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Conventions Larp

Knutepunkt Magic Book Weekend

Last weekend was an online conference in support of the publication of the 2021 Knutepunkt book. Of course normally the book coincides with KP itself, and in recent years people have talked about its contents at the conference itself, or perhaps at the Nordic Larp talks that precede it. But this year, as Knutepunkt isn’t happening until October, and the book was ready now, the editors organized an event to celebrate it and showcase some of the excellent stuff that’s been written for it.

I’m not sure if there is a webpage anywhere for the event – it was mostly organized on Facebook, and took place on Zoom, supported by Discord and wonder.me – and actually I don’t think even the programme is online any more. This graphic is the best I could find, and it’s a bit out of date in terms of exactly who was doing what… but it shows the content, anyway:

Knutepunkt Magic Book Weekend programme
Knutepunkt Magic Book Weekend programme

The whole conference was dedicated to, and in support of, the Belarus larp community – friends who are suffering under, but continuing to resist, the crackdown by the dictatorship in that country. Hopefully a good amount of money will have been raised to support the efforts of these people who are struggling for the most basic rights and freedoms against cruel and brutal oppression.

I took part in a panel discussion about ‘Taking charge of your own play’, under the Evocation heading: together with Martine Svanevik, Anna Erlandsson, and Inge-Mette Petersen, kindly coordinated by Eirik Fatland. This followed Inge-Mette reading her article from the book, which talked about five varied larping experiences and what she had gained from each of them.

It was a nice discussion, I thought – the others made some fantastic clear and meaningful points, and we pretty much seemed to agree about most things. There were some great questions afterwards, too. The session was recorded, so hopefully that will become available before too long.

I listened to the readings and panels under the Metamorphosis, Ecstasy, Enchantment, and Cultism headings – as well as the one about publishing etc on Friday evening. It was so enjoyable to hear thoughtful and insightful discussions of this type – something that has been a bit missing from my life during the pandemic.

Then the whole thing ended with a lovely closing ceremony. It must have been a huge amount of work to organize, and it all came together in just a few weeks – the organizers (Nadja Lipsyc, Lars Kristian Løveng Sunde and Kari Kvittingen Djukastein), and everyone else who helped and contributed, are really to be hugely congratulated and thanked.

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