By Andrew Porter: The death of Franklyn M. Dietz, Jr., — Frank to his many friends — was announced on Facebook on October 22. Dietz, who lived at the end of his life in Marietta, Georgia, participated in many of … Continue reading
The British Fantasy Awards became mired in controversy when Stephen Jones charged a conflict of interest between the administrator and several winners. That prompted a few fans to suggest fixing the BFA by borrowing rules from the Hugo Awards. The … Continue reading
Attending Renovation inspired Mark Plummer to explore the history of the Trans-Atlantic Fan fund in his latest column for Strange Horizons, “Paraphernalia: Beyond the Enchanted Convention to the Enchanted Peter R. Weston Memorial Defibrillator Station” — The roots of TAFF … Continue reading
(1) NEW VONDA MCINTYRE COLLECTION. Clarion West has announced that Little Sisters and Other Stories, a collection of short fiction by Clarion West founder and life-long supporter, Vonda N. McIntyre, will be released April 23, 2024 and is available for … Continue reading
By Bruce Gillespie. [What Bruce says is an “immediate, non-comprehensive response” – with much more to be considered later for his fanzine SFC.] Lee Harding, Australia’s senior SF writer (although he did not regard himself as a writer of SF … Continue reading
(1) INDY 5. The Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny official trailer has dropped. (2) YOLEN TO MISS BALTICON. Balticon 57, being held May 26-29 in Baltimore, has announced a change in guests of honor. Due to personal reasons, … Continue reading
You know that phrase “putting the world in Worldcon”? The first step toward that utopian goal was the London Worldcon of 1957. You can learn all about the con and the kerfuffles in Rob Hansen’s 1957: The First UK Worldcon, … Continue reading
By Jeffrey Smith: Here in Baltimore we have a used bookstore called The Book Thing that is either unique or close to it. You enter the warehouse, pick the unlimited amount of books you want, and leave. They’re all free. … Continue reading
(1) PRESCIENT PANDEMIC PROSE PRAISED. [Item by Olav Rokne.] In a thoughtful and in-depth piece about plague-related fiction, Joelle Renstrom (@couldthishappen) of Slate Magazine explores how Connie Willis’ 1992 Hugo Winner Doomsday Book seems particularly relevant in 2020. “Doomsday Book, the 1992 time-travel … Continue reading
The Sad Puppies always predicted, for their own vindictive reasons, that the time would come when the internet fell on me. I never disagreed. I knew they were right. Today was that day. (1) SAVING BOOKSTORES. In his latest e-newsletter … Continue reading