Soma

Soma was a science fiction poetry fanzine by Van Splawn.

Soma was a small 4 page fanzine that included exclusively poetry in its pages. Two issues were released: August 1952 and May 1953. The second issue was a split zine with another title by Splawn, called Djinn.

The first issue included poetry by Redd Boggs (Sky Hook), George Ebey (Sappho), James Russell Gray, Marijane Nuttall, and William Young. The three poems by Young were original to this issue; the others were reprints from previous fanzines.

The contributions to Issue Two were the poems "Cosmic Lie" by Lilith Lorraine (Challenge, Different, Flame); "Youthful Martyr" by Orma McCormick (Starlanes); "The Angel Tree" by Richard Shaver (The Shaver Mystery Magazine); "Ennui" by Clark Ashton Smith; and "Tide's Gambit" by William Young.

The cover of Issue Two was by Richard Bergeron (Warhoon).

Van Splawn was co-editor of The Star Rover with F. Lee Baldwin and Fritz Hoffmann, and also released the single issue fanzine The Fantasmith in 1953.