Femizine, No. 9

This fanzine from 1956 holds an important place in the history and culture of science fiction and fantasy fandom. Femizine was founded in 1954 by Joan W. Carr as an amateur publication for “femme-fans”—which is what women fans of those genres called themselves at the time. The stated intention was to create a space for women in a thus-far male-dominated fandom. Like many fanzines of the time, it featured reviews, humor, letters, and convention reports. The zine succeeded in its goal, creating a space for women to exchange ideas and form community. 

All was well until issue 9, in which Joan Carr revealed that he was, in fact, a man named H. P. “Sandy” Sanderson. He revealed that the project began as a hoax to take in members of the male-dominated National Science Fiction Convention, but it gained momentum, becoming real, so to speak. Sanderson stepped down as editor, and Ethel Lindsay took up the job, continuing Femizine for six more issues. All in all, the publication achieved Sanderson’s goals in creating one of the first fan-organized outlets for women’s voices in the field.