Fanworks are described as creative work (art, writing, music, video, podcast, textiles, cosplay etc.) “by fans for fans” based on a source or canon text. You know that feeling when you read a story or watch a show and you think to yourself “what if…” February 15th is a day for celebrating the people who do something with that “what if…”
In 2014 the Organisation For Transformative Works (OTW) announced the day, with the first celebrations being held on February 15th 2015. The OTW is a non-profit organisation “established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture in its myriad forms and to advocate for fans who need assistance when faced with legal issues or media interest due to their fannish pursuits.” Founded by a bunch of academic-fans, the OTW documents and studies fan culture and its place in wider society. It’s completely run by volunteers and provides a place to Archive and preserve fanworks as well as academic research on fan culture.
For as long as there have been stories there have been fanworks. Homer, Milton, Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm. Every artist who ever painted, sculpted, or carved a religious icon. 50 Shades of Grey, one of the most famous book and film series of recent years, was based on Twilight fanfiction (but please, don’t get me started on all the ways both those series are problematic). Some authors, such as Cassandra Clare, wrote fanfiction before they became famous. There are even companies such as Interlude Press which actively search out fanfiction writers to be published.
Over time, different forums have been used to distribute fanworks. The Star Wars community put together zines in the 70s, and when the internet came about people used Geocities, LiveJournal, fanfiction.net, and other websites to distribute and store their work. These days, AO3, wattpad and Tumblr are popular places.
In order to celebrate International fanworks day, communities and individuals are encouraged to take part in celebrations through various means which might include:
A day of activism, reaching out to legislators or taking part in an organization's campaign for the public's right to remix
A day of renewal, dusting off a WIP that was put aside when things got busy
A day of reflection, writing meta about what fanworks mean to them
A day of sharing, posting recs to their favorite works for others
A day of traditions, organizing a Fanworks Day challenge
The date of February 15th was selected due to the twin milestones at AO3 and Fanlore, the first having reached 1 million fanworks and the second passing 500,000 edits.
This year’s celebrations included What Fanworks Mean to Me, a meta challenge which involved hashtagging the event and discussing one's connection to or inspiration from fanworks. This was active largely on Twitter with over 100 participants.
There is some incredible fan made work out there, I hope you see it.
Have you read or written fanfiction? Been involved in a fan event? Would you like to?
Deanna x
By Reilly Brown - reillybrownart - reillybrown.deviantart - twitter.com/reilly_brown [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
https://fanlore.org/wiki/Organization_for_Transformative_Works
https://fanlore.org/wiki/International_Fanworks_Day