Andrew Porter reports that British fan-artist Alan Hunter died on 1 August 2012 after a long illness.

Porter published many pieces of Hunter’s artwork in Algol/Starship and Science Fiction Chronicle. The back cover of the final issue of Starship was by him.

Hunter also illustrated many BFS publications including Chills and Dark Horizons. He was Artist Guest of Honour at the 1981 FantasyCon.

Details of his passing and some examples of his artwork can be found HERE

Photo (c) Andrew Porter

Voting is open in the 2012 Nova Awards, which celebrate achievement in British and Irish science fiction fanzines.  Voting is open to all members of Novacon 42, and to any sf fan resident in the UK or Eire; the only criterion is that they have read at least six different eligible fanzines published between 1 October 2011 and 30 September 2012. Electronic ballots must be received no later than 23:59 (GMT) on Wednesday 31 October 2012.

Categories are Best UK / Irish Fanzine, Best UK / Irish Fan Writer and Best UK / Irish Fan Artist .  For the online voting form see HERE

World Fantasy Award-nominated author Simon Kurt Unsworth will be running a short course in writing horror and SF entitled “Ghosts and other Worlds”. It will run on four consecutive Tuesdays (7:00 – 9:00pm) from 23 October 2012 at One Voice, St Leonard House, St Leonard Gate, Lancaster LA1 1NN. The programme is as follows:

• 23 October – Introductions: meeting ghosts
• 30 October – Creating characters and creatures
• 6 November – Using place and environment
• 13 November – Trying to get published

Advance booking is required, and the cost is £7.50 per session. For further details or to book a space, please contact Simon at simonkurtunsworth [at] gmail [dot] com

These are exciting times for author Ken Liu. First, a new baby. His wife gave birth to their second child a few days before his short story, The Paper Menagerie, won the 2011 Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Now, the story has also won the 2012 Hugo award at the World Science Fiction Convention. Then, a story he translated from an original in Chinese won the 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Award, short fiction category. The judges described Chen Qiufan’s The Fish of Lijiang as “brilliant,” “original,” and “a lovely and devastating story, beautifully written and translated.” “In the tradition of the best SF, it offers a convincing extrapolation of the economic and consequent social changes that China has undergone in the past 30 years.”

So it’s great news that Ken will have a story and a translated story in the next two issues of Britain’s premier science fiction magazine, Interzone. The first of these will mark his debut in the magazine. The second will mark Chen Qiufan’s debut. Ken’s story The Message has a father and daughter trying to repair their relationship as they explore an ancient alien ruin. The mystery they solve is both personal and universal.

The Flower of Shazui, the story Ken translated for Interzone and another from Chen Qiufan, is a near-future high-tech thriller set among the migrants that both powered China’s economic growth and became its victim. In this callous, greed corrupted milieu, men and women break the law as they struggle to do the right thing.

Interzone #242, containing Ken’s story, will be released mid-September. Chen Qiufan’s The Flower of Shazui will be in the November issue and constitutes a first for Interzone. The magazine has featured translated stories, eg from Serbian, in the past but a Chinese original is a new one for TTA Press.

Ken Liu was born in Lanzhou, China, and now lives in the United States. He writes speculative fiction and poetry and also translates Chinese fiction into English. He and his wife, artist Lisa Tang Liu, are collaborating on a novel; an epic fantasy set on an island world inspired by East Asian history. Ken’s fiction has appeared in SF magazines: F&SF, Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, along with several collections. Aside from his Nebula Award he has been nominated for the Hugo and Sturgeon Awards, and several of his stories have been featured in various Year’s Best anthologies.

StarShipSofa‘s latest podcast (#252) is available now with fiction from Adam Roberts along with a look at the anthology Solaris Rising: The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction.

Download the podcast HERE

Meanwhile, Tales To Terrify have a new podcast ready for download (#32) containing works by Steven Savile and Laurel Winter.

The Birmingham Science Fiction Group was founded in 1971 to enable fans to get together to discuss science fiction and related topics.

The prolific fantasy and SF author, Simon R. Green, will be visiting the BSFG in September.  Simon has authored more than 40 books since 1988 spread over numerous well-received series (including Hawk & Fisher, Deathstalker, Nightside, and Secret Histories) as well as several stand alone novels.

Simon holds an MA in Modern English and American Literature from Leicester University, as well as holding a combined humanities degree. His career includes the novelisation of the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which has sold some 370,000 copies. Currently he has several manuscripts awaiting publication, and a number of work-in-progress books underway.

So why not come and meet him at the BSFG meeting? Simon is sure to give a fascinating talk and insight into his work and writings, and maybe sneak previews of those forthcoming books…

This meeting is on 14 September 2012 at the Briar Rose Hotel (on the first floor) on Bennett’s Hill, Birmingham The venue is just 5 minutes walk from New Street Station and handy for all bus routes. The meeting opens its doors at 7.30 pm.

If you live anywhere in or around the West Midlands, the BSFG may be the group for you! For further information please see the website HERE

Award-winning SF author Ken MacLeod has been appointed Writer in Residence at Edinburgh Napier University. His role will be to provide guidance and advice to students on the university’s MA in Creative Writing course. The course embraces genre writing, especially science fiction, fantasy, horror and crime writing, and was the first in Britain to offer a specialist module in writing for graphic fiction.

MacLeod will spend an average of two days a week at Edinburgh Napier mentoring students. The year-long writer in residence role was created in 2010, with Scots novelist James Robertson first in the job, followed by Doctor Who writer Robert Shearman.

The BFS is sad to learn that legendary science fiction writer Harry Harrison has died at the age of 87. The award-winning author penned numerous novels throughout his career, including The Stainless Steel Rat series and the Deathworld series.

You can read Christopher Priest’s tribute to him in the Guardian HERE

A unique genre-bending fantasy / sf epic, Ecko Rising is the astonishing debut from first-time author, Danie Ware (Titan Books, September 2012, paperback, £7.99).

Ecko Rising follows a savage, gleefully cynical anti-hero immersed in his own fantasy world. Ecko joins a misfit cast of characters and strives to conquer his deepest fears and save the world. Danie Ware says, “Ecko Rising is sardonic fantasy, a sharp new slant on the genre, scattered with a healthy dusting of sex, violence and sarcasm. I’ve read fantasy, on and off, since I was a teen – and you can’t put a new twist on something unless you fell in love with it to start with! I wanted to push back its boundaries, make it do something different, something smarter and darker – but also something that we’d understand and recognise.”

Ecko Rising, and its sequel scheduled for publication next year, will appeal to those who love fantasy, classic or modern, those intrigued by new concepts, and those with a liking for twisted anti-heroes.

Danie Ware is the publicist and event organiser for cult entertainment retailer Forbidden Planet. She has been immersed in the science-fiction and fantasy community for the past decade. An early adopter of blogging, social media and a familiar face at conventions, she appears on panels as an expert on genre marketing and retailing.

New audio podcasts are available from both StarShipSofa (science fiction) and Tales to Terrify (horror).

StarShipSofa #250 includes fiction by Bruce Sterling, and Tales to Terrify #30 has fiction from Lawrence Santoro.

To download StarShipSofa go HERE and for Tales To Terrify go HERE