For our pre-Beedle the Bard release episode, we couldn’t think of a better person to talk to than Travis Prinzi, from the Hogs Head. As you may (or may not) know, Travis is an expert on fairy tales and he spoke to us about why Fairy Tales Matter and why they shouldn’t be dismissed. We also spoke about the concept of having a fairy tale within a fairy tale: specifically Beedle the Bard in Harry Potter. Travis had a whole lot of interesting information and we can’t wait for you to hear what he had to say.

Travis has a book coming out in several weeks titled: Harry Potter and Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds. It is now available fore pre-order, so make sure you check it out!!

We also discussed the results of our Beedle the Bard Contest, which we wrote about in the last blog post.

And make sure you check out the information on helping out the HPEF while making holiday purchases (including Beedle the Bard!) at Barnes and Noble during the beginning of December.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or dowload it directly as an mp3.

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In this week’s episode we discussed the idea of female role models in the Harry Potter series. It is somewhat ironic that JK Rowling, a female author, chose to create a wonderful male role model as her main character. Many people have complained that there is a serious lack of quality feminist role models in the Harry Potter Series. Whether you agree or disagree with that, it is an interesting discussion to have. One critic of the feminine characters in Harry Potter is Elizabeth Heilman who wrote the essay titled, “Blue Wizards and Pink Witches: Representations of Gender Identity and Power.” She presented this essay at the HPEF conference, Nimbus 2003. Obviously, the series wasn’t complete when she offered her thoughts, but excerpts from the essay are a great springboard for an interesting discussion on the female characters of Harry Potter.

As always we look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

Remember, you can now pre-order Travis Prinzi’s Book: ““Harry Potter and Imagination”. Also, make sure you register for Azkatraz 2009 (remember to write hpprogs in the referral area!)- we can’t wait to see you there!

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

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Our good friend Travis, over at The Hog’s Head announced that his book, “Harry Potter and Imagination” is now available for pre-order!Please help support one of the great Potter intellectual minds by ordering what is bound to be a great book!

Also, Dave from the Hog’s Head asked me to post the following information about a Harry Potter survey:

A classmate of mine at Old Dominion University forwarded me a survey link to gather data about what drives Harry Potter fans to love the books, and to take part in communities like ours here at The Hog’s Head. The project is a pilot study for a course in research methods for PhD students — which might lead to a publication, if she so pursues it.

You can find the survey by clicking on this link!

She’s asking that we help her out by sparing a few minutes to take the survey. As if we only spare a few minutes talking about all things Harry!

Obviously your participation is voluntary, and all information is collected under the strictest rules of confidentiality. I know — we had to gain approval for our research proposals through the same review board!