TWC 49 Released
2026-09-14
TWC No. 49 Released
Transformative Works and Cultures has released general issue No. 49, edited by co-editors Poe Johnson and Mel Stanfill.
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2026 Fans of Color Prize Winner Announced
2026-08-12Transformative Works and Cultures is pleased to announce Meihua Lu as our 2026 Fans of Color Prize award winners for the article "'From Cinderella to i-woman: Web novels, fandom, and feminist politics in China"! Lu's article was published in TWC’s special issue “Chinese Fandoms” on December 15, 2023.
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TWC Hiring Assistant Editor and Outreach/Comms Editor
2026-07-31TWC is hiring for two positions, Assistant Editor (one person) and Outreach and Communications Editor (two people). Applications are due August 12, 2026.
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TWC / SCMS Fan and Audience Studies group graduate student essay contest
2026-07-31TWC is partnering with the Fan and Audience Studies special interest group of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies for a graduate student essay contest. The winning essay will be published in TWC, subject to peer review.
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TWC 48, special issue on Disability and Fandom, is released
2026-06-15TWC released No. 48, a special issue on Disability and Fandom, guest edited by Olivia Johnston Riley and Lauren Rouse.
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Planned Maintenance Outage - Thursday, April 30
2026-04-25The Transformative Works and Cultures website will be down on Thursday, April 30, 2026, from 10am Eastern to 1pm Eastern as the Online Journal System (OJS) completes scheduled maintenance. We thank you for your patience during this time.
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2026 Fans of Color Research Prize
2026-04-01TWC is now seeking submissions for the 2026 Fans of Color Research Prize, which recognizes the best peer-reviewed article about fans and/or fandoms of color published in TWC in the preceding 3 years. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize.
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TWC No. 47, Gaming Fandom, Released
2026-03-14Transformative Works and Cultures has released No. 47, a special issue on Gaming Fandom edited by coeditors Hayley McCullough and Ashley P. Jones.
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TWC Updates Its Editorial Board
2026-02-24Transformative Works and Cultures has updated its editorial board as part of ongoing work to diversify the discipline in terms of historically marginalized fans and scholars, make the journal more international in scope, and increase multimodal approaches.
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TWC No. 46 released
2025-09-15Transformative Works and Cultures has released general issue No. 46, edited by coeditors Poe Johnson and Mel Stanfill.
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2025 Fans of Color Prize Winner
2025-08-05Transformative Works and Cultures is pleased to announce Kristen Leer and Mel Monier as our 2025 Fans of Color Prize award winners for their article “‘Since the Moment Pictures Could Move, We Had Skin in the Game’: Black Horror Podcasters as Fans, Critics, and Creators”! Leer and Monier’s article was published in TWC’s special issue “Centering Blackness in Fan Studies” on December 15, 2024.
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Music Fandom (01/01/2026)
2025-07-25This special issue of Transformative Works and Cultures seeks to explore music fandom as a deeply personal, experiential, emotional and creative practice, shaped by and responding to evolving technological, cultural, and economic conditions.
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2025 Fans of Color Research Prize
2025-04-14Transformative Works and Cultures is now seeking submissions for the 2025 Fans of Color Research Prize.
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TWC No. 45, Sports Fandoms, released
2025-03-16Transformative Works and Cultures has released No. 45, "Sports Fandoms", guest edited by Jason Kido Lopez and Lori Kido Lopez.
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New Section -- Multimedia!
2025-03-13Transformative Works and Cultures is excited to announce that we are officially launching a new section of the journal titled "Multimedia"!
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Latin American Fandoms (01/01/2026)
2025-01-30This call for papers invites researchers, students, and fandom participants to share their analysis of fandom practices from the multidisciplinary perspective of fan studies, as well as literary criticism of transformative works written in Spanish, focusing on intersectional perspectives of race, gender, class, and nationality in the study of fandom content. The publishing language is English.
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TWC No. 44, Centering Blackness in Fan Studies, released
2024-12-15Transformative Works and Cultures has released No. 44, “Centering Blackness in Fan Studies”, guest edited by Alfred L. Martin Jr. and Matt Griffin.
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Fans of Color Prize Winner
2024-12-01Transformative Works and Cultures is pleased to announce Osarugue Otebele as our inaugural Fans of Color Prize award winner for her article “The (anti)fan is black: Consumption, resistance, and black K-pop fan vigil labor”! Otebele’s article will be published in TWC’s upcoming special issue “Centering Blackness in Fan Studies” on December 15th.
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TWC No. 43 released
2024-09-15Transformative Works and Cultures has released general issue No. 43, edited by coeditors Poe Johnson and Mel Stanfill.
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Gaming Fandom (01/01/2025)
2024-08-06This special issue of Transformative Works and Cultures will explore fan creativity as critique in gaming fandoms; while we are construing the term ‘gaming fandom’ broadly, we are primarily interested in analyses and scholarly discussions of and related to fan-made works and productions, including fanfiction, fanart, cosplay, mods, fan-made games and series, etc. We welcome all forms from methodology – quantitative and qualitative, empirical and theoretical, etc.
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Disability and Fandom (3/15/2026; 1/1/2025)
2024-06-17Robert McRuer writes in Crip Theory that at some point in every person’s life, if they live long enough, they will be disabled. Yet, while disablement is an extremely common experience and ableism a hegemonic form of marginalization, disability is largely understudied across fields (Minich 2016, Ellcessor 2018). Fan studies has neglected to consistently explore disability or acknowledge the presence of ableism, resulting in a dearth of peer-reviewed publications on this intersection and a silencing of crip critique from disabled fans and scholars.
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Upcoming Server Upgrade
2024-05-24The journal's hosting site will be performing a server upgrade in the coming days. Transformative Works and Cultures will likely be offline for several hours on Monday, May 27th and Wednesday, May 29th as of 9 AM PST.
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TWC No. 42, Fandoms and Platforms, released
2024-03-15Transformative Works and Cultures has released No. 42, “Fandoms and Platforms”, guest edited by Maria Alberto, Effie Sapuridis, and Lesley Willard.
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Fans of Color Research Prize
2024-01-31Transformative Works and Cultures is now seeking submissions for the 2024 Fans of Color Research Prize.
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TWC No. 41, Chinese Fandoms, released
2023-12-17Transformative Works and Cultures’ special issue on Chinese Fandoms, guest edited by Zhen Troy Chen and Celia Lam, is out now!
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TWC Expanded Masthead [Press Release]
2023-12-04Transformative Works and Cultures is pleased to announce the expansion of its editorial masthead with two new Assistant Editors and three new Symposium coeditors.
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TWC No. 40 released
2023-09-16Transformative Works and Cultures has released general issue No. 40, edited by coeditors Poe Johnson and Mel Stanfill.
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Sports Fandom (3/15/2025; 1/1/2024)
2023-06-26With the proliferation of narrowcasting and niche sport-specific and fan-centered digital platforms, the mediatization of sport demands the methodological approaches and digital sensibilities of fan studies scholars. Sports studies scholars are approaching conversations about fan engagement with athletes (e.g., their rights, safety, and labor) and with the institutional structures of leagues and teams (e.g., ownership and control) with an ethical lens and a close attunement to complex power dynamics that fan studies scholars routinely deploy. There are countless possibilities for bringing sports studies and fan studies together more effectively; indeed, a sports fan donning a beloved player’s jersey, tweeting at their favorite team’s account expressing disdain about a recent scandal, or rewatching and re-editing video of a great play could be understood as a sports-specific way of engaging in cosplay, fan activism, and vidding.vvvvv
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AI and Fandom (3/15/2025; 1/1/2024)
2023-05-08Unfortunately, this special issue will not be moving forward. All submitted pieces are being considered for our general issue.
This special issue seeks to address the rapidly accelerating topic of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning (ML) systems (including, but not limited to Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Large Language Models (LLMs), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and speech, image and audio recognition and generation), and their relationship to and implications for fans and fan studies. We are interested in how fans are using AI tools in novel ways as well as how fans feel about the use of these tools. From media production and marketing perspectives we are interested in how AI tools are being used to study fans, and to create new media artefacts that attract fan attention.
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TWC No. 39 released
2023-03-15Transformative Works and Cultures has released No. 39, “Trans Fandom,” guest edited by Jennifer Duggan and Angie Fazekas.
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TWC No. 38 released
2022-09-19Transformative Works and Cultures has released general issue No. 38, the first edited by new coeditors Poe Johnson and Mel Stanfill.
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DEADLINE EXTENDED: Centering Blackness in Fan Studies (12/15/2024; 7/1/2023)
2022-05-11This special issue centers Blackness in fandom studies. For this special issue, we seek to privilege and celebrate Blackness, not as a comparative but as enough on its own. We want essays that build on the relatively small but groundbreaking scholarly work that centers Black fandoms. We encourage work that engages, nuances, and challenges this foundational work, leading to novel reconsiderations of how fan studies defines and understands Black fandoms.
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TWC No. 37 released
2022-03-15Transformative Works and Cultures has released No. 37, “Fandom Histories,” guest edited by Philipp Dominik Keidl and Abby S. Waysdorf.
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Fandoms and Platforms (3/15/2024; 1/1/2023)
2022-03-09This special issue seeks to explore how, in the broadest sense, fans and fandom communities engage with platforms. We are particularly interested in essays that complicate a “black box” view of platforms or that engage critically with what platforms make possible for their users, as well as how and/or why. Ideally, such contributions will further understanding of how interactions among fans, fandoms, texts, and fan works are coconstitutive of the spaces in which they operate. We encourage contributions from fans as well as from fan studies scholars; we are particularly interested in works that cover or draw from global contexts.
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TWC Restructures Submission Guidelines [Press Release]
2022-02-11Transformative Works and Cultures has launched a new structure for submissions which takes effect as of issue No. 38. New co-editors Mel Stanfill and Poe Johnson expand on why they believe these changes are important and necessary to better reflect “the reality on the ground.”
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New section "Article" replacing "Theory/Praxis"
2022-01-03"Article" replacing "Theory/Praxis" and Symposium expands word length as of No. 38.
UPCOMING ISSUES
- Fandom Histories, March 2022 (CLOSED)
- General issue, September 2022 (CLOSED)
- Trans Fandom, March 2023 (CLOSED, contact editors for Symposium)
- Chinese Fandoms, December 2023 (June 1, 2022)
- General issue, September 2023 (ROLLING SUBMISSION)
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New general issue TWC 36 published
2021-09-15We are happy to announce our 2021 general issue, TWC 36!
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TWC New Coeditors [Press Release]
2021-09-01Transformative Works and Cultures is pleased to announce that Dr. Mel Stanfill and Dr. Poe Johnson will soon be joining the editorial team as coeditors.
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Trans Fandom (3/15/2023; 1/1/2022)
2021-06-15This special issue seeks to widen our knowledge of trans fandom. We invite submissions that engage with trans theory as a lens for analyzing fandom, case studies of trans fans’ experiences of fandom, considerations of trans bodies in fan fiction, trans theorizations of cosplay cross-dressing, and so on. In particular, we seek work that centers trans people—that is, individuals who express their gender identities in a variety of ways, including but not limited to transgender, transsexual, nonbinary, gender fluid, genderqueer, agender, intersex, or otherwise gender nonnormative.
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Chinese Fandoms (DEADLINE EXTENDED: 12/15/23; 7/1/22)
2021-06-10This special issue of TWC seeks papers reflecting on the changing nature of fandom in China and on the role of Chinese fans transcending national boundaries. It asks questions regarding the characteristics of Chinese fans/fans of Chinese media in the contemporary globalized media landscape, and it queries the impact that the media industry has on the formation and ongoing expression of fan cultures.
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TWC No. 33 released
2020-06-15We are pleased to announce the publication of TWC 33 (2020): Fan Studies Methodologies, edited by Julia E. Largent, Milena Popova, and Elise Vist.
We are aware of various difficulties with the web site, especially the inability to download essays. For fan-created PDFs of issues, please see https://fanlore.org/wiki/Transformative_Works_and_Cultures.
UPCOMING ISSUES
- General issue, September 2020 (CLOSED)
- Fan Studies Pedagogies, March 2021 (CLOSED, contact editors for Symposium)
- General issue, September 2021 (ROLLING SUBMISSION)
- Fandom Histories March 2022 (January 1, 2021)
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Fandom Histories (3/15/22; 1/1/21)
2020-06-07The goal for this special issue of Transformative Works and Cultures is to explore the question of how fans produce knowledge about the past and actively engage with history. We are particularly interested in essays that show what fans do as historians, such as running publicly accessible archives and museums, and using archival materials for the production of nonfiction media.
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TWC No. 32 released
2020-03-18We are pleased to announce the release of TWC 32 (2020): Fan Fiction and Politics, guest edited by Ashley Hinck and Amber Davisson.
UPCOMING ISSUES
- Fan Studies Methodologies, June 2020 (CLOSED)
- General issue, September 2020 (CLOSED)
- Fan Studies Pedagogies, March 2021 (CLOSED, contact editors for Symposium)
- General issue, September 2021 (ROLLING SUBMISSION)
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TWC No. 31 released!
2019-12-22We are pleased to announce the release of TWC 31 (2019): Fan Fiction and Ancient Scribal Cultures, guest edited by Frauke Uhlenbruch and Sonja Ammann.
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New general issue TWC 30 published
2019-09-15We are happy to announce our 2019 general issue, TWC 30!
We are aware of various difficulties with the web site, especially the inability to download essays. For fan-created PDFs of all issues, please see https://fanlore.org/wiki/Transformative_Works_and_Cultures.
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Fan Studies Pedagogies (3/15/21; 1/1/20)
2019-07-02This special issue seeks submissions that specifically address the pedagogical methods, styles, contributions, and concerns of the fan studies course, classroom, and online space(s).
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TWC No. 29 (2019): Fans of Color, Fandoms of Color
2019-03-15We are proud to announce our new issue, Fans of Color, Fandoms of Color, edited by Abigail De Kosnik and andré carrington.
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TWC No. 28 (2018): The Future of Fandom, special 10th anniversary issue
2018-09-15We are aware and working on the mobile display issue and the inability to print articles in Chrome and Safari. If you encounter other issues, do email us with your results, your device type, the name of your browser, and a screenshot if appropriate (editor AT transformativeworks.org).
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TWC No 27 (2018): Tumblr and Fandom, edited by Lori Morimoto and Louisa Ellen Stein
2018-06-16We are proud to release TWC issue No. 27, Tumblr and Fandom, guest edited by Lori Morimoto and Louisa Ellen Stein.
FUTURE ISSUES
- General Issue with emphasis on The Future of Fandom, September 2018 (CLOSED, email us for Symposium)
- Fans of Color, Fandoms of Color March 2019 (CLOSED, email us for Symposium)
- Fan Fiction and Ancient Scribal Cultures December 2019 (CLOSED, email us for Symposium)
- Fan Studies Methodologies March 2020 (January 1, 2019)
- Fandom and Politics June 2020 (January 1, 2019)
- Fandom and Theatre March 2021 (January 15, 2020)
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Fandom and Theatre (1/15/20; 3/15/21)
2018-06-16This special issue of TWC explores intersections between theatrical performance and fandom.
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