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SWILL was fan magazine created in February 1981 in response to the controversy created at an Ontario science fiction convention by Neil Williams and his cohorts. As a surreal joke, we had written a fake boycott poster that was distributed only in print flyers at the convention that it was advocating be boycotted. The older and more established fans did not understand or see this as humour and were all very upset. This is because we signed the flyer as the Toronto fan club and this angered the Ottawa fan club, whose convention had been targeted. To be honest, we did not think anyone would really take this boycott flyer seriously; but both fan groups did. The powers-that-be in the Toronto fan group were going to find out who was responsible and punish them... And so issue #1 of SWILL was published.

SWILL was originally a harsh, and gonzo-esque critique on science fiction and science fiction fandom. The original issues were crude and unsophisticated in their arguments and analysis; the goals were more focused on attacking "sacred cows" of science fiction fandom of the early 1980s.

SWILL #6a to #6c (the Daughter of SWILL, Mother of Scum issues) in the mid 1980s is more toned down and more specific in its criticisms. And moving more toward op-ed. With the twentieth anniversary arriving, SWILL #7 was published online. The critiques are more sophisticated and less foul language is employed.

SWILL was revived in 2011, for the thirtieth anniversary, with issue #8. This was initially part of a plan for a research project on science fiction fandom and science fiction writers. However, the Human Resources department of my academic institution banned me from conducting this research on the grounds that science fiction fandom and science fiction writers were all “freaks and weirdos” and that this research would be “detrimental to the (institution’s) brand”. I was prohibited for eight years from using my academic affiliation for academic publication and/or presentation of papers at academic conferences. And so, SWILL just became an op-ed personal zine.

SWILL has always been published irregularly, but at present is an annual fanzine.

Current Issues: