Second Wave feminist SF

November 7, 2014 7:00 AM

Janus was nominated for three “Best Fanzine” Hugos in 1978, 1979 and 1980. Jeanne Gomoll was nominated for two “Best Fan Artist” Hugos in 1978 and 1980. Janus and Aurora were the most prominent feminist science fiction fanzines of their time. With the exception of Amanda Bankier’s fanzine, The Witch and the Chameleon, which ceased publication in 1976, Janus and Aurora were the ONLY fanzines with this focus.

The full archives of Janus & Aurora, the feminist science fiction fanzine created by the people who went on to create Wiscon, the feminist sf convention.
posted by MartinWisse (6 comments total)

Oh wow, this is super! Thanks very much for posting.

If anyone is interested, the Khatru Symposium has been republished. I have not read it and cannot vouch for it, but it was important.
posted by Frowner at 7:09 AM on November 7, 2014 [2 favorites]

What a timely post as I just stumbled upon this via the twitter:

"Women Rise in Sci Fi (Again) : This year’s major science-fiction awards had strong female representation, but don’t call it a feminist victory for the genre just yet."

Good news with the caveat that there is more room for improvement. Such wonderful fiction out there from all types of authors. Keep it up everyone.
posted by Fizz at 7:43 AM on November 7, 2014

This is a walk down memory lane....
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:18 AM on November 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oh cool. Bookmarking to dive into this when I have time.
posted by rmd1023 at 12:14 PM on November 7, 2014

Pro tip for everybody who finds this interesting: The Secret Feminist Cabal by Helen Merrick talks about SF's feminist history and started me looking for the fanzines mentioned in it online; only Janus/Aurora could be found...
posted by MartinWisse at 12:25 PM on November 7, 2014 [2 favorites]

The Khatru Symposium is fascinating. All the writers from the 60s, 70s, 80s whose work expanded my brain in 3D, discussing, debating, laughing, yelling. In addition to the chewy content, it's a welcome reminder that reading a bunch of letters, typing a reply, inserting 'em all in a manila envelope and sending it on was a powerfully publishing platform.

Also its magazine form factor makes for nice bedtime reading.
posted by Jesse the K at 9:43 PM on November 7, 2014