Schedule

Join us for the first annual Super Heroines Con where we will celebrate feminist creators through events designed just for you! Learn about artists, writers, storytellers, and creators who are changing the world of fandom.

Day 1 – Monday, August 3

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6:00 - 7:00 pm ET

Google Meet

Will be recorded.

Livestream

Join in without being recorded.

Academic Renegades: Scholarly Investigations into Fandom

hosted by Michelle Crowley, and joined by Chrisha Anderson, PhD; Tanya Cook, PhD; Kaela Joseph, PhD; Dr. Rebecca L. Salois

Can’t go to your favorite Comic Con this year? We’ll bring it to you every day in our classrooms. Join us as we talk about using fandom and nerdiness in our professional settings.

Tanya Cook is a sociology professor at the Community College of Aurora near Denver, Colorado. Her current research project, Always Keep Nerd Fighting: Fandoms as Social Movements, investigates how and why fans are becoming more charitable and politically engaged. When she is not trying to find new ways to use popular culture and fandom to democratize the classroom, you can probably find her at comic con.

Dr. Chrisha Anderson is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, author, fangirl, researcher, podcaster, and gamer with a PhD in the study of human behavior. Her research focuses on the impact of science fiction fandom involvement on psychological well-being, including ways in which fandom community, fanfiction, activism, and advocacy impact mental health.

Dr. Rebecca L. Salois is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Baruch College in New York City. She teaches in both the English Department and the Black and Latino Studies Department. She specializes in Caribbean and US Latinx visual literatures and hosts a Literature and pop-culture podcast entitled Why Do We Read This?

Michelle Crowley is a communication lecturer at Northern Kentucky University. She teaches Public Speaking and Popular Culture. Her current research foci include villains, Supernatural, and fandom studies.

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7:00 - 8:00 pm ET

Google Meet

Will be recorded.

Livestream

Join in without being recorded.

Find Your Activist Archetype

...and see how you can take action!

Archetypes are roles we see used repetitively in fiction. From oral storytelling to the modern blockbuster movie, archetypes of certain characters have reappeared throughout time. For our friends who play roleplaying games, you might see some familiar themes.

Take the quiz and join us to learn more about how you can use your activist archetype to be more involved in activism efforts.

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8:00 - 9:00 pm ET

Happy Hour

Join us daily for a con Happy Hour!

Discuss events from the day and meet our vendors.

Hosted by our friends the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Meet our vendors, Bloody Sabbath Art and 9th Level Games.

Day 2 – Tuesday, August 4

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6:00 - 7:00 pm ET

An Intro to Streaming with Rockette Fox

Where and how do you get started?

These days it’s easier than ever to share your passions with an online community through streaming, and with lockdown virtual content has become an even more important way to connect. But where and how do you get started? Join streamer, storyteller, and artist Rockette Fox for this intro into the world of streaming as she shares tips, tricks, and logistics of getting started with streaming!

Rockette Fox is a Korean-American storyteller, artist, performer, streamer, and activist that draws on her biracial heritage to create subversive works whose whimsical and sometimes dark aesthetic reflects her love for the nerdier side of culture as well as to challenge more difficult social topics. As a storyteller and performer, she has told live stories, emceed, performed, and spoken nationally on topics such as diversity and representation in media, creating safer spaces, and education and empowerment for over fifteen years. She is also honored to have spent six years as the former president of the board for Super Heroines, Etc!

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7:00 - 8:00 pm ET

Google Meet

Will be recorded.

Livestream

Participate without being in the recording.

Finding Creative Inspiration in History

Hear from a variety of writers on how they find inspiration in history.
Emily Logue-Rose

Emily Logue-Rose

Moderator

Emily Logue-Rose is the Manager of Community Collaborations at the Cincinnati Museum Center. In her role she is the program manager of STEM Girls, a program which aims to keep kids, primarily girls, engaged in STEM by introducing them to women working in a variety of STEM Fields. She does targeted neighborhood outreach in the Price Hill community and also oversees museum volunteers and interns. She has been with Cincinnati Museum Center for 7 ½ years and has had many roles in her time there, but is fortunate to get to work with the public and the community on a daily basis. 

Sean Andres

Sean Andres

Sean Andres is the  Marketing and Communications Manager Cincinnati education non-profit KnowledgeWorks. He has a bachelor’s degree in secondary English/Language Arts education from Ball State University and a master’s degree in marketing from the University of Cincinnati. In addition to volunteering for multiple historical organizations in the area, Sean operates public history project Queens of Queen City to share women’s stories from Cincinnati history. He is currently on a second-wave research team of reviving the most popular poet in the second half of the 19th century from obscurity, Sarah Piatt, and has forthcoming publications in New Territory Magazine, Echoes Magazine, and Paideuma Poetry Journal.

Leanna Renee Hieber

Leanna Renee Hieber

Actress, Playwright, Author

Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright and the author of over thirteen Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy novels for adults and teens for Tor and Kensington Books such as the Strangely Beautiful saga, the Magic Most Foul trilogy, the Eterna Files trilogy and The Spectral City series. The Strangely Beautiful series hit Barnes & Noble and Borders Bestseller lists and garnered numerous regional genre awards, with revised editions now available from Tor. The Spectral City, a ghost-filled Gothic series with Kensington Books, has been a bestseller across several genres and platforms. A four-time Prism Award winner and Daphne du Maurier Award finalist, her short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and her books have been translated into many languages. She tours the country with By the Light of Tiffany: A Meeting with Clara Driscoll, a one-woman theatrical presentation about the 19th century designer of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s stained-glass lamps. For writers’ resources, free reads and more visit: http://leannareneehieber.com

Chelsie Hoskins

Chelsie Hoskins

Educator, Writer, Marketing Consultant, and Historian

Chelsie Hoskins is an educator, writer, marketing consultant, and historian from Hamilton, Ohio. Whether in the classroom, writing for Queens of Queen City, or working on the novel she’s been locking in her desk drawer, she realizes our world is growing and changing on a daily basis and in order to understand it, we must be able to read the signs around us. From actually understanding an email to decoding the rhetorical complexities of a political speech or sourcing information found on social media, Language Arts is a critical component to creating a citizen that understands the importance of the relationship between reading, technology and community. She sees the nexus of this as her calling — creating equitable space to decode truth from a myriad of perspectives.

Nick Keeling

Nick Keeling

Urban Planner and Historian

Nick Keeling is an urban planner and historian who lives in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Price Hill. He focuses both his professional and personal life around community building with an emphasis on intersectionality and being a good neighbor. Currently, Nick is researching the history of a forgotten affordable housing community that once existed in Walnut Hills, called the Cincinnati Model Homes Company. When he is not digging through historical archives, he can often be found watching trains, performing piano, or hosting local art events. 

Aiesha Little

Aiesha Little

SHE Fellow

Aiesha Little is a writer, editor, cosplayer, and co-founder of the Midwest Black Speculative Fiction Alliance, an organization which champions speculative fiction works by African American and African diasporic creators. Aiesha has presented at numerous conferences and conventions, including the International Steampunk Symposium, Pandoracon and the Marianne D. McComb Biennial Conference on Creative Writing. She is a member of the steampunk cosplay group Airship Ashanti, which promotes multiculturalism and diversity within the steampunk and cosplay communities. Her articles and interviews on steampunk, cosplay, and geek culture have appeared in Cincinnati Magazine, BLKBOARD, Ghettoblaster magazine, New World Comics’ “Comics Empower” project and more. You can view her work at www.aieshadlittle.com.

Nikki Taylor

Nikki Taylor

Professor of U.S. History and Chair of the Department of History at Howard University

Dr. Nikki M. Taylor is a Professor of U.S. History and Chair of the Department of History at Howard University. She earned her PhD in U.S. History (and a certificate in Women’s Studies) from Duke University. Her research focus is 19th Century History, with a special focus on the History of Black Freedom in the Age of Slavery, Women’s History, Intellectual History, and Urban History. In those veins, Dr. Taylor has authored 3 monographs in those areas including, Frontiers of Freedom: Cincinnati’s Black Community 1802-1868 and Driven Toward Madness: The Fugitive Slave Margaret Garner and Tragedy on the Ohio (2016). Her current project is about enslaved women who waged armed resistance to slavery. She has been awarded several prestigious fellowships and grants throughout her career, including a Fulbright to Ghana and Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Grant. In 2017, she successfully secured a half a million-dollar institutional grant to establish the prestigious Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program at Howard University—the first HBCU with its own program. Throughout her career, she has held several academic leadership positions including as department Chair, Interim Dean, and Historian of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.

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8:00 - 9:00 pm ET

Happy Hour

Join us daily for a con Happy Hour!

Grab your favorite cold drink and discuss events from the day and meet our vendors. Vendors showcasing:

  • Feminist Book Club – Meet Renee Powers, founder of Feminist Book Club and learn how to join this excellent subscription service.

Today’s Happy Hour sponsored by The Harry Potter Alliance. Meet the HPA during this Happy Hour!

Day 3 – Wednesday, August 5

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7:00 - 8:00 pm ET

Google Meet

Will be recorded.

Livestream

Join without being recorded.

Black Women Dreaming: Exploring support, sisterhood and nerdship as BIPOC

Presented by Black Nerd Problems
Nicole Homer

Nicole Homer

Nicole Homer is a New Jersey based writer and educator. Her work can be found in the American Academy of Poets Poem-a-DayMuzzle, The Offing, Winter Tangerine, Rattle, The Collagist and elsewhere. A fellow of both The Watering Hole and Callaloo, Nicole serves as an Editor and regular contributor at BlackNerdProblems, writing critique of media and pop culture—especially zombies. Their full-length poetry collection, Pecking Order (Write Bloody) won the Eric Hoffer Poetry Award. As the 2018 Dartmouth Poet-in-Residence at The Frost Place, she lived in Robert Frost’s Franconia home, drank coffee, and worked on her next project, Fast Tail. They received a 2020 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She can be found online as @realnicolehomer. 

Leslie E.H. Light

Leslie E.H. Light

Leslie E.H. Light is a writer, editor, mother, and pound cake enthusiast. She stands up for Black Speculative Fiction at BlackNerdProblems.com, where she’s a writer and editor. Her short fiction has been published in Finding Home: Community in Apocalyptic Worlds and she’s self-published a novel — The Queen of Hunger — a Cyberpunk revenge story of a Black woman and her Gods. You can follow her opinions on everything from Star Trek to Wolverine on Twitter, @LEHLight.

Carrie McClain

Carrie McClain

Carrie McClain is a Californian native who navigates the world as writer, editor, and media scholar who firmly believes that we can and we should critique the media we consume. She once aided Cindi Mayweather in avoiding capture. See more of her on Twitter and on https://carriemcclain.carrd.co/
Izetta Nicole

Izetta Nicole

Poet, personality and emcee, Izetta Nicole has performed on various local and national stages. She has served as a panelist at various conventions including Geek Girl Con Seattle and Cincinnati Comic Expo. Izetta is known for speaking on inclusivity in media, social justice topics and gender related studies in early childhood education. As a moderator, mc and poet, Izetta has worked with local organizations such as The Ohio State University, Creative Control Fest, Streetlight Guild, ComFest, the Columbus Education Association and more. Izetta won the 2013 Columbus Arts Festival poetry contest. She continues her career as an educator, hosts a weekly FB Live show entitled Auntie Zettie’s Read Aloud Time and is a staff writer for www.blacknerdproblems.com.

Izetta is both an educator and social activist. 

She lives in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio with the love of her life Tiffani, fur baby #therealWilloSmith and 20+ plant babies. You can follow her Hufflepuffian streams of consciousness on IG and Twitter @IzettaNicole. 

Brittany N. Williams

Brittany N. Williams

Brittany N. Williams is a staff writer for Black Nerd Problems with her work also appearing on Tor.com and in The Indypendent. As a classically-trained actress, she’s performed on three continents including a year spent as a principal vocalist at Hong Kong Disneyland. She’s a featured author in the upcoming Star Wars anthology, From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, and currently working on her first novel, That Self-Same Metal, a YA historical fantasy set in William Shakespeare’s London.
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8:00 - 9:00 pm ET

Happy Hour

Join us daily for a con Happy Hour!

Grab your favorite cold drink and discuss events from the day and meet our vendors.

Vendors:

Day 4 – Thursday, August 6

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6:00 - 7:00 pm ET

Google Meet

Will be recorded.

Livestream

Enjoy the event without being part of the recording.

Writer’s Salon

Workshop your writing with fellow super heroines! In partnership with Black Girls Create.

One of the most exciting (and scary) parts of writing is sharing your thoughts. Honestly, some of our most revered writers have had a hard time sharing because so many times, we identify with our creative output and we don’t want someone to “hate” it. The truth is that many people, regardless of their talent, benefit from sharing their creativity. Not just putting oneself out there but hearing and listening, too. It’s guaranteed that you can get good ideas for present or future work by sitting with some like-minded folk.

That’s why we want to give you this opportunity. Writing poetry? Working on a book? Writing the next chapter of your epic fanfiction? Building the background for a badass RPG? This is our call for your creative output. 

Here’s the process:

  1. PREPARE. Choose a piece of writing to share with our group and make sure that (when reading) it is no more than 5 minutes in length. If you want to excerpt a piece, that’s fine. 

  2. MINDSET. Come to our session on with your heart full! You’ll be sharing creativity, absorbing, and chatting about ideas.

  3. COMMENTARY. Let’s taco ‘bout it, eh? We want to provide constructive, positive feedback. We want to talk about what’s working, why it works, and then we want to wonder about what comes next in creative work.

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7:00 - 8:30 pm ET

Google Meet

Will be recorded.

Livestream

Enjoy the event without being part of the recording.

#ThrowbackThursday: Romance Revisited

Five years later, we're bringing back this popular event!

Meet romance novelists who are defying genre and making creative, feminist works! Learn about intersectional feminism in the world of romance novels and ask your questions to these incredible authors.

Featured authors:

This session will be recorded.

Angie Fox

Angie Fox

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Angie Fox writes sweet, fun, action-packed mysteries. Her characters are clever and fearless, but in real life, Angie is afraid of basements, bees, and going up stairs when it is dark behind her. Let’s face it. Angie wouldn’t last five minutes in one of her books. 

Angie is best known for her SOUTHERN SPIRITS™ mysteries, and for her ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER books. 

Jeannie Lin

Jeannie Lin

Jeannie Lin started writing in 2005 while she was teaching high school. After a long journey through rejections and contests and revisions, her manuscript, Butterfly Swords, won the 2009 Golden Heart® award for historical romance. Her first two books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Library Journal and her second novel, The Dragon and the Pearl, was listed as one of Library Journal’s Best Romances of 2011. Check the Books section for information on individual titles and release dates.

Her stories are inspired by her love of adventure, history, and fantasy in both western and Asian traditions. From an early age she was fascinated by legends of King Arthur and the fantasy of Lord of the Rings as well as the Chinese wuxia (martial arts) fiction. As a result, she writes heroic characters in epic situations while interweaving a strong romance to make larger than life characters human. For more on wuxia and the historical background to her books, see the extras section.

Jeannie is represented by Gail Fortune of the Talbot Fortune Agency Inc.

Shawntelle Madison

Shawntelle Madison

Shawntelle Madison is a web developer who loves to weave words as well as code. She’d never admit it, but if asked she’d say she covets and collects source code. After losing her first summer job detasseling corn, Shawntelle performed various jobs—from fast-food clerk to grunt programmer to university webmaster. Writing eccentric characters is her most favorite job of them all. On any particular day when she’s not surgically attached to her computer, she can be found watching cheesy horror movies or the latest action-packed anime. She lives in Missouri with her husband and children.

Latest Release: Thrift Store Trolls

Blurb: Something wicked is coming to South Toms River, New Jersey.

Selling haunted trinkets and witches’ wands is just another normal day for the delightfully neurotic werewolf Natalya Stravinsky. From one day to another, as the new South Toms River Pack alpha female, she tries to keep finicky supernatural customers placated while managing her underhanded goblin boss and eccentric supernatural co-workers. Her life is complicated further when competition rolls in: a peculiar troll-owned mart with subpar haunted knick-knacks and deadly antiques appears.

A powerful fairy path veers off course, heading towards South Toms River, attracting the attention of a deadly, shadowed force. Mysterious steamer trunks from the 1920s pop up all over town, unleashing horrific beasts. Natalya must find the inner strength to bring her pack together to uncover the culprit before her enemies threaten everyone she holds dear.

Rachel Reid

Rachel Reid

Rachel Reid writes cute, romantic smut, mostly about hockey players. Her Game Changers male/male hockey romance series is available from Carina Press. Rachel lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. She has always lived there, and it’s looking like she probably always will. She has two boring degrees and two interesting kids. Her latest book, Common Goal, will be released on September 21 from Carina Press.

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8:30 - 9:30 pm ET

Happy Hour

Join us daily for a con Happy Hour!

Grab your favorite cold drink and discuss events from the day and meet our vendors. 

Vendors:

Day 5 – Friday, August 7

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5:30 - 6:30 pm ET

Wellness for Geeks Who Sit

Do you know a group of gamers, writers, cosplayers, artists, or simply folks who spends a lot of time sitting at a desk?
This  seated movement-based workshop is designed to help with those aches and pains that we develop over time from being hunched over the latest armor build or beating the final boss. Attendees will leave with a brand-new set of skills in their health arsenal including mobility stretches, strength movements, and nutritional tips.
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7:00 - 8:00 pm ET

Craft & Crab

For crafters and aspiring creators

We have all fallen victim to overbuying craft supplies. It’s part of the joy of creativity, the surge of unfettered imagination at the prospect of a new project. Sometimes, however, that project and all it’s fixins go untouched on a shelf or in a drawer. Well it’s time to dust off those [insert name of supplies or tools] and get motivated together! Craft & Crab is your chance to pick any project you’ve been putting off and set aside some time to work on it, together! Join us in our crafting free-for-all and finally do that craft you’ve been longing to do. We’ll join each other in a Discord video chat while we work and be able to share techniques, ask questions, and most importantly: inspire one another! See you there!

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8:00 - 9:00 pm ET

Happy Hour

Join us daily for a con Happy Hour!

Grab your favorite cold drink and discuss events from the day and meet our vendors. Meet our awesome vendors Atomic Pixies and Valentine Barker!

Day 6 – Saturday, August 8

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11:00 am - 12:00 pm ET

Brunch!

Join us for a brunch to meet vendors and hangout!

Grab your favorite cold drink, get ready for the events of the day and meet our vendors.

Vendors:

Handzy Shop+Studio

Microcosm Publishing

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2:00 - 3:00 pm ET

Google Meet

Will be recorded.

Livestream

Watch without being recorded.

The Fangirl Business: From Passion to Podcast

Join creators and co-hosts Chrisha Anderson, PhD and Catherine McKenna, MA as they discuss their podcasting origin story: how their shared passion of Supernatural and academia led to creating a podcast discussing and analyzing the show and the fandom from literary and mental health perspectives — all while living in two different countries!

Dr. Chrisha Anderson

Dr. Chrisha Anderson

Dr. Chrisha Anderson is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, author, fangirl, researcher, podcaster, and gamer with a PhD in the study of human behavior. Chrisha has been a licensed therapist for over a decade and incorporates fiction, fandom, and geek culture into her clinical practice.  Her research focuses on the impact of science fiction fandom involvement on psychological well-being, including ways in which fandom community, fanfiction, activism, and advocacy impact mental health. Chrisha participates in convention and conference panels nationwide, co-hosts The Fangirl Business podcast on emotional coping within the Supernatural fandom, and is often found fangirling on Twitter (@drfangirlphd).

Catherine McKenna

Catherine McKenna

Catherine McKenna has her MA in English Literature from the University of Connecticut. Her skill in research, writing, and literary analysis has been recognized both by her alma mater and by international academic associations. She currently works in an academic setting for the federal government of Canada, helping scientists to communicate their research to the general public. Catherine also co-hosts and edits “The Fangirl Business,” a podcast about the final season of the longest-running genre series in American broadcast history, Supernatural. In her spare time you can find her cuddling with her cats, writing, or hanging out on Twitter (@CatherineinNB).

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4:00 - 5:00 pm ET

Empowering Your Story with Rockette Fox

Storytelling is all around us. From commercials, to film, to video games, to the things we tell ourselves when something hasn’t gone according to plan. It is how we make sense of the world around us and understand our places within it. Of course it’s hard to feel empowered when we are continually inundated with stories that push us down, set impossible standards, hurt, and disappoint. Join storyteller, artist, and streamer Rockette Fox as we confront this head on by taking the reins and giving voice to our own stories. In this workshop we will walkthrough getting started with telling your personal story in a way that empowers you. When we give our stories space, we validate ourselves. Your story deserves to be heard. You are valid. (This workshop will come with a downloadable worksheet)

Rockette Fox is a Korean-American storyteller, artist, performer, streamer, and activist that draws on her biracial heritage to create subversive works whose whimsical and sometimes dark aesthetic reflects her love for the nerdier side of culture as well as to challenge more difficult social topics. As a storyteller and performer, she has told live stories, emceed, performed, and spoken nationally on topics such as diversity and representation in media, creating safer spaces, and education and empowerment for over fifteen years. She is also honored to have spent six years as the former president of the board for Super Heroines, Etc!

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8:00 - 9:00 pm ET

Happy Hour

Join us daily for a con Happy Hour!

Grab your favorite cold drink and discuss events from the day and meet our vendors. 

Vendors:

Shishido Creative

The Art Sob

Day 7 – Sunday, August 9

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1:00 - 5:00 pm ET

Various

Exact platform TBD by each game. 

Learn A game

Whether you have a closet full of board games you’re looking to break out or one night of rolling dice has gotten you hooked on Settlers of Catan, Learn a Game With SHE has something for everyone.

Schedule announced soon!

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6:00 - 7:00 pm ET

Happy Hour

Join us daily for a con Happy Hour!

Grab your favorite cold drink and discuss events from the day and meet our vendors.

Vendor:

Register Now!

Join us for the first annual Super Heroines Con where we will celebrate feminist creators through events designed just for you! Learn about artists, writers, storytellers, and creators who are changing the world of fandom.