Posts in Fannish Practices
OTW Signal, June 2025
Every month in OTW Signal, we take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including issues related to legal matters, technology, academia, fannish history and preservation issues of fandom, fan culture, and transformative works. In the News The Conversation’s article “The lore of ‘lore’” explores how fandom fueled the reinvention of a 1,000-year-old word: Now essential online slang, [“lore”] can be traced back to Old English, where it referred primarily to learning, as in the act of teaching or being taught. Over time, lore came to be associated with more informal knowledge, passed on through word of mouth … [but… Read more
OTW Signal, April 2025
Every month in OTW Signal, we take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including issues related to legal matters, technology, academia, fannish history and preservation issues of fandom, fan culture, and transformative works. In the News In January, author Shanjida Nusrath Ali gathered with academics, writers and readers of many ages at The Bookworm Bangladesh in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for an exploration of erotic literature and taboo. The event, “Trigger Warning: Dark Romance”, hosted by Sister Library, invited those in attendence to consider the nature of dark romance and its growing popularity in Bangladesh. Their discussion might resonate with some… Read more
OTW Guest Post: within_a_dream
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. Within_a_dream, one of the moderators of the Femslash Exchange, is a fic writer and exchange mod who spends far too much time picking up new canons to obsess over. She’s been modding exchanges since college and writing fic for as long as she can remember, although it took her some time to discover that she could post it online. Today,… Read more
OTW Guest Post: Quordle
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. Quordle has been a slash fan and fanfic writer since the 1980s and first started writing M*A*S*H fanfic in 2003. Iolanthe was then an online friend and fellowM*A*S*H fan. Quordle loved her stories and wanted to archive them after her death. Today, Quordle talks about making that wish a reality by creating a memorial archive for Iolanthe’s works with the… Read more
Transformative Works and Cultures Releases No. 39
Transformative Works and Cultures has released No. 39, “Trans Fandom,” guest edited by Jennifer Dugan and Angie Fazekas. This issue seeks to “widen our knowledge of trans fans and fandoms” and hopes that it “will not only bring trans fans out of the margins of fan studies but also that the special issue will reflect the changing face of fandom, in which gender identities appear to be increasingly diverse.” The editors emphasize that the articles in this special issue are invested in the role of fandom in trans communities, as well as “the political work that is carried out by trans fans and their allies… Read more