What are your favorite literary fandoms?
By: Kristen Griesmer, Product Support Specialist
One day, out of nowhere, it dawned on me: I belong to quite a few fandoms!
When I began listing them out, most of them seemed TV- or movie-specific. Naturally, I then began wondering – which literary fandoms do I belong to? As it turns out, quite a few!
5 signs of a superfan
When I was teaching, I was the adviser for our Fandom Club, and many of my students joined to share their own different favorites. Fandoms often help create a sense of community and kinship that some students truly need.
So, how do you know if you belong to a fandom? I’d make the argument that most people are in some way part of at least one. That said, these are my identifiers:
- You consistently read to find out more about it (this includes other fan’s writings or published articles)
- You discuss details and theories about it at length with friends
- You romantically “ship” different characters and care greatly about their outcomes
- You own clothing, home décor or other merchandise
- When you meet someone who hasn’t seen/read it, you try to convince them why they need to do so right away
What’s your fandom score?
Go through this list. On a separate sheet of paper, tally up how many literary fandoms you belong to! And if you think we missed one, let us know in the comments!
- Harry Potter
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Chronicles of Narnia
- Are you a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? You may be a Sherlockian – part of the Sherlock Holmes fandom!
- Marvel Comics
- DC Comics
- The Hunger Games
- Do you consider yourself a Janeite? You’re probably a major Jane Austen fan.
- The Lunar Chronicles
- Captain Underpants
- Percy Jackson & the Olympians and/or Rick Riordan
- Love Fangirl, Carry On, Eleanor & Park and Pumpkinheads? You may be in Rainbow Rowell’s fandom!
- Doctor Who
- Minecraft
- Raina Telgemeier
- Familiar with Nerdfighteria? If so, you’re probably in the John Green fandom.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- A Court of Thorns and Roses
- The Mortal Instruments
- Have you ever wanted to attend (or already have attended) Hitchcon? Then you might be in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fandom.
Incorporate fandom into your lesson plan!
After you’ve gone through the list above to determine which literary fandoms you call your own, feel free to share this with your students to see which ones they belong to!
Here are some other unique ideas to engage with your students’ and their fandoms:
- Have students create fan art and display it in your library/classroom
- Introduce your students to read-alike titles for the books they already love – you could even create a collection or two in the Sora reading app!
- Challenge students to creatively write fanfiction
- Host your own “LiteraryCon” and have students dress up/cosplay as their favorite characters
- Have students partake in debates surrounding different literary fandoms
- Host fandom book challenges to encourage more reading through friendly competition
About the Author:
Kristen Griesmer is a Product Support Specialist working with schools to integrate digital content into their libraries and classrooms. She herself has experience as a history teacher working with students grades 8-12 focusing on U.S. history and government. She generally spends most of her free time chasing around her hyper-active pup Romeo, hiking, practicing yoga and trying out the best Cleveland restaurants.
