Drake Hansen Awarded W.W. Newell Prize

English Department Graduate Instructor Drake Hansen has been awarded the W.W. Newell Prize in Children’s Folklore from the American Folklore Society for his paper “'Kidnap me pls': Adolescent Humor, Rumor, and Legend in the Formation of Floptok." 

“My paper is on the kidnapping legend/game that was a major part of the beginning of Floptok, an unhinged and unserious meme-sharing community on TikTok,” Drake says. “Scholars in the humanities, especially folklorists, are still trying to understand how people choose to use the internet, so I hope to contribute in some small way with this case study of playfulness and different layers of falsehood.” Floptok videos started catching wind in 2021 as a play on the slang term “flop era,” and the name surfaced in 2022. “As a warning to curious Googlers, Floptok abounds with NSFW language,” Drake comments. 

He first presented the paper at the 2024 International Society of Contemporary Legend Research meeting. Afterward, he was contacted by K. Brandon Barker, editor of Children’s Folklore Review and convener of the Children’s Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society. “He emailed me after the conference to compliment my work and invite me to submit the paper to the prize committee! I don’t think I’d have known about the prize if he hadn’t reached out,” Drake reflects. 

Drake received the email announcing he had won while visiting his family for his birthday. “Sorry to those relatives, but that was the best present!” Drake says. “It’s amazing, a little scary, and very affirming to have my work recognized by established scholars in the field, especially as someone so new to it.” 

As part of the prize, Drake’s paper will be published in Children’s Folklore Review, an exciting opportunity and achievement. He comments, “While there are the small horrors of being perceived, I’m excited to have my work out in the nebulous ‘there,’ especially since Children’s Folklore Review is open-access, so more people will have the opportunity to read it. It’s also very exciting to have a peer-reviewed publication this early in my academic career as I’m just starting to put together PhD applications.” 

Congratulations, Drake!