Gardner Dozois Remembered

Susan Casper and Gardner Dozois. Photo by and (c) Andrew Porter. Casper and Dozois were married 47 years; she passed away in February 2017.

Gardner Dozois (1947-2018), one of the sf genre’s leading editors for over forty years, died May 27 “of an overwhelming systemic infection.”

As a well-known writer, and also the editor of Asimov’s and a popular series of best of the year anthologies, he received many honors and awards during his career. Dozois won 15 Best Professional Editor Hugos, and a 2014 World Fantasy Award as the co-editor (with George R.R. Martin) of the anthology Dangerous Women. He was the editor Guest of Honor at the Millennium Philcon, the 59th World Science Fiction Convention in 2001.

Before taking over the editor’s chair at Asimov’s he was an acclaimed fiction writer who received 11 Nebula nominations, winning twice – “The Peacemaker” (1984) and “Morning Child” (1985).

Dozois was inducted to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2011.

Prozine editors who plan on being around for awhile don’t just pan for nuggets in the slushpile, they spend a lot of time turning the dross into gold. Gardner Dozois’ efforts along that line during his 20 years as editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction are represented in the 35 linear feet of letters and notebooks plus 35,000 e-mails that make up the archive of his correspondence and papers acquired by UC Riverside’s Eaton Collection in 2014.

Here are some of the tributes posted in the past 24 hours, and also some excerpts from my 1989 and 2001 Worldcon reports that give windows into his popularity and history.

Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick at the NYRSF Reading in October 2017. Photo by Mark Blackman.

Michael Swanwick introduces us to “The Gardner Dozois You Didn’t Know You Knew”:

Anybody who was ever praised by Gardner Dozois should know this: He meant it. Not only did he like you personally, but he loved your work.

The second part of that mattered more than the first. I remember once he told me he’d picked up a story by a notoriously unlikeable writer for the Year’s Best Science Fiction. “That’s interesting,” I said.

“Yeah,” he replied, grinning. “The little shit wrote a really good story.”

Gardner was himself an extremely fine writer. If you haven’t read “A Special Kind of Morning,” do yourself a favor and look it up. It’s the apotheosis of science fiction war stories. He almost entirely gave that up when he became an editor because editing uses the same inner resources that writing requires.

He knew this would happen when he first became editor of Asimov’s. But he felt it was a price worth paying because it enabled him to buy stories nobody else would. Some of them most readers now would be astonished to learn were ever deemed unpublishable. There were times when he risked losing his job to publish a story he admired.

He paid the price. He did it for the writers… and for the readers.

Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing, pays it forward: “RIP Gardner Dozois, pioneering, genre-defining science fiction editor who helped launch my career”.

…long before he’d published my work, he’d nurtured my career, including my stories in the copious honorable mentions appendices to his longrunning, definitive Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies, appending encouraging personal notes to the rejections I got from Asimov’s and, on a memorable occasion at Philcon, announcing during a panel that he viewed me as one of the best new writers in the field.

In a field where beginning writers are starved for attention, critical feedback and encouragement, Dozois stood out as an editor who never succumbed to the laziness of simply publishing works by known authors: he was an assiduous reader of the “slushpile” of unsolicited manuscript, which made him an encylopedic guide to emerging talents, long before people were publishable. Beginning writers, years before their first sales, often found themselves meeting Dozois at conferences, only to be treated to specific, encouraging words about the stories he’d rejected and their professional and artistic progress.

…Eight days ago, Dozois’ son Christopher Casper accepted the Science Fiction Writers of America’s Solstice Award for lifetime achievement on his father’s behalf. Dozois apparently told his son to say that the award belonged properly to the writers that Dozois had published. Thankfully, Christopher defied his father and used the opportunity to remind us of Dozois’ shyness and modesty.

When Philadelphia Magazine named him one of “Philadelphia’s 100 Smartest People,” he said, “If that’s true, then God help Philadelphia!” When he was placed in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, he returned from Seattle to report that they’d placed his name and image on a brick which went into the Hall of Fame Wall. “So now I’m really just another brick in the wall.” And when he couldn’t make it to Pittsburgh for the Nebula Awards Weekend, he told Christopher to just say that the award properly belonged to all the writers he’d published.

Rick Moen shared a memory:

The world is already a sadder and less merry place without Gardner Dozois. I will always cherish the Liar’s Panels he used to do at Worldcons, where he and other veteran pro editors would dispense deliberately terrible advice to authors trying to get published. (‘Send lots more dinosaur stories!’)

At the SFWA Blog: “In Memoriam – Gardner Dozois”.

SFWA President Cat Rambo remembers Dozois:

Gardner was always larger than life – a little loud, a little bawdy, and always the biggest presence in the room. But he also knew his stuff, backwards and forwards, and his mark on the genre is written in indelible ink. I’m so glad SFWA got a chance to honor him while he was still around to appreciate it — but I sure wish he’d had a lot more time in which to do so.

Ellen Datlow posted a great selection of Gardner Dozois “crazy faces” on Facebook.

From File 770’s 1989 Worldcon report: Dozois made a memorable entrance with the other Hugo nominees prior to the 1989 ceremony:

I got to the door and heard our processional music was “March of the Gladiators” from Spartacus or something comparable with brassy flourishes and rhythms suited to the stride of captured war elephants.

We walked circuitously through the auditorium like extras in a Hercules movie. Nominees in the professional categories marched at the end. Gardner Dozois basked in the applause, flashing a V-sign at the crowd like Winston Churchill on V-E Day.

The year Gardner Dozois was Worldcon guest of honor, File 770 covered his signature event in “Ben  Frankly Speaking: Millennium Philcon 2001 Worldcon Report”.

…Janice Gelb was irate that the true nature of the “Liars Club” panel had been blabbed by a participant and quoted in the daily newzine. David Hartwell had said, “Did you hear we’re roasting Gardner Dozois? Think he’ll be able to feed the whole crowd?” Everyone involved had been sworn to secrecy in an attempt to surprise Dozois.

The Liar’s Club: The popular panel truly lived up to its name this year. Pat Cadigan, Gardner Dozois, Janice Gelb and George R.R. Martin were on the dais at the beginning. Dozois got everyone’s attention with a drill sergeant’s yell, “Shut uuuupp!” Janice Gelb moderated, later saying she was mainly there to keep Gardner from taking over the microphone for a rebuttal once she revealed that the panel was actually “The Secret Roast of Gardner Dozois.”

Hearing that, Gardner shouted, “My pager went off – bye!” Janice merely explained, “We wanted to get a rubber mallet and hit him every time he interrupted.” Gardner sneered, “You think rubber would stop me?”

George R.R. Martin claimed to avoid duplication that they had simply divided up the Gardner stories. He’d been allowed to tell the story about Gardner’s knob – which George had never touched – and also about Gardner’s nose for stories. When George met Gardner for the first time, at Disclave in 1974, Gardner had a red jelly bean in his nose. George told him, “Most people put those in their mouths.” In reply, Gardner slapped his cheek and the jellybean flew into his hand. He said, “Here, go ahead.”

…A parade of others came up to testify about Dozois. Jay Haldeman recalled that around 1971 he, Dozois and others formed a loose collection of writers who met several times a year and workshopped short stories. Dozois would bring along 35,000-word story fragments. After Jay read about 20 pages he’d think, “Say, this is just great, but nothing has happened.” His brother, Joe Haldeman, wrote a 4-page scene of a former President watching the sun creep across his yard – “Gardner loved it, of course. It was just like his.” Many years later the finished story actually sold to Omni.

… Having just watched Gardner enjoy a ribald song about himself, it was easy to believe Connie Willis’ claim that Gardner is impossible to roast because he can’t be embarrassed. She gave further examples. A Worldcon  gave out a Hugo base that looked like a toilet seat with nuts and balls attached, which began to fall apart as soon as they were given out. When Connie asked Gardner how his Hugo was holding up, he answered, “My toilet seat’s fine, but my balls fell off.” Connie also described a scene from American Pie and promised, “That wouldn’t have embarrassed Gardner….”

Then Connie recalled a dinner group at a recent Worldcon held at a round table, inspiring people to give each other names of participants in the Algonquin Round Table. Connie reported that Gardner was Alexander Wolcott, “Because he’s so funny, and such a wonderful host.” Then, Connie launched into four or five sentences of effusive, frankly honest praise about Gardner’s human qualities. Gardner squirmed and blushed. Connie finished with a triumphal grin, “And now I’ve embarrassed you!”

…[Joe] Haldeman remembered an old Worldcon party. “Gardner invited me to a party back at his place. He stole a bottle of wine from the SFWA suite….” Gardner protested, “You were President!”

Haldeman ignored him and went on to talk about Dozois the editor. “John W. Campbell used to smoke unfiltered Camels in an ivory holder – the only vice that Gardner doesn’t have.” Haldeman complained that after he sent Gardner The Hemingway Hoax, Gardner “cut it to shreds so he could run it as a novella in Asimov’s. He did so much damage to it that it won both the Hugo and Nebula.”

After much more was said about Dozois, he was allowed his rebuttal. Gardner began by verifying how far he could fire a jellybean out of his nose. (Kathryn Daugherty happened to be carrying a bag of pineapple jellybeans which she donated for ammunition.) Then he told a long, risque anecdote about a closed party at the 1974 Worldcon, implicating George R.R. Martin, the Haldeman brothers and some others. Even back in the Seventies this stuff was pretty wild.

Something that struck me personally about this story was how it fit together with my memories of Norm Hollyn (then Hochberg) and Lou Stathis at the 1974 Worldcon taking me to look for some pros they’d met – Dozois being the only name I recognized at the time. What I remembered about that morning, including the hushed secrecy about someone having slept in the closet, fit perfectly with the story Gardner was telling at the end of the roast. Evidently, Norm, Lou and I had shown up the morning after all this had happened….

2017 Ursa Major Awards

Image by EosFoxx

The 2017 Ursa Major Awards were announced at FurDU 2018 at Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia on May 4-6.

Best Motion Picture
Live-action or animated feature-length movies.

  • Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (Directed by James Gunn; May 5)

Best Dramatic Series or Short Work
TV series or one-shots, advertisements or short videos.

  • Duck Tales [2017 reboot] (Directed by John Aoshima, Dana Terrace; Season 1, August 12 to December 2)

Best Novel
Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.

  • The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas (Corvus Publishing; May 9)

Best Short Fiction
Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short Written works.

  • Lieutenant Kruger and the Mistress Jade Trophy Game, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (in The Cross Time Cafe; October 5)

Best Other Literary Work
Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and serialized online stories.

  • Dogs of War, edited by Fred Patten (anthology; FurPlanet Productions; January 12)

Best Non-Fiction Work
Includes documentaries, opinion pieces, and news articles.

  • Furry Nation, by Joe Strike (Cleis Press; October 10)

Best Graphic Story
Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.

  • DreamKeepers, by David & Liz Lillie (Internet; January 2 [#340] to December 18 [#385])

Best Comic Strip
Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.

  • Housepets!, by Rick Griffin (Internet; January 2 to December 29)

Best Magazine
Edited collections of creative and/or informational works by various people, professional or amateur, published in print or online in written, pictorial or audio-visual form.

  • Dogpatch Press, ed. by Patch Packrat (Internet; January 5 to December 25)

Best Published Illustration
Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee-table portfolios.

  • David Lillie, cover for The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas (Corvus Publishing; May 9)

Best Game
Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.

  • Night in the Woods (Developer: Infinite Fall, Publisher: Finji; February 21)

Best Website
Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works. Includes galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.

  • Inkbunny (furry art community)

2018 Niels Klim Award Nominees

The nominees have been announced for the Niels Klim Award.

The prize, named for a character in Ludvig Holberg’s Nicolai Klimii iter Subterraneum [1741], is given annually for short science fiction publish in Danish for the first time the previous year.

The winners will be announced at Fantasticon in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 23.

Lise Andreasen has listed all the nominees on her blog, and also provided English-language quotes from each work which you may find interesting.

Niels Klim-nominated translations

  • “The Chronic Argonauts”, H. G. Wells [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Tidsmaskinen [The Time Machine], SFC
  • “The Fluted Girl”, Paolo Bacigalupi [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “Surface Tension”, James Blish [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “Crying in the Rain”, Tanith Lee [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “Oceanic”, Greg Egan [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “Omnilingual”, H. Beam Piper [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “A Letter From the Clearys”, Connie Willis [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “New Light on the Drake Equation”, Ian R. MacLeod [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Reindeer”, Ken Liu [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “Home Sweet Bi’Ome”, Pat MacEwen [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Den store science fiction-bog [The Big Science Fiction Book], SFC
  • “An Infinite Summer”, Christopher Priest [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Tidsparken [Palely Loitering], SFC
  • “The Art of Space Travel”, Nina Allan [Translated by Niels Dalgaard], Sølvvinden [The Silver Wind], SFC
  • Remade 15: The End of the Beginning, Kiersten White [Translated by Martin Reib Petersen], Saga-Egmont

Niels Klim nominated novellas

  • Specialklassen 3: Bøllebank i Belgien [Special Class 3: Brawling in Belgium], Jacob Kokkedal, Facet
  • Rejsen til Skyway [The Trip to Skyway], Marie Ladefoged, Det Poetiske Bureaus Forlag
  • Kodeks [Code], Gudrun Østergaard, Calibat
  • Fragmenter af Danmarks historie 2020-2031 [Fragments of Denmark’s History 2020-2031], Lars Hedegaard, Document forlag
  • April 2026, Jeppe Krogsgaard Christensen, Gyldendal
  • Epifanien [Epiphania], Merete Pryds Helle, Fahrenheit
  • Endorfino [Endorphino], JG Gylling, Brændpunkt
  • Vi vågner i Sibirien [We Awaken in Siberia], Martin Paludan, Brændpunkt

Niels Klim nominated novelettes

  • “Grens hedonometer” [“Gren’s Hedonometer”], Anne-Marie Træholt [Rasmussen], Lige under overfladen 12: Efter fødslen [Just Below the Surface 12: After the Birth], SFC
  • “Iversens tragedie” [“The Tragedy of Iversen”], Christian Holger Pedersen, Lige under overfladen 12: Efter fødslen [Just Below the Surface 12: After the Birth], SFC
  • “Kat!” [“Cat!”], Jesper Goll, Lige under overfladen 12: Efter fødslen [Just Below the Surface 12: After the Birth], SFC
  • “Tilbage til Kibeta” [“Back to Kibeta”], Richard Ipsen, Lige under overfladen 12: Efter fødslen [Just Below the Surface 12: After the Birth], SFC
  • Transfervindue [Transfer Window], Maria Gerhardt, Politikens Forlag
  • Oprøret 2: Afsløring af Kobranetværket [The Rebellion 2: Exposing the Kobra Network], Jacob Oliver Krarup, Calibat
  • N3xus, Emil Blichfeldt, Alinea
  • Ogel i fare [Ogel in Danger], Carolineskolens 4. klasse [4th grade] 2016/17, Lurifaks

Niels Klim nominated short stories

  • “Cancerfrelst” [“Cancersaved”], A. Silvestri, Lige under overfladen 12: Efter fødslen [Just Below the Surface 12: After the Birth], SFC
  • “Efter fødslen” [“After the Birth”], Nikolaj Johansen, Lige under overfladen 12: Efter fødslen [Just Below the Surface 12: After the Birth], SFC
  • Verdens rigeste mand og hans tro tjener Boris [The Richest Man in the World and his Faithful Servant Boris], Chr. Winther, Smspress

[Thanks to Lise Andreasen for the story.]

2018 Deutsche Science Fiction Preis Shortlist

The nominees for the 2018 Deutsche Science Fiction Preis were announced May 27.

The juried award for the best short story and best novel written in the German language is sponsored by the SFCD, Germany´s largest science-fiction club. Each winner will receive €1000.

The awards will be presented at Elstercon to be held September 21-23 in Leipzig.

Beste deutschsprachige Kurzgeschichte / Best German Language Short Story

  • »Der Fremde in dir« von Galax Acheronian. In: »Meuterei auf Titan«. Hrsg.: Peggy Weber-Gehrke. Verlag für Moderne Phantastik Gehrke.
  • »Das letzte Mammut« von Norbert Fiks. In: »Meuterei auf Titan«. Hrsg.: Peggy Weber-Gehrke. Verlag für Moderne Phantastik Gehrke.
  • »Das Schiff, das nie hätte gebaut werden dürfen« von Tobias Habenicht. In: »Das Schiff, das nie hätte gebaut werden dürfen«. Hrsg.: C. Erpenbeck. Machandel-Verlag.
  • »Das Internet der Dinge« von Uwe Hermann. In: »Spektrum der Wissenschaft 6/17«
  • »Protoplasma mit Hut« von Nikolaj Kohler. In: »Das Alien tanzt Kasatschok«. Hrsg.: Ellen Norton. p.machinery.
  • »Fitzroy, Falstaff und andere furiose Menschmaschinen« von Thorsten Küper . In: »Menschmaschinen«. Hrsg.: André Skora. Amrun Verlag.
  • »Relokation« von Olaf Lahayne. In: »Meuterei auf Titan«. Hrsg.: Peggy Weber-Gehrke. Verlag für Moderne Phantastik Gehrke.
  • »Omega 4« von Frank Lauenroth. In: »Meuterei auf Titan«. Hrsg.: Peggy Weber-Gehrke. Verlag für Moderne Phantastik Gehrke.
  • »Paket Eternity« von Tom Turtschi. In: »Eniwetok. Die Flucht «. Seins-Fiction Verlag.

Bester deutschsprachiger Roman / Best German Language Novel

  • »Die Welten der Skiir 3 „Patronat“« von Dirk van den Boom. Cross Cult. 450 Seiten.
  • »Das Arkonadia-Rätsel« von Andreas Brandhorst. Piper. 544 Seiten.
  • »Das Erwachen« von Andreas Brandhorst. Piper. 736 Seiten.
  • »Feuer der Leere« von Robert Corvus. Piper. 496 Seiten.
  • »Twillight Zoo« von Jutta Ehmke. Saphir im Stahl. 178 Seiten.
  • »Qualityland« von Marc-Uwe Kling. Ullstein 2017. 384 Seiten. (Dunkle Ausgabe). (Helle Ausgabe).
  • »Neanderthal« von Jens Lubbadeh. Heyne Verlag. 528 Seiten.
  • »Der Kanon mechanischer Seelen« von Michael Marrak. Amrun Verlag. 750 Seiten.
  • »Junktown« von Matthias Oden. Heyne Verlag. 400 Seiten.

[Via Europa SF.]

Pixel Scroll 5/27/18 Pixels Scroll Good, Like An E-fanzine Should

(1) WISCON 42 COC INCIDENT. Wiscon 42 announced on social media that action was taken in response to a Code of Conduct violation on a program item today. Their Twitter thread begins —

And they put up a full blog post: “Killable Bodies In SF Panel”

During the Killable Bodies In SFF panel at WisCon this morning (Sunday), a panelist engaged in Nazi and Confederate apologia and also appeared to posit that disabled or injured people sometimes “have to be sacrificed.”

They continued this behavior even after the audience and other panel members expressed the harm this was causing them.

WisCon rejects these ideas. They are in conflict with our Code of Conduct. The panelist in question will be banned and asked to immediately leave convention spaces.

The relevant passage from the Code of Conduct is here…

If you or anyone you know are in need of any support following this experience, please contact us. We will be working to find folks who can provide emotional support to you.

ETA: This particular individual has been banned for WisCon 42. The decision as to whether this ban will be extended in the future will be determined by our Anti Abuse Team post-con. Should you have information to contribute, you are welcome to email [email protected].

Although some deductive guesses have been made about who the panelist was, confirmation has yet to be issued. The program schedule described the item and listed the following participants:

“The Desire for Killable Bodies In SFF”

In SFF with an action element there’s a desire for cool giant battle scenes, heroes who spin, twirl, slice off heads, and general melee violence. This is an old background trope: the killable mook, guard, or minion whose life can be taken in a cool or funny way is familiar from traditional action films. But many SFF stories take this trope further with a killable race or non-sentient army: the Orcs in Lord of the Rings, the Chitauri in Avengers, and the many robot armies that we see represented solely so that heroes can create cool violent carnage without having to answer difficult moral questions. What happens when SFF comes to rely on this trope? If we’re going to have violent action in SFF, is this better than the alternative? Is it ever not just super racist?

Panelists: M: Molly Aplet. Lisa C. Freitag, Nicasio Reed

“your friend sam” livetweeted the panel but did not name the speaker:

EDITOR’S REQUEST: Please do not add your speculation about the person’s identity in comments. I have already figured out who it probably was and could put that guess here — I’m waiting for a witness, or the con, to name the person.

(2) TROLL BRIDGE. Thanks to Signature for throwing a spotlight on this Pratchett-themed production: “Trailer Surfaces For Fan-Made Discworld Film”.

Inspired by Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, “Troll Bridge” isn’t like most other films – it’s spent over a decade in production, and is entirely fan-made. Such a project may sound like it’s cursed to remain in limbo forever, but the film now has a trailer and is being submitted to festivals around the world. Between this and the upcoming Good Omens adaptation, it appears 2019 may be Pratchett’s time to shine. In the meantime, “Troll Bridge” is available for pre-order thanks to crowdfunding – but a Blu-ray is going to set you back $85.

An old barbarian and his talking horse, embark on a suicidal quest to battle a bridge troll. 15 years in the making TROLL BRIDGE is an ambitious odyssey of work in bringing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld to cinematic life.

 

(3) DOZOIS OBIT. Gardner Dozois died May 27 reports Michael Swanwick:

It is my sad duty to note the passing of Gardner Dozois today, of an overwhelming systemic infection, at Pennsylvania Hospital. Gardner was the best of friends, the best of editors, and the best of writers. And now he’s gone.

(4) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOYS

  • Born May 27, 1911 – Vincent Price
  • Born May 27, 1922 – Christopher Lee
  • Born May 27, 1934  — Harlan  Ellison

(5) COMICS SECTION.

  • John King Tarpinian discovered a Star Wars fashion secret and an awful pun in Brevity.

(6) THE LATE ALAN BEAN. Astronaut Alan Bean’s death was reported in yesterday’s Scroll. Paul McAuley retweeted a great story about him today — the thread starts here (40 tweets long).

(7) ORIGINAL LANDO. MovieWeb asks “Billy Dee Williams in Training to Return as Lando in Star Wars 9?”

The older Lando Calrissian could be making a return to the big screen for Star Wars 9. 81-year old actor Billy Dee Williams is rumored to be preparing to reprise his role as the ever charming Calrissian after it was revealed that he has been training 3 days a week. Lando has been in the news quite a bit lately due to the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story and Donald Glover’s portrayal of the younger version of the character.

MegaCon Orlando took to social media to reveal that Billy Dee Williams is on a completely new diet for his return as Lando Calrissian. While this news on its own doesn’t really seem like much, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill did the same thing when preparing for 2015’s The Force Awakens and again for The Last Jedi. Williams could be just making lifestyle choices, but the timing is a little close to the production start of Star Wars 9, which is reportedly going to start in July.

(8) FOLLOW ME BOYS. Jon Del Arroz told his 12 donors he is abandoning Patreon and shifting his efforts to Freestrtr after the site banned Faith Goldy for hate speech. He told his blog readers it’ll be a sacrifice for him: “Supporting Faith Goldy – I Disassociate With Censoring Site Patreon” [Internet Archive].

It will be a financial hit for the short term. When moving platforms like this, usually only 80% of people make their way over, and freestrtr takes a bit more of a percentage than Patreon, but its time to make a change, and time to disassociate with companies that would gladly deplatform people like me.

He has 10 Freestrtr donors as of this writing, which puts his 80% estimate spot on.

(9) PAID REVIEWS ON AMAZON. In the April 24 Washington Post, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Craig Timberg report on the vast number of paid reviews still on Amazon, although the reviews are now for products rather than books.  The Post found that 58 percent of the reviews for Bluetooth speakers and 67 percent for testosterone supplements were from paid endorsers.

(10) NO CONCERN OF CERN. Next time you’re in Meyrin, Switzerland, Atlas Obscura advises you to pay homage to the “Birthplace of the Web”.

It may look like any other hallway, but look closely and you’ll notice a historical plaque commemorating a monumental event in digital history: the birth of the web.

The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee. The web, though omnipresent in the age of the internet, was originally meant to be a communication tool for scientists scattered at universities and other institutes around the world.

Berners-Lee was working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, when he developed the world’s first website. Though simple in appearance, this amazing technological feat revolutionized how we share and store information.

The first website was dedicated entirely to itself: a white page bearing nothing but typed hyperlinks. It described the WWW project, as well as core features of the web like how to set up a server and access documents. It was hosted on Berners-Lee’s NeXT computer, which is still at CERN. In 1993, CERN put the World Wide Web software in the public domain.

Interestingly, Berners-Lee faced some pushback for his invention, as some at CERN believed it was a waste of resources and wasn’t part of the organization’s core mission. Now, however, the organization at least marks the corridor where the web was born.

(11) THE EDITORIAL PROCESS. Kim Huett did a clean scan of this illo from Science-Fiction Times V12 #278 (September 1957) (which also is online at Fanac.org) and wrote a short introduction. Huett says —

I expect the artists among you will appreciate Kelly Freas’ depiction of the editorial process. The rest of you will hopefully enjoy Freas exploring his inner ATom (or is just me who sees a resemblance?)

[Thanks to Mike Kennedy, Steve Miller, Taral, John King Tarpinian, JJ, Cat Eldridge, Stephen Burridge, Carl Slaughter, Andrew Porter, Chip Hitchcock, and Martin Morse Wooster for some of these stories Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Anna Nimmhaus.

2018 Mythopoeic Awards Finalists

The Mythopoeic Society has announced the finalists for the 2018 Mythopoeic Awards.

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature

  • Crowley, John, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (Saga Press, 2017)
  • Hoffman, Alice, The Rules of Magic (Simon and Schuster, 2017)
  • Kathryns, G.A., Snow City (Sycamore Sky Books, 2017)
  • Klages, Ellen, Passing Strange (Tor.com, 2017)
  • LaValle, Victor, The Changeling (Spiegel and Grau, 2017)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature

  • Beasley, Cassie, Tumble and Blue (Dial Books, 2017)
  • Burgis, Stephanie, The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart (Bloomsbury USA Childrens, 2017)
  • Chanani, Nidhi, Pashmina (First Second, 2017)
  • Harrold, A.F., The Song from Somewhere Else (Bloomsbury USA Childrens, 2017
  • Nix, Garth, Frogkisser (Scholastic Press, 2017)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

  • Chance, Jane, Tolkien, Self and other: This Queer Creature (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)
  • Coutras, Lisa, Tolkien’s Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle-earth (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)
  • Flieger, Verlyn, There Would Always Be a Fairy Tale: More Essays on Tolkien (Kent State University Press, 2017)
  • Higgins, Sørina, The Inklings and King Arthur: J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain (Apocryphile Press, 2017)
  • Tolkien, Christopher, ed., Beren and Luthien (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies

  • Byrne, Aisling, Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature (Oxford Univ. Press, 2016)
  • Fimi, Dimitra, Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology (Palgrave MacMillan, 2017)
  • Levy, Michael and Farah Mendlesohn, Children’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2016)
  • Sanders, Elizabeth M, Genres of Doubt: Science Fiction, Fantasy and the Victorian Crisis of Faith (McFarland, 2017)
  • Wolf, Mark J.P., ed., The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds (Routledge, 2017)

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature is given to the fantasy novel, multi-volume, or single-author story collection for adults published during 2016 or 2017 that best exemplifies the spirit of the Inklings. Books are eligible for two years after publication if not selected as a finalist during the first year of eligibility. Books from a series are eligible if they stand on their own; otherwise, the series becomes eligible the year its final volume appears.

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature honors books for beginning readers to age thirteen, in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia. Rules for eligibility are otherwise the same as for the Adult literature award. The question of which award a borderline book is best suited for will be decided by consensus of the committees. Books for mature “Young Adults” may be moved to the Adult literature category.

The Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies is given to books on Tolkien, Lewis, and/or Williams that make significant contributions to Inklings scholarship. For this award, books first published during the last three years (2015 – 2017) are eligible, including finalists for previous years.

The Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies is given to scholarly books on other specific authors in the Inklings tradition, or to more general works on the genres of myth and fantasy. The period of eligibility is three years, as for the Inklings Studies award.

The winners of this year’s awards will be announced during Mythcon 49, to be held July 20-23, 2018, in Atlanta, Georgia.

[Via Ansible Links.]

Pixel Scroll 5/26/18 I’ve Got A Troll And He Hasn’t Got A Scroll

(1) NEBULA WEEKEND WITH THE QUEEN. Read “The Merqueen’s Report: Nebula Awards Weekend, 2018” by Cat Rambo.

…At five, the always cool Monica Valentinelli came to my hotel room and helped me begin the transformation into Mer queen. I had tweeted about the dress months before, at which point my friend Kris Dikeman said it needed a seashell tiara, Nick Hyle then volunteered a trident, and by the time of the Nebulas I was a little worried it would turn out to be a costume instead of an outfit and instead it was GLORIOUS and I felt like the belle of the underwater ball….

…Sunday morning was time for my favorite part and another one I will take full credit for implementing, unlike most of the other stuff: the volunteer breakfast. We had close to fifty people show up this time, which was the third so far, and people seemed to happy to get their fancy certificates (suitable for framing!) and get a chance to talk with each other. I told the joke I stole from Joe Haldeman about SFWA, like soylent green, being made of people once again and a good time was had by all….

(2) HEAR ABOUT SFF ARCHITECTURE. Henry Lien will be one of the participants in “Imagined Cities: Innovative Use of Architecture in Film and Literature” in LA on June 2.

Description

The Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles will host a conversation between renowned architect Jimenez Lai and children’s fantasy author Henry Lien entitled Imagined Cities: Innovative Uses of Architecture in Film and Literature at its gallery in Westwood on Saturday, June 2, 2018 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The conversation is in connection with the Taiwan Academy’s current exhibition Rooftops & Backyards: Expanding Taipei & L.A., which explores the construction of “architecture on top of architecture”, and multi-purpose use of properties as ways that cities deal with the issue of limited space in densely populated urban areas. The Imagined Cities event explores such themes in fictional depictions of cities.

“From Blade Runner to Howl’s Moving Castle, film and literature have historically embraced innovative uses of architecture,” says Henry Lien, the author of Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword. “Science fiction and fantasy are particularly effective in expanding notions of beauty in buildings and cities, which becomes relevant as cities experiment with new ways to solve population density issues.”

Jimenez Lai, the founding partner of Los Angeles-based studio Bureau Spectacular and the curator of Rooftops & Backyards: Expanding Taipei & L.A., hopes to explore the universal issue of limited space in densely populated urban areas through the dialogue and the exhibition.

According to Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles, the exhibition demonstrates an interesting comparison between Taipei and Los Angeles, discussing topics surrounding art, architecture, urbanism, and the way of life between the cultures of Taiwan and the United States

Rooftops & Backyards: Expanding Taipei & L.A runs through July 7, 2018, and is free and open to the public, as is Imagined Cities: Innovative Uses of Architecture in Film and Literature. To attend Imagined Cities, please RSVP through https://www.eventbrite.com/e/imagined-cities-innovative-use-of-architecture-in-film-and-literature-tickets-46236212757

(3) DOZOIS HOSPITALIZED. Christopher Casper posted on Facebook that Gardner Dozois is in hospital:

Friends of Gardner – He is currently in Pennsylvania hospital under medical sedation and intubated. While in the hospital for a chronic condition he had a serious and rapid deterioration causing some major systems to fail. He has an amazing team of doctors and the doctors are cautiously optimistic that his condition can be reversed!

I will do my best to keep everyone informed.

I am comforted and Gardner would be humbled by the hundreds of IM I received in the last 24 hrs expressing concern and love for my father. Due to the mere quantity, please forgive me if I am unable to respond personally to them all. Gardner is blessed to be so loved by so many.

Please continue to send good vibes, well wishes, and prayers his way. It is appreciated and thank you.

(4) THEY’LL BE MISSED. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have moved from the country town of Winslow, Maine to the city of Waterville, Maine, and that’s affected their summer travel plans. They tell how in the latest “Liaden Universe® Infodump No. 120”.

LEE AND MILLER WILL NOT ATTEND WORLDCON 76

We had intended to attend WorldCon; we had budgeted time and money; arranged schedules, and then — in late February, we looked at a house in town (we have long been looking to move into town, closer to services and conveniences), fell in love with the place, made an offer, and — the long and short of it is that, all the money and time we had budgeted for attending WorldCon instead went to moving into the new house.  We’re very sorry that we won’t be at the con with our friends and readers, old and new.  But we’re very happy with our new situation.

On the topic of conventions — this is the first time since 1997, that we haven’t had a convention, or three, on the schedule.  That feels. . .strange, indeed.

Everyone who is going to WorldCon — have fun!

(5) ICE STATION EUROPA. Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie dropped the 2010: Odyssey Two tagline “All these worlds are yours – Except Europa” when sending along this link to Nature’s article “Evidence of a plume on Europa from Galileo magnetic and plasma wave signatures” [PDF file].

The icy surface of Jupiter’s moon, Europa, is thought to lie on top of a global ocean1–4. Signatures in some Hubble Space Telescope images have been associated with putative water plumes rising above Europa’s surface5,6, providing support for the ocean theory. However, all telescopic detections reported were made at the limit of sensitivity of the data5–7, thereby calling for a search for plume signatures in in-situ measurements. Here, we report in-situ evidence of a plume on Europa from the magnetic field and plasma wave observations acquired on Galileo’s closest encounter with the moon….

(6) AT THE CANYONS OF MADNESS? BBC says “Giant canyons discovered in Antarctica”.

Scientists have discovered three vast canyons in one of the last places to be explored on Earth – under the ice at the South Pole.

The deep troughs run for hundreds of kilometres, cutting through tall mountains – none of which are visible at the snowy surface of the continent.

Dr Kate Winter from Northumbria University, UK, and colleagues found the hidden features with radar.

Her team says the canyons play a key role in controlling the flow of ice.

And if Antarctica thins in a warming climate, as scientists suspect it will, then these channels could accelerate mass towards the ocean, further raising sea-levels.

(7) THEY DUCKED. Here’s “How ancestors of living birds survived asteroid strike”

The ancestors of modern birds may have survived the asteroid strike that wiped out the rest of their kin by living on the forest floor.

The new theory, based on studying fossilised plants and ornithological data, helps explain how birds came to dominate the planet.

The asteroid impact 66 million years ago laid waste to the world’s forests.

Ground-dwelling bird ancestors managed to survive, eventually taking to the trees when the flora recovered.

“It seems clear that being a relatively small-bodied bird capable of surviving in a tree-less world would have conferred a major survival advantage in the aftermath of the asteroid strike,” said Dr Daniel Field of the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath.

(8) BEAN OBIT. Moon explorer and Skylab astronaut Alan Bean died May 26. NASA has posted a “Family Release Regarding the Passing of Apollo, Skylab Astronaut Alan Bean”.

Apollo and Skylab astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth human to walk on the moon and an accomplished artist, has died.

Bean, 86, died on Saturday, May 26, at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. His death followed his suddenly falling ill while on travel in Fort Wayne, Indiana two weeks before.

“Alan was the strongest and kindest man I ever knew. He was the love of my life and I miss him dearly,” said Leslie Bean, Alan Bean’s wife of 40 years. “A native Texan, Alan died peacefully in Houston surrounded by those who loved him.”

A test pilot in the U.S. Navy, Bean was one of 14 trainees selected by NASA for its third group of astronauts in October 1963. He flew twice into space, first as the lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, the second moon landing mission, in November 1969, and then as commander of the second crewed flight to the United States’ first space station, Skylab, in July 1973….

On Nov. 19, 1969, Bean, together with Apollo 12 commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, landed on the Ocean of Storms and became the fourth human to walk on the moon. During two moonwalks Bean helped deploy several surface experiments and installed the first nuclear-powered generator station on the moon to provide the power source. He and Conrad inspected a robotic Surveyor spacecraft and collected 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of rocks and lunar soil for study back on Earth.

(9) TODAY’S DAY

Of all of the monsters known to man, which one could possibly be considered more iconic than Count Dracula? The quintessential vampire, Count Dracula has inspired tens of films and stories the world over, not to mention the virtual immortality of the character during as a beloved Halloween character. For all of these reasons, it’s undeniable that this icon of horror more than deserves his own little holiday so the world can show its appreciation for his contributions to the worlds of cinema and literature over the centuries. So put on your fangs, and let’s sink out teeth right into this, shall we?

(10) TODAY IN HISTORY

  • May 26, 1961The Twilight Zone aired “Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?” Jack Elam utters the words, “It’s a real Ray Bradbury.”

(11) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

  • Born May 26, 1912 — Jay Silverheels (“Tonto” on The Lone Ranger TV series)
  • Born May 26, 1913 – Actor Peter Cushing
  • Born May 26, 1951  — Sally Ride, astronaut. First American woman in space

(12) COMICS SECTION.

  • Chip Hitchcock discovered the game of Monopoly roused surprisingly strong feelings in these Something Positive characters.

(13) SARTORIAL SPLENDOR. Indeed, it is a most absolute and excellent hat.

(14) HOLLYWOOD LAWYERS FIND WORK. Sesame Street production company Sesame Workshop (formerly known as Children’s Television Workshop) has sued distributor STX over Melissa McCarthy’s new movie The Happytime Murders.

Quoting The Hollywood Reporter: “’Sesame Street’ Sues STX Over New Melissa McCarthy Puppet Movie”

The makers of Sesame Street are suing the promoter of a new Melissa McCarthy movie, saying it’s abusing the famed puppets’ sterling reputation to advertise the film.

A judge Friday scheduled a hearing next week to consider a request for immediate relief by Sesame Workshop, which sued Thursday in federal court for unspecified damages.
The film, The Happytime Murders, is scheduled for release Aug. 17. McCarthy plays a human detective who teams with a puppet partner to investigate grisly puppet murders.
The lawsuit said the Sesame Street brand will be harmed by a just-released movie trailer featuring “explicit, profane, drug-using, misogynistic, violent, copulating and even ejaculating puppets” along with the tagline “NO SESAME. ALL STREET.”

STX Productions LLC says in a statement it is confident in its legal position.

And Vanity Fair’s article “Sesame Street Sues Over Melissa McCarthy’s R-Rated Puppet Murder Movie” notes —

Apparently, the puppet-based entertainment industry is more divided than we knew. The people behind Sesame Street may not like it, but The Happytime Murders has the imprimatur of Muppet royalty: the director is none other than Jim Henson’s son, Brian Henson, who is also the chairman of the Jim Henson Company, and will feature a number of puppeteers from various Muppet movies.

Variety summarized Sesame Street’s complaint as follows:

But “Sesame Street” creators are incensed at the reference, arguing in the lawsuit that it will confuse audiences and harms the “Sesame Street” brand. The marketing campaign “seeks to capitalize on the reputation and goodwill of ‘Sesame Street,’” the suit says. “While the trailer at issue is almost indescribably crude, ‘Sesame’ is not trying to enjoin defendants’ promotion or distribution of their movie. It is only defendants’ deliberate choice to invoke and commercially misappropriate ‘Sesame’s’ name and goodwill in marketing the movie — and thereby cause consumers to conclude that ‘Sesame’ is somehow associated with the movie — that has infringed on and tarnished the ‘Sesame Street’ mark and goodwill.”

(15) IS REY BELIEVABLE? YouTuber MisAnthro Pony is skeptical about Star Wars’ Rey:

She knows how to swim even though she spent her entire life on a desert planet, she’s as powerful as Kilo Ren despite receiving no training from Luke, she’s as skilled of a swordsman as Obi Wan, and now she can gun the Millennium Falcon like a pro in a matter of minutes.  She apparently seems to know everything about stuff she should know nothing about.  OK, Rey doing things she shouldn’t have been able to do in The Force Awakens was stupid too.  But this is reaching it.  This is really reaching it.

Carl Slaughter defends the presentation of the character:

Oh I don’t know.  Luke blocks multiple gadget beams blindfolded with a light saber the first time he wields it.  After only a few hours of training in the Force, he pinholes the shot that takes out the Death Star.  After only a couple of months of training with Yoda, even Darth Vader is impressed.  Never mind that even the best Jedi are trained all their life from toddlership by a team of instructors in an academy.

 

(16) ON HIS GAME. And Chuck Tingle is skeptical about some gameplaying skeptics….

(17) SPOILERS AHEAD. If you’ve seen Deadpool 2, you may be ready for ScreenRant’s spoiler-filled “Deadpool 2 Pitch Meeting.”

(18) MULTIPLE DUNII. Consequences of Sound reports “Denis Villeneuve confirms his Dune adaptation will be split between two films”.

In what might prove beneficial, given the scope of Dune as a story, Villeneuve recently confirmed that he plans to split the adaptation into two films, still likely to be substantial in length each. While speaking to the Quebec publication La Presse, he mentioned the news while touching on the process of turning Herbert’s 896-page epic into a cohesive feature (or set of them): “Eric Roth wrote the first draft and I worked on my side afterwards… I have not had such fun on the creative side since Incendies! My wish would have been to make both films at the same time, but it will be too expensive. We will do them one at a time.”

(19) DESPITE POPULAR DEMAND. Borys Kit in The Hollywood Reporter story “‘Star Wars’: Boba Fett Movie in the Works With James Mangold”, says that James Mangold and Simon Kinberg, who last worked together on Logan (which Mangold directed and co-wrote and Kinberg produced) have been signed by Disney to develop a Boba Fett movie.

As N.K. Jemisin asked –

(20) KEEPING IT LEGAL. Like everyone else whose internet babblings are read in Europe, Timothy the Talking Cat is updating Cattimothy House security policy.

A message from our Legal and Compliance Department:

Dear User/Subscriber/Stranger/Prisoner

Due to the recent legislative changes in the European Union (a body not recognised by our founder and CEO, Timothy the Talking Cat), we have made several changes to our security policy.

… Our change in policy means that we will no longer:

  • Post lists of your names and misdeeds as a notice in the town square.
  • Maintain in a dark basement a wall with your photographs joined together with lines of red twine, with some faces circled in red marker and others defaced with a huge question mark….

Much more humor follows…

[Thanks to Chip Hitchcock, Carl Slaughter, Lis Carey, Andrew Porter, JJ, John King Tarpinian, Mike Kennedy, Martin Morse Wooster, Soon Lee, Jonathan Cowie, and Cat Eldridge for some of these stories, Title credit goes to File 770 contirebiting editor of the day microtherion.]

2018 Premio Vegetti


The winners of the Premio Vergetti were announced May 26 in San Marino. The Premio Vegetti is given by World SF Italia, Italy’s professional association for sff writers and a vestige of the World SF organization once led by Harry Harrison. The award is their counterpart to the Nebula.

Romanzo di Fantascienza / Science Fiction Novel

  • Pulphagus di Lukha B. Kremo (Ed. Urania-Mondadori 2016)

The jury for this category is President: Matteo Vegetti, jurors V. Barbera, A. M. Bonavoglia, and A. Cersosimo

Saggio di Fantascienza / Science Fiction Essay

  • Da Frankenstein a Star Trek di Franco Piccinini (Ed. Della Vigna 2016)

The jury for this category is: President: Matteo Vegetti, and jurors M. Alberghini, C. Onniboni , C. Villani

Antologia di Fantascienza / Science Fiction Anthology

  • L’enigma di Pitagora e altre storie di Filippo Radogna (Ed. Altrimedia 2017)

The jury for this category is President Matteo Vegetti, and jurors D. Longoni, F. Piccinini, and L. Pietrafes

“Starry-eyed” Inspired Me

By John Hertz: (reprinted from Vanamonde 1300)

Take my hand, I’m a ranger in SF-land;
All lost in a wonderland, a ranger in SF-land.
If I float starry-eyed, that’s a danger in SF-land
For any who come aboard minds of pros and fans too.

I saw its face and I ascended
Out of the commonplace into the rare.
Somewhere in space I hang suspended
While I set aside Is it true for We dare.

Won’t you fly with me?  We’ll meet strangers in SF-land.
We’ll pass beyond can’t and can through imagining’s door.
With open hearts we’ll join all the rangers in SF-land
Who while dreaming dreams need be mundane no more.

                                            

R. Wright & G. Forrest, “Stranger in Paradise” (1953); A. Borodin, “The Gliding Dance of the Maidens”, Prince Igor (1890)

2018 Elgin Award Finalists

Nominations for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association’s Elgin Award closed May 15, and Josh Brown, the 2018 Elgin Award Chair reports the works named below are the nominees.

The award is named for SFPA founder Suzette Haden Elgin, and is presented in two categories, Chapbook and Book.

Chapbooks 

Astropoetry • Christina Sng (Alban Lake, 2017)
Built to Serve • G. O. Clark (Alban Lake, 2017)
Cascade of Stardust • Herb Kauderer (Written Image, 2017)
A Catalogue of the Further Suns • F. J. Bergmann (Gold Line Press, 2017)
Crossing Paths at Midnight • Alan Katerinsky (CWP Collective Press, 2017)
Daughter Shaman Sings Blood Anthem • Kristi Carter (Porkbelly Press, 2017)
Death by Sex Machine • Franny Choi (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2017)
The Desiring Object OR Voyager Two Explains to the Gathering Stars How She Came to Glow Among Them • Jessica Rae Bergamino (Sundress Publications, 2016)
Feeding the Dead • Brett Gaffney (Porkbelly Press, 2017)
Glitter Blood • Kayla Bashe (2017)
Haunting the Last House on Holland Island, Fallen into the Bay • Sarah Ann Winn (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
hiku [pull] by James A. H. White (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
Khas Pidgin • by Salik Shah
Like Ash in the Air After Something Has Burned • Fox Frazier-Foley (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2017)
New Yesterdays, New Tomorrows • Brian Garrison (2017)
Quick Bright Things: poems of fantasy & myth • P.S. Cottier (Ginninderra Press, 2016)
Screaming • John Reinhart (Lion Tamer Press, 2017)
Secret Histories • Michael McInnis (White Knuckle Press, 2017)
The Terraformers • Dan Hoy (Third Man Books, 2017)
Violet Hours • Jeanie Tomasko (Taraxia Press, 2016)
What Stranger Miracles • James Brush (White Knuckle Press, 2016)

Full-length Books 

500 Apocalypses • Phantom Williams (2016)
Alchemy of Dreams • Michael Fantina (Hippocampus Press, 2017)
Bone Confetti • Muriel Leung (Noemi Press, 2016)
The Book of Robot • Ken Poyner (Barking Moose Press, 2016)
Brief Encounters with My Third Eye: Selected Short Poems 1975–2016 • Bruce Boston (Crystal Lake Publishing, 2016)
broken bottle of time • John Reinhart (Alban Lake, 2017)
A Collection of Nightmares • Christina Sng (Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2017)
Conjoining • Heidi Czerwiec (Sable Books, 2017)
Cosmovore • Kristi Carter (Aqueduct Press, 2017)
Flying Solo: The Lana Invasion • Herb Kauderer (The Poet’s Haven, 2017)
Darkverse: The Shadow Hours • Lori R. Lopez (Fairyfly Entertainment, 2017)
Diary of a Sorceress • Ashley Dioses (Hippocampus Press, 2017)
God’s Will for Monsters • Rachelle Cruz (Inlandia Institute, 2017)
Heliophobia • Saba Syed Razvi (Finishing Line Press, 2017)
In the Crocodile Gardens • Saba Syed Razvi (Agape Editions, 2016)
Liberating the Astronauts • Christina M. Rau (Aqueduct Press, 2017)
Love for Slaughter • Sara Tantlinger (Strangehouse Books, 2017)
Love Robot • Margaret Rhee (The Operating System, 2017)
Marginalia to Stone Bird • Rose Lemberg (Aqueduct Press, 2016)
Metastable Systems • David C. Kopaska-Merkel (Cyberwizard Productions, 2017)
No Comet, That Serpent in the Sky Means Noise • Sueyeun Juliette Lee (Kore Press, 2017)
No Mercy • Alessandro Manzetti (Crystal Lake Publishing, 2017)
The Primitive Observatory • Gregory Kimbrell (Southern Illinois University Press, 2016)
The Role of Lightning in Evolution • David Clink (Kelp Queen Press, 2016)
Sacrificial Nights • Bruce Boston & Alessandro Manzetti (Kipple Officina Libraria, 2016)
Satan’s Sweethearts • Marge Simon & Mary Turzillo (Weasel Press, 2017)
Through Immortal Shadows Singing • Mari Ness (Papaveria Press, 2017)
When the Night Owl Screams • Michael H. Hanson (Moon Dream Press, 2017)
Winds from Sheol • Fred Phillips (Hippocampus Press, 2017)
Witch Wife • Kiki Petrosino (Sarabande Books, 2017)