The Children’s Literary Cafe 8/1: Fan Phenomena and Literature for Youth

I came this close to calling it "The Harry Potter vs. Twilight Smackdown" but that’s not really the deal.  To wit –

The Children’s Literary Café at the new Children’s Center at 42 ^nd Street is pleased to announce our event on Saturday, August 1st at 2:00 p.m.:

The fan phenomenon.  It’s about bringing your love of literature out into the open where you can celebrate it with a community of like-minded people.  Since the advent of the internet, fans have never been able to meet and gather with more ease.  On this panel, Melissa Anelli of The Leaky Cauldron (the most all-encompassing Harry Potter fan site) and Laura Byrne-Cristiano of the Twilight Lexicon will be present to discuss online communities and what it means to take fandom to another level.

Webmistress Melissa Anelli is a freelance writer living in New York City who is smitten by all things Harry Potter.  These days Melissa spends even more of her free time writing a book chronicling the Harry Potter fan phenomeon.  She is the author of the New York Times Bestseller Harry, a History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon.

Laura Byrne-Cristiano is one of the co-owners of the Twilight Lexicon.  Aside from running what is arguably the longest continually operating Twilight website on the Internet, Ms. Byrne-Cristiano used to be one of the moderators of the Werewolf Registry.

The Children’s Literary Café is a monthly gathering of adults who are fans of children’s literature.   Professionals, librarians, authors, illustrators, publishers, booksellers, teachers, and anyone else interested in the field are welcome to attend our meetings.   The Literary Café provides free Advanced Readers galleys, a rotating series of talks with professionals in the field, and great conversation.   This program is for adults only.

New York Public Library
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (a.k.a. the one with the lions)
The Auditorium (ask at the front Info Desk how to get there)
5th Avenue and 42nd Street
New York, NY 10018

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