“Yearning Void and Infinite Potential”: Online Slash Fandom as Queer Female Space

Alexis Lothian is a doctoral student in English at the University of Southern California, specializing in queer and feminist theory and cultural studies. Her interests include geek literatures and cultures, futurity, utopia, and the Internet.

Kristina Busse is an independent scholar who has published a variety of essays on fan fiction and fan culture. She is coeditor, with Karen Hellekson, of Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet (McFarland 2006) and is currently coauthoring a book-length study on fan artifacts and new media.

Robin Anne Reid is a professor of literature and languages at Texas A&M–Commerce where she teaches creative writing, critical theory, Tolkien, and new media. Her main scholarly activities focus on feminist science fiction, fan studies, and Tolkien. She is a published poet who writes fan fiction in Lord of the Rings online fandom as well as publishing academic essays and monographs.