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Teen cosplay club works to bring favorite characters to life
Over the last 40-or-so years, cosplaying – or the recreational wearing of costumes to pay homage to favorite fictional characters – has grown from a niche hobby associated with“ geek” culture to a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon.
Nowadays, television news stations often feature segments on local fan conventions and movie premieres showing cosplayers of all ages. Similarly, millions of videos with the hashtag“# cosplay” can be seen on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok that showcase not just cosplay ideas but also techniques that can be used in making costumes. Culturally, the mindset that people grow“ too old to dress up for Halloween” certainly seems to be waning.
In Greenville, W. Walworth Harrison Public Library has been using cosplay at events like its annual LITCON and Fall into a Fantasy Faire as a gateway to stimulating people’ s imagination and desire to read – whether it be in the form of traditional novels or comic-style graphic novels – and thereby promote literacy.
Now with LITCON approaching its eighth year and Fantasy Faire nearing its third, the library officially began its own teen cosplay club at the beginning of this summer.
“ Our cosplay club got started through LITCON,” youth services librarian Christie Melton said.“ One of the teen cosplayers that came to LITCON expressed interest in starting a teen cosplay club where teens could get together and discuss what cosplays they are doing or that they like to do, conventions they have attended and what kinds of shows they like to watch that inspire their cosplay ideas.
6 GREENVILLE LIFE