Rob Hansen

Rob Hansen at Loncon 3
(photo by Mark Olson)

(November 9, 1954 –)

Robert Clive Hansen is a London fanwriter, artist, and faned active since 1975. His first con was SEACON 75, the 1975 Eastercon, and he was a member of the Newport SF Group, Friends in Space (as a founder), and the Fanhattonites.

He was on the committees of Mexicon I, Conspiracy '87 and Precursor.

He married U.S. fan Avedon Carol on 21 June 1985, having met her (after acquaintance through fanzines and letters) at Albacon II, which she visited as the 1983 TAFF Race delegate. He himself ran, and won, in the following 1984 TAFF Race while she was the U.S. administrator, which brought some attacks on them. When All Fandom was Plunged into War in the 1985 TAFF Race (i. e. during autumn 1984; for overview, see TAFF Wars#1983–1985 or Hansen's own description in Then) and both were administrators on their sides of the Atlantic, he took a strong stance against the US write-in campaign, speaking even of TAFF's dissolution.

The couple were FGoH at Contrivance, the 1989 Eastercon.

Hansen is a major fan historian. He prepared the 56-page overview of Britfandom The Story So Far for the Conspiracy '87, following by the more detailed Then (four parts 1988–93, soon released online); a much expanded book and ebook edition appeared in 2016 as Then: Science Fiction Fandom in the UK 1930–1980. He contributed fannish entries for the 1993 edition of Clute & Nicholls's The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. He was brought to FanHistoriCon 6 (held in conjunction with Boskone 32) in 1997 by a special FanHistoriCon Fan Fund. He makes much fanhistorical material available on his website, named appropriately FIAWOL.

• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
• Website.
• TAFF ebooks.

Books

Then 2016 cover. Further titles have a similar design with white stenciled capitals on blue

Hansen has edited many fanhistorical ebooks for Ansible Editions. Besides about half a dozen that "only" collect individual fans' writing or zines, the most substantial, dedicated to a particular topic are:

• Then Again: A UK Fanhistory Reader 1930–1979 (2019, a companion volume to Then with joint editorial credit to Vin¢ Clarke who selected many of the articles before his death)
• Challenging Moskowitz: 1930s Fandom Revisited (2019), on early fans' responses to The Immortal Storm
• Homefront: Fandom in the UK 1939–1945 (2020)
• Chuck Harris: Creative Random Harris (2021, edited with Dave Langford)
• Faan Fiction 1930–2020: an exploration (2021), on the faan fiction
• Bixelstrasse: The SF Fan Community of 1940s Los Angeles (2021; reissued in paperback 2022)
• 1957: The First UK Worldcon (2022), on Loncon 1
• British SF Conventions Volume 1: 1937–1951 (2023)
• 1965: The Second UK Worldcon (2023), on Loncon 2
• Generation Femizine (2023)
• Beyond Fandom: Fans, Culture & Politics in the 20th Century (2023), on fans who made some impact on the mundane world

Some of these titles are also available as Ansible Editions Lulu.com trade paperbacks with all proceeds going to TAFF: 1957, 1965, Bixelstrasse, British SF Conventions, Faan Fiction, Generation Femizine, Homefront and Beyond Fandom.

Fanzines and Apazines:

• Born in the UK (for APA of the Damned)
• Chuch [1987] one-off with Avedon Carol
• Crank [with Ted White transatlantically, 1985–6]
• Epsilon [1976–85]
• Eta [1983; 1988–90]
• The Fanhattonite
• Fish Helmet (for Frank's APA)
• gdo (for Men's APA)
• Licks (for FAPA)
• The Martin Chronicles [1998] one-off, about Martin Smith
• Mojo Bag (for Secret Garden)
• Now Read On -- A Collection of Recent British Fanwriting [1987 fanthology]
• On the TAFF Trail [1994; TAFF trip report compiled from earlier articles]
• Outtakes [1994 one-off]
• Pulp [1986–1991], in rotation with others
• Retro (for FHAPA)
• Skwelsh [1977]
• Then [1988–93]
• Taffeta [1985-6] TAFF Newsletter
• Starfan [1979] comic book, continued as strip in Ansible
• The Story So Far (one-off for Conspiracy '87, history of UK fandom)
• Two Otherwise Blank Pages (for APA SF&F)

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1982 -- Nova Award for Best Fanzine for Epsilon and Best Fanartist
• 1984 -- TAFF, European Science Fiction Award for Best Fanzine for Epsilon
• 1989 -- Contrivance (with Avedon Carol)
• 1997 -- FanHistoriCon Fan Fund
• 2013 -- Corflu Fifty
• 2023 -- FAAn Award Special Publication for 1957: The First UK Worldcon, FAAn Award Lifetime Achievement
• 2024 -- FAAN Award for Special Publication: Beyond Fandom

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Person

1954—

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