Fantasy is a central element of human culture—framing, shaping, and binding together ways of thinking, doing and being that span the gamut of human expression and action. Today, its manifestations encompass the full range of contemporary narrative, visual, and performing arts including literature, film, TV, comics, theatre, illustration, advertising and gaming. It provides a crucial interdisciplinary space to stimulate fruitful conversations between widely different areas of research and creativity.

On Friday May 10th, an ArtsLab-funded Fantasy Symposium brings together researchers, practitioners, and creative industry professionals to discuss theoretical and practical questions raised by using fantasy as a discourse and subject. This is the first step towards establishing a Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow.

The Symposium will close with a keynote address by Terri Windling, award-winning author, editor, artist, and essayist, whose multi-faceted work on fantasy has been often inspired by myth, folklore, and fairy tales. The title of her lecture will be:

The Power of Story: re-creating the world through fantasy

For accessibility queries please e-mail: arts-fantasy@glasgow.ac.uk

(Photo credit: Alan Lee)