{"id":1987,"date":"2011-05-05T01:00:08","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/info-libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/?p=1987"},"modified":"2023-07-20T17:56:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T17:56:14","slug":"1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/2011\/05\/05\/1979\/","title":{"rendered":"Year 119 &#8211; 1979: The Twilight Zine, Journal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Science Fiction Society: numbers 31-32"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Published: Cambridge, Mass., 1979<a href=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/2011\/05\/05\/1979\/1979-title\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1988\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1988 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-title-257x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"257\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-title-257x300.jpg 257w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-title-768x895.jpg 768w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-title-624x727.jpg 624w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-title.jpg 802w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 257px) 100vw, 257px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <em>Oxford English Dictionary<\/em> defines \u201cfanzine\u201d as \u201ca magazine for fans, esp. those of science fiction.\u201d One thing the <em>OED<\/em> definition leaves out, though, is the fact that fanzines are as much <em>by<\/em> fans as <em>for<\/em> fans. MIT\u2019s <em>Twilight Zine<\/em> fits this expanded definition to a \u201ct\u201d: it\u2019s produced by MITSFS, the MIT Science Fiction Society.<\/p>\n<p>Fanzine is a portmanteau term combining \u201cfanatic\u201d and \u201cmagazine.\u201d It first appeared in the early 1940s to describe the many amateur publications that were being written, illustrated, and printed by fans of science fiction. They were usually copied as cheaply as possible, and were often free or provided to subscribers for the price of postage.<\/p>\n<p>Fanzines developed a rich culture and community all their own. Some common characteristics of fanzines include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The use of alphanumeric combinations instead of words, for example \u201c4e\u201d for Forry (which is itself short for sci-fi and fanzine legend Forrest J Ackerman)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Fanspeak: this includes terms such as \u201cfanac\u201d for fan activity, \u201cfaan\u201d for a really enthusiastic fan, and \u201cfiawol\u201d for \u201cfandom is a way of life\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cFilks,\u201d or science fiction songs, which are usually parodies of other songs. (This term originated with a typo for \u201cfolk music,\u201d and it stuck)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fanzines also served as early publishing venues for fledgling writers and artists. Ray Bradbury\u2019s first published story actually appeared in the January 1938 issue of <em>Imagination!<\/em> He also published his own four-issue fanzine, <em>Futuria Fantasia<\/em>. Author Robert Heinlein, too, got his start as a fanzine writer.<a href=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/2011\/05\/05\/1979\/1979-mail\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1989\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1989 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-mail-300x231.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-mail-300x231.jpg 300w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-mail-768x590.jpg 768w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-mail-624x480.jpg 624w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-mail.jpg 877w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It seems only natural that MITSFS would have its own fanzine. Officially recognized as an MIT student organization in 1951, by 1961 the club had begun publishing <em>The Twilight Zine<\/em>. Like other fanzines, the publication has a home-grown quality, with lots of creative stories and artwork, and with a charming sense of self-deprecating humor throughout. Issues also include the club\u2019s current wishlist for titles needed to fill gaps in the immense MITSFS Library.<\/p>\n<p>MITSFS still publishes <em>The Twilight Zine<\/em> today, though it\u2019s issued irregularly. The last issue to appear was number 47 in 2007. The eagerly-awaited issue 48 is expected sometime in 2011.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/2011\/05\/05\/1979\/1979-smiling\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1990\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1990 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-smiling-253x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"253\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-smiling-253x300.jpg 253w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/04\/1979-smiling.jpg 363w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/mit.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/permalink\/01MIT_INST\/jp08pj\/alma990003035100106761\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Find it in the library<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Published: Cambridge, Mass., 1979 The Oxford English Dictionary defines \u201cfanzine\u201d as \u201ca magazine for fans, esp. those of science fiction.\u201d One thing the OED definition leaves out, though, is the fact that fanzines are as much by fans as for fans. MIT\u2019s Twilight Zine fits this expanded definition to a \u201ct\u201d: it\u2019s produced by MITSFS, the MIT Science Fiction Society. Fanzine is a portmanteau term combining \u201cfanatic\u201d and \u201cmagazine.\u201d It first appeared in the early 1940s to describe the many amateur publications that were being written, illustrated, and printed by fans of science fiction. They were usually copied as cheaply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":false,"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1987"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4400,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987\/revisions\/4400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}