What It's Like to Be a Super-Fan -- Amy Arora

This month, alongside doing a developmental edit for an extremely cool bit of speculative fiction, and outlining a novel of my own, I am working as an examiner for the International Baccalaureate. I have been given 60 Extended Essays to work my way through and to mark as I see fit. It’s surprisingly enjoyable. 

The Extended Essay is one of my favourite elements of the IB programme. Students can choose any subject and any topic, then they need to write 4000 analytical words putting forward a line of argument. It’s like a mini dissertation, only the students in question are 17, and they are also studying six other subjects (the IB is hardcore). 

Essential accompaniments to essay marking

For the students who choose English, the possibilities are endless. So far, I’ve marked essays on classic works of literature ranging from Oscar Wilde to Homer, from Shakespeare to Virginia Woolf. I’ve read about magazine advertising through the years and a whole range of political speeches as well as many, many films and series. 

Reading an essay about Sylvia Plath’s poetry, I realised something important. When it comes to literature, I am often an extremely mainstream fan. I thought I loved Plath. I do love Plath. And yet, realistically, I am only familiar with a tiny portion of her work: The Bell Jar, Daddy, Lady Lazarus… This essay invited me to look at some of her journals and more of her poetry – and I understood that I have only scratched the surface. 

It’s a bit like saying you’re a massive fan of Queen, but actually only knowing the songs from their Greatest Hits, Volume I (guilty!). Or saying that you love Leonardo DiCaprio, but then admitting that you’ve only seen Titanic and The Great Gatsby. 

Being a verified super-fan is different. I knew this when I was 9 and listened to everything Take That had ever recorded, including all of the dodgy B-sides and live performances, as well as subscribing to the Take That magazine and carrying around five beautiful Take That dolls based on the five members of the group, right down to the miniature bead necklaces and plastic dreadlocks for Howard Donald. When you’re a super-fan, you pledge allegiance, because you know that your love cannot be denied. 

In books, I am a super-fan of a few writers: Margaret Atwood, Maggie O’Farrell, Amitav Ghosh, and Jean Rhys. I’ve flirted with others too – I definitely had a long DH Lawrence phase at university – but those four are my mainstays. I want to read everything they have written. I get a kick out of seeing how their writing has changed over time. I buy copies of their books in hardback. 

Maggie O'Farrell's latest offering. I loved it!

These writers have all written books that have made me think differently and that I carry with me, always. The scenes from their novels live in my head and I reckon I could give you a couple of quotes from each one if you asked me to. I think about how they write and I try to emulate it sometimes but, alas, I can’t ever compare. 

So, I’ve decided on a new dream for me and my writing. It comes in two parts. Maybe one day, someone will seek out everything I’ve ever written, and will even read this blog post to understand more about my inspiration (marking essays – who would have thought it?!). And maybe, just maybe, one of my literary heroes will read my books in the future and declare themselves a super-fan. It’s good to dream big.

Amy Arora is a writer and editor at The EC Press, who lives in the South of France.