Posts in Fannish Histories
OTW Signal, October 2022
Every month in OTW Signal we’ll take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including legal, technology, academic, fannish history, and preservation issues that are important for fandom, fan culture or transformative works. In the News Just in time for OTW’s celebration of its 15th anniversary came a retrospective on the organization at The Verge. Interviews with a number of early volunteers, board members and project founders revealed a variety of perspectives on what the OTW was needed for. One part discussed the importance of the legal aspects of fanfiction’s status, and how educating fans about their rights was a… Read more
OTW Guest Post: Constance Penley
Every month the OTW hosts guest posts on our OTW News accounts to provide an outside perspective on the OTW or aspects of fandom. These posts express each individual’s personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Constance Penley (she/her) is a film and media studies professor at UC Santa Barbara who is a fan of fandom (and Escapade’s No. 1 fan). Two of her proudest affiliations are the Transformative Works and Cultures Editorial Board and the Free Speech Coalition Board of Directors. Today, Constance talks about her affiliation with slash fandom and fandom’s endurance. How did… Read more
Celebrating the OTW’s 15th Anniversary
Today, the Organization for Transformative Works turns 15! Since its foundation in 2007, the Organization for Transformative Works has strived to provide access to and preserve the history of fanworks and fan culture, and it’s been an honor to do so through all of our projects for these last 15 years. Some of our major milestones over the last four years are shown below. For a look at more from our earlier days, visit the freshly-updated infographics on our website. We’re incredibly grateful to all of the fans, volunteers, and OTW members who have brought our projects to life and made this work possible. We… Read more
OTW Guest Post: macgyvershe|eagle wings
Every month the OTW hosts guest posts on our OTW News accounts to provide an outside perspective on the OTW or aspects of fandom. These posts express each individual’s personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. macgyvershe|eagle wings is a senior fan bird (73 years) who is a self-taught, multimedia artist, fanfic writer and illustrator; poet and all round ‘sleepy time gal’ (as their dad called them). macgyvershe considers themselves queer though they’re still trying to determine what pronouns to use. She/her were all that was ever allowed in their youth. Today, macgyvershe|eagle wings talks about… Read more
Celebrating the OTW’s 14th Anniversary
Break out the party hats, the Organization for Transformative Works is 14 today! We are delighted to celebrate another anniversary with you all. The OTW’s mission since we launched has been to protect fan history and culture in all its forms. All of our projects work towards this goal. Over the past 14 years, OTW volunteers have rescued hundreds of fanworks from threatened platforms and archives; acted as a voice for fans regarding copyright legislation around the world; published 35 journal issues’ worth of peer-reviewed fan studies scholarship; built and supported a fan culture wiki that our users have edited over 1 million times; and… Read more