Voice of the Imagi-Nation

Voice of the Imagi-Nation
Issue 47 Hallowe'en 1945

Voice of the Imagi-Nation was a science fiction fanzine by Forrest J Ackerman and Myrtle Douglas (Morojo).

Just prior to starting Voice of the Imagi-Nation, Forrest Ackerman had edited Imagination! for the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society from 1937 till 1938. Voice of the Imagi-Nation was originally a letter column in that fanzine, but was turned into a zine on its own by Ackerman the year after Imagination! ceased publishing. Starting in 1939, it included short essays, articles and fan art. It was the volatile letter column, however, which made "VOM", as it was known, famous among fans.

Contributing artists included Hannes Bok, Joe Gibson, Roy Hunt, Harry Turner (Zenith), and Bill Watson (Diablerie, Sappho).

Contributing writers included Leslie Croutch (Light), Claude Degler, in his first appearance in print, Henry Kuttner, writing on Satanism, Tigrina (Hymn To Satan, Vice Versa) also writing on Satanism, and more than two hundred fans writing letters.

Letters came from Ted Carnell (Novae Terrae), Ken Chapman, Arthur C. Clarke (Novae Terrae), Cyril Kornbluth, Joe Gilbert (The Southern Star), Henry Hasse, Eric Hopkins, Joe Kennedy (Vampire), Robert A.W. Lowdnes, J. Chapman Miske (Bizarre), Elmer Perdue, Mark Reinsberg, J.E. Rennison, William Temple (Novae Terrae), Bob Tucker (Le Zombie), Harry Warner, Jr. (Horizons), Douglas Webster (The Fantast, Cthulhu), Donald Wollheim (The Phantagraph), among others.

During 1941, Voice of the Imagi-Nation was a split zine with Shangri L'Affaires, of which Ackerman had been one of several editors.

For the duration of World War II, Voice of the Imagi-Nation was a frequent split zine with Futurian War Digest. As well, Ackerman organized fans in the U.S. to ship over unwanted paper to editor Michael Rosenblum to print Futurian War Digest on, since there was a shortage of paper in the UK during the war.

Along with Atres Artes, Black Flames, Chanticleer, En Garde, Guteto, Ichor, Le Zombie, Lethe, Nova, Shangri L'Affaires, and The Timebinder, Voice of the Imagi-Nation was included in the anthology fanzine Pacificon Combozine for the 1946 Pacificon Fourth World Science-Fiction Convention.

The last issue, #50 appeared in 1947.

In the 1990s, Voice of the Imagi-Nation won the Retro-Hugo Award For Best Fanzine, for 1947 and Forrest Ackerman won the Retro Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer.

During the 1940s, Myrtle Douglas and Forrest J Ackerman also published the fanzine Novacious and Myrtle Douglas published her own Guteto.