Wolf Von Witting Will Run For TAFF

The 2016 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund race has its first declared candidate, Wolf Von Witting.

Wolf, was born in Finland, worked in Sweden for 25 years, and now lives in Italy. He made a strong showing last year, however, finished behind Nina Horvath.

This second consecutive Europe-to-North-America trip in 2016 is the result of the administrators’ decision to synchronize TAFF with projected European Worldcons.

In the latest issue of his fanzine, Counterclock #23, Wolf announced:

Yes, I will stand for TAFF again in 2016, though I had hoped for two consecutive Eastbound races instead to tweak the direction for Helsinki in 2017 and possibly Dublin in 2019. Work needs to be done on this side of the Atlantic. Europeans coming to North-America are well taken care of. But the Americans coming to Europe should get the opportunity to see more than the United Kingdom. At least IMHO.

It is unlikely that I will make a second bleak race in Europe this time. My friends have understood that I am not a default winner, and that they actually have to give me their vote, if I’m to win. I don’t know yet, who the other candidate will be, but I wish him or her all the best. I know who I wish would not be the other candidate. That would be the sf-fans I hope to nominate as future candidates.

Final 2015 TAFF Voting Detail

Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund co-administrators Jim Mowatt and Curt Phillips have published the final voting statistics (one vote different that reported here earlier) plus the traditional geographic breakdown in TAFFworld #3. The newsletter also lists all the voters.

Voting Europe NA Other Total
Nina Horvath 30 14 2 46
Wolf von Witting 12 22 1 35
Hold Over Funds 0 1 0 1
No Preference 11 6 1 18
Totals 53 43 4 100

Nina Horvath Wins TAFF

The 2015 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund winner is Nina Horvath of Austria. She outpolled Wolf von Witting in a tight race. According to TAFF co-administrator Jim Mowatt:

One featured more strongly in Europe and the other was the  North American favourite. Both easily passed the twenty per cent test and both were impeccably behaved throughout.

The final count was so incredibly close that I had absolutely no idea who was going to win until the last few votes were counted….

Many commiserations go to Wolf von Witting. He came within a gnat’s whisker of victory. I do hope he runs again and I wish him all the best in a future race.

2015 TAFF Voting Deadline Imminent

The deadline to vote on the winner of the 2015 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund is Tuesday, April 7 at Midnight EDT. (Click here for complete details.)

This year TAFF will select either Nina Horvath or Wolf Von Witting, two European fans, as a delegate to Sasquan, the World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane. Which one will it be?  You will decide that with your vote and your contribution.

In the UK and Europe send your votes to Jim Mowatt, the European administrator in Cambridge, and in North America and other parts of the planet, please send your votes and contributions to Curt Phillips in Abingdon, Virginia. It only takes a few moments and a few dollars to vote (though more is certainly appreciated…) Please consider joining one of Fandom’s oldest and most noble traditions and SUPPORT TAFF!

Vote by e-mailing your pick of these choices:  Nina Horvath, Wolf Von Witting, Hold Over Funds, or No Preference. And you can send in your TAFF donations either by PayPal or by sending a check or cash in the mail.

For full details on TAFF including downloadable ballot, the candidates platforms, and the addresses of both administrators, please visit David Langford’s wonderful TAFF website.

Curt Phillips says, “Thank you very much for supporting TAFF. My TAFF trip in 2014 was one of the highlights of my life. Let’s keep the tradition going by giving another fan the chance for world travel as the 2015 TAFF delegate!”

  • Curt Phillips – US Administrator: 19310 Pleasant View Drive, Abingdon, VA  24211. Paypal address: Absarka_prime (at) comcast.net
  • Jim Mowatt – UK Administrator: 273 The Rowans, Milton, Cambridge, CB24 6ZA. Paypal address: jim (at) umor.co.uk

 

2015 TAFF Voting Begins

Nina Horvath of Austria, or Wolf Von Witting of most everywhere else in Europe (born in Finland, worked in Sweden for 25 years, and now lives in Italy)? It’s time for you to decide which one the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund will send to the 2015 Worldcon in Spokane.

Horvath’s nominators are David Hartwell, David Lally, Gloria McMillan, Mihaela Marija Perkovi?, and Cristian Tamas.

Von Witting’s seconds are Arnie Katz, Ronald M Hahn, John-Henri Holmberg, Lloyd Penney, Chris O’ Shea.

The text of the ballot is here.

Instructions for voting via PayPal are here.

Votes in this race must reach the administrators by 23:59 on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 (British Summer Time aka UTC+1).

Nina Horvath To Be TAFF Candidate

Nina Horvath of Vienna will be in the next Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund race. TAFF co-administrator Jim Mowatt made the announcement on Facebook.

She is the second person to join the field, Wolf von Witting having declared in September.

Horvath is a frequent contributor to Europa SF, the English-language European sf news site. Her mother tongue is German. She has over two dozen published short stories, and Horvath’s“Die Duftorgel” won the 2012 Deutscher Phantastik Preis for the best fantastic short story.

She also has edited several short story collections: Metamorphosen – Auf den Spuren H.P. Lovecrafts, Darwins Schildkröte, and Die Schattenuhr which won the 2012 Vincent Preis for the best horror anthology.

(Isn’t “Vincent Preis” the perfect name for a horror genre award? Jack Harness’ name for fannish bilingual puns was “Berlitzkrieg.”)

Wolf von Witting Declares for TAFF

Wolf von Witting, born in Finland, worked in Sweden for 25 years, and now lives in Italy – he’s as international as they come. And on September 4 Wolf announced he wants to be the next Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund delegate.

In 2015, TAFF will send a European delegate to the Worldcon in Spokane.

A good way to get acquainted with Wolf is through his fanzine ConterClock, full of information about Europe’s science fiction fandom, its history and future.