Harrison Public Library begins announcing guests for 2024 LitCon

Nov. 21—The W. Walworth Harrison Public Library has already been drumming up interest for its fifth annual LitCon by announcing some of the voice actors who plan to visit Greenville for the event in March.

Since 2019 (with one year off due to COVID-19), the library has been organizing the event as a celebration of the science fiction, fantasy and superhero genres in pop culture. It's also been a time for the library to highlight its collection of graphic novels (which can be thought of as long-form comic books) and young adult fiction.

As in years past, the library is planning a LitCon full of vendors, video game tournaments, costume contests and special guests. However, due to how much the event had been growing in popularity over the years, this one will be at the Fletcher Warren Civic Center.

So far, the library has announced three voice actors whose talents can be heard in English-language dubs for several popular anime (Japanese animated) series.

One of the scheduled guests is former Greenville resident Amanda Gish, who currently has at least 150 anime voice acting credits to her name, with some of her favorite rolls being Witch from "Goblin Slayer," Hop from "Dragon Ball Super," Sanae Hououin from "Keijo," Mariah Grene from "Hetena Illusion," and Kinoko Komori from "My Hero Academia." In addition to voice acting, she also enjoys cosplaying at various events.

Many people in the Greenville arts scene may remember Gish as a "triple threat" — acting, singing and dancing in stage musicals like the Texan Theater's 2015 production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," as well as numerous other productions during her years as a student at Greenville High School, and later at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Even though voice acting/voice over work has been her focus for the last few years, Gish has continued to act in front of the camera, mostly in commercials. She's also a former member of Dallas-based K-pop (South Korean pop music) dance group Izavibe, and also sang in a K-pop cover band called Black Rose Garden.

Another one of the voice actors planning to attend LitCon this coming year is native Texan Lara Woodhill. She is known for voicing Mirai from "Senran Kagura," Eco from "Dragonar Academy," Ikazuchi from "Kantai Collection," Hinami Fueguchi from "Tokyo Ghoul," Maika Tsuchimikado in "A Certain Magical Index" and Axel Nishigori in "Yuri!!! On Ice."

The third guest for the event who's already been announced for LitCon 2024 is Stephanie Nadolny, who in addition to anime dubbing, is also an active singer and does voiceovers and voice acting for various television series, films, commercials, radio spots and video games.

LitCon 2024 will be on March 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fletcher Warren Civic Center.