Just in time for the return of Bernie Wolfe, you can now view Sapphic Angst Fest online ! Some of the pages didn't particularly like being uploaded, but for the most part you should be able to read/see things - and there's a bar at the bottom that allows you to magnify pages that prove a bit more difficult. I know it's not perfect, but it's not too bad... The platform also gives us a way of adding to the zine without the need for additional funding for printing and so on. I don't know if anyone will want to add anything, but one or two people mentioned that they might, so if the mood takes you now or over the coming weeks and months, then please feel free to send me your page or pages as a pdf , and I will add them as swiftly as I can. Thanks and well done again to everyone who has contributed: the feedback has been brilliant. I had an email from Catherine and she thought it was incredible, so hats off.

I thought it was time for a quick update on the zine project... First of all thank you to everyone who contributed! The zine looks pretty fantastic, and we've had so many positive messages from people who've read it. I initially ordered 100 copies thinking that would be plenty, but they flew out of the door, so I ordered another 100. Around a third of those have gone as well, some to people who messaged me asking for copies, some to people who attended the Northwest Zinefest in Manchester on 6 May. I'm also sending copies to a couple of archives, and I've been asked to send some along to Strange Perfume , an LGBTQIA book fair that takes place later this month, in London. The other thing I thought I'd share is that I've entered the zine in the 'Compilation Zine' category of the  Broken Pencil Zine Awards . It'll be up against some stiff competition, no doubt, but I thought entering would be a nice way to celebrate everyone's amazing work! ...

Happy new year everyone! I’m really excited about 2018, and not just because Serena (and maybe even Bernie) will be back on our screens; I’m excited because we’re making our Berena zine! Some info for anyone who’s missed this so far: -        The zine is about the impact of Berena (storyline and/or fandom) on you – you can write, draw, collage, pretty much whatever you want to do. The idea is to create ‘an archive of feelings’ – something that preserves not just images from popular culture, but also their emotional affect. “The feelings that accompany media events are as important as those events.” [1] I really hope we can create our own little archive of feelings (good/bad/mad/whatever) about Berena. Here’s a previous blog post about why I started out on this. -        I have a venue booked in Liverpool for a day of collaborating on the zine, which takes place on 10 February 2018, and there are still places ava...

Information packs for those participating in   the Berena zine project   are now ready (finally! No photocopiers were harmed in their making, though one was very loudly sworn at this evening). If you have already emailed me to express an interest in taking part, you will have received an email from me, asking whether you want to   contribute in person on 10 February 2018, or whether you would prefer to contribute remotely.  If you haven't already emailed me,   click here   and let me know how you want to participate - at the moment there are about 10 places left for coming to Liverpool. There's no limit on the number of people who can participate remotely, though!   N.B.   If you are contributing remotely, please still let me know, because I have forms for you to read and sign, and I'll need your contributions   before   10 Feb.

For most of 2017, I’ve been working on a research project related to the BBC Holby City characters Bernie Wolfe and Serena Campbell, known by the ship name ‘Berena’. My research has always focused around questions of gender, sexuality, and media representation, and it was hard to miss the buzz around these older women-loving women falling in love. (How often does that happen on your telly on a Tuesday night?!) In particular, I was struck by the way that viewers talked about the impact that Berena had had on their lives – and I knew from personal experience that the storyline had been a source of joy and comfort (and sometimes virtually shared frustration and sadness) through a difficult time in my own life. I wanted to explore that. I currently have a journal article under peer review that reports on the key themes that emerged from a survey of Berena fans that I ran at the start of the summer; what was striking was how many of the survey participants talked about the impact ...