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BFS Committee announcementComments Off The BFS committee is pleased to announce that Neil Ford has joined as Webmaster for the society. Neil has over 25 years experience in IT covering a wide range of disciplines and technologies, including all aspects of web hosting and administration. Neil takes over from the equally-capable Derek Lakin-Smith, who leaves the society having improved its technical capabilities during his tenure. The committee are also pleased to announce that Amanda Rutter will remain as society Treasurer, having previously decided to stand down from the role. Her experience as a fully qualified accountant will continue to serve the society well. |
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Lists of members’ recommendations for British Fantasy Awards(2) Following announcement of the shortlist for the 2012 British Fantasy Awards, the long lists from which the shortlisted works/candidates were chosen can now be revealed. The ‘long lists’ are the list of members’ recommendations in each category, including jurors’ recommendations as applicable. The lists have been copied from the voting data. Titles appear in no particular order. While the Awards Administrator has made every effort to check any apparent discrepancies (such as variant spellings), time has not permitted checking the eligibility of every item in each category. Any errors noted may be reported to the Awards Administrator at bfsawards [at] britishfantasysociety [dot] org British Fantasy Award recommendations: Novel: (* ‘Elves: Once walked with Gods’ by James Barclay is included in the list of members’ recommendations. James Barclay is on the BFA Jury this year.) Novella: Short Fiction: Deluge; Kim Lakin-Smith (Pandemonium: Stories of the Apocalypse) Anthology: (Please note – BFS publications are ineligible and therefore any recommendations have not been listed.) Collection: Screenplay: Periodical/Magazine: Comic/Graphic novel: *Jennifer Wilde and Roisin Dubh by Maura McHugh received recommendations from members in this category. Maura is on the BFA jury this year. The PS Publishing Independent Press Award: Best Artist: Les Edwards; http://www.lesedwards.com/ Rumours of the Marvellous – Peter Atkins (Alchemy Press) Julie Dillon; Santiago Caruso; Gabriel Rodriguez; Mark Manley; Vincent Chong; David Rix; Steve Upham; Daniele Serra; Paul Mudie John Coulthart; Melissa Gay; Paul Hanley; Nate Simpson; Chris Roberts; Travel Foreman; Jethro Lentle; Lovecraft Ezine Cover November 2011 Randy Broecker Carla Speed McNeil; Ben Baldwin; Clive Barker; Andy Bigwood; Erik Mohr; John Picacio; Dave McKeen; Jon Sullivan Dominic Harman; http://bleedingdreams.com/BleedingDreams/ Jenny Laatsch & Madame Thenadier; Stephen J Clark; Marc Silvestri; Simon ‘Pye’ Parr; Jimmy Broxton; Kate Brown; Greg Capullo; Pedro Marques; Steven Vincent Mitchell; Bret Herholz; Jim Kay; Bob Eggleton Mark Buckingham; Mike Mignola Non-Fiction: |
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Download your digital copy of the BFS Journal and ShelflingsComments Off BFS members should have received their email detailing how to download their digital copy of the Spring BFS Journal. From this edition, the Journal is available as a PDF, epub and mobi for all your ereader needs. The email also includes details of how to download issue one of Shelflings. Shelflings, compiled and typeset by Stephen Theaker, is a new BFS ezine featuring reviews that were commissioned and edited by Craig Lockley, Phil Lunt and Jay Eales for the British Fantasy Society website, with some reviews that were commissioned by Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards. If you have problems with your ebook editions please contact Journal Production Manager Cavan Scott (journal@britishfantasysociety.org) and don’t forget you can discuss any of the BFS’s publications on our forum HERE |
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British Fantasy Awards shortlist announced(14) The British Fantasy Society is pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2012 British Fantasy Awards. Determined by the 952 recommendations from BFS members and FantasyCon attendees and overseen by the British Fantasy Awards Jury, the shortlist is: Novel: There will be two awards in the best Novel category: The August Derleth Award for best horror novel and The Robert Holdstock Award for best fantasy novel. Novella: Short Fiction: Anthology: Collection: Screenplay: Magazine/Periodical: Comic/Graphic Novel: As stated in the new rules of the BFAwards, the Judges can add a title they feel was an egregious omission from the initial recommendations. This year they added 2 titles to the novel category, 2 titles to the novella category, and 1 title to short fiction. If a category has 5 titles listed, this is due to a tie on number of votes and points. The BFAward Judges, James Barclay, Hal Duncan, Maura McHugh, Esther Sherman, and Damien G. Walter, will now review the shortlist and enter into deliberations. The winners will be announced at FantasyCon in Brighton on 30 September 2012. The Special Juries and shortlists for the following awards have also been announced: The PS Publishing Independent Press Award: Jurors: Shortlist: The Artist Award: Jurors: Shortlist: The Non-Fiction Award : Jurors: Shortlist: British Fantasy Society Chair Lee Harris says, “Our members have been consistent in recommending the best in horror and fantasy published in 2011, and we think we have an incredibly strong shortlist. Our judges have a hard job ahead of them and we’re sure the 2012 British Fantasy Awards will get people debating for the rest of the year.” Find out more about our judges here. The full longlist of members’ recommendations will be available to view on the BFS website from next week. AMENDMENT There has been a slight amendment to the BFAwards shortlist as listed above. King Death was mistakenly listed in the Best Novella category (instead of short story) and Alice Through the Plastic Sheet was listed in the Best Short Story category (instead of novella). Both stories continue to be eligible in their new homes. Apologies for any confusion, and many thanks to those of you who spotted the error. |
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Why do you write? Tell us on the BFS forum(1) In his Mark of Fear column in the latest issue of the BFS Journal, Mark Morris writes: “Why do writers write? What compels them to commit their thoughts and ideas to paper, and then to present them for the scrutiny, criticism and approbation of others? A recent Facebook update from Gary McMahon gave me pause for thought. In it he claimed that he was only ever truly happy when he was writing. Not when he had completed a piece of work to the very best of his ability and was basking in the glow of a job well done; not when he had the finished book, complete with groovy cover and that delicious smell of fresh ink, in his hands; not even when fans were telling him how much they loved his work. No, it was the act of writing itself that he loved – the process of sitting at a desk and trying to express the tangle of ideas in his head in some kind of coherent and readable way. For me, writing is tough. It’s hard, brain-aching, often exasperating work. Don’t get me wrong. I love my job. I love creating characters, and telling stories, and building what I hope are convincing worlds around them, and tapping into thoughts and emotions that, if I’m lucky, convey themselves to the reader. But I wouldn’t describe myself as ‘happy’ during the actual process of writing. I’m happy when I’ve written – or rather, when I’m satisfied with what I’ve written. But during the act of writing itself I’m… thoughtful, pre-occupied, sometimes frustrated, and occasionally – fleetingly – self-satisfied at a particular line of dialogue or turn of phrase. But happy? No. Gary’s words prompted me to ask him, and a number of other writer friends, what actually motivates them to write.” You can read the answers Mark received in the Spring Edition of the BFS Journal, but we want to know what makes you write? What drives you to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard? Let us know by joining the discussion on the BFS Forum |
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BFS Journal Spring 2012 edition out now!Comments Off BFS Members should now be receiving their copy of the Spring BFS Journal. Edited by Lou Morgan, Guy Adams and Ian Hunter, the latest edition features a brand new look. The contents include: FICTION: NON-FICTION: POETRY: Plus regular columns from Ramsey Campbell, Mark Morris, Sophia McDougall, and a special feature from Jared Shurin, interviewing Jane Rogers. We would love to hear what you think of the edition. You can leave feedback at our Facebook page and at the forum. For the first time, members will also be able to download the journal as an ePub, mobi or PDF file. Members should watch their email inboxes to find out how to access their digital editions. |
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Special Juries announced for BFAwards(1) The British Fantasy Society is delighted to announce the Special Juries for the British Fantasy Awards. The awards will be presented at FantasyCon in Brighton in September 2012. The Jury for the PS Publishing Independent Press Award: Sandy Auden is a freelance writer and photographer. Her work has appeared in SFX, Interzone, Locus and Supernatural magazines; a wide range of websites; and the occasional music video. Peter and Nicky Crowther’s PS Publishing received the coveted annual BFS Award for Best Specialist/Small Press on seven occasions until, with a yearly output running to between 40 and fifty titles, Peter removed it from further consideration and instead contributes an annual financial prize to imprints with more modest schedules. We’re not sure whether those moist eyes when he presents the Award are due to parting with the prize of £250 or hankering for the days when he was putting out less than a book every week. Nicholas Royle is a novelist and short story writer, a commissioning editor for contemporary fiction at Salt Publishing, and editor and publisher of chapbook specialist Nightjar Press. Peter Tennant is the book reviewer and a contributing editor to Black Static magazine. He’s also the proofreader for Interzone and Crimewave. Darren Turpin is the Marketing / Publicity / Digital / Webguy for UK-based independent genre fiction publisher Angry Robot, as well as the proprietor of their Robot Trading Company webstore. In the past he’s been a Waterstones bookseller, a book reviewer and serial blogger (The Alien Online, The UK SF Book News Network, The Genre Files), a freelance website content manager and a Big Publishing corporate wage slave. He lives in Manchester with his wife Jo and their cat, Hobbes. The Jury for the Artist Award: Guy Adams has written over twenty books, ranging from novels such as The World House and the Deadbeat series to novelisations of Hammer movies and more books about Sherlock Holmes than you could shake a Calabash pipe at. He is also the writer of the comic series The Engine, working with artist Jimmy Broxton. Anne Sudworth is a British artist with paintings in many international collections. She has exhibited widely and has had two books on her work published. Christopher Teague has been an independent publisher for over ten years and is still relatively sane. In that time, he has realised that folk do judge a book by its front cover. The Jury for the Non-Fiction Award: Djibril al-Ayad is the editor of The Future Fire, a social-political speculative fiction magazine and review, as well as a writer and academic historian (under different pseudonyms). Roz Kaveney is a poet, novelist, critic and activist resident in London. Adam Roberts is Professor of Nineteenth-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London; and the author of a dozen science fiction novels and various pieces of SF and Fantasy criticism. |
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FantasyCon announces latest Author Guest of HonourComments Off FantasyCon 2012 is delighted to announce that New York Times best-selling author Brent Weeks has been added to its exciting line-up of guests. Brent is the author of “The Night Angel Trilogy”, featuring master assassin Durzo Blint, who practices his fatal art in a world of dangerous politics, strange magics and sudden death. The first volume in the series, The Way of Shadows, was published in 2008 and was quickly followed by Shadow’s Edge and Beyond the Shadows. Perfect Shadow is a prequel novella in the same series, while the first book in the author’s new “Lightbringer” series, The Black Prism, launched in August 2010. It will be followed by The Blinding Knife, which will be published by Orbit in time for this year’s FantasyCon, which is being held in the historic seaside town of Brighton, East Sussex, over the weekend of 27 – 30 September 2012. Brent joins the other Author Guest of Honour, legendary Texas “Mojo Story Writer” Joe R. Lansdale, Special Editor Guest Mary Danby and Master of Ceremonies Tim Lebbon. With memberships fast approaching 200, if you have not joined up yet, do so now! All you have to do is go to the “How to Join” page on the website HERE. Full details of the convention are available on the website HERE |
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Coming soon: BFS Journal Spring 2012Comments Off The upcoming BFS Journal will be sent out to all BFS members soon, contents as follows: FICTION: NON-FICTION; POETRY: Plus regular columns from Ramsey Campbell, Mark Morris, Sophia McDougall, and a special feature from Jared Shurin, interviewing Jane Rogers. COVER ARTIST: Chris Roberts If you aren’t already a member of the BFS and would like a copy, why not join us HERE! |
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BFS Committee vacancies – Treasurer and Web AdministratorComments Off The positions of BFS Treasurer and Web Administrator are both open, and we are actively seeking applications from interested members. These roles are crucial to the well-running of the society, and you will be part of a committee dedicated to keeping the British Fantasy Society at the forefront of fantasy and horror fandom in the UK. The committee would like to thank Amanda Rutter (outgoing Treasurer) for the outstanding work she has done in preparing the society’s accounts and keeping our finances on an even keel, and Del Lakin-Smith, who has performed his role of Web Administrator to perfection. No formal qualifications are necessary for either post, though a strong grasp of mathematics is a pre-requisite for the Treasurer role, and the ideal Web Administrator candidate will have the following skills and experience (though support is available):
Applications for either role should be forwarded by email to Lee Harris – chair@britishfantasysociety.org |
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