Geekland

My next book will tell the story of a century of geeks, nerds, anoraks and enthusiasts in Britain, and how their private passions have helped shape our country. What does being a geek do to your life? And what have geeks done for our culture more widely?

Modern geeks might rule the online space, but a hundred years ago they were expressing themselves through more cosy interests – model railways, football cards, stamp collecting and birdwatching. Over the decades our national culture has been changed through media, technology and communications, from radio and the telephone to social media and smartphones, which have have brought with them the opportunities for us to geek out on new fronts. This has proven irresistible to a sizeable minority of us, immersed in compelling micro-worlds of sci-fi, comedy and pop music, computing and tech, vintage collectibles, role-playing games or cacti.

For the book I’m looking to interview geeks of all flavours: be they hoarders, trainer obsessives, Box Brownie collectors, model village builders, maths lovers, design cranks, comics nerds, detectorists, trainspotters, sci-fi experts, computer whizzes, and niche enthusiasts geeking out on stuff I’m not even aware of. Anoraks of all ages, genders, sexualities, heritage and backgrounds, from all over Britain.

I want to know what it was like stamp collecting in the 1950s, going to sci-fi conventions in the 70s, obsessively following bands in the 90s, or being a science YouTuber in the 2010s. Has it helped you find a tribe or seen you ostracised? Has it been a place of comfort, excitement and escapism, or has it attracted unwanted attention? Do you link it with neurodiversity, or family background, or a friendship group? Where did it come from and where has it taken you to?

Please get in touch if you think you might have an interesting story to share regarding your own anorak tendencies, or please do share this with someone you know who may fit the bill. I want the book to feel as diverse and fascinating and funny and heartfelt as possible, and I can only do this through the help of people sharing their unlikely stories. I believe this is an untold story, of how nerding out moved from the fringes to the mainstream in our culture, and I’d love to pursue that cultural and social journey through archives and people’s experiences.

The book, Geekland, will be published by Faber in 2029.

Thank you for reading, sharing, contacting and most of all, for geeking out.