2019 Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards Shortlist

The Robert E. Howard Foundation’s Legacy Circle members have selected the nominees for this year’s REH Foundation Awards, honoring the top contributions in Howard scholarship and in the promotion of Howard’s life and works from the past year.

Foundation members have until May 12 to vote on the winners, which will be announced at Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains on June 8.

The Atlantean — Outstanding Achievement, Book (non-anthology/collection)

(Books may be print or digital, must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and must be substantively devoted to the life and/or work of REH. Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible.)

  • FRED BLOSSER – Western Weirdness and Voodoo Vengence(Pulp Hero Press) – LINK
  • DON D’AMMASSA – Masters of Fantasy, Volume One (Managansett Press) – LINK
  • DON HERRON and LEO GRIN – Famous Someday: A Robert E. Howard Biography(The Cimmerian Press) – LINK
  • PETER OSTERIED – Die Filmwelten des Robert E. Howard: Conan, Kull und andere Abenteurer (Createspace Independent Publishing) – LINK
  • DAVID C. SMITH – Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography (Pulp Hero Press) – LINK
  • MICHELE TETRO –  Robert E. Howard e gli Eroi dalla Valle Oscura (Odoya) – LINK

The Valusian — Outstanding Achievement, Book (anthology/collection)

(Books may be print or digital, must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and must be substantively devoted to the life and/or work of REH. Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible.)

[No eligible candidates]

 The Hyrkanian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Print)

(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short pieces, interviews, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)

  • BOBBY DERIE – “That Fool Olson” – Lovecraft Annual 12– LINK
  • RICK LAI – “Poseidon and the Gods of the Robert E. Howard Universe” – Blood ‘n’ Thunder Presents #4: Pulpourri – LINK
  • DAMON YOUNG – “I Love, I Slay, And Am Content” – Island Magazine #124 – LINK

The Cimmerian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Online)

(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short blog posts, speeches, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)

  • BOB BYRNE – “By Crom: Arthurian Elements in the Conan Canon’” – Black Gate– LINK
  • BOB BYRNE – “By Crom: Conan and the Khoraja Saga: Beyond Robert E. Howard’s ‘Black Colossus’” – Mighty Thor JR’s Blog– LINK
  • BENJAMIN CHEAH – “H P Lovecraft and Robert E Howard: A Contrast in Horror” – PulpRev– LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “A Lost Weird Anthology, 1932-1933” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK 
  • BOBBY DERIE – “Bêlit’s Bane: Where the Falling Demon Meets the Rising Ape” – Mighty Thor JR’s Blog– LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “Conan and the Acolyte: Robert E. Howard and F. T. Laney” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “Conan and E’ch-Pi-El: Robert E. Howard in the Biographies of H. P. Lovecraft” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “Conan and Sappho: Robert E. Howard on Lesbians (2 parts)” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK – LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “Dear Mr. Jacobi; Cordially, Robert E. Howard” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “Fan Mail: Bloch vs. Conan” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “Fan Mail: Prohibition in “The Souk”” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “First Fans: Robert E. Howard and Emil Petaja ” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • BOBBY DERIE – “Robert E. Howard’s Reefer Madness” – Messages from Crom – LINK
  • BOB FREEMAN – “Beyond the Bounds of Reality: Robert E. Howard and the Birth of Sword & Sorcery” – Mighty Thor JR’s Blog– LINK
  • BEN FRIBERG –“Bigfoot vs. Bigfoot: Biggest Bout of the 19th century! Or…The Four Deaths of Chief Bigfoot” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • MORGAN HOLMES – “Robert E. Howard and the Third Reich”— Castalia House Blog– LINK
  • ROB KING – “Robert E. Howard on the Llano Estacado and the Collection at Texas Tech University’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library”— On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • MATTHEW KNIGHT – “Nosferatu Necronomica – Solomon Kane in the Hills of the Dead” – DMR Books BlogLINK
  • KAREN JOAN KOHOUTEK – “By the Phoenix on This Sword I Rule” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • JORDI MORERA – “La Pluma Salvaje de Robert E. Howard” – Studia Humanitatis– LINK
  • DEUCE RICHARDSON – “Stephen Fabian and Robert E. Howard (3 Parts)” – DMR Books Blog – LINK– LINK – LINK
  • ROB ROEHM – “Footnotes #1 and #2” – Howard History– LINK – LINK
  • KEITH TAYLOR – “Black Vulmea – Robert E. Howard’s Roughneck Pirate (2 Parts)” – DMR Books Blog – LINK– LINK
  • BILL THOM – “The Art of Robert E. Howard” – Messages from Crom– LINK – LINK – LINK
  • TODD VICK – “The Blunders of One Weird Tales Artist: Curtis Charles Senf” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • TODD VICK – “The Last Line of the Last Letter” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • TODD VICK – “The Weather is Good but the Beer is Lousy” – On An Underwood No. 5– LINK
  • MICHAEL WASHBURN – “Robert E. Howard: Literary Artist or Pulp Hack?” – Book and Film Globe– LINK

The Venarium — Emerging Scholar

(The following candidates have recently begun making significant contributions to Howard scholarship through publications and/or presentations over the past few years. Previous winners are not eligible)

  • BOB BYRNE – Contributed essays for Black Gate
  • PHILIP EMERY – Completed Doctoral Thesis on REH and Sword and Sorcery
  • NICOLE EMMELHAINZ – Presented paper at ICFA.
  • ROB KING – Contributed essay to On an Underwood No. 5
  • MATTHEW KNIGHT – Contributed essay to DMR Books Blog
  • JORDI MORERA – Contributed essay to Studia Humanitatis

The Stygian—Outstanding Achievement, Website or Periodical

(Eligible candidates are limited to print or digital magazines, journals, blogs, or internet sites with substantive material that is primarily devoted to scholarship on the life and works of Robert E. Howard. Websites must have been updated with new content at least once in the previous calendar year. Print periodicals must have had an issue published in the previous calendar year. Non-static social media like Facebook and Twitter would not be eligible.)

  • BLACK GATE (John O’Neill) – LINK
  • DMR BOOKS BLOG (Dave Ritzlin) – LINK
  • HOWARD HISTORY (Rob Roehm) – LINK
  • HOWARD WORKS (Bill Thom) – LINK
  • MESSAGES FROM CROM – LINK
  • MIGHTY THOR JRS – (James Schmidt) – LINK
  • ON AN UNDERWOOD NO. 5 (Todd Vick) – LINK
  • THE SWORDS OF REH FORUM (Jason Aiken, et al.) – LINK
  • ROBERT-E-HOWARD.FR (Claude Ghedir and Patrice Louinet) – LINK
  • ROBERT E. HOWARD GOODREADS GROUP (Vincent Darlage and Jim MacLachlan) – LINK
  • REH FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER (Lee Breakiron) – LINK

The Black Lotus – Outstanding Achievement, Multimedia

(Eligible candidates have produced a multimedia or audio/visual work or series of works, such as videos, documentaries, podcasts, animation, etc. related to the life and work of REH)

  • THE CROMCAST (audio podcast) – Josh Adkins, Luke Dodd, and Jon Larson – LINK
  • EXTRA CREDITS: Lovecraft & Howard – Pulp! Weird Tales (video podcast) – James Portnow, et al. – LINK
  • HOWARD DAYS 2018 (videos)– Ben Friberg – LINK
  • P. LOVECRAFT LITERARY PODCAST (audio podcast) – Chad Fifer and Chris Lackey – LINK
  • ROGUES IN THE HOUSE PODCAST – Matt Sullivan, Logan Whitney, and Alex Kostopoulos – LINK

The Black River—Special Achievement

(The following eligible candidates have produced or contributed something special that doesn’t fit into any other category: scholarly presentations, biographical discoveries, etc.)

  • DIERK GUENTHER and JEFFREY SHANKS – For participating in an REH paper session at ICFA 2017.
  • MARK HALL – For his years of service as editor of The Dark Man
  • PATRICE LOUINET  – For his commentary on the Conan graphic novels by Glenat
  • JEFFREY SHANKS, ANDREW McFEATERS, THADRA STANTON, and HEATHER YOUNG – For the REH House Archaeology Project
  • ROY THOMAS – for his publication of Barbarian Life, the history of Conan in the comics.
  • DAMON YOUNG – Reading Workshop on Robert E. Howard at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and contributed article to Island Magazine

The Rankin — Artistic achievement in the depiction of REH’s life and/or work

(Art must have made its first public published appearance in the previous calendar year.)

  • PIERRE ALARY – Conan le Cimmérien, Tome 1 : La reine de la côte noire (Glenat) – Adaptation of “Queen of the Black Coast” – LINK
  • BILL CAVALIER – Cover Art for Pictures in the Fire (REHF Press) – LINK
  • TOM GRINDBERG – Cover art for Conan the Piratesourcebook for Conan RPG (Modiphius) – Depicts “Queen of the Black Coast”– LINK
  • ANTHONY JEAN – Conan le Cimmérien, Tome 3 : Au-delà de la rivière noire (Glenat) – Adatation of “Beyond the Black River” –  LINK
  • ROBIN RECHT – Conan le Cimmérien, Tome 4 : La fille du géant du gel (Glenat) – Adaptation “The Frost Giant’s Daughter”- LINK
  • MANUEL SANJULIAN — Cover art for Ancient Ruins and Cursed Cities (Modiphius) – Depicts “Red Nails” – LINK
  • RONAN TOULHOAT – Conan le Cimmérien, Tome 2 : Le colosse noir (Glenat) – Depicts “Black Colossus” – LINK

Black Circle Award – Lifetime Achievement

(Individuals who have made significant and long-lasting contributions to REH scholarship, publishing, or the promotion of Howard’s life and works. Eligible candidates must have been publicly involved in Howard-related activities for a minimum of two decades.)

  • FRED BLOSSER
  • LIN CARTER (posthumous)
  • MARC CERASINI
  • LYON SPRAGUE De CAMP (posthumous)
  • PAUL HERMAN
  • CHARLES HOFFMAN
  • BILLIE RUTH LOVING (posthumous)
  • GEORGE SCITHERS (posthumous)
  • JAMES VAN HISE
  • DONALD WOLLHEIM (posthumous)