GeekGirlCon 2017 and My Neverending TBR Shelf

Logo courtesy the GeekGirlCon Tumblr

For the past few years, my friend Gina and I have been going to GeekGirlCon. I'm not even sure how we found out about it...maybe there was an ad in the ECCC brochure about it? Anyway, the first year was not the best, but there were some really great panels on topics about which we care deeply, that we didn't really see at other cons. The second year was a complete disaster. But we thought, "We'll give it another chance." And I'm so glad we did, because this year (our third year), we had a pretty amazing con.

I will say, the con is currently two days, Saturday and Sunday. However, this year (and I don't believe this was the case the year before) programming on Saturday went until 8pm! Actual programming, not just meet ups or gaming time. Most cons have programming until 6pm. There were definitely a few panels that we would have LOVED to attend (there was one titled "Handmaid's Tale, Bitch Planet and the Politics of Women's Body" that was specifically of interest) but after being up at 7.30 to get to the con at 9.00 to get our badges, and knowing that we were going to have a particularly long Sunday, we just couldn't hack it. Personally, I would be more than willing to pay some extra dollars to have those "late night" events (18+) happen on a Friday night after work, maybe. Or maybe I'll just have to plan better for next year, knowing that there will be some late events on Saturday.

Two of our favourite panels were "Geek Mythology" and "Scion or Shafted: Being Mixed-Race in Science Fiction and Fantasy Cultures." I'm not going to say these two were my favourites because they provided me with some reading material to add to my TBR shelf, BUT I'm also not saying that wasn't a factor...

In Geek Mythology, the panelists discussed world mythologies and folklore in popular culture. They also talked about the universality of the "Hero's Journey" and commonalities that are found across the globe in different mythologies and folklores. One of the things that was really emphasized in this panel was how much we see Greco-Roman mythology, and how prevalent that is, but how seldom we see myths and stories from other cultures. The panelists discussed how part of this has to do with the fact that, while there are clearly no people left who worship the Greco-Roman pantheon, in many cultures the "myths and legends" are still very real to them. So you can get into a very exploitative situation if you start representing those in popular culture. Here are a few of the books I added to my list:

Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali  by Mamadou Kouyaté (teller), Djibril Tamsir Niane (translator) - Partially the basis for The Lion King, along with Hamlet, obvs, and a few other influences.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell












The Hero with an African Face by Clyde W. Ford

From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine's Journey through Myth and Legend by Valerie Estelle Frankel

When God was a Woman by Merlin Stone











Here's the description of the panel Scion or Shafted: Being Mixed-Race in Science Fiction and Fantasy Cultures: "When present in fiction, characters who are mixes of human or fictional races stand at an intersection between two worlds. These characters experiences are often either overdramatized or overlooked. We'll discuss mixed-race characters in media, the nuance of being mixed-race, and how to appropriately represent the mixed-race experience in fiction."

The panelists talked about the lack of representation for mixed-race characters in sci-fi and fantasy (and in most media, really), and discussed how the scant representation is often exoticized or the mixed-race character has to bridge the gap between two societies to save everyone. They also talked about how, especially in sci-fi, the character is often human mixed with some alien race, which reflects other genres, where mixed-race characters are often white and another race, and almost never include representations of mixed-race characters who are not white. When asked for what they thought were some good examples of mixed-race character depictions, here were their responses:

Monstress by Marjorie M. Liu - I've been hearing things about this since it was first coming out. The panelist who recommended it did say that there may be other issues with the series, but the character representation is solid.

The Marauders' Island (Hen and Chick #1) by Tristan J. Tarwater - Tristan was one of the panelists, and she also wrote this book, so feel pretty solid about that one.

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafar - I've had all of Nnedi's books on my list for FOREVER, and actually have Akata Witch on my Kindle waiting to be read, but I just haven't gotten there yet. Definitely moving it up the list. Also, this is the book that was recently announced as a forthcoming series on HBO. George R.R. Martin is also involved, and when press started to come out about it, Nnedi was COMPLETELY left out of most mentions, even though she wrote the damn thing.





Kiku Hughes, an artist and one of the panelists, mentioned that she's involved with an upcoming book, called Alloy Anthology, that is an all ages mixed-race anthology. So I'm looking forward to that as well.

Overall, this was probably the best experience that we've had at GeekGirlCon since we started going. I'm already looking forward to next year, and Gina and I have been pondering some potential panels. The wheels are turning.