I'm Kate Heffner, an interdisciplinary researcher, aca-fan, educator, and librarian. I am a scholar in science fiction studies and fan cultures, primarily examining the history of fan’s relationships to science fiction texts. My research practice is situated in the intersections of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, The History of Science, Genre Studies, and Literature. In short, I’m interested in how communities tell stories.

 

I am currently completing my thesis on the early histories of women in science fiction fandom. This project, tentatively titled “A Fanzine of Her Own: Women in Science Fiction Fan Cultures in the Post-War Era,” explores women’s critical and impassioned relationship to science fiction fan cultures. A chapter of this work was awarded the prestigious Peter Nichols Prize for best essay in science fiction from Foundation: The International Journal of Science Fiction.

 

Recent publications include the chapter “Fan Fiction” in the Routledge Handbook of Star Trek, a roundtable in Science Fiction Studies on kitchens in science fiction texts, and a forthcoming chapter on erotic e-literature by queer women in Animals and Science Fiction (Palgrave Studies in Animals and Literature). I have also served as a research assistant for Lisa Yaszek’s The Future is Female! Volume Two: The 1970s.

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My commitment to the field includes serving as a judge on the board for the Arthur C. Clarke Award as well as being a judge for the Science Fiction Research Association's Student Paper Prize. I am a volunteer editor for The Fancyclopedia III, a Wikipedia based fan history community.