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Photos of hotel frontage sought for internet resource – can you help?(0)

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.

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
Peter Crowther
Nicholas Royle
Peter Tennant
Darren Turpin

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
Anne Sudworth
Christopher Teague

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
Roz Kaveney
Adam Roberts

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.

Judges announced for 2012 British Fantasy Awards(2)

The British Fantasy Society is delighted to announce that the 2012 British Fantasy Awards will be decided by a jury of five volunteers, a first in BFS history. The jury consists of:

James Barclay: James is the author of the two Raven trilogies: Chronicles of The Raven and Legends of The Raven, and the epic fantasy duology, The Ascendants of Estorea. He has written two novellas, Light Stealer and Vault of Deeds, and his latest book Elves: Once Walked With Gods is out now.

Hal Duncan: Hal’s debut Vellum was published in 2005, garnering nominations for the Crawford, Locus, BFS and World Fantasy Award, and winning the Gaylactic Spectrum, Kurd Lasswitz and Tähtivaeltaja. He’s since published the sequel Ink, the novella Escape from Hell!, various short stories, and a poetry collection.

Maura McHugh: Maura is a writer, freelance web designer and IT consultant. She’s currently writing two comic book series (Rķisín Dubh and Jennifer Wilde) for Atomic Diner in Ireland, and she also works for the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild as their webmaster, blogger and newsletter editor.

Esther Sherman: Esther is a medical underwriter, burlesque performer, voracious reader, computer games addict and geek culture fan. She is co-editor of Nasty Snips 2, a horror anthology from Pendragon Press due in Autumn 2012.

Damien G. Walter: Damien is a writer of weird and speculative fiction. In 2005 he was shortlisted for the Douglas Coupland short fiction contest, and more recently won a grant from Arts Council England to work on his first novel. He writes and reviews for The Guardian and IO9 among others.

The jury will deliberate on a shortlist of four nominations as determined by the members of the BFS. The jury shall also have powers to add nominations where it identifies an egregious omission.

The British Fantasy Awards 2012 will be presented during FantasyCon, to be held in Brighton in September.

First FantasyCon guests announced(0)

New York Times best-selling horror and fantasy writer Tim Lebbon has been announced as Master of Ceremonies for the 2012 British FantasyCon in Brighton.

Award-winning horror/crime writer Joe R. Lansdale is the first Guest of Honour to be announced, with editor/ anthologist Mary Danby – best known as editor of The Fontana Book of Horror Stories from 1970 to 1984 – as Special Editor Guest.

Further guests to be announced shortly. Full details at the FantasyCon website

FantasyCon: Late additions(0)

Due to a last minute room change we can add an extra film screening from 8:00 pm on Friday 30 September in the Russell Room…

Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man (2010)

90 Mins

Directed by Jason Brock

Imagine becoming the top writer for Playboy in your twenties. Imagine being a mainstay for the ground-breaking Twilight Zone series.

Imagine verging on the cusp of a major film writing career. Then imagine a mysterious illness stealing your mind and youth …

ALSO (on a lighter note!):

On Saturday from 10:00 pm – Midnight in the Lounge

Spine-chilling, mouth-watering and rib-tickling amusements from …

TEATRO PROBERTO

Proudly Present..

Blood on Satan’s Claw: A Pantomime
&
Corruption

BURLESQUE FROM BEYOND

Performances by:
Miss Baby Bones & Alessa Dark
Bea Devile
Ruby Demure & Infinity Favour
(The Flirtinis)
Esmeralda Underwood

Warning!
Not for the faint of heart or those of a nervous disposition!

FantasyCon 2011: update(0)

Important notice: From Wednesday 29 September we can no longer accept electronic or postal memberships to FantasyCon.

From the same date, we will also no longer be accepting registrations for the final few specialist Masterclasses that are still available. If you wish to attend any of these events, you can either book today on the website or enquire at the registration desk if any spaces are still available.

Note that membership for FantasyCon 2011 has now reached 500, which is very close to our limit.

A limited number of day memberships may still be available on the Saturday only for £40. These can be purchased at the registration desk in Brighton on a strictly first-come basis.

Autumn 2011 Mailing(0)

The Autumn 2011 Mailing of the BFS Journal and the 40th Anniversary Anthology Full Fathom Forty, has now been done for all members who are not attending FantasyCon next weekend.

Any members who are attending the Con can pick them up there from David Howe, so please seek him out at the BFS Table or at the launches.

Anyone who joins the BFS AT FantasyCon will also get FFF as part of their membership – if you join after the con, then FFF will not be included in the package. So there’s plenty of good reasons to join the BFS and register for FantasyCon 2012 at the con itself as you’ll save a packet in doing so, AND get a superb fantasy Anthology free into the bargain!

FantasyCon: Call for convention reports!(0)

Fantasycon is just around the corner, and we’re looking forward to welcoming BFS members and non-members alike for what promises to be an unforgettable weekend in Brighton. The programme grid has just gone live, and you can find details of everything that’ll be going on HERE

Perhaps you’re a seasoned convention-goer. Maybe this is your first Fantasycon – or even your very first con altogether! Whether you’re a newbie or a veteran, the BFS would like to hear from you.

We want to see your reports from Fantasycon: the panels, the readings, the signings, the parties… who you saw, who you missed: your highlights. Tell us what made Fantasycon special for you in 1,000 words or fewer and we’ll put our favourite three reports on the BFS website. The best of these will also be printed in the Winter issue of our newsletter, PRISM, which is mailed out to all BFS members.

All you have to do is send your FCon report saved in .rtf format to prism@britishfantasysociety.org by 9 October 2011, along with a short bio. If you want to include photos, that’s fine with us, but please ensure you attach them individually (preferably as high-res JPEGs).

Rumours of the Marvellous by Peter Atkins(0)

Rumours of the Marvellous by Peter Atkins contains fourteen brilliant stories by a master storyteller, plus an introduction by Glen Hirshberg and with a cover painting by Les Edwards. This is a limited edition hardcover (250 numbered copies), signed by Peter Atkins, Glen Hirshberg and Les Edwards. Published by The Alchemy Press/Airgedlamh Productions at £19.99. The book will be launched at FantasyCon 2011 – with wine and cakes for each customer.

Watch the video: Rumours of the Marvellous