Talking about Harry Potter fan fiction on National Public Radio

  December 30, 2002 at 12:01 AM ET
      MuggleNet
 


A member of the forums sent in a good overview of the show on NPR where they discussed Harry Potter and fan fiction:

I was listening to NPR tonight (about 4:45 pm central) and they just aired a story by Margot Adler about HP fan fiction. It was a nice story, and featured Megan Morrison who writes under the name Arabella who heads the HP fanfic website thesugarquill.net. They explained about what fan fiction is, who writes it and how the website works. They also said it's a harmless hobby and really sorta fun. It was a nice story, complimentary of fan fiction, Harry Potter and the fans who enjoy it all. The point was made that helping young writers is one of the main aims of the website. They even mentioned the beta pairing and editing that all their stories go through. They also mentioned JKR stated in an interview that she was flattered by all the fan fiction. And that for us adult HP fans enjoying Harry Potter is a secret obsession. Margot stated that fan fiction can also lead to people writing their own original fiction.

Immediately following, there was a commentary from another reporter about the ethics of fan fiction and posting it on the net. He said it was not done for profit, and more of an homage than anything. So it was probably OK.

This was a really nice story. It could have been done with an air of "these kooks" but it was nice, respectful and showing how fan fiction is something to be encouraged, not dismissed as childish fantasy. Anyhow, it seems that Harry Potter and fan fiction are a solid part of our modern American culture.

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