THE FILKISH LIFE OF ANNE HARLAN PRATHER

SOCIETIES THAT DEAL WITH FILK

Emerald Forest Filkers: Seattle Based Filk society

Friends of Filk--a foundation dedicated to the preservation of filk music along with other charitable causes involving filkers.

 

Filk is essentially music whose lyrics relate to technology, science, science fiction, or fantasy. The filk movement has been around for nearly sixty years. According to some sources, the movement started in the fifties. Other sources place its inception earlier. Still other sources place it later.

I first became aware of filk music in the late 1970s, during a Chicago science fiction convention called WindyCon. While at the convention, I met a woman named Leslie Fish, who was singing songs about UFOs, union organizers on the starship Enterprise, and the landing on the moon of Apollo 11.

In 1982, I contacted a company called Off-Centaur publishing, asking them if they were interested in releasing any of the science fiction and fantasy songs I had written. They were enthusiastic, and my first album quickly followed. Two years later, I released my first book of songs.

I have now been a filker for nearly thirty-five years. I've written over a hundred songs, released five albums, and attended countless conventions. .