Xenofilkia is a bimonthly filk fanzine run by Lee Gold.
We would like to thank ConChord for providing webspace for these pages.
What is filk? I usually define it as songs that interest science fiction fans: primarily songs about fantasy or science fiction or related topics. Related topics include computers, roleplaying games, mythology, science fiction fandom, history, current events, puns, and a number of other things I can't think of right now. For other definitions, check out rec.music.filk.
SF fans have been writing songs (sometimes parodies, sometimes to original music) since at least the 1940s, but they didn't start calling them "filksongs" until the early 1950s. That was when Lee Jacobs mistyped "folk" as "filk" in a fanzine article on folk music. Karen Kruse (later Karen Anderson) liked the word and used it to describe the long-standing fannish phenomenon, and the use caught on. See http://www.nightsong.com/filk/twippledop/ for Karen's December, 1955 SAPSzine article on filksongs.
Here are a few examples of songs that have been published in Xenofilkia.
Xenofilkia comes out every even month (February, April, June, August, October and December). Each Xenofilkia has about twenty pages of filksongs and weighs about 3 ounces. The first issue was October of 1988, and issues have been appearing punctually ever since.
All back issues of Xenofilkia are still in print. They're US $1 each ($1.50 starting October 7). plus postage (see below).
Xenofilkia costs 7.5¢ per song page plus postage. Most issues are 20 pages, so that's $1.50 per issue.
Current Postage rates are:
| Destination | In #10 envelope | In 9x12 envelope |
|---|---|---|
| US | $1.22 | $1.27 |
| Canada | $1.55 | $1.60 |
| Europe | $2.92 | $2.97 |
For further details, see http://ircalc.usps.gov/
Here is a conversion table for anyone who wants to figure out which issues came out near a certain date.
Send payment by currency - or by check, traveler's check or postal
money order in US$ (made out to Lee Gold), to:
Lee Gold
3965 Alla Road
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Non-US buyers may send currency or a cheque in your own national currency. UKans may contact Lee Gold to be put in touch with a UKan who has a US$ cheque account. Payment may also be made by PayPal to Lee Gold's account. (Your payment will be debited the PayPal fee, which is 2.9% plus 30¢, plus an additional 2.2% if your original currency is not US$.)
The cheapest way to get a copy of Xenofilkia is to contribute a song you wrote — one with original lyrics which is not generally available. A contributor gets the issue s/he contributes to for free and the next issue for postage only.
You can choose any of three methods to contribute.
Please state if the song has been published elsewhere, on paper or electronically. Please don't send copyrighted songs or melodies without the writer's permission. Please send sheet music or a cassette tape for any songs written to your original tune. Sheet music can be sent as gif, jpg, pdf, Finale, PrintMusic, or Noteworthy Composer format, or printed on paper.
You can send a formatted song in Word97-compatible or RTF format.
DEADLINE: no later than the 7th day of every odd month:
Jan, Mar, May, July, Sep, Nov
Xenofilkia welcomes contributions from everybody, but is not in any way obligated to print each song submitted. The only way to ensure you will receive an issue of Xenofilkia is to send money.
Since the cost of getting Xenofilkia is not predictable in advance (due to post office rate changes, contribution credit, etc.), no fixed rate subscriptions are offered. Instead, you should send a check or money order made payable to Lee Gold. I'll note your remaining balance on the envelope of each issue I mail you. (Special rates for dealers.)
Lee Gold also publishes infrequent, unscheduled anthologies of what she
considers to be the better filksongs that she and a few of her
acquaintances have written. This is the
FILKER UP
series.
(Now Available:
a cumulative index
of Filker Up.)
Lee Gold also publishes a monthly roleplaying game APA: Alarums and Excursions, which won Origins Awards in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
LINKS
We would like to thank ConChord for providing webspace for these pages.
This page maintained by Barry Gold
Last change: May 24, 2009