Fantasy Amateur Press Association

Zine
Title:	Fantasy Amateur Press Association
Publisher:
Editor(s):	Ken Forman
Type:	APA
Date(s):	1937 – present
Frequency:	quarterly
Medium:	print
Fandom:	science fiction, fantasy, fanac, and... anything.
Language:	English
External Links:	https://fancyclopedia.org/FAPA
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Fantasy Amateur Press Association ("FAPA") is science fiction fandom's longest-established amateur press association ("apa" or "apazine"). Founded in 1937 by Futurians Donald A. Wollheim and John B. Michel, it is also fandom's longest-running organization of any kind, preceding the founding of the runner-up, the National Fantasy Fan Federation, by nearly four years.

FAPA's original membership limit was 50 members to accommodate publishers using hectographs.

There were 21 members listed on the roster of the first mailing in August 1937; it took until the November 1938 mailing to fill the 50-member roster. The membership limit was raised to 65 in 1943. Even with that increase, there were long, long waiting lists.By the '70s the waiting list became much smaller, and since the mid '90s had disappeared altogether. Additionally, the number of members had also shrunk as existing members died or otherwise dropped off the roster.

As of May 2016, there were 23 active participants (including one joint membership). By May 2017, there were just 19. At the beginning of 2022, the nadir of the organization, there were only 13.

In 2021, elf, a fan writer and archiver of fandom, made the intensive effort to determine whether the legendary FAPA still existed and, if so, how to join. It wasn't easy. Eventually, she got a hold of member Roger Wells, who put her in contact with Ken Forman, the current Official Editor. Elf joined for the first mailing of 2022 (February). She later recruited Gideon Marcus, founder of the fanzine Galactic Journey, as the second new member.

This sparked an inflow of people, all ultimately tracing back to her. Since Elf's joining, a new member has joined every quarter, and the rolls now total 19 (one of them, Roger Lichtman, died in 2022, and is being kept on the rolls as a posthumous honor). Thus, FAPA is undergoing a comparatively explosive revival while maintaining the timbre and tradition of the original organization and honoring the value of paper and mail based fan discussion. It is hoped that FAPA can reach its 65-member cap (and explore what to do then!) in time for its hundredth anniversary.

Information about how to participate in FAPA is currently being maintained on the wiki page for FAPA on Fancyclopedia, a fan culture encyclopedia founded by an early FAPA member in 1944 which also contains a great deal of information about the history of FAPA and its influence on early fandom.

Some Past Notable Members

Notable members over the years have included Forrest J Ackerman | James Blish | Marion Zimmer Bradley | Myrtle R. Douglas (Morojo) | David McDaniel aka "Ted Johnstone" | Elmer Perdue | Bjo Trimble | John Trimble | Donald A. Wollheim

External Links

• FAPA, ^{Archived version} on Fancyclopedia
• fapa_forums Journal, ^{Archived version} on Livejournal
• Wikipedia:Fantasy Amateur Press Association