First fan fiction

Fan fiction is a genre in which fans publish their own stories using characters created originally by the author of a particular book, TV series, movie and so on. It has been with us in the modern sense since featuring in the debut edition of Star Trek fanzine Spockanalia. This publication was produced in the USA in 1967 by Devra Langsam and Sherna Comerford (both USA) and is regarded as the earliest fan fiction. Handmade in small quantities, fanzines were either given away to other fans or sold cheaply at sci-fi conventions. Today the genre has largely moved online and has expanded far beyond the boundaries of sci-fi.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, in a letter to the fanzine’s authors dated 24 April 1968, proclaimed Spockanalia to be "required reading [for] every new writer, and anyone who makes decisions on show policy".

One might argue that Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is an earlier example of fan fiction – after all, he took an existing story and expanded upon it. However, among fans, followers and researchers of the genre, Star Trek fanzine Spockanalia is recognized as the first modern example of the form.