Welcome to our Events Calendar roundup for the month of July! The Events Calendar can be found on the OTW website and is open to submissions by anyone with news of an event. These can be viewed by event-type, such as Academic Conferences, Fan Events and Fests, Legal Events, OTW Events, or Technology Events taking place around the world.
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San Diego Comic-Con. You already know if this is something you want to–and can–attend! From the Fanlore entry: “Over the years, Comic-Con has become one of the primary venues for canon creators and stars to announce, create interest for, and sneak preview parts of their ‘genre’ (not only comics and superhero-related but also science fiction and fantasy) films and television shows.” Comic-Con is July 9-12 in San Diego, California.
This year, OTW Legal chair Betsy Rosenblatt and Legal staffer Heidi Tandy will be on the “Fandom Is My Fandom” panel on Thursday, 5-6 p.m., in Room 14A.
- RainbowCon is a four-day QUILTBAG (Queer-Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual, Asexual, and Gay) event for anyone and everyone (you do not have identify within the QUILTBAG spectrum to attend or contribute). It’s an exciting event that’s centered around QUILTBAG media. This includes fiction, fanfiction, nonfiction, comics/webcomics, television, movies, stage, music, and anything else involving QUILTBAG media. It’s July 16-19 in Tampa, Florida.
- Anime Evolution is Vancouver’s premier event celebrating Japanese culture, anime, manga, gaming, and every kind of related fandom. The event, July 17-19, features special guests, including Janet Varney and Sarah Williams, interactive panels, live cultural demonstrations, video and tabletop gaming rooms, video rooms, contests, workshops, dances, and more.
- Artist claims are July 20 for the Het Big Bang challenge. Contributions from any fandom and any het pairing are welcome. Big Bang stories must be at least 25,000 words, and Little Bang contributions, 10,000. Final art and fics are due August 26, with posting on August 31.
- Fandom and Religion: An International, Inter-disciplinary Conference, held at the University of Leicester, England, July 28-30, will explore interactions between religion and popular culture. How does fandom work? What is happening to fans as they express their enthusiasms and allegiances? Has fandom replaced or become a form of religion? What can the study of religion learn from explorations of fandom? This event will provide an opportunity for participants to explore these and other questions about popular culture and religion in plenary, panel, and short paper sessions.
- Billed as “the friendliest little convention in New England” and a “diverse collection of geeks,” the ninth annual Pi-Con welcomes numerous fandoms: books, movies, gaming, webcomics and print comics, tech and gadgetry, costuming, anime, and music. Highlights include a Writer’s Workshop on Friday and expanded filk programming, including a dedicated filk room. The event is July 31-August 2 in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Calls for Papers this month come from:
- The Comic Electric: A Digital Comics Symposium will be held at The University of Hertfordshire on October 14. Participants are sought to present papers across a wide range of topics that relate to comics scholarship and digital media. Topics may include webcomics, widening readerships, minority voices, and fan cultures, among others. Submit abstracts of no more than 300 words for papers of 20 minutes in length by July 27.
The OTW encourages anyone to submit an event that’s not already listed, and to check out the calendar throughout the year!