(1) INTERZONE NEWS. Gareth Jelley, Editor & Publisher of Interzone and IZ Digital announced today that “Interzone’s hiatus, thankfully, was very temporary.” He told File 770, “Although it is sad to lose the print edition, moving forward on a regular schedule is crucial; and I have plans for annual Interzone print anthologies, in the future, once the zine is back on track.”

Interzone 296 will be published in November. The table of contents is posted at the Interzone Patreon.

Ebook subscriptions starting from IZ 295 (the current issue) are available directly from https://interzone.press.

Jelley says, “If readers have already purchased a print issue of Interzone #295, I’ll automatically extend their e-sub by one issue.”

If people prefer to pay monthly, there is now a Patreon.

(2) CHENGDU WORLDCON ROUNDUP. [Item by Ersatz Culture.]

15-minute video showing a walk around the con

Although it’s only in Chinese, the first half of this Bilibili video gives the best impression yet of what it’s like to walk around the con.  There’s a section in the middle of vox pop interviews with what I assume are a random selection of attendees, and it ends with a more leisurely wander around the central area of the museum.

The video was posted today (Thursday 19th); I assume it was filmed on the opening day of the con.  It was posted by an account called 中国科幻博物馆 / China Science Fiction Museum, so I assume it’s an official production by the con venue.

Another walkaround video

This sub-3-minute Chinese language Bilibili video is (I think) by some vloggers.  From around 01:15 through to 02:15 there are short interviews with some of the people running the fan tables; I think they are in turn the SF clubs of Sichuan University, Electronic Science & Technology University and Southwest Jiaotong University, which Google tells me are all located in Chengdu.

I think there’s a split second glimpse of Nicholas Whyte around 01:14, although the image fades to black as he comes into view, so I’m not completely certain.

Handy guide to starting inter-fandom wars in Chinese

New Star Press posted these images to Weibo.

I’m not sure where those cards might be available; I dunno if they’re fan-made, or perhaps could be picked up from their publisher booth?

Hugo X interview with Chinese Hugo finalists

This 38-minute video on Bilibili is likely to have minimal international appeal given the lack of English subtitles, but Hugo finalists Hai Ya and Jiang Bo are two of four SF writers in a group interview.

Some brief English language clips

There’s nothing actually related to SF or the con in this short interview with Chris M. Barkley that was posted to Twitter; I don’t know if it’s an extract from a longer video.

Bilibili has extracts from an interview and a panel with German writer Brandon Q. Morris.

Chinese SF In Memoriam video

SF World magazine posted this video to their Weibo account today. The In Memoriam video was shown at the Galaxy Awards Ceremony, as shown in this video of the event, with audience reaction. It commemorates some of the writers, translators and fans from the history of Chinese SF who are no longer with us.

Kind words for File 770

File 770 got namechecked by Adaoli/SF Light Year in a second Weibo post, this seems to be a transcript of an interview he gave at the con; it sounds like there might be a video version of this interview at some point? — https://weibo.com/2417401527/NoCYEyAY8

The relevant text from near the end, via Alibaba Cloud Translate:

There is a very famous American science fiction platform (File770). Its manager is over 70 years old this year. We can’t make phone calls, we can only communicate by email. He has insisted on publishing this science fiction information for decades. From this perspective, in fact, in addition to the publicity of regular publishing companies, there are many wild science fiction fans, They can also have a lot of contribution and strength. He is also my idol, and I also hope that I can persist in doing some sci-fi releases, which will be more helpful for everyone to learn more about domestic and foreign sci-fi information.

Errata

Someone spotted one of the items that were in the Oct 13th Scroll, which had a couple of translation errors, at least one of which I should have spotted.  There are four screengrabs from that Scroll, of which three are screengrabs from other Chinese social media posts. — https://weibo.com/1720576035/NnEe2c4Vb

Twitter / X and Facebook accounts that are actively posting from the con

I don’t really “do” Facebook, so that list is highly likely to be incomplete.  All are English-language unless otherwise stated, and in no particular order.

Twitter / X:

• Silvana
• Jeremy Szal
• Shweta Taneja
• Glasgow 2024
• Ann Grá
• Dip Ghosh
• Phong Quan
• Jorah Kai
• Brandon Q. Morris aka Matthias Matting (German)
• Mingxia (a mix of English and Indonesian posts)
• Yashima Yugen (Japanese)
• Stefan Tiron

Facebook:

• Darius Hupov (Romanian)
• Robert J. Sawyer
• Lezli Robyn
• Dave McCarty

(3) GLAD TO HEAR IT. Ukranian fan Boris Sydiuk told Facebook readers the news that Sergey Lukyanenko didn’t appear at the Chengdu Worldcon.

…This is good news to us in Ukraine and to all global Fandom. It means Fandom united together can do important things to protect truth and humanity. We hope all fans can enjoy their convention, though I am sorry that Chengdu Worldcon could not bring themselves to dis-invite an appalling person who condones atrocities, ethnic cleansing, and hails killing people who don’t want to speak Russian. It is a shame he will forever be listed as a Worldcon GoH, but let it be known that somehow he was not there, that fans did not have to withstand his rhetoric, listen to his lies and he failed to attend….

(4) KENTUCKY COUNTY REMOVES MORE THAN100 BOOKS FROM SCHOOL LIBRARY. [Item by Joel Zakem.] The Boyle County, Kentucky, schools are removing more than 100 books from various school libraries, citing a recently passed anti LGBTQ+ law. Several of the titles are definitely genre, including four of Herbert and Anderson’s “Dune House Atreides” books and two of Tue Southerland’s “Wings of Fire” books. There may be a few others that I did not recognize. The book list is here.

The article from Louisville Public Radio: “Kentucky school district bans more than 100 books, citing anti-LGBTQ+ law”,

A children’s picture book about a boy who likes to dress up in his mom’s clothes.

A series about a teen who rides dragons in a dystopian universe.

A graphic novel based on the diary of Anne Frank.

These are among the more than 100 books banned from libraries in Boyle County Schools….

The article from the local Boyle County newspaper: “Boyle schools removing library books in response to SB 150” in the Advocate-Messenger.

…Some books that have been removed include “Gender in the 21st Century” by M.M. Eboch, “Only Mostly Devastated” by Sophie Gonzales, “Julian is a Mermaid” by Jessica Love and “The League of Super Feminists” by Mirion Malle.  Superintendent Mark Wade said in an interview with the Advocate-Messenger that the district removed books based on language in SB 150. Since the Kentucky Department of Education did not provide specific guidance on some language, the law was left open to the interpretation of each local BOE.  Part of the law about respecting parental rights states that “Children in grade five and below do not receive any instruction through curriculum or programs on human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases; or any child, regardless of grade level, enrolled in the district does not receive any instruction or presentation that has a goal or purpose of students studying or exploring gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.”…

(5) 2024 CREATIVE WRITING AWARDS COMPETITION FOR HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS. Penguin Random House, and We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), have opened submissions for the 2024 Creative Writing Awards. This is the first year the awards include the Freedom of Expression Award; in the face of book bans and attacks on free expression on the rise in America, Penguin Random House and We Need Diverse Books celebrate the power of books and stories. Applicants to the new award will be asked to answer the prompt, “Tell us about one banned book that changed your life and why.” 

The 2024 competition launches on October 16, 2023, and closes on January 16, 2024—or when 1,000 applications have been submitted. Current high school seniors who attend public schools in the United States, including the District of Columbia and all U.S. territories, and are planning to attend college in fall 2024, are eligible and encouraged to apply.

Six first-place $10,000 prizes will be awarded in the categories of: the Michelle Obama Award for Memoir, the Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry; the Maya Angelou Award for spoken-word; fiction/drama; and the new Freedom of Expression Award.  In recognition of the Creative Writing Awards previously being centered in New York City, the competition will award an additional first-place prize to the top entrant from the NYC area. Runners up will also be honored…. 

Complete guidelines here.

(6) TODAY’S DAY.

October 19, 1953 – Fahrenheit 451 published.

[Item by John King Tarpinian. First published in 2013.] On this day in history one of the most read science fiction novels was published. One of the few, if not only, novels of sci-fi on the majority of middle and high school reading lists.

Fahrenheit 451 is one of three books that as a young man made me think about stuff outside of my comfortable life. The other two were Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun and Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. The three making up a trio of books that woke up my little brain.

Fahrenheit 451 was made into a movie by the French director, François Truffaut. It was his first movie in color and his only English-language film. Remember the French guy in Close Encounters of the Third Kind?  That was Truffaut.

Flatscreen TVs were in this book. Bluetooth was in this book. Most people know that Ray never drove a car, remember that in the book Clarisse was killed by a speeding car. Montag was a brand of paper; Faber was a brand of pencil. Beatty was named for the lion tamer, Clyde Beatty.

Bradbury’s book rails against censorship, in any form.

Lastly, Ray’s headstone reads “Author of Fahrenheit 451.”

(Use this link to see a parade of Fahrenheit 451 book covers from over the years.)

(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.

[Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

• Born October 19, 1921 — George Nader. In 1953, he was Roy, the leading man in Robot Monster (a.k.a. Monster from Mars and Monsters from the Moon) acknowledged by him and others to be the one of the worst SF films ever made. He showed up in some decidedly low budget other SF films such as The Human Duplicators, Beyond Atlantis and The Great Space Adventure. Note: contrary to popular belief, Robot Monster is not in the public domain which is why I’m not linking, nor should you. This movie is under active copyright held by Wade Williams Distribution. (Died 2002.)
• Born October 19, 1940 — Michael Gambon. Actor of Stage and Screen from Ireland who is best known to genre fans as Professor Albus Dumbledore from the Hugo-nominated Harry Potter films (a role he picked up after the passing of Richard Harris, who played the character in the first two films). He also had roles in Toys (for which he received a Saturn nomination), Mary Reilly, Sleepy Hollow, and the Hugo finalist Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. He has had guest roles in episodes of The Jim Henson Hour, Doctor Who, and Tales of the Unexpected, and played an acerbic storyteller and possible tomb robber in Jim Henson’s The Storyteller. He has also done voice roles in animated features including Fantastic Mr. Fox, Paddington, and The Wind in the Willows, in which he voiced very nicely The Badger. (Died 2023.)
• Born October 19, 1943 — Peter Weston. He made innumerable contributions in fan writing and editing, conrunning, and in local clubs. He was nominated for a number of Hugo awards but never won, including a nomination for his autobiography Stars in My Eyes: My Adventures in British Fandom. For many years the Hugo rockets were cast by the car-parts factory which Weston owned and managed until he retired. (Died 2017.)
• Born October 19, 1943 — L.E. Modesitt, Jr., 80. Writer of more than 70 novels and 10 different series, the best known of which is his fantasy series The Saga of Recluce. He has been Guest of Honor at numerous conventions, including a World Fantasy Convention. He won a Neffy for his Endgames novel, and an Utah Speculative Fiction Award for his Archform: Beauty novel. 
• Born October 19, 1945 — John Lithgow, 78. He enters SF fame as Dr. Emilio Lizardo / Lord John Whorfin in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. He’ll later be in Santa Claus: The Movie, Harry and the Hendersons, Shrek, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Interstellar and the remake of Pet Sematary. (One of those films that really, really shouldn’t have been made.) Oh, and he voiced The White Rabbit on the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland series! He of course is Dick Solomon in 3rd Rock from the Sun.  And for true genre creds, he voiced the character of Yoda in the NPR adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
• Born October 19, 1946 — Philip Pullman, 77. I’ll confess that I like his Sally Lockhart mysteries, both the original versions and the Billy Piper-led series, far more than I enjoy the Dark Materials series as there’s a freshness and imagination at work there I don’t see in the latter. Oh, some of the latter is quite good — I quite enjoyed Lyra’s Oxford and Once Upon a Time in The North as the shortness of them works in their favor.
• Born October 19, 1948 — Jerry Kaufman, 75. Writer, Editor, Conrunner, and Fan who, while in Australia as the DUFF delegate, created a Seattle bid for the Australian Natcon which actually won the bid (temporarily, for a year, before it was overturned and officially awarded to Adelaide). He was editor of, and contributor to, numerous apazines and fanzines, two of which received Hugo nominations. With Donald Keller, he founded and ran Serconia Press, which published criticism and memoirs of the SF field. He served on the Board of Directors of the Clarion West Writers Workshop and served as Jurist for the James Tiptree, Jr., Memorial Award. He has been Fan Guest of Honor at several conventions, including a Westercon. (JJ) 
• Born October 19, 1990 — Ciana Renee, 33. Her most known genre role is as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl on Legends of Tomorrow and related Arrowverse series. She also showed up on The Big Bang Theory as Sunny Morrow in “The Conjugal Configuration”, and she played The Witch in the theatrical production of Daniel Wallace’s Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions.  She was also Elsa in the theatrical production of Frozen.

(8) COMICS SECTION.

• Half Full asks the same question some of you have asked.
• Drabble’s picks for the scariest movies might not be on your list.

(9) STRINGS ATTACHED. [Item by Steve Green.] Talking Pictures TV is a family-run British cable channel specializing in old movies and television shows. To tie in with broadcasts of the 1960s series Thunderbirds, the channel’s online “watch again” service TPTV Encore has posted an interview with puppeteers John and Wanda Brown.

Related interviewees at the site include art director Bob Bell, script editor Alan Pattillo and actor David Graham (the voice of Parker).

(10) TALKED TO DEATH. Slashfilm heard from the actor that “Robert Redford’s Twilight Zone Episode Holds A Certified And Significant Record”.

The third-season episode of “The Twilight Zone” called “Nothing in the Dark,” which first aired on January 5, 1962, is about an elderly woman living unhappily alone in a grim-looking, brick-walled basement apartment in an empty building. Wanda (Gladys Cooper) has, in recent years, become a recluse, fearing that a sojourn to the outside world will bring her face-to-face with death. By her description, however, this is literal. She once saw a man touch a woman with his finger, killing her instantly, leading her to know with utter certainty that Death is a person. Death, she also knows, can also look like anyone. So she surmises it might be best to stay away from people altogether. 

When a handsome young Robert Redford knocks on her door, however, her idyll is smashed. Redford plays a young cop named Harold who was shot in the line of duty and needs immediate medical care. Wanda refuses to let him in, knowing that he may be Death and that Death is sneaky. She eventually lets him in, he touches her, and she doesn’t die, so she is convinced all is well. Wanda and Harold discuss her views on death, her life of fear, and her philosophy that living cloistered is better than dying in the open air. But then, as we are living in the Twilight Zone, perhaps Harold may be Death after all. 

“Nothing in the Dark” was written by George Clayton Johnson (who wrote the novel “Logan’s Run, seven additional “Twilight Zone” episodes, and many other notable sci-fi stories), and the author created a wonderful miniature two-handed, one-act morality play where discussion takes precedence over action. It’s a sweet little character piece with fantastical underpinnings….

(11) RED LEADER GOES FOR OVER $3M. This X-wing fighter went walkabout. UPI found out where it’s been.

A formerly long-lost X-wing fighter model used on screen in the original 1977 Star Wars film was auctioned for a Force-disturbing sum of over $3.13 million.

Bidding on the 1:24 scale model opened at $400,000 and closed Sunday with a bid of more than $3.13 million.

Heritage Auctions said the model was long known as “the missing X-wing” until it was found in the collection of Greg Jein, who died last year after a career in miniature making that saw him earn awards nominations for his work on projects including Star Trek and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The miniature was one of four “hero” models created for filming close-ups in key moments during the famous third act battle in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and features red stripes on its top two wings, identifying it as the Rebel Alliance squadron’s “Red Leader.”…

(12) VIDEO OF THE DAY. [Item by Kathy Sullivan.] University finals have gotten creative.  (Yes, yes, Encanto was on and I went looking for the Pluto parody and found this one as well): “We Don’t Talk About Pluto (My University Astronomy Final)”.

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, Kathy Sullivan, Gareth Jelley, Steve Green, Joel Zakem, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, and Ersatz Culture for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Cliff.]