Symposium on Fantasy
Symposium on Fantasy & the Fantastic (Kelvin Hall, 10 May 2019)
Fantasy is a central element of human culture—framing, shaping, and binding together ways of thinking, doing and being that span the gamut of human expression and action. Today, its manifestations encompass the full range of contemporary narrative, visual, and performing arts including literature, film, TV, comics, theatre, illustration, advertising and gaming. It provides a crucial interdisciplinary space to stimulate fruitful conversations between widely different areas of research and creativity.
On Friday May 10th 2019, an ArtsLab-funded Fantasy Symposium brought together researchers, practitioners, and creative industry professionals to discuss theoretical and practical questions raised by using fantasy as a discourse and subject. This was the first step towards establishing a Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow.
- Symposium programme: https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_649870_smxx.pdf
- Fantasy at Glasgow: A History - the opening talk of the Symposium by Dr Rob Maslen: https://fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/fantasy-at-glasgow-a-history/
- What does Fantasy do? - a summary of the 1st afternoon workshop of the Symposium: https://fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/what-does-fantasy-do/
- What Should a Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic Do? - a summary of the 2nd afternoon workshop of the Symposium: https://fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/what-should-a-centre-for-fantasy-and-the-fantastic-do/
- A slide-show with photos from the Symposium:
Reflective blog posts by participants:
- Fantasy Exists Badly: Creating a Centre for Fantasy in Glasgow, by Marita Arvaniti: https://fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/fantasy-exists-badly-creating-a-centre-for-fantasy-in-glasgow/
- Reflections on the Glasgow Symposium on Fantasy and the Fantastic, by Dr Taylor Driggers: https://fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/reflection-on-the-glasgow-symposium-on-fantasy-and-the-fantastic/
- In Search of Wild Stories, by Ben Holden: https://fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/in-search-of-wild-stories/
- From Zero to Infinity – Creating a Science Fiction Magazine in Scotland, Noel Chidwick: https://fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/from-zero-to-infinity-creating-a-science-fiction-magazine-in-scotland/