World Fantasy Convention 2013 is honoured to welcome multiple award-winning author, poet, artist, actor and raconteur Brian W. Aldiss as its second Special Guest.

Brian has written in almost every genre, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, historical and humorous fiction, as well as non-fiction and poetry. Among his many acclaimed novels are Non-Stop, The Primal Urge, Hothouse, Greybeard, Earthworks, An Age (aka Cryptozoic!), Report on Probability A, Barefoot in the Head, Frankenstein Unbound (filmed by Roger Corman in 1990), The Malacia Tapestry, Brothers of the Head, Moreau’s Other Island, The Helliconia Trilogy (Helliconia Spring, Helliconia Summer and Helliconia Winter), Dracula Unbound, Jocasta, Walcot and Finches of Mars.

A multiple winner of the Hugo, Nebula, British Science Fiction and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards, Brian Aldiss was named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 2000. On 11 June 2005 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature in H.M. Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honours list.

“Of course I am radiant to be asked as a Special Guest to the World Fantasy Con,” says Brian, “particularly since it is to be held in Brighton – do our overseas guests know what a gorgeous place Brighton is?”

Brian Aldiss joins previously announced Author Guests of Honour Richard Matheson and Richard Christian Matheson, Artist Guest of Honour Alan Lee, Special Guest Tessa Farmer and Master of Ceremonies China Mieville, in the picturesque and vibrant seaside town of Brighton, on the south coast of England, over the weekend of 31 October – 3 November 2013.

Although the convention is still more than a year away there are already more than 500 registered memberships! Please be aware that there is a firm limit on the number of Attending Members, so once the convention is sold out there will be no more memberships available. Remember, the 2012 World Fantasy Convention in San Diego sold out eight months prior to the event, so the sooner you join, the sooner you are guaranteed a place. Plus the membership rate will increase at regular intervals as the convention approaches.

Check the website for information on how to join.

BFS members and non-members alike are FREE to join us in London on Saturday 16 June 2012 from 1pm till late at The Mug House, 1 Tooley Street, London E1 2PF, where we will host the official launch of editor Stephen Jones‘ and artist Les Edwards‘ tribute to the great M.R. James (Jo Fletcher Books – more details to follow). We also plan to launch Alt-Zombie edited by Peter Mark May (Hersham Horror).

If you want to become part of the day’s celebrations email Martin Roberts, BFS Events Organiser, at events [at] britishfantasysociety [dot] org

Keep an eye on Facebook and on the main BFS website and forum for updates!

This Is Horror will be launching its new Premium Chapbooks Series during an evening with authors David Moody, Joseph D’Lacey and Simon Bestwick, with host Jasper Bark. The event will take place on Friday 22 June 2012 in The Writer’s Room, Milburn House at the University of Warwick from 7pm to 9pm. Tickets are free – simply e-mail Michael [at] ThisIsHorror [dot] co [dot] uk to book your place.

Subscriptions to the Premium Chapbooks Series are now available. For information please visit the This Is Horror website HERE

The Horror Writers Association has announced BFS President Ramsey Campbell as their first Guest of Honour for the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend 2013. The event will be held in New Orleans from 13 – 16 June 2013.

Ramsey – who is a HWA Lifetime Achievement Award winner -  will be participating in all aspects of the convention, including an in-depth interview, panel discussions, a mass signing, and presenting during the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet.

See the website HERE for further details.

The full line-up has now been announced and tickets are on sale for the 11th Fantastic Films Weekend from 15 – 17 June 2012 at the National Media Museum, Bradford. Here, from the website, is just a taste of what’s in store:

“We will be schlocking and rolling you with some of the most outrageous horror and fantasy ever committed to celluloid. Fans of schlocky horror should look out for an ultra rare print of 70′s Grindhouse classic I Drink Your Blood, our Troma triple-bill, and our Saturday night special guest Harley Cokeliss talking about his career in the genre alongside a screening of the Roger Corman-produced Battletruck. Cokeliss’ career in the genre has spanned decades and features second unit directorial duties on The Empire Strikes Back.

We’ll also be proving that sisters are certainly doing it for themselves with screenings celebrating women in the genre including Grace Jones’ classic Vamp, saucy sci-fi opus Barbarella and the soon-to-be-remade Red Sonja. We will also peek behind the scenes of Hammer with Renée Glynne, script supervisor on many of the studio’s classics including The Quatermass Xperiment which will screen alongside her interview.

One of FFW’s trademarks is its love of genre retro and we have recruited guest curator, Hammer film historian, writer and publisher, Robert Simpson to programme a unique and premiere-packed Hammer strand. We are also proud to present a FFW first – a not-to-be-missed, 3-strip widescreen Cinerama presentation of The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. While TV Heaven will be going timelord-tastic with a Doctor Who takeover celebrating every Doctor across one weekend.

FFW also teams up with Leeds International Film Festival’s Fanomenon for an evening of giallo including a rare screening of an archive 35mm print of Four Flies On Grey Velvet and an onstage interview with new heir to the giallo crown Andreas Marschall, followed by a screening of his new films Masks.”

For further programming details and to buy tickets visit the website HERE

The World Horror Convention 2013 will be hosted by the Horror Writers Association, and will incorporate the Bram Stoker Awards. The event will be held in New Orleans from 13 – 16 June 2013. The event is billed as the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend incorporating World Horror Convention 2013, and it has its website HERE.

The convention will be held at the historic Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Membership sales will begin in the second half of 2012, as will voting for the WHC Grandmaster Award. Guests of Honour will be announced in due course.

For further details as they arise visit the website HERE

Rob Hansen is compiling an internet resource – THEN: The Archive – which is a repository for some of the material referenced when researching and writing THEN, his history-in-progress of British science fiction fandom from the 1930s to the 1980s.

He is seeking a photograph of the frontage of the Imperial Hotel in Birmingham. The hotel hosted several SF and fantasy events before it was demolished, including some early FantasyCons. Here, from the archive, is a page detailing the 1959 Eastercon held at that venue. Rob would love to be able to add a photo of the hotel frontage to this page.

If you can assist by providing a photograph of the frontage of the Imperial Hotel, please contact Peter Coleborn at pkcoleborn [at] gmail [dot] com. Please do not send the photograph in the first instance but simply contact Peter explaining what photo(s) you have.

As part its historical theme of “Arthur Machen @ 150”, World Fantasy Convention 2013 is pleased to welcome acclaimed British sculptor Tessa Farmer as a Special Guest to Brighton.

The great-granddaughter of the influential Welsh fantasy writer, she works with sculptural installation, stop-motion animation and drawing to explore the fantastical world of a species of insect-sized malevolent skeletal fairies that have existed since the late 1990s. Not unsurprisingly, the artist acknowledges that her great-grandfather’s fiction has been an important influence upon her own work.

Tessa Farmer studied Fine Art at The University of Oxford, and in 2007, she was artist in residence at London’s The Natural History Museum. Her solo exhibitions in 2011 include “Nymphidia” at London’s Danielle Arnaud Contemporary Art Gallery, and “ISAM: Control Over Nature”, a collaboration with DJ and producer Amon Tobin, at the city’s Crypt Gallery.

“I am delighted to have been invited to attend the World Fantasy Convention in 2013,” she says, “and for the opportunity to show my work alongside inspirational and influential artists and writers. I am looking forward to celebrating the anniversary of Arthur Machen’s birth amongst equally inspirational enthusiasts. (What I really mean is that the evil fairies are excited about parasitising all these great minds . . . I think they are in for a treat!)”

Tessa Farmer joins previously announced Author Guests of Honour Richard Matheson and Richard Christian Matheson, Artist Guest of Honour Alan Lee, and Master of Ceremonies China Mieville, in the picturesque and vibrant seaside town of Brighton, on the south coast of England, over the weekend of 31 October – 3 November 2013. For further information and how to book please see the website HERE

It has been confirmed that the 64th Eastercon – appropriately named Eight Squared Con – will be held at the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford, West Yorkshire, from 29 March to 1 April 2013. The Guests of Honour have been announced as Walter Jon Williams, Freda Warrington, Anne Sudworth and Edward James.

To keep up to date with announcements and information please see the website HERE