Saturday 10 March 2012 13:00 –   14:00

FORBIDDEN PLANET

Cambridge Store, 60 Burleigh Street, Cambridge, CB1 1DJ

Polluto Magazine is seeking submissions of fiction on the theme “Witchfinders vs The Evil Red” (an explanation as to what that might mean is given in the submission guidelines).

Polluto is an award-winning literary magazine from Dog Horn Publishing. They state: “Don’t give us typical genre fantasy or horror. We want stories that are out of the ordinary, surreal and twisted, or laced with dark, wicked humour. We want angry voices, new voices, voices that want to toy with the reader and teach them something new and exciting. Take us to dark places, dirty places, and show us things to make us giggle, gasp or gag. All submissions must have a countercultural element. By this we mean an engagement with, challenging of, or subverting of popular cultures and ideologies.”

The submission window for the next issue closes on 31 March 2012, or when the issue is full. For submission guidelines please visit the website HERE

Locus Online have listed the 2011 Nebula Awards nominees. These Awards are presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The winners will be announced at SFWA’s 47th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend, to be held 17 – 20 May 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, US.

See the full list of nominees HERE

Wizards of the Coast have revamped their Dungeons and Dragons website. With easier navigation and a more streamlined look, D&D players still have access to all the D&D content they’ve been getting, plus a few added features including the new Daily D&D page.

Wizards of the Coast has also launched its new DnDNext hub with all the articles, discussions and information relating to the next iteration of D&D. Players can sign up for the open playtest so they can be among the first to get their hands on new DnDNext materials when playtesting begins later in 2012.

See the new revamped website and get involved HERE

Angry Robot has signed debut novelist, Ramez Naam for two books in a new science fiction series. The first title – Nexus – will be Angry Robot’s lead title in January 2013, with the sequel, Crux, to follow later in the year. The deal included world English and translation rights in physical and electronic formats and was negotiated by Angry Robot editor Lee Harris, and Naam’s agent Lucienne Diver of the Knight Agency.

About Nexus:
In the near future, the nano-drug Nexus can link mind to mind. There are some who want to improve it. There are some who want to eradicate it. And there are others who just want to exploit it. When a young scientist is caught improving Nexus, he’s thrust over his head into a world of danger and international espionage, with far more at stake than anyone realises.

About Ramez Naam:
Seattle-based Naam – a computer scientist who helped build Internet Explorer, Outlook and Bing for Microsoft – is the HG Wells Award winning author of the non-fiction book More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement, and is a Fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.

On 1 March 2012 Tartarus Press will publish Black Horse and Other Strange Stories by Jason A. Wyckoff, as part of its Tartarus Contemporary Fiction series.

Jason is a new American author, writing in the tradition of the spooky/strange story, although his work is very contemporary. This is his first ever venture into print.

“This new collection of sixteen tales uncovers the strangeness within everyday America, the fable in the familiar. ‘The Highwall Horror’ sees an office worker discover the portal to an alien cathedral in a cubicle wall; in ‘Panorama’ an artist’s agent examines his client’s deserted masterpiece; a young man follows a forgotten song to the haunted town that spawned it in ‘The Bells, Then the Birds’; a young mother escapes her wastrel husband only to become lost in a perilous swell of freedom in ‘The Mauve Blot’; and in ‘Black Horse’ an inherited steed brings uneasiness and worse to its new owner.”

Full details HERE

Arc is a new science fiction / science fact publication from the makers of New Scientist. Its aims are to explore the future through cutting-edge science fiction and forward-looking essays by some of the world’s most celebrated authors, along with columns by thinkers and practitioners from the worlds of books, design, gaming, film and more.

The first issue, Arc 1.1: The Future Always Wins, is out now, including new fiction from Margaret Atwood, Stephen Baxter, M.John Harrison, Hannu Rajaniemi and Alastair Reynolds; thought-provoking essays from Simon Ings, China Miéville, Sumit Paul-Choudhury and Paul Graham Raven; and incisive commentary from Leigh Alexander, Simon Pummell, Adam Roberts and Bruce Sterling.

Full details HERE

Information prepared on Tuesday 21 February 2012 by Allen Ashley

The BFS short story competition 2012 is now open to entries. Anyone can enter, regardless of how many times they have been previously published. The competition is open to entries from 1 March 2012 to 30 June 2012. This year’s judge is award winning editor and BFS stalwart Allen Ashley.

Prizes
1st prize: £100, a year’s membership of the BFS, and publication in the BFS Journal.

2nd prize: £50, a year’s membership of the BFS, and publication in the BFS Journal.

3rd prize:£20

Schedule 

Open to entries from 1 March 2012 to 30 June 2012

No entries will be accepted outside these dates.

Allen Ashley is the sole judge of this year’s competition and will read every entry all the way through.

The winners will be announced at the British Fantasy Awards ceremony in September.

Rules

Any kind of fantastical story is welcome. For example: fantasy, science fiction, horror, supernatural, fabulation, magic realism, slipstream, etc, or indeed any combination of those genres.

The competition is open to both members and non-members of the society, but non-members must pay a £5 entry fee.

Stories must not exceed 5,000 words and must be previously unpublished. This means they must not have been published in books, magazines, on websites or have been broadcast on TV, radio, etc.

Multiple entries are welcome, but only one free entry per BFS member

Unlike some other competitions, this one is not being judged anonymously. Therefore, please put your name on your manuscript.

The decision of the judge Allen Ashley will be final.

No correspondence will be entered into regarding the judge’s decision.

Formatting the Stories
Documents should be formatted as follows:
Double-spaced text

Left and right hand margins of at least 2cm

12pt font

First line of paragraphs indented

Pages numbered, but no other text in the footer or header

Section breaks should be indicated by a single hash mark (#) or asterisk (*)

No mention of the author’s name, address or other details

If you know how, scrub your name from the File Properties

Failure to submit manuscripts in this manner may lead to disqualification. Stories that exceed 5000 words will not be read but you may still be charged.

Entering the Competition
Entries should be submitted by email.

Head your email “BFS Short Story Competition”

Attach your story as an rtf file

In the body of the email give your name, title of the story, the word count and details of membership/payment

Format the document according to the guidelines given above.

Send to:  shortstorycomp@britishfantasysociety.org

BFS members Allyson Bird (Isis Unbound) and Frazer Lee (The Lamplighters) have both had their debut novels shortlisted for the Stoker’s First Novel award. The awards are for works first published in 2011. The final ballot will be sent out to member voters on 23 February 2012.

Read the full shortlist HERE

Christopher Priest will be visiting the Birmingham Science Fiction Group in March 2012. Christopher is the author of twelve novels and numerous short stories. He has won the Arthur C. Clarke best novel award 2003 and the British Science Fiction Association best novel award 2002 (for The Separation) as well as the 1996 World Fantasy best novel award 1996 for The Prestige.

Christopher’s writing career spans an enormous breadth of subjects, published over a 40 year period (his first novel, Indoctrinaire, was published in 1970). The BSFG is very lucky to host to such a well respected author and Christopher’s talk is likely to give fascinating insights into his creative process.

The meeting is on 9 March 2012 at the Briar Rose Hotel on Bennett’s Hill, Birmingham; this venue is just 5 minutes walk from New Street Station and handy for all bus routes. The meeting opens its doors at 7:30 p.m.

The group itself has many members of all ages, and between them the membership has an enormous wealth of knowledge of literary SF, as well as films, television, etc. If you want to know about a particular author or book, the BSFG is likely to be able to help you! Just let us know you are a first timer when you turn up and any member will be happy to introduce you to the committee and make you feel as welcome as we can…

If you live anywhere in or around the West Midlands, the BSFG is the group for you! For further information, and a copy of our monthly newsletter, please email: bhamsfgroup@yahoo.co.uk

Or visit the website at: www.birminghamsfgroup.org.uk

Christopher’s website is at:  http://www.christopher-priest.co.uk/about/