Letter from the Chair

Another twenty-five years! That is what our guiding motto has been for this year. Last year we celebrated a quarter century here at BYU and we’re eager to make it half a century. To prove the point, we’ve got an amazing lineup of guests of honor this year. The whole committee would like to thank everyone who has helped make this possible: The guests of honor for donating time from their busy schedules, the dean of the College of Humanities for his continued support of the symposium and our goals of proving speculative fiction a viable literary form, the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center, I-Sci-Fi for their promotion of the symposium, Kevin Wasden for the use of his art, and everyone else who has con- tributed to the symposium, but we unfortunately do not have space to name personally. I hope that you have a great time at the symposium. We’ve worked really hard to make it fun as well as academically stimulating. We ask that you remember that this is BYU and that certain standards are expected to be kept, and we thank you in advance for keeping them.

Enjoy!

Ross K. Wolfe Symposium Committee Chair

 It’s only one year away! Life, the Universe, & Everything 28

DragonComet Short Story Contest and Odyssey Poetry Contest Deadline: postmarked by January 15, 2009 Complete rules and information: lute.org Annual Art Show All media types accepted, framed and mounted preferred. Bring your work with you on Thursday, the first day of the symposium. Come join in the fun! Be part of the committee! Ask one of the current members how to get involved. (Meetings on Saturdays in the JKB.)   

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     J    W        Ever wonder about the Contents different badge colors? Ettiquette with the Pros 4 Yellow Committee Member Guests of Honor Hot Pink Volunteer 5 Red Guest of Honor Gail Carson Levine 6 Dark Blue Special Guest Kevin Wasden 7 Light Blue Participating Guest Special Guests 8 Orange Panelist Participating Guests 9 Purple Chair Emeritus Educator’s Conference  Green Attendee Academic Paper Abstracts 5 Peach Educator’s Conference Listing of Events 22 Book Signings 28 Acknowledgments back cover Wilkinson Center third floor The food court and the bookstore are located on the second floor.

 Etiquette with the Pros

One question any symposium-goer inevitably asks is, “How do I talk to authors and artists?” Getting to know them takes a few common sense rules of etiquette that will make the experience enjoyable for both of you. First, remember that the authors and artists are only human. Just because they write fantastic books or draw fabulous pictures doesn’t mean they are ready to be on stage at any moment. An author or artist may have just had a lousy night or be suffering from something the symposium committee fed them at lunch. Don’t take it personally if they don’t want to talk to you right then. Also, don’t try to dazzle them with your latest story idea or pet project. Most authors are paid to edit material; don’t expect them to do it for free. And don’t make the mistake that one convention attendee made when he tried to discuss the wage differences between British and American actors with a main guest. We promise you, brilliant as they may be, authors and artists don’t know everything. When you want to meet the authors or artists, wait for a good moment when they aren’t busy. If they are talking with someone else, wait patiently for them to finish, then introduce yourself. Try to say something nice before you fire away with criticism. Remember, they may be as shy of meeting you as you are of meeting them. Most importantly, don’t monopolize! Share with others these mar- velous people you’ve just met. Rather than saying everything at once, try talking to them on several occasions. (Even your mother would rather hear from you for three minutes once a week than for three hours once a year.) Just remember to be courteous. Respect their privacy and respect their time. They have come to the symposium to meet people, though, so don’t be afraid to approach them. That is why they came!

 Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novelsEnder’s Game, Ender’s Shadow, and , which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools. Besides these and other novels, Scott

Photo Credit: Bob writes contemporary (Magic Street, Enchant­ Henderson, Hender- son Photography, Inc. ment, ), biblical novels (Stone Tables, ), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker (beginning with ), poetry (An Open Book), and many plays and scripts. He is the recipient of four Hugo awards, two Nebula awards, two Hamilton-Brackett Memorial awards, the Mythopoeic Scoiety award, the World Fantasy award, two Association for Mormon Letters awards, the Margaret A. Edwards award, and many others. Scott was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and . He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. He holds a ba in theater from and an ma in English from the University of Utah. Besides his writ- ing, he teaches occasional classes and workshops and directs plays. He recently began a long-term position as a professor of writing and literature at Southern Virginia University. Scott currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card, and their youngest child, Zina Margaret. His Web site is www.hatrack.com.

 Gail Carson Levine

Gail Carson Levine is the author of fifteen books for children. Her first published book, Ella Enchanted, won a Newbery honor in 1998 and was adapted into a motion picture in 2004. Her work has been published globally and has appeared several times on The New York Times children’s bestseller lists. Fairest is a retell- ing of Snow White that considers beauty and self-esteem. Her latest book, Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand, takes place in Never Land in a mini-world that Gail had cre- ated in Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg. Gail’s next release, in May, will be Ever, a fantasy for older kids that is set in an imagined ancient Mesopotamia. Writing Magic, one of Gail’s two non-fantasy books and written for children who like to write, offers dozens of writing exercises, many of them fantasy-related. Gail grew up in New York City. In elementary school she was president of the Scribble Scrabble Club, and in high school her poems were published in an anthology of student poetry. But she didn’t want to be a writer. She wanted to act or to be a painter like her big sister. Her interest in the theater led to her first writing experience as an adult. Her husband, David, wrote the music and lyrics and she wrote the script for a children’s musical, Spacenapped, that was pro- duced by a neighborhood theater in Brooklyn. Today, Gail and David and their Airedale Baxter live in a 218-year- old farmhouse in New York’s Hudson Valley.

 Kevin Wasden

Kevin Wasden is an illustrator, fine artist, sculptor, costume designer, aspiring writer, art director, husband, father, dog-owner, and lousy dieter. He began illustrating professionally in 1995 and has created artwork for clients such as Tor Books, Jim Baen, Orson Scott Card, Avon Camelot, Old Lyric Theater, Utah State University, and numer- ous game companies and periodicals. He also is the vice president of creative services at Alinco Costumes, where he designs mascots and costumes for sports teams, companies, and other organizations. He studied illustration at Utah State University and has studied figure drawing and painting from the exceptional figure artist, Andy Reiss, in New York City. He recently began his own Webcomic, entitled Tech­ nosaurs: Unearthed, which can be found at www.splintered-mind.com.

 Special Guests

Robert J. Defendi Robert J. Defendi has worked on many projects. He was one of the writers for Sav- age Seas for the game Exalted. He has done a good bit of work for Spycraft, Shadow­ force Archer, Rolemaster, and the Stargate SG-1 role playing game. He wrote the current incarnation of Spacemaster. Robert is also a winner of and has been published in their anthology. He has stories in When Darkness Comes, as well as Spacemaster. He is currently working on a novel for Black Library. Brandon Sanderson writes fantasy novels for Tor Books, teaches creative writing at BYU, and loves talking about himself in the third person. He was a finalist for the Campbell Award, and his first book,Elantris, was chosen by Barnes & Noble editors as the best fantasy or sf book of 2005. The first volume in his series of kid’s books about a cult of evil librarians who secretly rule the world was released in October 2007. Brandon has been chosen to write the final novel in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. His Web site is www.brandonsanderson.com. Howard Tayler Howard Tayler is a full-time cartoonist. His comic strip, , has appeared online every day since June 12, 2000, and schlockmercenary.com now serves up over six million pages a month to over 180,000 unique IPs. He has three books in print, Schlock Mercenary: Under New Management, Schlock Mercenary: The Blackness Between, and Schlock Mercenary: The Tub of Happiness. Howard prepared for his cartooning career with an eclectic mix of education and employment. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1993 with a BS in music composition. He worked for , Inc., for eleven years, and moon- lighted for five of those years as an independent record producer. Howard lives in Orem, Utah, with his wife and four children. He can be observed cartooning (or sometimes just messing around) on most weekday afternoons and evenings at The Dragon’s Keep in downtown Provo.

 Participating Guests

Virginia Baker Virginia Baker grew up as an Army brat, graduating from high school in a cere­ mony held at the celebrated Worms Cathedral, where Martin Luther nailed his protest to the wall and birthed the Protestant branch of Christianity. From there, she went to college at Ricks in Rexburg, Idaho, and then graduated to Brigham Young University, where she received a bachelor’s of science in Near Eastern Stud- ies and a master’s of arts in English literature. She has worked in the computer networking industry for many years. In 1997 she started her own business as a freelance writer. During the rare moments she’s not working for clients, she writes fiction. Her first novel,Jack Knife, enjoyed its debut stint on the bestseller rack at Barnes & Noble for several weeks. The books still sells out regularly on Amazon .com, and she plans to complete the sequel this year. Today she lives in Santaquin, Utah, with a large flock of birds and the cats who fear them. Brent Beardsley Brent Beardsley grew up mostly in Illinois with three younger brothers. Growing up, they all studied and loved animals and kept slightly unusual pets due to one of his brothers’ allergies. He has always loved studying and working with animals, which led to currently being a biology major and working at the Bean Life Science Museum. Brent is married to his wonderful wife, Anne, who supports him and listens to him babble on about crazy animals. Jake Black Jake Black is a Utah native whose credits include work on licensed books and magazines, including Smallville, Superman Returns, Star Trek, World Wrestling Enter­ tainment (which hit the Amazon.UK Bestseller List), and the 2007 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film. He is also a prolific comic book writer and scholar, hav- ing been published by DC, Marvel, and several independent companies. Jake has been working with Orson Scott Card on the comic book series of Wyrms and the Authorized Ender Companion. John Brown John Brown, his wife, and four daughters live in a small valley in the hinterlands of Utah; he enjoys the elk, the good-hearted ranchers, and provoking the valley’s packs of coyotes into howling matches. His work has been published in Orson Scott Card’sIntergalactic Medicine Show, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and Best of the Rest 4. He is also won first place in the Writers of the Future contest, published in volume 13 under the name Bo Griffin.

 Aleta Clegg Aleta Clegg has taught at the Christa McAulliffe Space Eucation Center in Pleasant Grove for the last five years. She develops multimedia science presentations, plane- tarium shows, and story lines for the simulators there. She also works on costuming and kitchen duty. She is working on getting her novels published. Michael R. Collings Dr. Michael R. Collings is emeritus professor of English and former director of creative writing and poet-in-residence for Pepperdine University. In addition to teaching subjects ranging from Beowulf to Stephen King, he has published nearly two dozen scholarly, critical, or bibliographic book-length studies of science fic- tion, fantasy, and horror, including books on Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, Piers Anthony, and Brian W. Aldiss. Dr. Collings has also published several novels and volumes of poetry and short fiction, includingThe House beyond the Hill, Dark Transformations, and Naked to the Sun. He has been a guest/GoH at LTU&E a number of times, and in March will serve as academic GoH at the World Horror Convention. He lives in Meridian Idaho—returning to the state of his birth after almost sixty years—where he and his wife, Judi, make jewelry and enjoy watching the seasons change. His Web site is www.starshineandshadows.com. James Dashner James Dashner is the author of a four-book series that begins with A Door in the Woods. After the small success of that series, he signed a deal with Shadow Moun- tain for a series called The 13th Reality, the first book of which, The Journal of Curious Letters, will be released in March 2008. His Web site is www.jamesdashner.com.

Into the West Presents: April 26, 2008 University of Utah IntoTheWest.org/tolkienfest.html Keynote speaker: Michael D. C. Drout “From Middle-earth to Hogwarts” Editor of Beowulf and the Critics and J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment

Vendor’s Room, Panels, Presentations, Dance, Costumes, & more! Fun for the whole family! See Web site for more info. 10 Mette Ivie Harrison Mette Ivie Harrison wroteMira, Mirror, published in 2002 with Viking, as a for- mal challenge to see what a book written entirely in the viewpoint of an inanimate object would turn out. The most interesting inanimate object in a fairy tale she could think of was the mirror in the Snow White fairy tale. It turned out that she was the enchanted sister of the evil queen, but it was still tricky because she couldn’t actually move unless she talked someone else into picking her up. Then came The Princess and the Hound in 2004 with HarperEos, about a prince with animal magic and the princess he is betrothed to, who has no magic at all but a devoted hound at her side nonetheless. She is currently working on a sequel, The Princess and the Bear, due out in 2009. She especially enjoys interesting character dilemmas and surprising the reader. She doesn’t love rewriting, but she does do it a lot. Her Web site is www.metteivieharrison.com. Lynn Kurland Lynn began her writing career at the tender age of five with a series of illustrated shorts entitled Clinton’s Troubles, in which the compelling hero found himself in all sorts of, well, trouble. She was living in Hawaii at the time and the scope for her imagination (poisoned fish, tropical cliffs, large spiders) was great and Clinton bore the brunt of it. After returning to the States a short while later, writing gave way to music and a poor sap being felled with arrows, being eaten by fish, and falling off cars was put aside for operatic heroes in tights. But somehow during high school, in between bouts of Verdi and Rossini, she managed to find time to submerge herself in equal parts of Tolkien, Barbara Cartland, and Mad Magazine. During college, a chance encounter with a large library stack of romances left her hooked, gave her the courage to put pen to paper herself, and finally satisfied that need for a little bit of fantasy with a whole lot of romance! Two children, three cats, a remodel or two and thousands of pages later, she still loves what she does, still loves finding ways to write the out-of-the-ordinary in everyday situations, and wonders quite often if the castles she occasionally gets to visit really are haunted. Her Web site is www .lynnkurland.com. Charlotte Randle Charlotte Randle in as anthropologist, having received her B.A. from BYU. Her specialty deals with ancient cultures and mythos, most particularly those of Japan and Wales. She has spent a good deal of time in both countries, researching, doing archeological digging, and photographing. She is also an artist and a writer. Nathan Richardson Nathan Richardson is a BYU graduate student in Communication Disorders, from Ukiah, California. He learned the importance of chlorine tablets on his mission to El Salvador, and received his BA in English, with minors in Spanish and editing. He has worked in publishing and book design for four years, and has a children’s story­ telling business with his friend, Glenn, called Smile Productions. He is currently 11 starting out as a speech therapist because he “wanted something that combined linguistics and children,” but hopes to expand his career to include multimedia instructional design and motivational speaking. He is getting married in May to a girl who is “the neatest thing since pre-sliced bread.” She agreed to his proposal mostly because she likes beating him at sports, which happens a lot. Rebecca Shelley Rebecca Shelley is the author of Red Dragon Codex and the soon-to-be-published Brass Dragon Codex. She lives with her family in Utah and has a special fondness for dragons and fairies. Her Web site is www.rebeccashelley.com. Eric James Stone One of Eric James Stone’s earliest memories is seeing an Apollo moon-shot launch on television. That might explain his life-long fascination wih astronomy and space travel. His father’s collection of science fiction ensured that Eric grew up on a full diet of Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke. Despite taking creative writing classes in the 1980s, Eric did not begin seriously writing fiction until 2002. In 2003 he attended Orson Scott Card’s Literary Boot Camp. Since then, he has sold stories to the Writ- ers of the Future contest, Analog, and Intergalactic Medicine Show. Eric lives in Utah. His Web site is www.ericjamesstone.com. Eric Swedin Eric Swedin is an associate professor at Weber State University in the Information Systems and Technologies department, specializing in information security and inter- disciplinary studies. He teaches students how to be hackers so that they may defend against hackers. His doctorate is in the history of science and technology and he also regularly teach history classes at Weber State. His publications include numerous articles, three history books, and one novel. His Web site is www.swedin.org. Laura Swift Laura Swift is an education program assistant at the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City. She has a master’s degree in space studies from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and has been involved with Reading for the Future since 1999. While an undergrad at Utah State University, she woked on sev- eral experiments which flew on the space shuttle and on theExplorer and Discovery space simulators. Rick Walton Rick Walton is the author of over seventy books for children. His works include picture books, joke books, activity books, poetry, and mini-mysteries. He publishes with HarperCollins, Putnam, Candlewick, American Girl, Gibbs-Smith, Peachtree, and others. Rick teaches picture book writing at BYU. He lives in Provo. His Web site is www.rickwalton.com.

12 Educator’s Conference Schedule Satuurday, February 16, room 3223 wilk

9:00–9:25 am What Is Science Fiction (and Fantasy) and Why Might It Be Helpful In Education? (an introduction to SF&F in the classroom) John Brown, Orson Scott Card, Aleta Clegg 9:30–9:55 am SF Media as a Way to Teach Reading, Research, and Speculative Fiction in the Classroom (ways to use SF media in the classroom to help kids get excited about research, reading and research) John Brown, Aleta Clegg 10:00–10:50 am Using Manga to Get Kids Interested in Reading and Which Manga You Can ­Recommend to Kids (open discussion) Jessica Harmon, moderator 11:00–11:50 am Keynote Speech: Gail Carson Levine 12:00–12:50 pm Using Science Fiction to Interest Kids in Science and Astronomy Aleta Clegg, Eric Swedin, Laura Swift 1:00–1:50 pm Using SF&F to Teach Kids How to Write John Brown, Gail Carson Levine, Greg Park, Brandon Sanderson 2:00–2:50 pm Orson Scott Card: SF&F as a Legitimate Literary Genre

Handouts include: Writing contests for kids: What’s out there? Info on obtaining “Reluctant Reader Kits” from Wizards of the Coast Educator’s CD and Workbook from The Heinlein Society, CascadiaCon, and the SF Museum Free books and information on RFFUtah’s Box of Books program “The Worlds of Lynda Williams” CD by RFF Utah Handouts for using the Okal Rel Universe in the classroom Lists of books that are good for classroom use and for individual reading

13 The Chronicles of CONduit May 23-25, 2008, SLC

Michael A. Stackpole Theresa Mather

Salt Lake’s Sci-Fi Weekend! .sfcon.org

14 Academic Paper Abstracts

“Taken at Their Word: Biblical Literalism in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale,” Brook Brayman Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was composed during 1983 and ’84 at a time when the Moral Majority and the Religious Right were enjoying a strong ascendancy in American politics. Atwood presents her satirical dystopia as the realization of many of the forces that animated the rise of the Religious Right as well as the environmental, social, and economic concerns of the day. Foremost among the issues that the novel examines is the emphasis on Biblical literalism that was a hallmark of late-twentieth-century Evangelical Christianity. In building a dystopia in which some parts of the Bible are taken literally and used for political expediency and a blatant power-grab, Atwood’s dystopia is notably free of anything resembling the Christian virtues of love, mercy, and forgiveness. “Of and Starships: The History of Mormons and Science Fiction,” Liz Busby Can novels about spaceships and magic really distinguish themselves as specifically Mormon? Can a Mormon speculative fiction tradition satisfy the demands of the science fiction genre while dealing with Mormon themes? To find the answers to these questions, we will trace the history of Mormon science fiction from “A Dia- logue between Joseph Smith and the Devil” in 1844 to the short stories of Zenna Henderson in the 1950s to the rise of Orson Scott Card and the BYU science fiction establishment in the 1980s. We will also examine the various types of direct Mor- monism in science fiction, including “spirit fiction” stories like Nephi Anderson’s Added Upon, Book of Mormon time travel stories, the anti-Mormon bias in main- stream science fiction, and stories of the future of the Church. Additionally, we’ll take a look at the theory behind the Mormon science fiction connection.

“Mythic Symbols of Batman,” John Darowski In this paper, I will argue that superheroes form a modern American mythology. By focusing on one superhero, Batman, and carrying out a comparative analysis with ancient myths and legends, I will reveal that superhero stories have the same function in society as ancient myth, in embodying and teaching the morals and values of a society. I will also show that the Batman archetype has been a constant in literature for millennia and forms a necessary part of a healthy civilization.

“Spirited Away as a Gothic Text,” John Darowski Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away was a phenomenal international success, receiving numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Movie. The secret to this success is Miyazaki’s ability to weave Eastern and Western stories and archetypes into a coherent whole. One genre that he particularly draws on

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· Much Ado About Nothing February 1 - 18 · Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat March 7 - April 14 · An Evening of One Act Plays April 18 - 26 · The Foreigner May 9 - June 9 · Children’s Theatre June 19 - 23 · Seven Brides for Seven Brothers July 11- August 11 · Seussical August 29 - October 6 · Wait Until Dark October 24 - November 17 · The Workshop or Trouble at the Pole December 1 - 22

is the Gothic. In my paper, I will examine the Gothic influences inSpirited Away and examine how Miyazaki successfully translated these elements into a Japanese setting. In doing so, I will reveal at least part of the international appeal of this classic film. “Humangineering: Approaching the Human Animal as a Malleable Technology Platform in Fiction and Fact,” Darwin A. Garrison “Humangineering” is a term proposed to encompass that portion of biological tech- nology relevant to the “improvement” of the physical and mental capabilities of the human animal. The development of this process plays a large part in many sci- ence fiction works as an inevitable outgrowth of current factual efforts in genetic manipulation, bioengineering, and prosthetics. As an outgrowth of the parent disciplines, humangineering is envisioned as a synthesis of sometimes contradictory technologies. These include genetic manipu- lation, cybernetics, and perhaps even nanotechnology. However, each of the aspects of humangineering carry with them concerns and limitations that must be addressed before true implementation of “improvements” to individual human beings can begin. This paper and the accompanying presentation bring forward several macro- level engineering and biological concerns relevant to the challenges facing the practical aspects of humangineering. Also discussed are the inevitable bioethical questions of reversibility and what, in fact, constitutes “human” after all the modifi- cations are completed and the new form of man walks out of the operating room. 16 “Time for Your Inoculation: Vaccinating Humanity with Horror and Violence,” Jacob Hodgen In a recent documentary, Wes Craven referred to his films as “boot camps for the psyche”: he claims that in addition to providing an outlet for grief, anxiety, and violence in their various forms, horror media can now be read as a preemptive measure in an effort to mediate the trauma and horror faced by humanity. This methodology is echoed in contemporary trauma inoculation therapy, which is widely recognized in the fields of psychology, sociology, and military science. My paper will argue that horror fiction and film need to be reevaluated to take into account the consideration that “real life” trauma can be mediated by text. “Ring around the Rosary: A Historiography of the Debate over Religious Elements in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings,” Gregory Jackson and Landon Newby J. R. R. Tolkien has altered the world with his story about hobbits, elves, dwarfs, and men, fighting evil to preserve all that is good in Middle-earth. Many people the world over have been affected by his work, and even come to treat it as a religious experience. Due to this, and perhaps also due to Tolkien’s devotion to Catholicism, the debate over religious themes within The Lord of the Rings has man- aged to transcend the lines of various scholarly disciplines and receive a great deal of attention, nearly since its first publication over fifty years ago. As time has gone on, the different interpretations of how the text is—or is not—a representation of one of the various spiritual creeds from Paganism to Christianity, have been as multifarious as the different sects within each of these different ideologies. By 1962, less than a decade after the first publication of Tolkien’s masterpiece, Edmund Fuller claimed that within The Lord of the Rings are Christ-like representations in some of the characters. By 1966 this had been countered with the idea that Tolkien had relied on Nordic myth, and the idea that the book was nothing but “juvenile trash.” With the basic interpretations of Tolkien’s inspiration set (Christianity, Paganism, and simply nothing), the decades have passed on with voices coming and going trying to argue in favor of each. Still, none have received as much attention as Christianity, which has those who argue in favor of it debating among themselves whether or not Tolkien found inspiration in Christianity on a generic level, or if he found inspiration specifically within Catholicism. “Rise of the Disanimaton: A Look at Inanimate, Animate, and Disanimate,” Joshua Johnson The automaton and the icon, as archetypes, seem almost opposite one another: the former is inanimate made animate; the latter is animate matter rendered a symbol and, therefore, inanimate. Terry Pratchett’sFeet of Clay examines the underlying similarities between such seemingly opposite concepts and forges the automaton and the icon into a single meaning that has greater relevance in our own time than either of the archetypal parts that make it up. Feet of Clay is important because it gives us a way to track the development of a “disanimaton.” Pratchett’s golems are 17 created—animating inanimate clay and creating an automaton—these golems then create their own golem. By crowning this new golem and placing their hopes on it, they then make this it an icon. Thus Pratchett’s novel, in a humorously literal way, animates the inanimate and then disanimates the resulting automaton by iconizing it. This “disanimaton,” becomes an archetype that is at once inanimate, animate, and disanimate. The disanimaton becomes a valuable tool in examining current literary and cultural figures that are, so often, similar conglomerations of seemingly opposing archetypes. Pratchett’s depiction of creatures that are animate, inanimate, and disanimate bears study because they have important parallels in our own soci- ety that is able, via computer code and media, to create characters and situations that defy traditional ideas of the animate and inanimate—necessitating a rise in instances of archetypal disanimatons. “Howl’s Changing World: The Result of Preference or Genre?” Laura Mathews Britain and Japan seem a world apart on any map, yet both have produced amaz- ing creative efforts of fantasy. These efforts have combined to create the story of Howl’s Moving Castle in both book and film form. The book was originally written by Dianna Wynne Jones and was later made into a feature length animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. Even though both the book and the film are wonderful works of art on their own, when compared with each other there are some major differences that can be noted. I propose to look at similarities and differences between the book and film versions ofHowl’s Moving Castle and determine whether the changes made were based on Miyazaki’s personal preferences, or just naturally had to hap- pen based on the morph of a book into a film.

“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Became Fact,” Dallin Lewis Because of C. S. Lewis’s love for myths and his flair for fantasy writing, many have often studied howThe Chronicles of Narnia fits the form and genre of a “myth.” While this is true, we gain new and greater insights into Lewis’ work—especially The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe—by reading it not as a myth, but as “myth that became fact.” The notion of “myth that became fact” is derived from Lewis’s own understanding of Christianity, which he sees as a mythical, powerful story that actually happened, a unique blend of legend and reality. Likewise, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe demonstrate another way a mythical notion—in this case Narnia—turns out to be true and very real. By reading Lewis’s book in this manner, we not only gain a greater understanding of the story, but we see Lewis’s own con- version to the Christianity in new light as we compare it with how the Penvensie children reached another myth that became fact, being Narnia.

“Harry Potter: A Hero for the New Millennium,”Kathryn Olsen This paper explores traditional standards of just leadership in conjunction with the principles of morality as defined in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. By comparing and contrasting the ways in which Harry and Lord Voldemort use both their influence and innate power, the author identifies the leadership standard of 18 ­excellence which Rowling sets forth for the generations of the twenty-first century. “Shake Hands with John Coffey: Christian Themes and Symbolism in Stephen King’s The Green Mile,” Ken Rand The Green Mile is fairly obviously the fictional retelling of the life and death of Christ, along with other Christian imagry. If we apply the idea of John Coffey to ourselves, though, we can find Stephen King’s theme: “Be good to one another.” “How To Define Science Fiction,” Eric Swedin What is science fiction? How do we define this body of literature? Why are fantasy and horror often mar- keted to the same people who like science fiction? Is the term specula- tive fiction good enough? Science fiction has been called the literature of ideas. I would call science fiction the literature of big ideas and I will furthermore argue that science fic- tion is most often characterized by the big perspective. “Epistemology, Ontology, and Battlestar Galactica: Why Your Mormon Neighbor Knows More about This Show Than You Do,” Ivan Wolfe Often commented on, but almost never studied in-depth, Battlestar Galactica owes a lot to the Mormon background of original series creator Glen A. Larson. Imbuing his science fiction tale in a universe that borrows heavily from Mormon metaphysics and theology, episodes such as “War 19 of the Gods” and “The Hand of God” revealed that the milieu of this science fiction series was one where higher beings actively battled for the souls of mankind, and where the distance between humanity and the divine was epistemological rather than ontological. Far from superficial window dressing (as some have argued), these religious ideas were an essential part of the series core and its appeal. What is interesting to see, though, is how the Mormon elements have been trans- muted through the various incarnations of Battlestar Galactica. In comics produced by Marvel comics, Maximum Press, and Realm Press, as well as the recent series of novels by Richard Hatch (and various co-writers) to the new TV series on the Sci-Fi channel, the Mormon elements have been ignored, explained away, or transmuted into something different altogether. These transmutations and reunifications reveal interesting attitudes not just towards religion, but also to science fiction and the place of the metaphysical in a genre generally devoted to empirical ideals. “Speaking Backward: Edward Bellamy and Nineteenth Century Utopian Fiction in a Rhetorical Context,” Ivan Wolfe While hundreds of utopian novels appeared in the late nineteenth-/early twentieth- century American literary scene, Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward is the most researched and most pivotal text, as it was the genesis for most of the utopias that followed (and it was the third best selling work of fiction in nineteenth-century 2008 World Horror Convention March 27–30, 2008 • Salt Lake City • 2008 Stoker Awards Banquet • Pitch sessions • Film festival • Mort Castle writing workshop • One-on-one poetry workshop • Walking tour of haunted SLC • Presentations on serial killers, ­Anasazi, desert survival, and more! Art show and vendors’ room open to the public! no place to hide under the desert sun . . . whc2008.org Volunteers needed Dennis Etchison, John Jude Palencar, Simon R. Green, Dr. Michael R. Collings, Mort Castle, Jeff Strand, Larry Roberts, Dr. A. L. Carlisle 20 America). Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward appeared at a time when rhetoric and public discourse in America was undergoing a radical change, and it spurred a whole host of utopian fiction: For the next two decades utopian fiction became one of the main modes of engaging in public discourse. The aim of this paper is to bring two camps together that could benefit from each other: People in utopian studies (especially Bellamy scholars) and those who study the history of rhetoric (especially nineteenth-century American rhetoric). Bellamy scholarship, because of the socialistic nature of his particular utopia, tends to be focused on whether Bellamy was the “right” type of socialist, or whether his ideas have any merit. In this approach lacking as after awhile, the arguments become repetitive and muted—and it seems to drive away some scholars who may not want to be associated with socialist politics. A rhetorical approach to Bellamy will allow a new way of looking at Bellamy that is also in keeping with what he accomplished. The main argument of this paper is that Bellamy’s brief success (and the reactions to him) offers a new perspective in our understanding of how rheto- ric worked (and didn’t work) in this time period. Bellamy and those who wrote in response to him were engaging in rhetorical work, and I hope that by looking closely at how this rhetorical dialogue went about, we can then shed light on the changing nature of public discourse at turn-of-the-century America.

Symposium Committee

Chair Ross K. Wolfe Assistant Chair Tim Richardson Faculty Advisor Zina Petersen Track Coordinator Charlene Harmon Track Coordinator Assistant Amanda Peltier Academic Track Rebecca Strein Academic Track Assistant Marny Parkin Art Track Brittany Heiner, Heather Monson CYOW Track Nathan Langford Writing Track Charlene Harmon Art Show Heather Monson, Bobbie Berendson Deep Thoughts Proceedings Editor Marny K. Parkin Contest Administrator Aleta Clegg Guest Liaison Josh Peltier Publicity Coordinator Richard McKay Volunteer Coordinator Steve Harmon Webmaster Charlene Harmon Mailing List Administrator Joe Monson Educator’s Conference Charlene Harmon Special Events Coordinator Heather Monson General Committee Toad Bascom, Jenna Eatough, Carolyn Larsen, Kathryn Olsen, Maureen Peterson 21 Listing of Events

See the block schedule handout for room numbers and any last-minute changes.

Thursday, February 14, 2008 Jewelry-Making Demonstration (Michael and Judi Collings) 9:00 am: Registration opens 1:00–1:50 pm 10:00–10:50 am Satire in SF&F Using History and Folklore to Enrich How can you use satire in your story? Your World (Robert J Defendi (M), Eric James Give your fictional world richness and Stone, Howard Tayler, Dan Willis) depth through history and folklore. Jewelry-Making Demonstration, cont. Come learn how to create believable histories and tales or superstitions that (Michael and Judi Collings) make sense within your world. Papers: Spirited Away as a Gothic Text (John Brown, Gail Carson Levine, (John Darowski) Brandon Sanderson (M), Eric Swedin, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Julie Wright) Become Fact Shake Hands with John Coffee: Papers: (Dallin Lewis) Christian Themes and Symbolism in Stephen King’s The Green Mile 2:00–2:50 pm (Ken Rand) 1001 Ideas in an Hour Howl’s Changing World: The Result of How do you come up with ideas for a Preference or Genre? story? Come “brainstorm” with every- one else and see what sort of story ideas (Laura Mathews) you can come up with! 11:00–11:50 am (Orson Scott Card) Main Address: Kevin Wasden 3:00–3:50 pm 12:00–12:50 pm From Idea to Story Projecting Possible Futures through A continuation of “1001 Ideas in an Historical Analysis of Scientific Hour” where you take the ideas and Discoveries develop them into a story. How did we get where we are today? (Orson Scott Card) How will 2100 look different from now? Paper: Time for your Inoculation: What technologies are on the forefront ­Vaccinating Humanity with Horror of science? What will come in the near and Violence future? (Jacob Hodgen) (Virginia Baker, Scott Parkin (M), Eric Swedin, Laura Swift, Dan Willis) 22 4:00–4:50 pm Creating Worlds for RPGs Returning to the Well: Writing a Second (Robert J Defendi) (and Third) Book on the Same Theme or I-Sci-Fi broadcast in the Same World Come see a live Internet talk show with How to write a sequel or series that is some of our LTUE guests! still interesting to the readers and the writers. What are some good and bad 8:00–8:50 pm examples? I-Sci-Fi broadcast, cont. (Virginia Baker (M), Mette Ivie Har­ rison, Gail Carson Levine, Greg Park, Rebecca Shelley) Friday, February 15, 2008 The Astronomy behind Space Travel and Planet Location 9:00–9:50 am You can’t put a planet with a breathable Dialogue: Letting Your Characters atmosphere next to a red giant. Or a “Speak” for Themselves super nova. The science has to be close Or, how you can have your main char- enough to suspend disbelief. What you acters use their own speech patterns need to know to place your planet. and not lose the reader’s interest. (Robert J Defendi, Laura Swift, Eric (Michael R. Collings, James Dashner, James Stone (M), Howard Tayler) Krys Morgan, Brandon Sanderson (M), 5:00–5:50 pm Dan Willis) Ring around the Rosary: A His- Promoting Your Art (or Webcomic) Paper: toriography of the Debate over Reli- on the Internet gious Elements in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The (Jessica Douglas, Brian Hailes, Lord of the Rings Seiter, Howard Tayler (M), Sandra Taylor, (Gregory Jackson and Landon Newby) Kevin Wasden) The Three Things You Must Learn 10:00–10:50 am to Write Killer Stories: a hands-on Resonance in Fairy Tales workshop. Why do fairy tales still fascinate us? Do (John Brown) the lessons in the tales still hold true today? What is it about fairy tales that 6:00–6:50 pm still rings true today? Webcomic Q&A (Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, Mette (Howard Tayler, Kevin Wasden) Ivie Harrison, Gail Carson Levine, Rebecca The Three Things You Must Learn to ­Shelley, JoSelle Vanderhooft (M)) Write Killer Stories, cont. Space Travel for Writers (John Brown) What every writers needs to know about space travel to make it sound believable. 7:00–7:50 pm (Lee Allred, Darwin Garrison, Helge Historical European Martial Arts Moulding (M), Howard Tayler, Julie (Eli Combs) Wright) 23 11:00–11:50 am true, and what can you do to work with or around them? Main Address: Orson Scott Card (Virginia Baker, Lynn Kurland, Kristin 12:00–12:50 pm Randle, Brandon Sanderson, Rick Walton) Computers of the Future Writers’ Workshop (2–6 pm) We look back at some of the old TV (Bob Defendi, Dan Willis) shows and movies and laugh at their Why Geology Matters in Worldbuilding concept of future computer technology. So, to keep the next generation from (Aleta Clegg, Josh Peltier) laughing at your future tech, where are 3:00–3:50 pm computers headed and what can you Working with Foam: Using Craft postulate for a plausible future? Foam for Art and Costuming (cont.) (Robert J Defendi, David Ferro, Eric (Jessica Douglas, Heather Monson (M), James Stone, Eric Swedin (M), Howard Sarah Seiter, Kevin Wasden) Tayler) Putting Romance in Your Novel Reader’s Series: Gail Carson Levine So, you want to add a bit of spice to a In the Harold B. Lee Library auditorium. tale of high adventure. How much is Papers: Taken at Their Word: Biblical too much? How do you let your char- Literalism in Margaret Atwood’s The acters fall in love without making them Handmaid’s Tale sound like total saps? (Brook Brayman) (Virginia Baker, Kathleen Dalton- Rise of the Disanimaton Woodbury (M), Paul Genesse, Lynn Kur­ (Joshua Johnson) land, Brandon Sanderson) Writers’ Workshop (cont.) 1:00–1:50 pm (Bob Defendi, Dan Willis) Biblical Motifs in Fantasy Paper: How To Define Science Fiction (Roger Bacon, Orson Scott Card, Scott (Eric Swedin) Parkin (M), Steve Walker) Paper: Humangineering: Approaching 4:00–4:50 pm the Human Animal as a Malleable Tech- The Intersection of Fiction in the Past, nology Platform in Fiction and Fact Present, and Future of Computer- (Darwin A. Garrison) Human Interfaces 2:00–2:50 pm (David Ferro) Turning Books into Comics: How Working with Foam: Using Craft Several of Orson Scott Card’s Novels Foam for Art and Costuming Went from Book to Comic Book (Jessica Douglas, Heather Monson (M), Orson Scott Card and Jake Black talk Sarah Seiter, Kevin Wasden) about how Ender’s Game went from a Realities of NY Publishing book to a comic book. Every aspiring author has heard the (Jake Black, Orson Scott Card) horror stories. How many of them are 24 Worlds without Number 7:00–7:50 pm (Jaron Hansen) Publishing with a Small Press Writers Workshop (cont.) What to expect, what you’ll have to do (Bob Defendi, Dan Willis) to help market your book, what’s good, what to be prepared for. 5:00–5:50 pm (James Dashner, Robert J Defendi, Colored Pencils in Art Sandra Taylor, JoSelle Vanderhooft, Karen (Jessica Douglas, Sarah Seiter) Webb) Women of the Fantastic: Creating Fan Fiction on the Internet: Where Strong, Believable Female Characters New Writers Hone Their Craft in a Medieval Fantasy Setting (Lee Allred (M), LydaMae Dameron, Medieval life was very hard on women. Amanda Peltier) They had few rights and fewer options. Creating a Language: The Basics How do you make a woman strong in a society ruled by men who treated (Nathan Richardson) women as property? How far is too far 8:00–8:50 pm when using modern sensibilities in a Creating a Language: The Basics (cont.) fantasy setting? (Nathan Richardson) (Jessica Day George, Mette Ivie Har­ rison, Gail Carson Levine, JoSelle Vander­ hooft, Julie Wright (M)) Saturday, February 16, 2008 Writers’ Workshop (cont.) 9:00–9:25 am (Bob Defendi, Dan Willis) What Is Science Fiction and Paper: Speaking Backward: Edward (EC) Bellamy and Nineteenth Century Uto- Fantasy and Why Might It Be Helpful pian Fiction in a Rhetorical Context in Education? (Ivan Wolfe) (Orson Scott Card, Aleta Clegg (M), David Ferro, Jeff Savage) 6:00–6:50 pm 9:30–9:55 am Publishing Fiction on the Internet Some of the newest, hottest speculative (EC) SF Media as a Way to Teach fiction is showing up on the World Wide Reading, Research, and Speculative Web. What are the best sites? Who runs Fiction in the Classroom them? Who’s writing for them? (Aleta Clegg (M), David Ferro, Kate (Darwin Garrison, Eric James Stone Reynolds) (M), Howard Tayler, Sandra Taylor, 9:00–9:50 am JoSelle Vanderhooft) Researching Unusual Subjects Life, Death, and Warfare: Iron Age Celts (Lee Allred, Josh Peltier (M), Charlotte (Charlotte Randle) Randle, Brandon Sanderson) The Ten Mindsets of Winning Villains (Brad Neufeld) 25 Cultural Taboos 12:00–12:50 pm We know what our own cultural taboos (EC) Using SF to Interest Kids in Sci- are. Why do we have them? How did ence and Astronomy they come into being? How and why might different cultures have differ- (Aleta Clegg, Eric Swedin, Laura Swift) ent taboos, and how can you use this Japanese Culture knowledge to make your fictional (Jessica Harmon, Charlotte Randle) worlds and characters more believable? Breaking into Book Illustration and (Virginia Baker, Jessica Day George, Graphic Novels Eric Swedin, Karen Webb, Dan Willis (M)) (Brian Hailes, Kevin Wasden) Paper: Epistemology, Ontology, and One-on-One Poetry Workshop : Why Your Mor- Battlestar Galactica Sit down with Michael R. Collings and mon Neighbor Knows More about discuss one of your poems. Michael This Show Than You Do will help you not only understand what (Ivan Wolfe) needs to be fixed, butwhy it needs to 10:00–10:50 am be fixed. If you can’t meet with him on Saturday, catch him any time during (EC) Using Manga to Gets Kids Inter- the symposium in the registration room. ested in Reading (Open discussion, led by Jessica Har­ 1:00–1:50 pm mon (M)) (EC) Using SF&F to Teach Kids How LDS Beliefs and SF&F to Write Why do LDS beliefs lead naturally into (John Brown (M), Gail Carson Levine, science fiction and fantasy? Kate Reynolds) (Jessica Day George, Brandon Sander­ Adding a Little Reality to Your Science son (M), Jeff Savage, Laura Swift, Eric Fiction—or How the Laws of Physics James Stone, Karen Webb) Get in the Way of an Unbelievably Writing for Children Good Story Do you have to rhyme? How do you (Jae Heiner) create a story in such a small space? The Myth of Writers Block What do you need to know to write for Sometimes the writer is his/her own children? Where do you learn all this? worst enemy. Writers aren’t born with (Rebecca Shelley, Rick Walton, Dan blocks; they have to build them, one Willis (M)) brick at a time. Come learn how to take Paper: Mythic Symbols of Batman the wall down. (John Darowsky) (Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, Darwin Garrison, Greg Park, Scott Parkin (M)) 11:00–11:50 am Drawing Dinosaurs Gail Carson Levine Main Address: (Cliff Green, Brian Hailes, Howard Tayler, Kevin Wasden)

26 2:00–2:50 pm Martial Arts and Self-defense Presentation: SF&F as a Legitimate (Matt Spackman) Literary Genre Papers: Of Saints and Starships: (Orson Scott Card) The History of Mormons and Science Fiction 3:00–3:50 pm (Liz Busby) Writing for the Young Adult Market Harry Potter: A Hero for the New The rules are changing. Boundaries are Millennium being stretched. What do you need to know to write for the YA market? How (Kathryn Olsen) is it different from the adult fiction 5:00–5:50 pm market? Creative Collaboration (writers and (James Dashner, Jessica Day George, artists) Mette Ivie Harrison, Jeff Savage, Rebecca Writing a great book, or painting a great Shelley (M), Julie Wright) picture, is just the beginning. Come Soft Science learn how working with people with Making your science real and believable different creative talents can enrich without knowing all the details. your own work and lead to a much bet- (Robert J Defendi, Darwin Garrison, ter final product. Helge Moulding, Laura Swift (M)) (Robert J Defendi (M), Darwin Gar­ Keele’s Korner rison, Brian Hailes, Rick Walton, Kevin A presentation on 3D computer games Wasden, Julie Wright) and animation. Animals That Are Stranger Than (Steven Keele, Kevin Keele) Fiction: What nature has done with strange animals, and what you can, too 4:00–4:50 pm (Brent Beardsley) When Building Worlds, Where Do Why Do We Like to Scare Ourselves? You Start? And How Far Do You Go? The Appeal of Horror What do you need to know/explain in building a world for your story? Geog- (Lee Allred, Jeff Savage, Eric Swedin (M)) raphy? Weather patterns? Flora and Creating a Language: The Next Step fauna? (Nathan Richardson) (Paul Genesse (M), Scott Parkin, Laura Swift, Karen Webb) Twisting Fairy Tales How can you tell the same tale told for centuries and make it fresh? (Orson Scott Card, Kathleen Dalton- Woodbury (M), Jessica Day George, Gail Carson Levine, Rick Walton)

27 Book Signings

Subject to change. Please check the registration room for locations. Books can be purchased in the BYU Bookstore on the second level of the Wilkinson Center. Thursday 4:30: Orson Scott Card, Brandon Sanderson Friday 3:00: James Dashner, Gail Carson Levine, Rick Walton 5:00: Virginia Baker, Jake Black, Michael R. Collings, Darwin Garrison, Kevin Wasden Saturday 1:00: Robert J Defendi, Jessica Day George, Mette Ivie Harrison, Jeff Savage, Rebecca Shelley, JoSelle Vanderhooft, Julie Wright 3:00: Paul Genesse, Greg Park, Eric James Stone, Howard Tayler, Dan Willis

Corpus Christi Medieval Theatre Festival

April 12, 2008, JFSB Courtyard Food, Fun, Medievally Good Times (Frolicing Optional)

Because men in skirts are hot http://qands.org/corpuschristi 28