Collection Guide
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Kirk/Spock Slash Fiction Zine collection
Coll2007-008
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Kirk/Spock slash fiction zine collection
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2007-008
Physical Description:
1.2 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1978-1986
Abstract: 31 Kirk/Spock slash fiction zines, 1978-1986, based on characters from the 1966-1969 television series "Star Trek", including
five issues of
T'hy'la, six issues of
Naked Times, and five issues of the
Out of Bounds series.
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the
physical owner. Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in the materials. Note that ONE
National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials directly from the copyright
holder(s).
Kirk/Spock slash fiction zine collection, Coll2007-008, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Donor and date of acquisition unknown.
Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, March 23, 2007.
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Additional materials added by Kyle Morgan, 2015.
Slash fiction is a genre of fan fiction (fiction concerning characters or settings originally created by others) that portrays
sexual or romantic relationships between two characters of the same sex. The term takes its name from the use of the "/" slash
used to separate the names of the paired characters, as distinct from the "&" ampersand conventionally used to separate the
names of characters in friendship fiction (which portrays characters in non-sexual relationships). Slash fiction is written
primarily by women and targeted to a female audience.
Kirk/Spock, also commonly referred to as "K/S" and based on characters from the 1966-1969 television series "Star Trek", was
the first prominent slash pairing to appear in English-language fan fiction. Indeed, the term "slash" derives from the expression
"Kirk slash Spock". The first K/S stories appear to have been written in England in the late 1960s and privately circulated.
The earliest datable story, "The Ring of Shoshern", was written in 1968, but was not published until 1987. The first K/S story
to be published is Diane Marchant's "A Fragment out of Time", which appeared in the fanzine Grup #3 in 1974. Romance in general,
and this pairing in particular, was not initially popular, and while stories continued to be written and privately circulated,
it was not until June 1976 that Gerry Downes' Alternative: Epilog to Orion, the second published piece of K/S and first stand-alone
K/S zine, appeared. Thereafter, K/S fiction became increasingly popular, and by 2002 more than 500 K/S zines had been published.
The first attributed K/S story to be published on the internet, Killashandra's "Turning Point", was posted to the Usenet group
alt.startrek.creative in January 1996. The SciFi Channel's decision to rerun the "Star Trek" television series in the late
1990s fueled an explosion of K/S fiction on the internet, which peaked in 2000 at nearly 900 story posts. Although the number
of Usenet story posts has declined considerably since 2000, K/S remains a large component of on-line fan fiction.
Sources:
"Kirk/Spock", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk/Spock (accessed 1/22/2007)
Jenna Sinclair, K/S Zine Database, http://www.beyonddreamspress.com/database.htm (accessed 3/23/2007).
Jenna Sinclair, A Short History of Early K/S, http://www.beyonddreamspress.com/history.htm (accessed 3/23/2007).
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of 31 Kirk/Spock slash fiction zines, 1978-1986, based on characters from the 1966-1969 television
series, including five issues of
T'hy'la, six issues of
Naked Times and five issues of the
Out of Bounds series.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by zine title.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Fan fiction