Following the success of the Fanfic Track at Nine Worlds 2013, we’ll continue to take a multi-fandom approach in 2014. We’re aiming to provide for all levels of fandom involvement; from those just beginning to explore the joys of fanworks to fans with decades of experience, and from readers to authors to beta-readers. We’ll be exploring fanworks in a wider context, including podficcing, fanvidding, fanart and crafts. We hope to hear a variety of voices, including those of fanfic readers and authors, commentators, fan academics, and professional authors whose writing supports a not-so-secret fanfic habit (some of whom are fanfic authors turned pro). We’re also attempting to situate fanworks in the wider geek context, by joining with other Nine Worlds tracks (including Comics, LGBTQ+, Podcasting, Geek Feminism), and by getting authors, fanficcers and historians to explore the extent to which writing historical fiction is essentially fanfic. We’re going to party, panel, workshop, create, slam, play and discuss. If you’d like to appear on programme, e-mail us at fanfic@nineworlds.co.uk. Being in the audience is just fine too. We’re really looking forward to seeing you at the con.
All in County B, except on Thursday night.
Thursday
Welcome Games and Vids: fic and word games, accompanied by favourite fanvids
18.45-22.00
Room 41
Join us for a relaxed evening of games and fanvids. We'll be kickstarting the socialising and inspiring stories by setting up games of Slash: Romance Without Boundaries, Dixit and LeCardo. We'll also be showing some favourite fanvids.
Party, with Kate Keen, Tanya Brown
Friday
Welcome Tea Party: tea, squee, and introductions
10.00-11.15
Join us for a gentle and genteel (as genteel as the fanworks track gets, anyway) tea party, with fandom teas and delicious cupcakes. Actually, let's scrap the genteel and go with the squee. We'll have fandom signup sheets so you can find out who else is here from your fandoms, chat with the organisers and fellow fanfic fans, and plan your convention schedule.
Party, with Kate Keen, Tanya Brown
Fandom Poster-Making Session: make a "my fandom is fabulous" poster
11.45-13.00
Fandom is fabulous! Advertise your fandom on a poster -- you can include fanart (with permission & credit), fic recs, social media links, quotes, graphs ... whatever you like. If you want to prepare a poster (up to A2 size) about how and why your fandom rocks and don't have time before the convention, we're running this session to help you create your own poster. We'll supply A3 paper and some art materials: bring your own artwork, printed material and internet connection.
Workshop, with Kate Keen, Tanya Brown
What's My Medium? The effect of canon and platform on fanworks
13.30-14.45
The panel examine the advantages and challenges involved in using books, TV, movies, games and other media platforms as inspiration for fanworks. They also consider the various ways of telling a transformative story, and which types of original media tend to inspire particular transformative styles.
Panel: Pen, Zalia, Emily Robbins, Jenn Hersey
Fanworks Anonymous: fanworks and media consumption
15.15-16.30
At this roundtable, we'll consider how the discovery of fanworks changes the quantity and type of mainstream media that we consume. We'll also ask whether creators should be concerned about losing audience, and how they might benefit from an understanding of fanworks. Bring your best anecdotes!
Roundtable: Kate Keen, Michele Howe, Tony Keen
Nine Fanwork Recs: nine people tell us about their favourite fanwork
17.00-18.15
Nine speakers, nine favourite fanworks! A fast-paced TED-style set of seven-minute presentations, in which nine people talk about their favourite fanwork -- why they love it, why they recommend it, what makes it stand out from other works by the same creator, whether it works without knowledge of canon ... As with last year's Nine Myths About Fanfic session, participants will be timed by a samba-dancing green robot. We're sorry.
With Alex Civita, Tanya Brown, Nat Wilkinson, Kari Sperring, Pip Janssen, Emily, Tony Keen, Elizabeth Minkel, Emily Robbins
Fourth Wall Fandom: creator/fan interaction, gently crumbling the fourth wall
18.45-20.00
Creators of canon are increasingly likely to interact with their fanbase, whether by referencing fannish tropes in the TV show / film / book, or by interacting with fans on social media platforms. This doesn't always work out well … The panel discuss how creators can learn to love fandom, how fans can engage with creators, and whether creators (fan or pro) should engage with transformations of their work.
Panel: Emma England, Kieron Gillen, Roz Kaveney, Melissa Taylor, Zalia
Fanvid showing: last year's best fanvids
20.30-21.45
After last year's Successful Fanvids 101, such heights returns to VJ again, showing off some of the best vids of the last twelve months as well as looking at vids that push the envelope and redefine the artform.
Hosted by Amy (such heights)
The Fanvid Phenomenon: every fanvid tells a story
22.15-23.30
Fanvids are a long-standing and ever-growing part of fandom, with new technology making them more accessible than ever. Come and listen to the panel talk about just what makes vids such an exciting part of the transformative works world.
Panel: Amy (such heights), Hannah, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Cleo, Llin
Saturday
Self-Worth For Fanfic Writers
09.00-09.45
Mainstream authors are envious of the feedback and appreciation that fanfic writers receive -- but is positive feedback a good measure of self-worth? We discuss what matters most: hits, AO3 kudos, comments, bookmarks. Or is it the truly insightful comment that shows you have at least one reader who gets exactly what you meant? Are any of these good metrics for success? If a fanfic receives no kudos, does it have no worth? Or does 'worth' come from the creator, rather than the consumer?
Roundtable: Emma England, Emily, Tesria, Kate Keen
Go Craft Your Geek On: create a badge celebrating your favourite fandom
10.00-11.15
Felt and yarn crafty fun! Come and sew or crochet a little badge to celebrate your favourite fandom. Make a Tardis, the 221B Baker Street door, Hedwig, the Night Vale logo, a Glow Cloud or a comics shield. Suitable for beginners. All materials provided.
Facilitator: Laura
Fandom Academia: Slash Fiction and The Demographics of Fanfiction
11.45-13.00
Slash Fiction: A Primer - 101 Ways To Subvert A Subtext by Ashton Spacey; and AO3 Surveyed: The Demographics of Fanfiction by Lulu (Centrumlumina). Chaired by Tony Keen.
Tony Keen, Ashton Spacey, Lulu
#itsallconnected: multi-canon creation in a bigger universe
13.30-14.45
At the end of the first Iron Man movie, Nick Fury welcomes Tony Stark to 'a bigger universe' - the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which #itsallconnected. Characters from one movie may appear in another, or in the TV show Agents of SHIELD. Star Trek and Stargate sprawl across TV schedules around the world. In the UK, there's the Doctor Who / Torchwood continuity. Meanwhile, the latest Star Wars film has elected to ignore their own expanded universe. The panel discuss the pros and cons of each approach, and how they are and how they affect fanworks.
Tony Keen, Abigail Brady, Jenni Cole, Erin Claiborne
Slash And Feminism: how can slash be a feminist activity?
15.15-16.30
Male characters in canon are often more rounded, three-dimensional and credible than female characters. When we write M/M slash, are we reinforcing popular culture's bias towards male characters, or are we reclaiming them? The panel examine arguments for and against slash as a feminist activity, and talk about gender-bending, femslash and the marginalisation of female characters.
Panel: Viktoriya H, Emily, Tanya Brown, Kari Sperring, Pen
How To Be A Better Beta: beta-reading, and teaching writing, in fandom
17.00-18.15
Beta-reading is an art as well as a skill, and betas often go well beyond editing text. They can also be cheerleaders, idea-generators, writing teachers, and even co-authors. The panel discuss effective beta-reading and feedback techniques, and follow up with an interactive workshop on a piece of fanfiction.
Panel and workshop, with Pennypaperbrain, Kari Sperring, Erin Claiborne
Tell me a story: podficcing - Podficcers and podcasters share techniques and technology
18.45-20.00
Can podficcers learn anything from podcasters, and vice versa? The panel discuss techniques, technology and performance aspects of their respective fields, and hope to discover new insights into the process from one another.
Panel: Elizabeth Bear, Barry Nugent, Pip Janssen, A L Johnson, Jenn Hersey
Fandom is Fabulous poster session: Show and tell: Why my fandom is fabulous
20.30-21.45
Fandom is fabulous: we'll be displaying our contributors' posters (each promoting a single, fabulous fandom) and giving people the opportunity to look at all the submissions and chat to the creators. If you'd like to contribute, you can make your own poster (up to A2 size) before the convention, or come along to our Fandom poster-making session.
With Kate Keen, Emma England
Collaborative Fanworks: let's play making up stories
22.15-23.30
Emma Vieceli and Malin Rydén met through fandom, and their fan collaboration resulted in a new, original project that neither of them would have created alone. Emma and Malin, and some of the creative team behind the classic fanwork Steve Rogers at 100 will discuss how to make collaborative fanworks fun and fabulous, and how the process can inspire other forms of creativity.
Discussion: Emma Vieceli, Malin Rydén, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw and Erin Claiborne, Charlotte Geater, Nat Wilkinson
Sunday
Chains Of Transformation: remixing the remix - the etiquette of transforming fanworks
09.00-09.45
Remix challenges have been running for well over a decade, but there's increasing debate about the etiquette of the remix. The panel discuss whether a remixer should ask permission from the author of the original fic, and how such permissions work in a culture founded on unauthorised 'remixes' of canon.
Panel: Erin Claiborne, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Cleo
Fanfic for Kids: what happens next? Making up your own stories
10.00-11.15
A reprise of last year's successful discussion and workshop centred on fanfiction for pre-teens. Many fanfic writers begin writing fic at an early age, though we don't know that that's what we're doing. What happens next? (Futurefic.) What if a character from this film met a character from that book? (Crossovers.) What would this hero be doing if they'd been born in the contemporary, mundane world? (AUs.) Many pre-teens also want to read fanfiction. What are the best (and safest) sites for them to visit? Are apps like NetNanny at all useful for toning down fic content?
Discussion and workshop, with Tanya Brown, Hazel Robinson, Helena McCallum
Sherlock's Scavenger Hunt
11.30-13.30
Join us for a Sherlock fandom-themed scavenger hunt around the convention site (Note: This is a re-run of the game from the 2014 Sherlock Picnic in Regents Park).
Amy, Trillsabells, Louise
Writing Historical Fiction and Fanfic: is RPF okay when the person is dead?
11.45-13.00
How do we write about historical characters? Is historical fiction a form of Real Person Fiction if it features people who appear in the historical record? A panel of authors and fans discuss techniques of writing historical fiction and how writing about the dead differs from writing about the living.
Panel: Alex Dally MacFarlane, Tanya Brown, Elizabeth Bear, Aliette de Bodard, Kieron Gillen,
Fashion, Costume and Inspiring Fans: three talks on fashion and costume
13.30-14.45
The Narrative of Costume Design, by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (a.k.a. Hello, Tailor); and Stealth Cosplay: Nerdery for the Subtle by E.K. McAlpine.
Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, EK McAlpine
Sexuality and Fanfic: exploring depictions of sexuality in fanworks
15.15-16.30
The panel discuss the depiction of sexuality in fanfic. Many fanwriters are writing about sex acts that are outside their experience: others may be projecting their own experiences or fantasies onto canon characters. Why do some writers depict a particular character as generally straight, but 'gay for [insert name here]'? How accurate / credible are fanfic depictions of sex and sexuality? Why does it matter if we get things wrong?"
Panel: Hazel Robinson, Hannah, Emma England
Legitimacy and Monetisation of Fanworks: who owns an idea? Who profits from it?
17.00-18.15
Retelling, embellishing and developing stories was once common. The panel look at the ways in which the ownership model has become prevalent, and how it is subverted by fanworks. Is commercial fanwork (e.g. the many Sherlock Holmes retellings and adaptations) any more legitimate because it has a monetary basis? What about monetising fanworks, as Big Bang Press, Kindle Worlds, and even Slash: Romance Without Boundaries aim to do?
Discussion, with Malin Rydén, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Erin Claiborne, Lesley McIntee, Elizabeth Minkel
