning of Harry Potter from a literary angle. The segments we have done have gone over very well, if I say so myself; we get a lot of positive feedback from TLC and from listeners. I have to admit, though, that I’d do it even if Fandom gave the shows a rousing raspberry because the shows for me are a wonderful opportunity and excuse every month to get together via Skype and talk with two thoughtful, funny, and eloquent readers, both of whom I wish lived next door.
The Potter Pundit parts of PotterCast are a sufficiently big deal that that show segment has its own website, PotterPundits.com, and a Facebook page. I kid you not. We’ve talked about Luna Lovegood, the Gothic elements in Harry Potter (with guest Pundit, Dr. Amy H. Sturgis), and most recently, Christmas at Hogwarts (#211).
But why do I bring this up? Read the rest of this entry »
Melissa Anelli of The Leaky Cauldron wrote me with this last minute announcement to share with both HogwartsProfessor readers that are into WRock music. Enjoy it, you two! Read the rest of this entry »
This high school student has been visiting many of the better American universities and thinks the schools are trying way too hard to make the “This School is Just Like Hogwarts!” connection with applicants. This wouldn’t be notable, I think, except she makes this complaint in her ‘Taking the Magic out of College’ essay on the Sunday New York Times editorial page.
Talk about shared text… (H/T to Richard of Augustana!)
The subject of witchcraft, real, alleged, and fictional, has been a big part of the discussion for serious readers of Harry Potter since the explosion of the magic controversy soon after the first books were in print. In America post-Salem, even with the advent of Wiccans and openly professed Witches in recent years, the idea of a real world “witch-hunt” by those concerned about occult influence, a hunt in which people thought to be witches are shunned or killed, is hard to take seriously.
In today’s Christianity Today online, Robert Priest reviews Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa by Adam Ashforth (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2005) in an article called ‘Witches and the Problem of Evil.‘ It isn’t an easy read but it is an important one. I came away from it with a much better understanding of the pervasiveness of witchcraft concerns in the world (and astonished at the violence involved) and with ideas about the psychology of Harry Hating I wouldn’t have had without this introduction. Highly Recommended.
These two pieces by Eugie Foster (here and here) which together spell out the Ten Myths about Writing for Kids confirmed my thinking about Joanne Rowling and Stephenie Meyer in two respects: (1) neither set out to write for children and (2) thinking of them as ‘kid lit’ authors is so far off base as to seem bizarre. None of the myths the estimable Ms. Foster discusses could possibly have been on Ms. Rowling’s or Mrs. Meyer’s mind when they set out. Here is the list of ten myths; check out the articles linked above for the excellent discussion — Read the rest of this entry »
Headlines last week read “Vatican Condemns Twilight.” If that sounds familiar to Potter readers, it is the echo of the virtual reality experience we had in 2005 when Star Chamber Catholics in Canada created the “Pope Condemns Harry Potter” controversy on the eve of Order of the Phoenix‘ publication.
That was pretty silly, because the Pope didn’t do anything of the sort. This report turns out to be the real deal. I’ve written about it over at Forks High School Professor and mention it here for these reasons: Read the rest of this entry »
Two very kind letters about Harry Potter’s Bookshelf arrived in my inbox this morning. Read on if this sort of thing is any interest to you! Read the rest of this entry »
The Telegraph (UK) reports today that a Benedictine monk has discovered that there is edifying Christian meaning in Joanne Rowling’s Harry Potter stories and has written a book to explore the parallels with C. S. Lewis’ work and how magic is ethically neutral at Hogwarts.
The keeper quotation: “They are full of Christian themes of love and sacrifice.”
Who knew!? Hats off to the newcomer, Fr. Luke of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wright. And a hat tip to David G., for sharing this link with all of us.
John’s Twilight Blog!
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