The Hogwart’s Professor is back! John Granger, the leading expert on the subject of the artistry and meaning of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, is back for Ascendio.
He’ll be participating in three program events including a formal session, the MuggleNet Academia podcast and a special Meet-up.
MuggleNet Academia will be hosting a live podcast located in Ascendio’s Common Room on Friday at 11 a.m. If you’re not already familiar with Academia, it’s a fresh section of MuggleNet that explores, in detail, the politics and themes of the Harry Potter books (from an academic standpoint) and how they relate to our world. Orchestrated by MN Staffer Keith Hawk and “The Hogwarts Professor” John Granger, Academia has hosted several special guests from all over the fandom even in its infancy, and we have no reason to doubt that Ascendio’s show will be any different.
Meet-Up for Studious Readers: On Magical Language and Names, sponsored by Rosetta Stone, will be held Friday at 6 p.m. also in Venetian III.
Summary: J. K. Rowling almost single-handedly revived the study of Latin because her Potterverse spell work is primarily in that ancient language. If you’ve ever wondered if there was something extra in these magic words that you missed because you took French or Spanish or if the names of characters — all those matching initials and reduplicated consonants in the centers—suggested another embedded meaning you just weren’t getting, come to this get-together to hear classicist John Granger ‘spell’ it all out!
The Written Magic of Harry Potter: Ring Composition, Literary Alchemy, and a Transformed Vision will be held Saturday, 5 p.m., Venetian III.
Summary: What spell work is it that J. K. Rowling uses that makes us love the Hogwarts Saga the way we do? What magical writing brings us back to her books again and again? John Granger, the Hogwarts Professor, will explain in this fun talk, first, the traditional literary scaffolding and symbolism that is the artistic heart of our favorite books and, then, how this written magic changes us for the better each time we enter into it.
Tagged “The Dean of Harry Potter Scholars” by TIME magazine book reviewer and author Lev Grossman, John Granger has been the leading expert on the subject of the artistry and meaning of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels since the publication of his first book on the subject in 2002. The author or editor of eight books, ‘The Hogwarts Professor’ has been a Keynote and Featured Speaker at more than 20 academic and fan conferences and spoken at 25 major universities and colleges. John blogs at HogwartsProfessor.com and he podcasts both at MuggleNet Academia and with the Potter Pundits at the Leaky Cauldron.
