Rob Hansen's

rob@fiawol.demon.co.uk

My Blog

FUTURIAN WAR DIGEST Futurian War Digest was an important World War II UK newszine, one that should be available online as a research resource and for general interest. Now it will be. This is an ongoing project to get all 39 issues OCRed, copyedited, and online within a year. One issue will be added every week enabling you to follow how fans of the day struggled to keep their community going in a world at war. Old news hot off the presses every Saturday! Futurian War Digest _________________________________________________________________ SF FANDOM IN THE UK: A HISTORY Stored online in the UK and in the US, my wide-ranging history of the UK branch of Science Fiction Fandom (which is believed by many to be the direct low-tech ancestor of the modern Internet community) begins with its birth in 1930 and covers its fascinating and often turbulent history over the following half-century. Doing extensive research in public records and old fanzines, as well as writing to and conducting interviews with many old time fans, I uncovered surprising links to contemporary peace groups, the counter-culture, and even to the Beatles. The first major work to cover this subject in the UK, it's become the standard reference. THEN _________________________________________________________________ FAAN FICTION In today's common usage, fan fiction is usually amateur fiction using the characters and settings from a film, TV series, or book. Faan fiction as the term is understood in the oldtime SF fan community is often allegorical or satirical fiction that uses fans and fandom as its subject matter. The most famous of these is Walt Willis' and Bob Shaw's 1954 work THE ENCHANTED DUPLICATOR. In 1993, I wrote a sequel to this, THE REAFFIRMATION, that has an old fan making a journey of rediscovery. Originally published in Ted White & Dan Steffan's BLAT #4, it was written before most of us had discovered the Internet, a few years after the death of Arthur Thomson and before those of Walt Willis, Chuck Harris, Vince Clarke, and Bob Shaw, all of whom appear in thin disguise as characters within it. The Dan Steffan illos above of the Sage, the Shaper, and the Keeper from BLAT #4 should give you a clue as to the parts some played. Also recently uncovered is the only other piece of faan fiction I ever wrote, FIAWOL, MY LOVELY. When there are a string of murders in Fandom City it's up to gumshoe Rex Rotary to uncover the reasons behind them. The Reaffirmation Fiawol, My Lovely _________________________________________________________________ FANZINE BIBLIOGRAPHY Begun by Peter Roberts in the early 1970s and extended by Vince Clarke and me, this is a bibliography covering fanzines published by fans of general science fiction from 1930 to 1990. Given this was assembled so many years afterwards, and that no one has every fanzine ever published, there are of course gaps. It is hoped to gradually fill as many of these as possible. Fanzine Bibliography _________________________________________________________________ TAFF In 1984, I made my first ever trip to the USA under the auspices of the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund. During the two weeks I was there I visited Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington D.C., meeting SF fans in all of them. As is traditional for TAFF winners, I then wrote a report on my adventures, one I hope you will find amusing and entertaining. On The TAFF Trail _________________________________________________________________ ARTWORK It's not something I do much anymore, but during the 1970s and 1980s I provided cover artwork for innumerable fanzines. While I still have some original art, most was either given away or auctioned off in aid of various fan funds, so many of these have had to be scanned from copies of variable print quality. THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. _________________________________________________________________ FANWRITING While I have no intention of putting online every fanzine article I ever wrote, there are a few that are perhaps deserving of a wider audience. THIS SECTION CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. _________________________________________________________________