I don’t know how wise it is to shout out to one’s own shout-out; all the cross-blogging and interlinking might prove too much for the ephemeral fabric of the cybertextual continuum, opening a raw singularity out of which droning fleets of gramophones, films, and typewriters will fly like the repressed of our lost predigital literacies. Still, that won’t stop me from thanking Henry Jenkins for the kind mention of Graphic Engine on his blog, Confessions of an Aca-Fan. His take on my postings here, in particular those regarding the Harry Potter series [1], [2], [3], is very generous (and a reminder that I have another post or two in the pipeline on this subject). I’m especially happy to be showcased on Confessions of an Aca-Fan because Henry’s blog, along with Jason Mittell’s and Tim Burke’s, were what inspired me to dive into blogging this summer.

For the last several months, Henry’s been hosting an ongoing conversation/debate about gender and fandom, pairing male and female “aca-fen” for public dialogues (here’s the inaugural entry). My turn is coming up in a few weeks, when I’ll be discussing fandom and gender in light of new media industries with Suzanne Scott, a doctoral student at USC. My initial conversations with Suzanne have been fun and enlightening, and I look forward to sharing our discourse when the spotlight falls on us later in September.

As for Henry Jenkins, well, he’s an up-and-coming scholar with a very bright future. I’d keep my eye on him.