- The Atlantic explored the appeal of shipping. “Shipping may have achieved prominence in the burgeoning world of Internet fan fiction, but the phenomenon, if not the expression, goes back at least a hundred years, when Sybil Brinton, a wealthy Englishwoman in her forties, wrote the first known work of Jane Austen fan fiction, ‘Old Friends and New Fancies,’ in 1913. In this self-proclaimed ‘sequel,’ Brinton mimicked Jane Austen’s voice as she imagined non-canonical pairings of well-loved characters from all six of Austen’s novels.”
- VietNamNet Bridge discussed a national fanfic contest. “During Japanese Literature Week in Ha Noi (December 26 to January 8), Japanese books will be promoted at seminars, film screenings and exhibitions…kicking the event off with the awards ceremony of a fan fiction contest. The nationwide contest, which opened on November 4, asked Vietnamese readers to create fan fiction based on works by prestigious Japanese authors such as Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Ogawa Yoko and Higashino Keigo.”
- Rocket News 24 profiled a fan whose art reinterpreted Sailor Moon characters as black African women. “Born and raised in New Jersey to Nigerian parents, Odera Igbokwe is an illustrator who ‘loves to explore storytelling through character archetypes, afro-diasporic mythologies, and magical girl transformation sequences.’ Sailor moon is one of Odera’s major inspirations and the recent broadcast of the remake Sailor Moon Crystal inspired them to finally create fanart for it.”
- Publishers Weekly profiled an author who discussed her fanfic roots. “The interest from publishers is understandable—Jackson’s A Pound of Flesh has been viewed more than four million times on FanFiction.net and it has over 21,000 user reviews (including a rave from a Quebecois grandmother who read the book in French using Google Translate). Not bad for a schoolteacher who says she had no literary ambitions growing up.”
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