Taylor Swift fanposium on February 11 for ‘Swifties’ to prepare for Eras tour

A free event at RMIT’s Capitol Theatre will give “Swifties” the chance to hear from music and culture experts and immerse themselves in the work of modern-day icon Taylor Swift.

The cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift will be the subject of a first-ever “fanposium” in Melbourne next month.

The free event at RMIT’s Capitol Theatre will give “Swifties” the chance to hear from music and culture experts and immerse themselves in the work of a modern-day icon.

It will be followed by the debut Australian public screening of the Miss Americana documentary of 2020.

The RMIT fan forum on February 11 will be held along with a three-day academic “Swiftposium”, announced last year, at Melbourne University starting on the same day.

Kate Pattison at the Capitol Theatre which will stage the ‘fanposium’. Picture: RMIT

The talkfests will be held in the lead-up to the US megastar playing three sellout concerts at the MCG on February 16-18.

Tickets for Swift’s MCG concerts were in huge demand when they went on sale in November.

But last week scalpers were selling tickets up to 483 per cent above the face value.

RMIT fan studies expert Kate Pattison, who is studying for a PhD on Swift, will host the fanposium panel.

“Taylor Swift is absolutely dominating the cultural conversation right now, and people are interested to know why,” Ms Pattison said.

“From the Eras Tour to her rerecordings, she’s more popular than ever.

Swift’s MCG concerts have been in huge demand. Picture: James Devaney

“She’s already broken a number of records and is ­showing no signs of slowing down.”

Ms Pattison said the interest in the academic forum meant the fanposium was an obvious step.

“Taylor Swift has always been known to have a great connection with her fans and that will only accelerate with the Eras Tour,” she said.

Swiftmania was a joyful ­release for the singer’s adoring public, she added.

“It’s fun and it’s celebratory. A few decades ago fans were often seen as hysterical. Our understanding of fandom and the productivity and impacts of fans is now better understood and respected.”

Academic research into the pop and cultural phenomena covered areas such as economic impact, fan engagement and marketing, advocacy, gender issues and songwriting.

Tickets for the fanposium will be available from 1pm on Monday.

Meanwhile, Swift’s camp is reportedly fuming after a New York Times opinion piece last week speculated about the Grammy winner’s sexuality.

“There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how ­invasive, untrue and inappropriate it is – all under the protective veil of an ‘opinion piece’,” a source told CNN.

The lengthy op-ed compiles a laundry list of what the writer labels as “evidence” that allegedly proves the Blank Space singer is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.