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2025: Stewart Hotston Becomes Chair of the BSFA

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2025: Stewart Hotston Becomes Chair of the BSFA

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At the EGM held in February, the members vote to convert the BSFA into a charity.

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BSFA EGM 2019: Farah Mendlesohn becomes Treasurer

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BSFA EGM 2019: Farah Mendlesohn becomes Treasurer

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2008: BSFA President Arthur C. Clarke passes away.

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2008: BSFA President Arthur C. Clarke passes away.

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Arthur C Clarke, the pioneering science fiction author and technological visionary best known for the novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died at his home in Sri Lanka, aged 90.

Clarke, who wrote more than 100 books in a career spanning seven decades, died of heart failure linked to the post-polio syndrome that had kept him wheelchair-bound for years.

His forecasts often earned him derision from peers and social commentators.

But although his dreams of intergalactic space travel and colonisation of nearby planets were never realised in his lifetime, Clarke's predictions of a host of technological breakthroughs were uncannily accurate.

He was one of the first people to suggest the use of satellites for communications, and in the 1940s forecast that man would reach the moon by the year 2000 - an idea that experts at first dismissed as nonsense.

The astronomer Patrick Moore, a friend of Clarke's since the 1930s, said: "He was a great visionary, a brilliant science fiction writer and a great forecaster. He foresaw communications satellites, a nationwide network of computers, interplanetary travel; he said there would be a man on the moon by 1970, while I said 1980 - and he was right."

In 1983, Clarke wrote: "At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved - if it can be achieved at all - within the next few hundred years,"

On his 90th birthday last December Clarke recorded a farewell message to his friends, saying he would have liked to have seen evidence of extraterrestrial life during his lifetime.

His secretary, Rohad de Silva, last night confirmed that Clarke had died from a cardio-respiratory attack.

Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, in December 1917 and served as a radar specialist in the Royal Air Force during the second world war.

He became involved in the British Interplanetary Society after the war, where he proposed the idea for satellites as telecommunications relays.

He sold his first story, The Rescue Party, in May 1946. In 1952 his non-fiction book The Exploration of Space became a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic.

A keen diver, he moved to Sri Lanka in 1956 where he wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey; in 1968 he shared an Oscar nomination for the film with director Stanley Kubrick with whom he wrote the screenplay.

Clarke was knighted in 2000 in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo - more than two years after the honour was conferred on him. He had been confined to a wheelchair since 1995, a victim of post-polio syndrome.

Clarke married Marilyn Mayfield in 1953, but they divorced in 1964.

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Arthur C Clarke, writer and futurist, dies at 90

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Arthur C Clarke, the pioneering science fiction author and technological visionary best known for the novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died at his home in Sri Lanka, aged 90

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2023; Phoenix Alexander appointed as new Vector Editor in Chief

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2023; Phoenix Alexander appointed as new Vector Editor in Chief

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Hello, and welcome to an extra-special post from Vector’s new Editor-in-Chief: me! I had such a wonderful time guest-editing the special issue on Greek SF/F back in Spring 2022, as well as th…

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1994: Catie Cary steps down as Joint Administrator

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1994: Catie Cary steps down as Joint Administrator

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1993: Kevin McVeigh resigns as Coordinator. Maureen Kincaid Speller and Catie Cary are appointed as Joint Administrators of the BSFA.

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1993: Kevin McVeigh resigns as Coordinator. Maureen Kincaid Speller and Catie Cary are appointed as Joint Administrators of the BSFA.

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1991: Kevin McVeigh becomes BSFA Coordinator

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1991: Kevin McVeigh becomes BSFA Coordinator

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1991: Maureen Porter (Later Kincaid Speller) steps down as BSFA Coordinator

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1991: Maureen Porter (Later Kincaid Speller) steps down as BSFA Coordinator

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2002: Elizabeth and Paul Billinger appointed Joint Chairs of the BSFA.

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2002: Elizabeth and Paul Billinger appointed Joint Chairs of the BSFA.

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1999: Maureen Kincaid Speller steps down as BSFA Administrator.

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1999: Maureen Kincaid Speller steps down as BSFA Administrator.

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One of the founder members of the BSFA.

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1989: Maureen Porter (Later Kincaid Speller) becomes BSFA Coordinator

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1989: Maureen Porter (Later Kincaid Speller) becomes BSFA Coordinator

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1986: BSFA 'Co-ordinator' announced as being Paul Kincaid.

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1986: BSFA 'Co-ordinator' announced as being Paul Kincaid.

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2009: First BSFA Awards Booklet is produced

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2009: First BSFA Awards Booklet is produced

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1986: Still no Chair at the BSFA (Matrix #64) 

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1986: Still no Chair at the BSFA (Matrix #64) 

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1979: David Wingrove steps down as Vector editor (#94)

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1979: David Wingrove steps down as Vector editor (#94)

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1989: David V. Barrett last issue as editor of Vector (#150)

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1989: David V. Barrett last issue as editor of Vector (#150)

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1 post published by Vector editors during June 1989

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1985: David V. Barrett editor of Vector (#130)

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1985: David V. Barrett editor of Vector (#130)

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As writers we have the ability to create perfection, however: which may be another good reason for writing science fiction. From the biological standpoint we have a choice of two kinds of perfection: expanding or stable. The expanding kind postulates a dominant race, usually human, colonizing an ever-increasing number of worlds. There can be no end to the process of expansion because, like economic growth rates and the Roman Empire, the only alternative is collapse. Conflict is provided by the opposition of other races and such stories tend to be technological in content. An undeniable attraction lies in the headlong progression towards a vast Unknown, but the drawback is an uncomfortable similarity to our present situation on Earth.

I chose the second alternative for my recent novels because of its inherent optimism: it is theoretically possible to reach and sustain a stable perfection. The end product is a planet which a perfect ecology with a diversity of plants and animals dovetailing into a balanced whole. Conflict is provided by the arising of an occasional imbalance, either internally or externally inflicted. There is little room for technology in this kind of story because it would eventually be defeated by the finite nature of global resources, despite recycling and solar power. British SF often uses this introspective approach, although not always stating openly that life will go on after the difficult period that it often describes. Perhaps here there is an over-preoccupation with human life. The fact that the story is set at a point well before ecological stability is achieved sometimes brands it as 'pessimistic' in American eyes. This rather shortsighted view ignores the optimism inherent in the struggle for a stable perfection - as well as the practical impossibility of achieving an expanding perfection.
Michael Coney

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1 post published by Vector editors during February 1986

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2010: Niall Harrison steps down as editor of Vector. Shana Worthen takes over.

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2010: Niall Harrison steps down as editor of Vector. Shana Worthen takes over.

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As those who were at the BSFA AGM earlier this year may remember - for that is where it was first announced - my time as features editor of Vector is coming to an end. Specifically, I'm standing down at the end of 2010, which means there are two more issues with my name on left to go (the first of which should be printed this week, and the second of which is not far behind). I'm feeling pretty good about the run, on balance; it's been a rewarding experience, a privilege to curate a journal with such a fine history, and I hope has produced some things worth reading. Of course, everyone else who's worked on Vector during the last five years must get credit as well: reviews editors Paul Billinger, Kari Sperring, and Martin Lewis; production editors Tony Cullen, Liz Batty, and Anna Feruglio dal Dan; my co-editor for the first year, Gene Melzack; and everyone who wrote an article or a review or a letter of comment. My thanks go to all.

But, while I'm in no danger of challenging Andrew M Butler for the title of longest-serving editor, five years feels about the right point to stand aside and let someone else have a go. The incoming features editor will be known to many of you, and certainly anyone who regularly attends the London Meetings, and I have no doubt that Shana Worthen will do an excellent job. I'm certainly looking forward to reading her first issue.

Meanwhile, things are also changing in another part of my sf life. As of today, I take over from Susan Marie Groppi as editor-in-chief of Strange Horizons; you can read her announcement of the handover here.

I'm extremely proud to be part of Strange Horizons. It stands for a lot of things I believe in - say, for speculative fiction, rather than sf and fantasy narrowly; for new voices, both in fiction and non-fiction; for diversity of all kinds - and is produced by a group of people I respect and admire. It's the longest-running online sf magazine out there, and it's entirely volunteer run and donation-funded. (One week left in this year's fund drive! Prizes to be won! Just for mentioning the fund drive!) It is, so far as I'm concerned, a Good Thing.

And so I'm proud to be taking over the organisation and running of the magazine, while being conscious that I'll be following in big, World Fantasy Award-winning footsteps. As Matt Cheney eloquently describes, Susan's presence has been a huge part of what's made Strange Horizons what it is, and while she'll still be around as fiction editor, it's going to be different. Still, I have things I want to do, even things that could be described as plans, and I'm excited about getting down to them. I'm also excited to be able to say that my replacement as reviews editor will be Abigail Nussbaum, because I can't imagine anyone I'd feel more comfortable leaving that department with, and I can't wait to see how it develops with her guidance.

One downside of all this change is that, as things move on, I'll be posting less here, since it's a BSFA venue - although I won't be scaling back until after the women and sf week in December, at the earliest. But I might well be posting elsewhere. Further updates, as they say, as events warrant.

Published

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As those who were at the BSFA AGM earlier this year may remember -- for that is where it was first announced -- my time as features editor of Vector is coming to an end. Specifically, I'm standing down at the end of 2010, which means there are two more issues with my name on...

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The first editor of Vector dies aged 90.

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EC Tubb, who has died aged 90, was an author of many names, his work hidden behind some 65 pseudonyms during his 60 years as a freelance writer. This army of pen names met the demands of publishers around the world, but disguised an output that was far more distinguished than the statistics - 125 novels and almost twice as many short stories - might suggest.

His main output was science fiction and his outlook on what humankind faced was often uncompromising, even bleak. The universe Tubb portrayed held dangers around every corner, and the future was usually not the glittering utopia others predicted. The lives of pioneers establishing colonies on the moon or Mars - in Moon Base and Alien Dust respectively - are harsh and perilous. The population of the starship in The Space-Born is strictly controlled, the inhabitants living only long enough to give birth to and train the next generation making their way to the stars. Waking from cryogenic sleep in the future, Tubb's characters find a world obsessed with money (Death Is a Dream) or a perfect society thrown into chaos (Century of the Manikin).

The Space-Born was adapted for French television in 1962. Tubb's short story Little Girl Lost became an episode of the TV series Night Gallery, hosted by Rod Serling, in 1972; that year, Lucifer won the Europa prize for best short story.

Tubb was born and raised in London, the son of Edwin, an engineer, and his wife, Marie, a dressmaker. He discovered American science-fiction magazines in Woolworths and second-hand bookshops in his early teens, but his collection was destroyed during the blitz.

In the mid-40s he returned to London from Paris, where he had been with the American Red Cross. He worked as a lorry driver, salesman and kitchen-utensil demonstrator and also became a regular attendee of science-fiction fan gatherings such as the London Circle. In 1958 he became one of the co-founders of the British Science Fiction Association and editor of the club's official magazine, Vector. Following his first professional sale of a story, to New Worlds magazine, Tubb began writing for the cheap paperbacks market. His first novels appeared in 1951. Tubb learned his craft quickly and was soon writing more ambitious novels. Space Hunger, The Hand of Havoc and Enterprise 2115, all written as Charles Grey, were among the best of the 30 novels he sold from 1951 to 1954.

Like John Brunner and Ken Bulmer, Tubb emerged from the era - notorious for gaudy covers and even gaudier writing - with his reputation unscathed. In 1955, he won the Cytricon literary award for best British science fiction writer. He was briefly the editor of the magazine Authentic Science Fiction, wrote westerns and comic strips during lulls in the SF market, and was one of the few "old wave" authors published alongside Brian Aldiss and JG Ballard in New Worlds during Michael Moorcock's editorship.

In the late 1960s, Tubb created his most enduring character, Earl Dumarest, a space-wandering mercenary searching for the legendary birthplace of mankind, Earth. Over a series of 31 novels (1967-85), Dumarest sought information and followed clues on dozens of exotic and vividly colourful worlds, keeping one step ahead of the emotionless, power-hungry Cyclan brotherhood. The series ended abruptly when Tubb's publisher, Donald Wollheim, died in 1990, and Wollheim's heirs rejected the 32nd novel, in which Dumarest reached his goal. Two more Dumarest novels eventually appeared: The Return (published in French in 1992 and in English in 1997) and Child of Earth (2008).

In the 1970s, Tubb wrote 17 novels featuring Cap Kennedy, a troubleshooting throwback to the SF pulp era of colourful, intergalactic adventures. He also wrote novelisations of Gerry Anderson's TV series Space: 1999. In 2002 he revised the first of these, Breakaway, to make it scientifically more plausible.

Tubb's output diminished in later years due to failing eyesight. His indefatigable agent, Phil Harbottle, oversaw the reprinting of more than 50 of Tubb's novels in America, many in large print, and many revised or restored by Tubb. Two new novels, Starslave and To Dream Again, are due for publication.

Tubb was married twice: in 1939 to Yvonne Castle and in 1944 to Iris Smith. She survives him, along with their daughters, Jennifer and Linda.

Edwin Charles Tubb, author, born 15 October 1919; died 10 September 2010

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EC Tubb, who has died aged 90, was an author of many names, his work hidden behind some 65 pseudonyms during his 60 years as a freelance writer. This army of pen names met the demands of publishers around the world, but disguised an output that was far more distinguished than the statistics - 125 novels and almost twice as many short stories - might suggest.

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1989: Kevin McVeigh and Boyd Parkinson become Editors of Vector

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1989: Kevin McVeigh and Boyd Parkinson become Editors of Vector

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After the tenure of David Barrett, Kevin and Boyd became editors for the next two years.

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1992: Catie Carey becomes Editor of Vector.

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1992: Catie Carey becomes Editor of Vector.

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The April/May issue of Vector, issue number 166, was the first with Catie Cary credited as Editor. She had previously been assisting Kevin McVeigh with issues 161-165.

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2018: BSFA Produces 'Sixty Year' Journal

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2018: BSFA Produces 'Sixty Year' Journal

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2018 saw the publication of Throughout The Decades: Sixty Years of the BSFA. Edited by Alex Bardy and with contributions from many members past and present, the booklet gives a collected insight into some of the major issues around science fiction throughout the twentieth (and start of the twenty-first) century.

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2017: Former BSFA President Brian Aldiss Passes

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2017: Former BSFA President Brian Aldiss Passes

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Brian Aldiss, the "grand old man" of science fiction whose writing has shaped the genre since he was first published in the 1950s, has died at the age of 92.

Aldiss's agent, Curtis Brown, and his son, Tim Aldiss, have announced that the author, artist, poet and memoirist died at home in Oxford in the early hours of 19 August. "Brian had celebrated his birthday with close friends and family and spoken to many close to him," wrote Tim on Twitter as he announced the death of "our beloved father and grandfather".

Aldiss was the author of science fiction classics including Non-Stop, Hothouse and Greybeard, as well as the Helliconia trilogy, which his agent said bridged "the gap between classic science fiction and contemporary literature". His numerous short stories include Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, which was adapted into the Steven Spielberg film AI, while his Horatio Stubbs saga was based on his time during the war in Burma and the far east.

Aldiss was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Hugo and Nebula prizes for science fiction and fantasy, an honorary doctorate from the University of Reading, the title of grand master from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and an OBE for services to literature. In a 2013 profile of Aldiss for the Guardian, Stuart Kelly described him as "the grand old man of British science fiction", saying that "few writers have contributed more" to speculative fiction.

In an introduction to a new edition of Hothouse, Neil Gaiman described Aldiss's career as "enormous". "It has recapitulated British SF, always with a ferocious intelligence, always with poetry and oddness, always with passion; while his work outside the boundaries of science fiction, as a writer of mainstream fiction, gained respect and attention from the wider world." The A merican Gods author described Aldiss on Twitter as a "larger than life wise writer", adding that the news "just hit me like a meteor to the heart".

"For the short time I had the pleasure of knowing Brian, there wasn't a moment when he wasn't writing something," said his editor at HarperCollins, Natasha Bardon. "His passion for language and literature was wonderful and he wielded his skill like a blade. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry: there was just no stopping him. Though I came to publish Brian later in his career, I feel the luckiest, because it wasn't just the fiction I heard about. Brian told the most incredible stories: of days when he and his contemporaries were writing books that would become classics of the genre, of evenings out among other giants of literature, and of much cheekier tales, always told with a smile and twinkle in his eye. It is with great sadness that we say farewell to such a beloved author and I am so proud I was able to publish him even briefly."

A friend and drinking companion of Kingsley Amis, Aldiss counted CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien among his correspondents. His death was marked by names from across the science fiction writing community.

Adam Roberts said he was "very sad" about Aldiss's death, "though 92 is not a bad innings". He added: "I grew up reading him: Hothouse in particular had an immense impact on me as a youngster, and the short story 'Who Can Replace a Man?', and inspired me with the desire to be a science fiction writer myself... He wrote many kinds of things, from mainstream novels to memoir and poetry, but it is as a grandmaster of science fiction that he will be remembered - a giant of the genre."

"Aldiss was one of the greats. I remember staying up all night as a teenager to read a tattered copy of Hothouse, before I even knew who he was. And the shock of Helliconia Spring, which was like nothing I'd read before," said Jon Courtenay Grimwood. "He was stubborn, stroppy, and an inveterate raconteur, and it seemed sometimes that there was no great writer, from TS Eliot to Kingsley Amis to Dylan Thomas, that he hadn't known or hadn't been drinking with. He liked to shock, at least it seemed to me he did, and I'm not sure he ever really thought of himself as an SF novelist; more as a novelist who often wrote science fiction. Very good science fiction, obviously."

Editor-at-large at Eye Books Scott Pack, who published a range of Aldiss's backlist and new fiction while he was at HarperCollins, said that the novelist's "passion for writing was tremendously infectious". "Every time I met with him, he would want to talk about the story, novel or poem he was working on that day - and he did try to write every single day, even into his 90s. I will miss his great warmth, enthusiasm and wit very much indeed."

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Science fiction author Brian Aldiss dies aged 92

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Brian Aldiss, the "grand old man" of science fiction whose writing has shaped the genre since he was first published in the 1950s, has died at the age of 92. Aldiss's agent, Curtis Brown, and his son, Tim Aldiss, have announced that the author, artist, poet and memoirist died at home in Oxford in the early hours of 19 August.

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2017: Former BSFA Chair Alan Dorey Passes

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2017: Former BSFA Chair Alan Dorey Passes

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Alan Dorey, a major figure in British sf fandom since the late Seventies, died July 24. The cause was not announced.

Dorey was one of eight co-editors who started Interzone magazine in 1982, along with John Clute, Malcolm Edwards, Colin Greenland, Graham James, Roz Kaveney, Simon Ounsley and David Pringle. (Dorey left Interzone after issue 10.)

He first became active in fandom while attending Leeds University in the late Seventies. He co-founded the Surrey Limpwrists (a local club near his hometown), worked on the Eastercon committee, and was elected Chairman of the BSFA, all in 1979. He continued as BSFA chair until 1985. During that span he also wrote a lot of columns and reviews for BSFA's fanzines Matrix and Vector.

His own fanzines included Black Hole for the Leeds University sf club, Gross Encounters, and Sirius (with Mike Dickinson).

His fanpublishing resume did not include the first issue of Another Bloody Fanzine (1979), although he and Joseph Nicholas shared the masthead. As Rob Hansen explains in his British fanhistory, THEN:

For some months, Alan Dorey and Joseph Nicholas had been telling everyone of their intention to puiblish a fan zine of that name that would be devoted to killer fanzine reviews to end all killer fanzine reviews, so when ABF 0 dropped onto their doormats most assumed it was the much awaited thunderbolt....

The hoax penned by David Langford and Kevin Smith caused at least as much of an uproar as had been promised by the real editors, and when Nicholas and Dorey did in fact put out an issue by that title in late 1979 it was almost anticlimactic.

Dorey's fanac tailed off in the 1990s but in 2012 he revived Gross Encounters where he explained:

The late 1990s saw my activity increasingly head towards the back burner, taking its place amongst a host of other projects that sat there gently simmering away. I can't quite place my finger on the exact moment, but sometime between 1998 and the fuss over the new millennium, the shilling in the meter must have run out and the burner flickered no more.

By then his real passion was his radio show. Dorey's first experience in radio came decades ago at BBC Radio Manchester. He wrote book reviews and discussed them on air with the show's host, Briony Barton. Since 2006 he had been a presenter and DJ at Forest FM, where his show was called "Music Box." Dorey described it this way -

The show runs to a loose format which can be summed up as "old, New, Borrowed, Blues" . It's a simple formula, but it works and it ensures that there's always plenty of new music as well as older sounds and a mix of genres. There's a handy little phrase in putting a show together-"hammocking": this is the process of bookending segments with more familiar music so that casual listeners aren't put off with too much new and unfamiliar music.

Today many listeners have left messages on his Facebook page praising his openness to new music and support for local artists.

Dorey is survived by his wife, Rochelle, and their children.
[Thanks to Andrew Porter and Steven H Silver for the story.]

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Alan Dorey, a major figure in British sf fandom since the late Seventies, died July 24. The cause was not announced. Dorey was one of eight co-editors who started Interzone magazine in 1982, along with John Clute, Malcolm Edwards, Colin Greenland, Graham James, Roz Kaveney, Simon Ounsley and David Pringle.

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Held in Glasgow.

BSFA Award for Best Novel - Helliconia Spring by Brian Aldiss.
BSFA Award for Best Short Story - 'Kitemaster' by K. Roberts. BSFA Award for Best Media Presentation - Blade Runner.
BSFA Award for Best Artist - Tim White.

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PLEASE NOTE that this old Ansible is a bit of history. Addresses may have changed (though the editor's postal address hasn't), prices and agents' credits are invalid, etc. * This issue was produced in my BWP or Before-Word-Processors era and lovingly rekeyed for the archives by Mike Scott ... to whom many thanks! * Dave Langford, 1994.

ANSIBLE 33: the slightly tardy post-Easter (June) issue of a frequent (allegedly) SF (allegedly) newsletter (alleged) from a purported Dave Langford at his rumoured address 94 LONDON ROAD, READING, BERKSHIRE, RG1 5AU - a whole year there, and 3 fans a week are still asking whether the postcode means we're 465 million miles from the nearest post office. SUBSCRIPTIONS, tediously and regrettably, are up again: £2 for 7 issues anywhere (airmailed outside UK). Sterling notes or cheques to me, also $ bills; Giro transfer to a/c 24 523 0408; $US cheques to Burns, 23 Kensington Ct, Hempstead, NY 11550; Euroshekels to Goudriaan, Postbus 589, 8200 AN Lelystad, Netherlands. Grovelling thanks to Keith 'Labels' Freeman, ever ready to SUBDUE lapsed fans, to poll-topping artist Pete Lyon (above) and to Leigh Edmonds for madly volunteering to distribute Aussie copies. Also, thanks and a free issue each to the Ansible Poll voters: Ashworth (H&M), Bailey, Berry, Brazier, Brown (S), Carol, Charnock (G), Collins, Connor, Coxhead, Darroch, Day, Earp, Edwards (L&M), Ferguson, Ford, Frost, Garnett, Goudriaan, Hanna, Hansen, Harries, Hill, Jarrold, Lake, Lowe, Nielsen Hayden, Nicholas, Ounsley, Owen, Palmer, Pardoe, Polley, Robertson (J), Rose, Shearman, Sherwood, Suter, Taylor, Thomas, Tudor, Vincent, Wareham, Warminger, Watkins, Wells, West, Whiteoak, Wood, Yon. While we're still in the boring small print, I offer by unpopular request the fabulous Circulation Figures. As of 31 May, Ansible has 327 unlucky recipients, 259 in the British Isles and 68 outside. In detail: England 220, Scotland 27, Wales 7, N. Ireland & Eire 2 each, IOM 1. USA 35, Australia 11, Sweden & Canada 5 each, W. Germany 3, Finland 2, Belgium, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Japan & Netherlands 1 each. Print run is currently 400; many back issues available at ludicrous prices. Yawn...

A record 52 fans voted in this, the 12th annual informal poll covering fan doings from Easter to Easter. Here we go -

Best British Fanzine: 37 titles (and an apa) nominated. 5 points given for a 1st-place vote, 4 for 2nd, etc (same system in next two categories); Ansible ineligible; last year's positions in brackets after score. 1) TAPPEN (141pts) (1st): Malcolm Edwards, 28 Duckett Rd, London N4 1BN; available whimsically; two issues, #4 and #5 in 1982-3. Tappen's popularity is loathsomely displayed by Malcolm's success in publishing the best single issue, with the =best cover by the best artist plus the best article from the almost best fanwriter. Good grief. Such elitism... 2) STILL IT MOVES (47pts) (2nd): Simon Ounsley, 21 The Village St, Leeds, LS4 2PR; available for the usual; one issue, #3. Another fat genzine like Tappen though a little sloppier; eccentric material (eg. article on Constable) and nifty personal stuff from famous S. Ounsley. 3) Epsilon (43pts) (4th): Rob Hansen, 9a Greenleaf Rd, East Ham, London E6 1DX; available for the usual; at least two issues, #12 and #13. Despite occasional contributions, Epsilon scores highest for its letter column and Rob himself talking sense about whatever burning fannish issue is going. 4) INDIAN SCOUT (34pts) (7th): the Red Army Choir c/o Sandy Brown, 18 Gordon Tce, Blantyre, Scotland, G72 9NA; available inexplicably; the single issue of the year is billed as #19 but appears to be #2, or maybe... h'm. Noted for triffic (and even =best) covers and violent outbreaks of street credibility - also for leaving BSFA reviewers and Ansible editors at a loss for words. 5) TWLL-DDU (32pts) (-): me; available usually; one issue, #20, which I still haven't finished distributing because I am a lazy sod. Contains, almost exclusively, me. Also with 5+ points: Out of the Blue (29); Drunkard's Talk, Microwave, Wallbanger (28); This Never Happens (23); Crystal Ship, Tiger Tea (22); The Chocolates of Lust, The Zine That Has No Name (14); Second-Hand Wave (13); Nabu, Small Friendly Dog, Twentythird (12); Pig on the Wall (11); Felicity (10); Creature from the Typing Pool (6). Also 8 points were scored by The Women's Periodical, which as an apa is presumably not a single fanzine... or is it?

Best British Fanartist: 31 British residents nominated, plus 3 ineligible Americans (all scored <6pts, plus 'No Award' (Ditto). I'm too cautious to comment here on Art... 1) PETE LYON (128pts) (1st); 2) ROB HANSEN (94pts) (2nd); 3) HARRY BELL (57pts) (5th); 4) D. WEST (54pts) (4th); 5) JIM BARKER (49pts) (3rd). Not much movement in the 'top 5'. Also: Atom (35); Margaret Welbank (31); Anne Warren (25); John McFarlane (21; Shep Kirkbride (19); Martin Helsdon (14); Dave Harwood (11); Dave Collins, Harry Turner (6).

Worst Thing Of 1982-3: no less than 68 items nominated. 1) THE FAKE BOB SHAW on numerous counts (14 votes); 2) JOHN BRUNNER (6); 3) KEITH WALKER'S FANZINES (5); =4) ROB HANSEN for unprintably sexist reasons - shame on a certain caddish voting bloc in Leeds, SHALLOW END, OUR WONDERFUL TORY GOVERNMENT and THE VICTORY OF THE BRIGHTON 1984 EASTERCON BID (all 4 votes). Both Keith and Bob were mentioned last time. Also: Convention Bid Fanaticism, the Falklands Affair, the Mysterious Nonappearing Matrix, Novacon 12 (all 3); Albacon II Hotel Food, Crystal Ship, ET, Joe Nicholas (all 2). After the extravagant pro and con reactions to 'Performance' I thought it might figure here as well as in 'Best Article': not so unless we conflate the categories (1 vote apiece) 'Performance' and 'The D. West Cult'. Cult?

The Dead Past: Ten years ago, Peter Roberts's Checkpoint 36 featured the second British fan poll 'since the days of Skyrack'. 24 fans voted and the favourites for best fanzine, writer and artist were , respectively, Egg (P. Roberts), Ian Williams and curiously timeless Harry Bell. Ten years before that, Ron Bennett's Skyrack 51 revealed the 26 voters' favourites in the same categories to be Skyrack itself, Walt Willis and curiously timeless Arthur 'Atom' Thomson.

BSFA Awards: Almost as cosmically influential as the Ansible poll, the BoSFA non-trophies for 1982 work were presented, as it were, at Albacon II - to Helliconia Spring (novel), 'Kitemaster'/K. Roberts (short), Blade Runner (media) and Tim White (artist).

Nebula Awards were this year unenlivened by withdrawals and acrimony (though on a recent US trip Lisa Tuttle was depressed to hear the total coverage of SFWA Forum of late was 'Tuttle and word processors'. NOVEL No Enemy But Time (Bishop); NOVELLA 'Another Orphan' (John Kessel); NOVELETTE 'Fire Watch' (Connie Willis); SHORT 'A Letter from the Clearys' (also Connie Willis).

Hugo Nominations: the award that's almost as respected as the Soviet electoral system. Data arrived in predictable stages: over a period of about three weeks came File 770, Locus and SFC, all with detailed voting statistics; then at last I had a letter from the Worldcon breaking the glad news of my nomination (no other details); and finally came a release for Ansible scoop publication, with all those difficult statistics omitted. Not that I would complain, oh no. NOVEL: Foundation's Edge, The Pride of Chanur (Cherryh), 2010, Friday, Courtship Rite (Kingsbury), The Sword of the Lictor. (Voting spread 96 to 189 votes.) NOVELLA: 'The Postman' (Brin/ IASFM), 'Brainchild' (Delaney/ Analog), 'Another Orphan' (Kessel/ F&SF), 'Unsound Variations' (Martin/ Amazing), 'Souls' (Russ/ F&SF). (52-77) NOVELETTE: 'Nightlife' (Eisenstein/ F&SF), 'Swarm' (Sterling/ F&SF), 'Aquila' (Sucharitkul/ IASFM), 'Fire Watch' (Willis/ IASFM), 'Pawn's Gambit' (Zahn/ Analog). (43-49) SHORT: 'Sur' (LeGuin/ Compass Rose), 'Melancholy Elephants' (Robinson/ Analog), 'Spider Rose' (Sterling/ F&SF), 'Boy Who Waterskied to Forever' (Tiptree/ F&SF), 'Ike at the Mike' (Waldrop/ Omni). (36-55) NONFIC: The World of the Dark Crystal (Froud), Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of SF (Gunn), Engines of the Night (Malzberg), Reader's Guide to Fantasy (Searles/ Meacham/Franklin), Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King (Underwood/Miller). (32-60) DRAMATIC: Blade Runner, Dark Crystal, ET, Road Warrior ( Mad Max II), Star Trek II: The Overacting of Khan. (119-278) PRO EDITOR: Terry Carr, Ed Ferman, David Hartwell, Stanley Schmidt, George Scithers. (85-191) (same as last year) ARTIST: Kelly Freas, Don Maitz, Rowena Morrill, Barclay Shaw, Darrell Sweet, Michael Whelan. (49-188) FANZINE: Fantasy Newsletter, File 770, Locus, SF Chronicle, SF Review. (45-123) FANWRITER: Dick Geis, Mike Glyer, Arthur Hlavaty, Dave Langford. (same as last year) (32-46) FANARTIST: Alexis Gilliland, Joan Hanke-Woods, William Rotsler, Stu Shiffman, Dan Steffan. (19-65) A total of 660 ballots were rushed in by a membership of about 4500 (it's since topped 5000) - about 15% turnout.

Philip Dick Memorial Award for best 1982 original SF paperback went to Rudy Rucker's Software, with a runner-up award to Ray Nelson's The Prometheus Man. Deciphering the delicate euphemisms of US newszines leads one to believe that Rucker was understandably as gratified as a newt. Next year's judges: Algis Budrys, John Clute, Anthony Wolk.

Miscellaneous Other Awards: American Book Award (original pb) to Lisa Goldstein's The Red Magician; £1000 Scottish Book of Year award to Alasdair Gray's Lanark; the little-known Balrog fantasy award is working at becoming less known (reports Darrell Schweitzer), with successive ballot forms arriving after the nominations deadline, with numerous ineligible items on the ballot (SFC), with Stephen King shortlisted as Best Artist... Ditmar (Australia) has, in the International section: No Enemy But Time, The One Tree, Riddley Walker, Roderick. (Thyme)

Market Meanderings: Reality, the magazine of 'technology fiction' still hangs fire though not for the usual financial reasons - it seems that despite submissions from such as van Vogt, there's a distinct 'tf story flow problem', exacerbated in the eyes of mastermind Maurice Goldsmith by sf authors' depressing distrustfulness of wonderful future technology... Interzone has lost Malcolm Edwards, who is overcome with Gollancz and freelance responsibilities (not to mention the staggering realization that selling stories to IZ is far more profitable than being an unpaid editorial collectivist): the official address is now Dave Pringle's, 124 Osborne Rd, Brighton, BN1 6LU... Imagine, the TSR adventure games mag, has reached its 3rd issue at £1 a go; games fans were apparently unimpressed by the first two, but fiction is being bought by jolly Asst Ed P. Cockburn, TSR(UK)Ltd, The Mill, Rathmore Rd, Cambridge, CB1 4AD... White Dwarf, longer-running games mag, appears to be reacting to Imagine's challenge by also running a book review column (I do WD's and Dave Pringle does I's - so all you authors/publishers make sure we get your stuff, eh?), with regular fiction - both f and sf - likely to appear soon: 27/29 Sunbeam Rd, London, NW10 6JP... Imago: The Worlds of Fantasy is planned for July, chief editor Richard Monaco: said to be glossy, highly visual, 96pp, initial print run 180,000 copies, planned fiction payments 5-7¢/word. Chief promised attraction is a gossip column by Charles Platt, who is folding Patchin Review owing to lack of time, after the coming 7th issue(CP)... Network News (224 St NE, Washington DC 20002) may pay for your old fan articles, hints newly apotheosed Associate Ed. Martin Morse Wooster: 'always interested in offbeat "fannish" looks at life overseas... Write for me as you would for Tappen, not New Statesman.' Martin wants no grubby fanzines sent to his work address, however. (D. West Interjects: 'Being briefly in possession of a copy of Curtis Smith's 20th Century SF Writers I noticed a couple of entries by Ansible's very own Martian Moose Worster. I see he credits both Ted White and Dick Lupoff with being sole founders of Comics Fandom, and speaks less than respectfully of TW's achievements as a pro. Does this mean anything? I think we should be told.')... Drunken Dragon Press: for the umpteenth time I've carefully observed a DNQ request only to be scooped in print for my pains (by Mike Don). Rats. This is Rog Peyton's long-dreamed-of small publishing house, aimed to produce signed limited editions of (a) assorted Lisa Tuttle stories to coincide with her GoH appearance at Novacon 13; (b) all of Jim White's out-of-print 'Hospital Station' books, in sequence; (c) ???... London Book Fair: 'Next to nothing of sf interest,' reports Paul Barnett: 'tried to say hello to Peter Nicholls at the Multimedia stand, but every time I went past he was deeply involved with earnest discussions with rabid Yanks. Or his colleagues were doing the earnestly discussing bit while he nodded his head and grunted every 30 seconds or so to show he was listening - certainly there was a strong glaze on the eyeballs... This wasn't true of Maxim Jakubowski who, in the shape of Zomba Books, was adopting an upfront, thrusting, aggressive posture. Zomba had a launch party at which, so MJ tells me, a rock group did their best to annoy Langford, only Langford wasn't there. On the Zomba stand I spotted the second frankest exploitation title of the Fair, Shape Up For Sex. The first frankest exploitation title was on the Multimedia stand: in the wake of Manwatching and Mindwatching, they had the dummy for Sexwatching. I probed the deepest recesses of my brain trying to work out what the hell the book could actually be about...'(PB) Reshuffles: Wm Collins have bought Granada for £7.9M, probably bad news for sf as the exiguous Fontana/Collins and the extensive Granada sf lines are unlikely to go on competing (& Collins now own a third of Pan too)... Lovable Richard Evans of Arrow sf fame is now an editorial director at Futura, some way from the sf front line with Peter Lavery (Lavory? Depends who you ask) from Hamlyn cracking the whip over hapless sf authors at Arrow... Frederick Muller Ltd, the hardback house, was just bought from HTV by two of its directors, Anthonies White & Blond: Langford cringes, having a contract with FM... Greg Benford reports: 'Sf business scene looks bleak over here with slow recovery starting. The Baen/Dell deal, whereby Tor would package and Dell distribute a new line of pbs is dead - leading to Baen releasing titles held for possible buy...'

Terry Carr was suspicious: "I wonder if [Avedon] proved to be as wonderful as you expected. So far I have only her report-in-part on her trip, which seems to make it clear that SHE at least had a fine time; but I know you Brits, your politeness and all, especially to TAFF delegates, and I have to wonder: Sure, I know you threw up on her shoes and called her 'chick', friendly as you are, but what else? Did you show her the Tower of London where uppity females were incarcerated before you cut off their heads? Did you induce her to eat fish-and-fries, that Brit dish that makes McDonalds burgers taste like manna? Did you introduce her to a modern incarnation of Richard III without having Josephine Tey to stand by and explain that everything he did to her served a greater purpose? I bet you didn't; and I further bet that Avedon will be too polite to mention it in her TAFF report..." (Elsewhere in the same letter:) "Can it be that even Mal Ashworth has become staid as he's grown older? This is a question that strikes close to my heart: I wasn't surprised when Heinlein and Bradbury became oldpharts, but Mal Ashworth...?"

Wizened Mal Ashworth staidly reports: "Confidence in Albacon's prospects had been soaring for some time, after progress reports failed to live up to the promise of the early one which contained a Kidney Donor card, and no Last Will & Testament form appeared. The Unreal Bob Shaw's prophecies of doom and destruction for any event not organized by himself proved no truer for than for any other Eastercon, and the committee showed that they couldn't hold a candle to the attendees for that Mindless Incompetence with which they'd been tagged. On Sunday night a lift full of three lifts-full of fans driven into suicidal ecstasy by the Brum Fan Room Party plummeted - well, 'descended rather hastily' - to the bottom of its shaft. The laws of the known universe, baffled as to how to gelatinize further such an oversaturated mass, settled for an injured ankle. In this suspension of the natural order of things, it seems that I resolutely and repeatedly attempted to pioneer a fourth-dimensional route to the loo through the trouser press attached to our bedroom wall: the only reportable results were of anatomical rather than metaphysical interest.

"Appropriate to Easter, there was both Good News and Bad News. The good news was that cheap food was available almost continually in the hotel, as was good and reasonably priced real ale. The bad news was that the food was so staggeringly awful that even the hotel staff gave up and didn't bother to cook most of it, while the beer ran out on Saturday night.

"I gave my word not to mention that I missed Marion Simmer Broadly's GoH speech, but it doesn't mean much these days. I did hear her fulminate fulsomely in the bar about over-sexy covers on her books ('After all, a spaceship never offended anyone'), an example which converted all the boringly intellectual and literary conversations going on into talk of tits and bums - amid which I recalled that the covers of John Norman's novels culpably undersold the porny potential of their interiors... Faintly puzzled punster James White (known in this ludicrously overdemocratic age as 'Jim') was the hardworking, ubiquitous and unfailingly entertaining Fan GoH, and for a Sunday follow-up to those recovered from James's quietly funny speech, Bob Shaw took time out from being 'strangely fascinated' by Lilian Edwards (and why not?) to tell of his friend von Donegan's latest invention, a solar-powered sunbed. Suitably horrendous, too, was the Vogon poetry competition - a shame that the clear winner received no recognition. This was the Central Station announcer, who with enormous enthusiasm kept relaying his entries, in a Vogon voice of vast verisimilitude, direct into hotel bedrooms long after the competition had ended, in a desperate bid for the popular vote. More successful in this respect was John Brunner - as, of course, One of a Team - who secured the popular vote for Brighton rather than Blackpool, for Eastercon, Eurocon, Life, the Universe and Almost Everything. Both bid committees earned undying admiration for their valorous survival of a Trial by Trivia before a large audience ('How far would the Book Room be from the Breakfast Suite,' demanded Ken Slater, convincing me that There Are Subtleties In All This That I Shall Never Understand). US fan Joe Siclari was wide-eyed at both the fine detail and what he politely called the 'spirited' nature of the rival presentations, surpassing aught of that ilk encountered in the States. (One-night stands with trouser presses notwithstanding, the high point of my con was being able to introduce avid fanhistory resurrectionist Joe and D. West, and suggest they must have much in the way of putative joint projects to discuss.)

"The Book Room was one of those features designed to promote that healthy exercise so lacking at cons (others being high-speed potholing in crammed lifts and jogging from bar to bar in search of the last pint of real ale). Here the good old English game of Leapfrog was given new twists in the constricted aisles between loaded tables, the whole play area achieving a density equivalent to Saturday night in a black hole. Despite repeated visits which had little to do with buying books, Fate decreed I should fail to be projected into a plane of mind-blowing delights in a hyperspace encounter of the torrid kind with, for instance, the topologically improbable Lisanne Norman... Next door was the Video Room, with a continual and varied programme for those lobotomized hours or days at any con when one doesn't feel up to higher pursuits like standing up, moving about and so on. Interestingly, most of the audio that went with the video took place in the next (Alternative Programme) room: at last I saw the silent classic Metropolis, but to the accompaniment of a 70s US sitcom soundtrack, while Colin Fine's excellent talk 'Language in SF' battled with a hidden curriculum on communication consisting, as far as one could tell, of an unedited recording of World War Three. But it was all Good Fun.

"And so was watching the Bond-like suavity with which one DL of Reading detached gobbets of my wife's hair from his spectacles, mainly to assure himself that the Swedish room party surrounding him hadn't done a Mary Celeste. Luckily he completed this complex manoeuvre before midday on Monday, to regale an entranced and evil-minded Fan Room audience with the Ansible review of the steamiest scurrilia of a steamy twelvemonth.

"TAFF winner Avedon Carol looked relaxed, happy and distinctly unlonesome; in this latter respect unlike Peter Weston, whose brave Fancy Dress Parade entry as Jophan, with brightly polished Shield of Umor, was met by a roof-raising cheer from the mighty BAFF (Born Again Fifties Fan) contingent in the hall (me), and bemused silence from the minority of 400 or so other fans. But there was plenty to keep them happy - colour, spectacle, sex, smoke-bombs, all that any fan could hope for. Except possibly the Other Bob Shaw. Pity he couldn't be there; he might even have enjoyed himself."(Mal Ashworth)

Albacon II reckons to have made around £1000 profit, but has received a £500 repairs bill for the famous plunging lift. (Katie Hoare, who knows everything about everything, thinks the hotel is culpable in having a faulty lift to begin with, as required safety cutouts should have immobilized the thing when overloaded. Any more experts out there?) As committee member Chris O'Kane just happens to be going out of the film projection business and into video, there are plans to buy up his equipment - two 16mm projectors, screens, etc - for free loan to any bona-fide con prepared to pay transport costs (from Scotland, hem hem). Also there's talk of buying ultrasonic alarms for Book Room etc security, available similarly. (DRL)

Beccon 83 (29-31 July): GoH Ken Bulmer, rooms £15 sngl £26 dbl/twin including VAT but not breakfast; other details Ansible 30. Great London SF Convention (12-14 Aug): see A31. The utter lack of UK publicity or a UK contact address for this US-run con has led some to speculate that it's a rip-off aimed at US visitors to the UK who will discover too late... Apparently the Grosvenor Hotel in London, the venue, admits only to a 'provisional booking'. Triple C Con (26-29 Aug): see A31. Trekkiecon. Silicon 7 (26-29 Aug): see A31. Rumour has it that the good old Grosvenor Hotel in Newcastle has changed hands following the bankruptcy of nice manager Mr Pepper, but that the new folk are friendly... X-Con (2-4 Sept, Eindhoven, Holland): see A30. Constellation (1-5 Sept, Baltimore, USA): 1983 Worldcon. See A30. Unicon 4 (2-4 Sept, U of Essex): see A30/31/32. Mythcon (16-18 Sept, Brum): see A31. Con With No Name (Ditto): see A30. Invention 83 (23-25 Sept, Glasgow): see A30. Galacticon (29-30 Oct): see A30. Novacon 13 (4-6 Nov, Brum): see A31. Worried by low registrations resulting from the glut of cons and N12's being the first Novacon to achieve Worst Thing Poll ranking, Steve Green begs you all to sign up (£3.50 supp £7 att to 46 Colwyn Rd, Beeston, Leeds 11) and flock to N13's 'high quality' filmshow and main, alternate, video and breakfast programmes. To titillate you he quotes from planned guest Toby Roxburgh's latest public utterances: "Isaac Asimov doesn't like flying, he doesn't like cars, he doesn't really like travel; he does like his wife, which I find astonishing... Bob Silverberg was a hack writer, a genius; a genius as a hack, not as a writer... Fritz Leiber looks like a bad El Greco sketch..." Back to Steve: "The major difficulty with this kind of high quality is that if we don't get the attendance we (and the Brum Group) could well go under." Fantasycon VIII (14-16 Oct, Imperial Hotel, Brum) is listed out of sequence here owing to reasons. GoHs Gene Wolfe, Bruce Pennington etc... no other data as yet. Wolfe is visiting to promote the Arrow pb Citadel of the Autarch (signings expected at Andromeda, Forbidden Planet etc). By a wondrous coincidence the Book Marketing Council's SF promotion is planned for 10-22 October, with the BSFA's very own Geoff Rippington as one of the sinister triumvirate in charge; lots of Chris Foss artwork is expected in the promotional material. (By the way, Mike Don's catalogue/fanzine accuses me of being 'closely associated' with the promotion and about having 'voiced doubts' in Ansible about the BMC's restriction of the affair to 'hard' sf. I'm not and I haven't.) Cymrucon III (26-27 Nov, Cardiff): GoH Jon Brunner, appearances promised from Dougal Dixon and Warrior mag, £7 att rising to £8 in Aug; The Bower, High St, Llantwit Major, S. Glam. (04465-4282) Seacon 84 (20-23 April 84, Brighton Metropole): won Eastercon bidding at Albacon II and combines Eastercon with Eurocon. GoHs: Isaac Asimov, Chris Priest, Pierre Barbet, Josef Nesvadba, Waldemar Kumming (fan). Official rates etc should appear in PR1, due mid-May (hem hem): I'm fairly sure it's currently £8 att until November, less £1 if you were a presupporter, to 321 Sarehole Rd, Hall Green, Birmingham B28 0AL. After some vacillation about 'keeping numbers down' the committee is going all out for a huge con with 3-5000 members, using the Brighton exhibition centre with the attached hotel as a mere fan room, applying for colossal UNESCO grants in view of the cultural wonderfulness of it all, etc. Mexicon (25-28 May 84, Royal Station Hotel, Newcastle): new sort of alternative con aiming to stress written sf with minimal media catering. Committee: Williams (K&S), Bell, Pickersgill (L&G), Frost, Hansen. £5 att to any of them or to 19 Jesmond Dene Rd, Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE2 3QT. Why the name? Aha... Albacon 84 (20-23 July, Central Hotel, Glasgow): GoH John Sladek, £3 supp £8 att u.f.n. The lack of published address is because the committee (curiously similar to the Albacon II committee) is busy arranging a PO box; if in urgent need to contact them try c/o 34 Peninver Dr, Linthouse, Glasgow G51. I gather that this would have been called Faircon 84 if not for the Shaw Split and... Faircon 84 (20-23 July, Ingram Hotel, Glasgow): GoH Sydney Jordan, £5 supp £8 att, 2/L 244 W Prices St, Kelvinbridge, Glasgow, G4 9DP. Yes: to the annoyance of most runners of previous Faircons, Bob (Fake) Shaw is setting up on his own, with his solicitor (last seen writing threatening letters to previous Fairconcom members) and other equally fannish folk. To counteract the likely avoidance of this event by sf fans in general, Bob is pushing the comics side of things... Oxcon (24-27 Aug, Oxford): see A31/32. The Stoke opposition having dropped out, this is the only Unicon 'bid' remaining just now - plenty of time for others to come forward, though, says Alex Stewart: "The Unicon charter is now in force, and sets down a few guidelines that should prevent anyone making too massive a cock-up. (It hasn't been officially ratified yet, as my copy went astray in the post, but the major clauses were agreed to verbally at Albacon.)" Since Oxcon planned to go ahead whether or not given the Unicon seal of approval, will it choose to do so rather than accept the Unicon Charter guidelines? We'll see. Santacon (14-16 Dec, Leeds Dragonara): see A30/31

Special Battlefield Earth Update: George Hay reports that he's read the Hubbard epic and swears it's genuine Hubbard. In America, a weird charade involving special ink formulated by a forensics experts (in which Hubbard subsequently wrote documents later sworn to feature his own handwriting and fingerprints) is supposed to have proven the recluse's continued existence. ( F770) Meanwhile NEL have cancelled their edition of BE despite extensive circulation of advance proof copies: the most fascinating rumour is that this is due to pressure from the Scientology Org (but why?). US fans are still appalled by evil Charles Platt's failed attempt to discredit the Hugos by campaigning for BE's nomination, but apparently not appalled by the similar campaign of nice John and Bjo Trimble, who actually like the book: it's not what you do, it's who you are when you do it...

The rest of this issue was intended to be all of this issue: but in my folly I nipped out to today's SF Lunch Club thingy (a three-monthly affair costing one vast sums for such delights as struggling through crowded and red-hot Central London to eat hot food and subsequently listen to Gerry Webb talk for hours while in the background restaurant flunkeys inexorably dismantle the bar... but I digress). Here an ashen-faced Les Flood, with the air of the Ancient Mariner drawing attention to his albatross, produced the details of the Book Marketing Council's SF promotion... concerning which, and notwithstanding the previous page, I now begin to have opinions and even Voice Doubts. The shortlist of 20 books for maximum-publicity promotion is as follows: Aldiss's Helliconia Spring, Asimov's Foundation trilogy, Ballard's The Drowned World, Benford's Timescape, Bishop's No Enemy But Time, Cherryh's Downbelow Station, Clarke's 2001 and 2010 (counted separately, making the Great Arthur the only author to officially figure twice - more of this anon), Donaldson's White Gold Wielder (so much for a 'hard sf bias'), Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat for President, Herbert's Dune, Huxley's Brave New World, McCaffrey's The Crystal Singer, Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time (one-volume edition from Granada later this year), Niven/Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye, Orwell's 1984, Silverberg's Majipoor Chronicles, Wolfe's The Citadel of the Autarch, Wells's The War of the Worlds (Best SF of 1898) and Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids.

Erk.

Now I should explain that this is a paperback promotion, and the 'sample population' consists of paperbacks available in October: those not yet out will appear as follows - 2010 Granada Oct, NEBT Sphere Aug, DS Methuen June, WGW Fontana Sept, MC Pan Oct, CotA Arrow Oct.

I thought about the list for a long while. I admired the daring risks taken in promoting all these unknown classics and bestsellers. I savoured the incidence of British authors in a British promotion - seven, including all three dead ones here. I merrily calculated the average publication date of the books featured - around 1966-7. I chuckled to see two series-end volumes which will be hugely promoted at the expense of the previous books. I laughed, I cried, I frothed at the mouth.

"The judges selected such titles as Clarke's 2001 and Orwell's 1984, familiar to the general public, as the promotion aims not only to increase the sales among sf buffs but also to widen the market for the genre." Absolutely. The only way to sell books to the general public is to pick ones the general public have already read. (Quotation is from the official publicity flyer, courtesy of Les Flood.)

So I rang Geoff Rippington, fandom's representative on the judging panel, and gibbered at him awhile. He filled in some background, as follows...

The panel was stuck with a 'History of SF' theme and therefore forced to include several oldies. Publishers were asked to nominate books from which the final 20 could be selected: the entire might of British paperback publishing managed to come up with 23, of which the judges couldn't bring themselves to accept more than 9 as being Worthy. Rather than junk the promotion, the panel ransacked publishers' backlists in search of plausible stuff, and tried to persuade said publishers to sponsor their choices. A certain reluctance was met with, owing to the fact that to sponsor a book required that one cough up £500 towards the promotion - which is apparently why only the most recent Donaldson and Wolfe books are included, Fontana and Arrow being unable to afford the whole series. On the other hand, Granada sneaked through the Foundation trilogy by cunning negotiation, as a boxed set and thus a single item... Geoff also insisted that the panel was biased towards British authors, quite strongly so, but with the exceptions on the list could find no British publisher prepared to sponsor any book by a British author which the panel thought worthy. (Given the general state of sf lists over here, it's hard to find British authors at all, but even I can think of a few like Watson, or Shaw, or Holdstock, or Priest - no, HE'S already been apotheosed...)

Oh well. One can hardly wait. Also at the SFLC: Peter Nicholls revealed that he's slipped partially from the toils of Multimedia (see page 2) to be a freelance editorial director. George Hay and Roz Kaveney had a disappointingly polite confrontation concerning the very rude RK review of Battlefield Earth in Foundation, the which George considers unfair and wicked and to be taken up in letters to the editor. Malcolm Edwards made the shock horror revelation that he himself personally had just rejected BE upon its resubmission to Gollancz: probes in the direction of putative publishers NEL got the reply "we were going to publish it - we'd bought it from St Martin's in the US - but then we found we had to deal with these shady characters called Author Services Inc [promoters of BE] and so we dropped out..." (Or words to that effect.) Geoff Ryman gloated over having sold a story to Interzone, lucky sod, while John Clute mentioned that fantasy and stuff was easy to find for IZ, it was hard sf that was in short supply. Ken Campbell of theatrical fame leapt about explaining that he no longer wanted to adapt books and dramatize other peoples' boring old words: no, he wanted to do a 'companion piece' to Dick's Valis. Somehow this metamorphosed into an account of a Batty Therapy weekend he and a friend had recently undergone, a sort of est affair whose principal activity appeared to be hurling your arms with graphic violence into the air while synchronously shouting "HOO!" Afterwards he and friend were both struck by the same thought, "I could run Batty Therapy weekends just as good as that, and at £55 a head..." Move over, Scientology.

Malcolm (that man again) revealed a rumour that D. West had won the writer, new fan and fanartist categories of the Pong Poll, and grudgingly allowed that it would do no harm were Ansible to mention HOLDSTOCKWORLD - R. Hansen's name for the fabulously lucrative 'theme park' project to be based on the Holdstock/Edwards Alien Landscapes, providing Rob and Malcolm with luxurious all-expenses-paid trips to Canada for discussions, and thus enabling them to horrify and alarm Avedon Carol by welcoming her to Britain when she'd only got as far as Boston... Joy Chamberlain of Penguin insisted that the sf line was to be Rejuvenated in Spring 84: "You mean you're getting rid of Fred and Geoffrey Hoyle?" I asked with bated breath. "Oh God yes, they're so banal." Here I realized was a woman of rare scientyfictional taste. I leant closer. "You're getting rid of Jack Chalker??" Long pause. "Well, he does sell..."

Somebody cheered me up by revealing that the Frederick Muller stock (see p.2) had all been sold off for £1000 because the outfit was losing so much money. In whispers I was told of the Stephen King Story Nobody Will Print Not Even Twilight Zone: "It's about this surgeon cast up on a desert island," said omniscient Chris Priest, "and he can only survive by eating bits of himself... But even more offensive and tasteless is the new Monty Python film, which Lisa and I saw in America while you haven't, har har." Gamma of Forbidden Planet demanded massive publicity for coming signings, Moorcock ( The War Hound and the World's Pain, 6 Aug) and Aldiss ( Helliconia Summer, 8 or 15 Oct). An anonymous Gollancz sf editor confessed to having purchased a Pohl 'novel' of pieces written around 'The Midas Plague' (Nov publication). Gerry Webb, on space or something, battled Maurice Goldsmith (on how science fiction is old hat and technology is more important than science and utopian tf will etc) in the Interminability Stakes, and fought to a draw...
[End of inserted "supplement"]
CATHY BALL, 712 N Stewart, Norman, OK 73071, USA * PAT & GRAHAM CHARNOCK ("Now we've got our own rotting old 5-bedroom house!"), 45 Kimberley Gdns, Harringay, London N.4 * CHRIS HUGHES & JAN HUXLEY, 128 Whitley Wood Rd, Reading, Berks, RG2 8JG * ROY MACINSKI, 5 Bridge Ct, River Rd, Taplow, Bucks * KEITH MARSLAND, 1 Northgate, Goosnargh, nr Preston, Lancs PR3 2BB * PETER NICHOLLS (& Clare Coney), 83 Lavender Sweep, London, SW11 1EA until 27 June - then 5 Furlong Rd, Islington, London N.7 * TERESA & PATRICK NIELSEN HAYDEN c/o Kaufman & Tompkins, 4326 Winslow Pl N, Seattle, WA 98103, USA * BOB & SADIE SHAW, 90 Albert Rd, Grappenhall, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 2PG * NICK TRANT as Roy Macinski * KEV & SUE WILLIAMS, 19 Jesmond Dene Rd, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 3QJ * MIKE XDICKINSON & JACKIE ZGRESHAM (subtle concealment of sequence error), c/o 146 N Parade, Sleaford, Lincs NG34 8AP from end June * JIM ZZBARKER hasn't really moved but now has a daytime office at 2 Manor St, Falkirk, FK1 1NH * 31-5-83

Leeds in 1985? First '85 Eastercon flyer is to hand, begging us all to rush £1 each to Yorcon III, 45 Harold Mt, Leeds LS6 1PW: other bids expected imminently... Appalling Nicholls Revelations: "We're being married at Islington registry July 16, followed by a piss-up, then a flight to San Francisco and a week on horseback in the High Sierras. I hope I do better than Humphrey Bogart in the same area... Have now signed a contract on Fantastic Cinema, 83,000 words to be delivered by Dec 31, published by Ebury Press May 84. This time I will try to do the work all by myself."(PN)... Things For Sale: I have a few copies each of Jerry Kaufman's Best of Susan Wood collection (80pp+covers) and P. Nielsen-Hayden's Fanthology 1981 (66pp+covers: Hayden, 'Adverse', Atkinson x 2, White, Carol, Mayer, Smith, Bangsund, Priest, Langford, Benford) - each £2 post free, proceeds to Worthy Causes. This is not so of the fabulous signed copies of the incredibly rare hardback War in 2080: The Future of Military Technology, yours for £3 pf... FANFUNDERY: DUFF was won by Jerry Kaufman (other candidates being Jan Finder, Charlotte Proctor, Alexis Gilliland); he'll be at Syncon 83, the Australian national con. GUFF with luck will bring a strange Australian entity to Seacon 84, names mentioned in this context being: Justin Ackroyd, Roger Weddall, Jean Weber and Someone Else. TAFF will very likely inflict a Eurosomeone on the LA Worldcon (84): rumoured names are Rob Hansen and Harry Bell but not, according to D. West, D. West. Some fans are even thinking ahead to TAFF 1985: Jeff Schalles wants to come over, as did Ted White, only to be sabotaged by Another Project (rumoured to be a guest slot at the near-cert 1985 Melbourne Worldcon)... The Seacon Secret: "Any hope of success for the Blackpool bid was destroyed when Graham James rose to support them." (M. Easterbrook)... Joe Nicholas Really Dave Langford! Flushed with the success of his first professional sale (an Albacon II report to Locus), Joseph was bemused to learn that BSFA awards he distinctly remembers presenting at that event were, according to SFC's infallible newshounds, handed out by D. Langford... Remainder Follies: Fascinated as always by remaindering, your editor noticed various paperbacks going at 60-65p reduction in the local remainder shop - Red Dragon, Fever, a heap of Dick Francis thrillers, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King... Simultaneously, all were being sold at full price in a respectable local bookshop, as 'new publications', and the first and last were even bestsellers. Would someone better acquainted than I with the Net Book Agreement explain all this to me?... Ian Watson Gloats - "Just sold a new novel to Gollancz for Feb 84 pub date: The Book of the River, to be serialized in F&SF between late 83 and early 84. Gosh"... Greg Benford Explains Against Infinity - "I suspect that the entire subtext (as we intellectuals say) of reference to US lit traditions, the whole theme of southern concerns etc - all will be lost on UK audience. In latest Locus I noticed Chinese rug dealer reviewer was totally 'bewildered' by last third of book, even after Charlie the B relayed word to him that reading some Faulkner might be helpful. On the other hand we must remember that sf is a nawthern intell-lecsul imperialism phenomenon anyway."(GB)... John Brunner Again - reporting annoyance at a surprise announcement that he'd be at Italcon (23-25 April Italy) despite having said he couldn't; despite this he got the Premio Italia 83, whatever that may be, at another Italian con a week later, and in May the Grand Prix of the 3e Festival de l'Insolite in Provence. (All I got on my 1983 hols was the Grand Prix de Barclaycard Overspending)... Mundanes, says D. Schweitzer, is what the new generation of US mediafans likes to call the boring old farts who read books and fanzines... RIP: Max Ehrlich - The Big Eye - on 11 Feb; Rebecca West - The Meaning of Treason etc, but gets into sf newszines thanks to 10 years as great and good friend of H.G. Wells - on 15 March... That Dune Film: media master R.I. Barycz sends mounds of wearyingly circumstantial data ("budget $40M, shooting began 30-3-83 in Mexico City" etc). A pal of Paul Kincaid's has inside data corroborating this: "shooting scheduled to finish November... Francesca Annis plays leading female role, and apparently appears in virtually every scene... also due to appear briefly in the sequel already scheduled" (As Jessica, I suppose). OK. I believe you all. Enough... Puzzle Corner: Which leading newszine complains about fans reprinting material without permission, yet swipes Ansible news without permission (which I don't mind) and without giving credit (which I do)? Clue: not File 770... Lisa Tuttle dared to defend the Best Young British Novelists campaign in Time Out recently, but was properly put in her place by erstwhile fan Chris Fowler who wrote in to say that she was "hardly a disinterested party, for she is married to none other than Christopher Priest." Ooh, savage... Blood! Violence! Death! Acrimony! Thus our Joseph's verbal account of his resignation as Vector reviews editor, depleted from a former 10,000 words by excision of libellous references to V editor G. Rippington... End Of The World News: Leroy Kettle sends clippings revealing a) that flatulent termites are going to increase the world's mean temperature, while (b) the eruption of an obscure Mexican volcano will decrease the world's mean temperature. "the temperature has already dropped enough to wipe out herds of anchovies (personally I'd have thought the tins would have protected them) so the termites have got quite a bit of farting to do to catch up. There's definitely a disaster novel in there somewhere." ... Stopped Press: I really meant to publicize the SFF 'SF & Psychology' evening at the City Lit (23 May) and the Forbidden Planet signing of S. King's Christine, but. King plus entourage appeared at the 2nd BFS pub evening on 13 May, and our roving reporter Nic Howard nearly touched him... Last-Minute Coas: Roelof Goudriaan, Postbus 1189, 8200 BD Lelystad, Netherlands (so much for the small print on page 1); Jean Weber c/o Eric Lindsay, 6 Hillcrest Ave, Faulconbridge, NSW 2776 (temporary, while resting after operation)... Chris Atkinson (and to a certain extent Malcolm Edwards) heroically produced another future Ansible subscriber on 25 May, male and named /T/a/p/p/e/n/ Thomas...

gós-kyi yáb-mo byéd-pa to beckon by waving one's clothes
dkan-guyér the wrinkles of the roof of the mouth

* ANSIBLE THIRTY-THREE *
Edited by Dave Langford,
94 London Road, READING,
Berks. RG1 5AU, England.

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PLEASE NOTE that this old Ansible is a bit of history. Addresses may have changed (though the editor's postal address hasn't), prices and agents' credits are invalid, etc. * This issue was produced in my BWP or Before-Word-Processors era and lovingly rekeyed for the archives by Mike Scott ...

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Held at the Brighton Metropole.

Guests of Honour - John Sladek and Angela Carter.

BSFA Chair - Alan Dorey was re-elected.

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Channelcon : Eastercon : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Science fiction convention held in 1982. See Wikidata; SFcentral; Fancyclopedia; Fanac

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This was held in the Leeds Dragonara Hotel, the same location as Yorcon.

The profits of the event were used to set up Interzone, one of the most well known and prestigious science fiction magazines in the United Kingdom.

BSFA Chair - Alan Dorey was re-elected.

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Yorcon 2 : Eastercon : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Science fiction convention held in 1981. See Wikidata; SFcentral; Fancyclopedia; Fanac

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The regular meeting of BSFA members moved to the King of Diamonds owing to overcrowding. Unfortunately, this venue is now closed.

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The April edition of Matrix lists 38 groups around the United Kingdom.

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Published in November 1980, this was the second edition edited by Kevin Smith.

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1980: BSFA Holds first London Members Meeting

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1980: BSFA Holds first London Members Meeting

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This took place in The Rutland Arms, near Hammersmith Bridge on 19th of September 1980. David Langford was the speaker at the event. Over the next two years, the regular meetings would be held in a variety of different establishments.

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Situated close to Hammersmith Bridge, this riverside pub is said to have been established in 1849 and then re-built in its present form around 1870/80. The Hammersmith Regatta in August 1921 was in aid of the West London Hospital and the prizes were presented on the balcony of the West End Boathouse which used to stand on the opposite corner of Mall Road. It was destroyed in the Second World War and was later replaced by private flats. The pub was also damaged and lost its top floor and balcony.

The Rutland displays an inn sign of two unicorns with the motto, 'Pour Parvenir' (for the wayfarer). On my last visit there earlier this month before the R's match at Craven Cottage, I also noticed two plaques. The one inside seemed to be a replica of the other one close to the door and the inscription was mainly about the origins of its name, 'Rutland' the place, plus I think a brief mention of where the pub was situated.

It was a very hot day and the outside benches were quickly claimed even before the pub had opened and we opted for the sofas and high stools inside. The meal was fairly basic and the London Pride was decent.
In the Fulham and Hammersmith Historical Society's book from some years ago, there is an interesting piece about the history of local brewing:

'In olden times publicans were their own brewers. Gradually small breweries came into existence, but their output was limited. Transport was a problem, and it took many years to build up the great concerns known today. In Hammersmith, brewing has never been a major industry, the few brewers there were have long ceased to function.

The Town Brewery, near the Creek, founded in 1780 by Joseph Cromwell, appears to have been the earliest. Ale was brewed for sale locally and in the adjoining parishes. James Cromwell carried on the business which was also known as Cromwell's Brewery, later it became Swail's Brewery. A Mr Rayner had the Hope Brewhouse in the High Street. Water from a well was supplied to a great part of the neighbourhood.

Among the other brewers were: James Millwood, Brook Green, who brewed table beers, Mary Sophia Tucker, King Street, William Camburn, ale brewer, Bradmore Lane, Stephen Killick, ale brewer, King Street, Moses Barber, Bradmore, Keane & Co. (or Ellen Keane), Albion Brewery, King Street, Anchor Brewery, 22 Queen Street and the White Horse Brewery, New (now Goldhawk) Road. All appear to have been brewed on a small scale, but little regarding their activities seems to have been recorded.'

Steve Russell

(Thanks to Jimmy Murray for the pic taken earlier this month)

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The Rutland Arms, 15 Lower Mall, Hammersmith, London W6

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Situated close to Hammersmith Bridge, this riverside pub is said to have been established in 1849 and then re-built in its present form around 1870/80. The Hammersmith Regatta in August 1921 was in aid of the West London Hospital and the prizes were presented on the balcony of the West End Boathouse which used to stand on the opposite corner of Mall Road.

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Held in Glasgow at the Albany Hotel.

Guest of Honour - Colin Kapp.
Fan Guest of Honour - Jim Barker.

The BSFA Award for Best Novel - The Unlimited Dream Company by J. G. Ballard.
The BSFA Award for Best Short Story - 'Palely Loitering' by Christopher Priest.
The BSFA Award for Best Media Presentation - The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
The BSFA Award for Best Artist  - Jim Burns.
The Doc Weir Award - Bob Shaw.
FOKT Nice Guy Award - James White.

Mike Dickinson stepped down as Vector Editor in April 1980 after publishing Vector 97. The committee produced Vector 98 with Kevin Smith becoming editor with Vector 99.

Chair - Alan Dorey was re-elected.

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Held on 23–26th of August 1979 at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton, United Kingdom.

Guests of Honour - Fritz Leiber and Brian Aldiss.
Fan Guest of Honour - Harry Bell.

Fancy Dress event is renamed the 'Masquerade'.

Hugo Award for Best Novel - Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre.
Hugo Award for Best Novella - The Persistence of Vision by John Varley.
Hugo Award for Best Novelette - Hunter's Moon by Poul Anderson.
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation - Superman (1979).
Hugo Award for Best Fanzine - Science Fiction Review by Richard Geis.
Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer - Bob Shaw.

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I'll eventually be adding a section on the 1979 Worldcon to this site, but the story of how the idea of holding a UK Worldcon in the 1970s emerged, and how things came together and the bid then evolved, is worthy of its own entry. The bid also had its own series of progress reports independent of the eventual convention, all of which are included here.

***

1970: First Stirrings -

PETER WESTON:

What I would like to talk about here are several far-reaching decisions that were taken at Heidelberg. The argument about the nature and selection of sites for the World Convention itself was resolved in the only way possible, in my opinion, by recognising that this is essentially a North American event, and reverting to a 3-year rotation plan within that continent. Bids from outside the area can now be made for any year, and to my knowledge there are at present bids for Australia in 1975 and Stockholm in 1976. In the U.S.A. itself the convention goes to Boston in 1971, Los Angeles in 1972, Dallas/Minneapolis/Toronto in 1973, and Washington in 1974. You'll. notice that short of challenging one of these other proposals there is no possibility of Great Britain getting the chance to host the World Convention before 1977.

There have previously been British WorldCons in London in 1957 & 1965, and it is my firm belief that there most certainly ought, to be another one at some time during the 1970's. But it is also my belief that unless plans are made now then we will not be successful.

This country is the ideal and most sensible place for a World Convention outside the United States. Not only is there a large native fandom, although diffuse, who speak English, but there is a long tradition of holding conventions, a thriving community of science fiction writers and publishers, and the virtue of relatively easy communication which can successfully attract considerable numbers of Americans and Europeans to visit a WorldCon in this country. And while London presents well-known problems in finding a suitable large hotel, an ideal site looks like becoming available on the outskirts of Birmingham from around 1973 onwards.

I used to wonder why on Earth anyone should want to take on the job of organising something as demanding and complex as a large convention. I now know the answer to that question - there is a certain feeling, not so much of 'power', which would be ridiculous, but of satisfaction in making arrangements and exploiting opportunities to the best advantage. Even so I am not prepared (at least at the present time) to put forward a personal bid for a British World Convention. What I do suggest is that British fandom as a whole should think about the whole business and in view of the magnitude of the problems that a committee be formed - perhaps sponsored by the BSFA, I don't know - as soon as possible to make a formal bid.

Unfortunately I've not yet finished. From here on in it begins to get complicated, because there is that other decision I mentioned which was made at Heicon. In the absence of plans for a European WorldCon, a number of people present formed a committee and decided that in future there will now be a quite separate, new International series of conventions. These will rotate around the countries of Europe, initially every two years, with the proviso that should a WorldCon be held in Europe then in that year the WorldCon will serve as the International event.

Already there are plans for the 1972 International Convention to be held in Trieste (following on the heels of the famous SF Film Festival), and Brussels and Stockholm are bidding for 1974 & 1976 respectively. (Stockholm, you'll see, are covering their bets in the hope of getting a major international convention in 1976 whatever happens).

So how does England fit into all this? The answer so far is that it doesn't. Perfidious Albion has so far been conspicuous by its silence, and it is my personal opinion that the majority of British fans will probably continue to more-or-less ignore European fandom and their conventions. Nevertheless this is another factor that must bo considered by any bidding committee that is set up in response to my suggestion above. Ideally it would seem that a bid should be made both for a true WorldCon and for the European International Convention in the same year, so that, like Stockholm, at least something will happen!

Now let us consider possibilities. At a risk of making myself extremely unpopular with certain people, it looks to me as if 1975 is the nearest opportunity to make a bid. By that time the Americans will be ripe for the WorldCon to go somewhere overseas again, and there is no competing bid for the International event. If England won a WorldCon that year, Stockholm would still have its alternative in 1976. Conversely, if we didn't get the WorldCon, we would still have the alternative of the International event. The only losers would be the Aussies.

- SPECULATION #27 (September 1970) ed. Weston

1971: Eastercon 22 -

PETER ROBERTS:

A discussion on Sunday morning's con programme failed to settle anything. Support for a British World convention bid in the seventies was apparent, but difficulties arose over the timing of the bid, the likelihood of success, and the staffing of the Worldcon committee. It was agreed that the bid must be made in either 1975 or 1976 in direct competition with Stockholm and Australia, and European delegates stated that Britain would probably receive the Continental convention if a 1975 bid was successful, even though the European cons had been planned in 72, 74, & 76, Argument as to which year would be best was involved and highly theoretical, Pete Weston who had originally suggested the idea was no longer happy with the role of Chairman which was unanimously offered him the work required for Eastercon 22 had effectively soured him, although he allowed for a subsequent change of mind. A good con site had been discovered in Brighton with room for over 800 and plenty of overspill hotels if necessary. The Birmingham con site may not be completed in time, and was therefore dropped. Several volunteers came forward as Worldcon committee members, but the whole matter has still to be discussed further.

My personal view, and that of several others, is that we should admit our lateness in the race and wait until the 1980's for a proper British bid, supporting Stockholm in 1976 as a reasonable alternative. I'll nevertheless wait and see just what finally happens.

- CHECKPOINT #0 (April 1971) ed. Roberts

1973: Son of Egomaniac -

MALCOLM EDWARDS:

At the 1971 Eastercon, Pete Weston (then in the full flood of his not-so Secret Master phase) tried, to interest the assembled multitudes in the possibility of a British Worldcon bid. for 1976. The reaction was, in general, fairly apathetic. There was a body of people who felt that such a bid might work against the Australians' 1975 campaign, and that if the Aussies succeeded (as seemed probable, even then) there was zero chance of the convention being voted, to an overseas site again the following year. There was also the prospective Stockholm bid for 1976. Anyway, with one thing and another, the whole thing was fairly quickly forgotten. And has remained forgotten.

But let's think about this. The first London Worldcon was in 1957, the second in 1965. Since then, we've had the Heicon in 1970. On this kind of schedule -- and, it's none, too crowded -- we should be thinking about another British bid before the end of the decade. And if we want that to come about we should be starting to plan now.

Well, I'm in the middle of an empire-building period right now, and this is one of the main things which has come to mind. When Christine ((Malcolm's then wife)) and I went to stay with the Westons a few weekends ago, I mentioned it to Pete, and he waxed quite enthusiastic. I've mentioned it to one or two other fans since -- Peter Roberts, Ian Williams, etc -- and the reaction has been much the same. It seems to me that, whereas in 1971 the time may not have been ripe, it very clearly is ripe now.

Pete showed me the correspondance he'd had with a promising south coast hotel, and I've glanced around a bit since. It seems there are a number of potential suitable sites ... they aren't inexpensive, of course not, but by American standards they're' dirt-cheap. But at present I think deciding the place is secondary. What is important is to decide -- soon -- if it's something we want to do. And I say 'we' advisedly. I may be an empire-builder, but I wouldn't think of pursuing something like this without a good deal of support.

Why would we want to hold. a Worldcon anyway? Well, I'm not sure I can articulate an answer to that, beyond, something of the 'because it's there' variety. One of my personal motivations is that I want to go to a Worldcon, am never likely to get to the USA for one, and therefore have to resort to bringing the mountain to Mahomet. Otherwise, there is the fact that fandom is an international thing, strong in Britain and Europe, while the Worldcon tends to be primarily American. If there's a suitable bid, it should go overseas at regular intervals; I'm sure almost all American fans would agree about this. But it won't unless we do something about it.

Now I know there's a prospective Antwerp bid for 1978, and it would be foolish for two European contenders to cut each other's throats. However, with the 1974 Eurocon fiasco, how much weight is a Belgian Worldon bid going to carry? I suspect they may have lost too much ground to make up.

At the moment this remains just a proposal. The prospective date is either 1978 or 1979, and I would appreciate your thoughts (particularly you American readers) on which date would fit in better with the usual rotation system. I've reserved some time at the Tynecon for a general discussion of the whole question (this is the item about which the last Progress Report was so reticent). And there now exists, after a fashion, a committee to promote the idea of a British Worldon -- present memberships Peter Roberts, Pete Weston, and me. Expressions of support will be very welcome.

- MAGIC PUDDING #1 (November 1973) ed. Edwards

***

PETER ROBERTS:

Some time ago, just before Christmas, Malcolm Edwards came up to me at the Globe and said "How about a British Worldcon, then?" Choking quietly on my Guinness, I managed a casual nod of agreement and produced a likely date.

So, let it be known that Great Britain intends to bid for the 1979 World Sf Convention. Why such a long time off? Well, for a start we'd like to keep it at a good distance and, more seriously, 1979 looks like being the first available year. 1975, as you all know, is the Aussiecon; 1976 and 1977 bids are already in operation. We'd be very late starters for either of these years and would have the added disadvantage of bidding shortly after a foreign Worldcon. 1978 was Malcolm's first choice; but, as far as I can see from the present rotation rules, the Worldcon should return to the West Coast area in that year. Since they will miss out in 1975, having lost to Australia, they would have a strong bid in 1978 against another foreign Worldcon (if we were to win a bid for 1978, the West Coast wouldn't have had a World convention for nine years (1972-81)). This really leaves 1979 as first reasonable year for a British Worldcon.

Obviously at the moment nothing very much has been accomplished. Malcolm Edwards, Pete Weston, and myself have formed some sort of committee to promote the idea and Malcolm has booked a spot at the Tynecon to present and discuss the bid. Pete Weston, you may recall, wanted to make a Worldcon bid for 1975 (just before the 1971 Eastercon where he dropped the idea); he still has some useful correspondence with hotels on the South Coast and that may prove to be the most suitable spot for 1979.

Anyway, the bid is in an early stage, so ideas, general expressions of support, dire warnings, money, or what have you, will be most welcome.

- CHECKPOINT 44 (December 1973) ed. Roberts

April 1974: Tynecon '74 -

PETER WESTON:

In late 1973, my alter ego Malcolm Edwards had revived the idea of running a world convention in Britain before the end of the decade. Inadvertently echoing Eileen he had said, "I want to go to a Worldcon, am never likely to get to the USA for one, and therefore have to resort to bringing the mountain to Mahomet." We got together, and with Peter Roberts formed a provisional committee and made our move at Tynecon, the three of us going up onto the platform at the end of the Sunday-morning business meeting to outline our plans.

We had no very clear idea where to hold it and we didn't know when. I stumbled through an analysis of current and likely bids, explained the infamous 3-year rotation system and why we should aim to take on the supposedly weaker Midwestern zone, and urged the need for a massive, pre-emptive strike before any serious American opposition could get off the ground.

I was cut short in mid-flow. An attractive (American) lady with red hair stood up in the front row. It was Ruth Kyle.

"Peter, Britain's fine in '79," she said, to thunderous applause.

And it was. In one brilliant stroke of inspiration, Ruth gave us our year, our slogan, and our momentum. That morning almost the whole membership of Tynecon (one of the most successful of British Eastercons) signed up as supporters, and Peter and I agreed that whichever one of us won TAFF, we would put our case at Discon and stake an early claim to 1979.

- WITH STARS IN MY EYES (p.226) - Peter Weston (NESFA Press, 2004)

August 1974: Discon -

PETER WESTON:

Yippee! I had won TAFF - on the third attempt! They gave me the good news just after Tynecon and I was delighted. It isn't usual to stand more than twice but because the last contest had been a bit exceptional, to say the least, my nominators had persuaded me to try again, up against my friend Peter Roberts, and winning this time by a convincing majority, 154/65. So I was going to a Worldcon after all, to the 1974 Discon in Washington, D.C. What an adventure!

So now in my luggage I was carrying a thousand flyers ((actually Progress Report 01)) and campaign badges and I was going to have to talk up our bid at every opportunity.

(Wednesday) was the night I went out with DUFF-winner Leigh Edmonds and his girlfriend Valma Brown from Australia, with a crowd of their friends to a restaurant a few blocks away. We seemed to get on well together, and I made a start on the important business of telling people about the British Worldcon bid. As luck would have it, a number of the other diners were from the Chicago area and they said they had been thinking of mounting their own bid for 1979. "Nah, you don't want to do that," I assured them, quickly signing them up as pre-supporters and giving them our little blue badges. It was a good beginning. Then, back at the hotel I rang home and had some wonderful news; now I had another daughter, and mother and baby were both well!

- WITH STARS IN MY EYES (p.224 - 229)

1975: New Orleans bid -

IAN MAULE:

Brighton has been chosen as the site for the 79 Worldcon if we get the bid at Orlando. Pre-supporting membership is 50p to, Peter Roberts, Flat 4, 6 Westbourne Park Villas, London W2. The New Orleans counter bid which has been mentioned recently is apparently not fully supported by the local group in the area, so it looks as if we should be unopposed in our bid.

- CHECKPOINT #63 (December 1975) ed. Maule

July 1976: Progress Report 02 published -

The bid committee grows to six with the addition of John Steward, Leroy Kettle, and Rob Jackson. Also the 1977 Worldcon, where the bid must be made, will no longer be held in Orlando.

PETER WESTON:

After eighteen months of referring to ourselves as "the British Worldcon," we thought it was about time we had a name, and the same PR announced that we were now Seacon '79, a title chosen after a certain amount of anguish and smiting of foreheads. The problem was that we simply couldn't make a catchy name out of any combinations of Brighton, Britain and con. In desperation we circled round and round the obvious title of Seacon, but were put off by two reasons; first, that it had been used for the 1975 Easter convention, even though that actually took place in Coventry! (Originally the bid had been for a seaside hotel; the committee simply couldn't find one.) Second, and more serious, Seacon had been previously used by a Seattle Worldcon, and in some ways it was their intellectual property, should they ever wish to bid again at some future date. We debated the matter endlessly, and in the end decided it was the only possible name, completely missing the obvious alternative of Channelcon, which didn't occur to anyone until the Eastercon returned to the Metropole in 1982.

- WITH STARS IN MY EYES (p.263)

April 1977: Progress Report 03 published (with a new piece by Bob Shaw) -

MALCOLM EDWARDS:

Our committee still continues to grow. We felt the need of a man of mature years and a receding hairline to cope with advertising and publicity, and soon hit upon the ideal victim in Graham Charnock, a man of vast experience in the advertising world and in fandom. Fans with very long memories still recall nostalgically his fanzine PHILE. Lovers of incomprehensible New Wave writing still remember affectionately his stories in NEW WORLDS (of which he later became Associate Editor), where he appeared in the famous new-writers issue alongside the vast festering foot of Robert P. Holdstock -- an experience which haunts him to this day. Later, he became (in no particular order) a bookseller and rock-and-roll star (playing in a punk rock group, The Burlingtons, and featuring on Mike Moorcock's still-to-be-deleted album "New Worlds Fair"), was on the committee of Seacon '75, and assisted (as he does to this day) the lovely and talented Pat Charnock (no relation) with her fanzine 'The Wrinkled Shrew'.

Graham Charnock was among the seven listed as a committee member on the flyer that appears to have been published almost simultaneously. The header by Harry Bell at the top of this webpage is scanned from the flyer, a cut-down version of which features on the cover of Progress Report 03. The central image would also be used on the second bid badge:

It would also be used that same month in the two-page ad in the Eastercon 77 Programme Book (yes, UK fandom did indeed go from Eastercon 22 to Eastercon 77 in a mere six years).

PETER WESTON:

A little later, Pat herself came onto the Steering Committee, along with Eve Harvey and North-East fan Kevin Williams, making a total of ten people in the inner core of decision-making, all of them among the most active and influential British fans of the decade. I had also been keen to involve Greg Pickersgill, but through an unfortunate misunderstanding at a One Tun meeting, this never happened.

- WITH STARS IN MY EYES (p.264)

May 1977: Roberts Wins TAFF Race -

PETER ROBERTS:

When I stumbled home from work yesterday I found three letters waiting for me, telling me that I'd just won TAFF. I still feel rather stunned. I mean, well what can I say? Knockout. Amazing. Bloody hell. Far out.

The thing is, I haven't been able to tell anyone yet, so I'm not yet sure if I'm merely fantasizing. I rushed outside and gave the news to my beetroots immediately, of course; but though they're good listeners, they don't react much. The same goes for my china piggy-bank.

Anyway, I do have the letters to reassure me, so without further ado I'll give you the provisional results of the TAFF voting as I have them:

UK &AMP;
Europe

America

Total

Peter Roberts

43

61

104

Terry Jeeves

34

54

88

Peter Presford

2

10

12

Hold Over Funds

-

1

1

205

Those figures are via the American TAFF Administrator, Roy Tackett; Pete Weston's figures are marginally different, but are unconfirmed. A circular will, in any event, be sent out shortly with full details on the race. Meanwhile, all I can say is thanks sincere thanks for voting. Thanks too to Terry Jeeves & Pete Presford I hope I won't disappoint your voters too much. And well, see you at the Worldcon if you're going. I haven't thought up any plans yet, except that I'd like to spend as long as I possibly can in America while I have the chance. More concrete proposals will have to wait till I recover; but one thing I've done today is to order a pair of sunglasses...

Hot damn. Surf City, here I come. Good on you all.

- CHECKPOINT #81 (May 1977) ed. Roberts

August 1977: Suncon -

PETER ROBERTS:

At one time a whole bunch of British fans had planned to go over to Suncon and a charter flight had been arranged. In the event only Rob Jackson and myself ended up on the flight: Peter Mabey, who'd also booked, got put on another plane, the other travelling fans made separate plans, and a large number had just abandoned the trip altogether as dreams and designs crumbled in the face of a mercenary and mundane world. All this didn't unfortunately mean that Rob and I would have the plane to ourselves; the flight was a regular charter, the kind that has to be booked long in advance.

We reached New York at dawn.

Airports are not distinctive places and John F. Kennedy airport in New York is no exception. If the pilot had told us that we'd been forced to turn back and make a landing at Manchester, Milan, or Moscow, we would probably have believed him. Anyway I was glad to be off the plane and delighted to be in America. 6.00 am Eastern time, 11.00 am British Summer Time.

We arrived at the Suncon on Wednesday evening after a day on the road.

A Britain in Seventy-Nine bidding party was planned for (Friday) evening, Suncon being the place where the winning bid was to be chosen. During the day, in fact, I'd helped man the voting desk along with a representative from the New Orleans opposition. Several of the visiting British fans lent a hand and between us we had a bunch of publicity -- badges, T-shirts, and so on -- since that seemed the thing to do. The bona fide New Orleans fans were actively helping us, leaving the 1979 bidders a little at a loss. They were certainly out on the fringe -- one of the blokes standing next to me struck up a conversation by asking, "What is this 'fandom' thing, anyway?"

Thanks to Gary Farber, we had a committee room for the party, which wasn't too bad even though the Fontainebleau had thoughtfully provided free cockroaches in the bathroom (I was quite pleased about that -- first time in my life I'd ever seen a cockroach). Rob, Pete (Weston), Tom Perry and others had clinked in guiltily with several cases of drinks, much of it soft as a concession to our electorate, and we'd got a few items planned -- just so's the party-goers would remember why they were there. We had some slides to show; Vera Johnson was going to sing the Seacon song; and we'd arranged a knurdling contest, with the help of several beer tins and Bill Burns (Champion Knurdler of 1971). Pete was also anxious to stage the mystical Hum & Sway, but it turned out that nobody had ever witnessed the event. He finally decided to bluff his way through with the aid of much alcohol.

Anyway, the party seemed to go off pretty well. A startling number of people packed their way in, sang lustily, competed at knurdling, drank all the fizzy pop, and generally had a good time. We awarded the Champion Knurdler a bottle of whisky (which I generously helped finish) and, since Pete turned off the lights, the mysteries of the Hum & Sway remained mysteries.

By the end of the party (and the whisky) I was no longer in a state of clear-minded sobriety. I think I may have been enticed away by wicked hippies and forced, entirely against my will, to indulge in certain substances; at any rate I can only vaguely recall talking to someone at a party and suddenly, in the middle of the conversation, accusing him of being well over seven feet tall. Actually he agreed with me and was only surprised I hadn't noticed earlier. I have my doubts about that incident.

There was a policeman, though. I don't think I made him up. He was shorter than me and was trying to quieten down a room party I was at, or near, or about to go to.

There was also Jon Singer, an ebullient, long-haired bloke with his own personal fan club and more knowledge about moose than most people have ever needed. I met him in a corridor and we had a long conversation before I found out it wasn't him.

I think I wisely decided to go to bed at this point. Jon told me the next day that there was someone at Suncon who looked exactly like him, but I think he was just trying to comfort me. Anyway, I enjoyed myself and didn't piss on anyone's shoes.

LINDA BUSHYAGER:

There were more parties than usual, especially bid parties. An erroneous rumour said that New Orleans and Britain were running close according to mail site selection ballots, so a lot of last minute campaigning was done. The final result was so heavily in Britain's favor that the business meeting made the vote unanimous to spare N.O. embarrassment. Then N.O. decided not to bid for the NASFIC and Louisville quickly won the bid for the National Convention. There was also a "Happy Gays Are Here Again" party.

LOCUS #204:

Brighton, England was the overwhelming winner over New Orleans for the site of the 1979 World Convention. 884 votes were cast. The convention, to be called SEACON '79, will be held at the Metropole Hotel, Brighton, England, August 23 to August 27, 1979. American Guest of Honour will be Fritz Leiber, British Guest of Honour will be Brian Aldiss, Fan Guest of Honour will be Harry Bell, Toastmaster will be Bob Shaw.

PETER ROBERTS:

On Sunday morning, Brighton officially won the 1979 bid and Rob Jackson, our Official Worrier, was at last able to relax and enjoy himself. We decided to go down to the beach with Pete Weston. This may not be everyone's idea of a treat, but it was a nice day and the sun was shining.

We sat on the beach. "Isn't it good just to sit down and not work on the bid," said Rob, luxuriating. Pete and I nodded guiltily, as if we'd never dreamt of leaving the registration desk before now. I tried to hide my sunburnt legs in some convenient sand. Seacon seemed a long way off.

(That evening was) the Seacon celebration party. Pete was particularly looking forward to this since he'd found a professional belly-dancer to give an authentic British flavour to the party. "Noice girl," he told me confidentially.

Anyway, she turned up at the party, as did several hundred other people, and I reckon we enjoyed ourselves. I probably went to bed after. I certainly should have done, even if I didn't. Let's say I did.

Tuesday morning, as the throngs of Baptists milled and grimaced in the Fontainebleau lobbies, Rob Jackson, Joyce Scrivner and I made our departure from Suncon and the tinsel wonders of Miami Beach.

It had been touch and go. Not having planned anything as sensible as an itinerary, I'd been humming and hawing and changing my mind about what I was going to do next. However, my own display of indecision was completely overshadowed by Rob's, who was out-dithering me at every step. Was he flying north to Ohio or travelling south with the Mearas to the Everglades? The Mearas and the Ohio fans said yes, and so did Rob. So, was he catching a lift to Cincinnati or visiting Disneyworld? Yes, said Rob, definitely yes, though maybe ... or possibly ... or ...

In the end we just grabbed him and bundled him into the car. Weighed down with the last of the Mayas, he didn't put up much of a fight.

After that, we hit the road and sped off into the morning sunshine, singing happily and heading for the distant delights of Disneyworld.

***

Extracts are from Peter's TAFF report NEW ROOTS IN AMERICA (free ebook)

Linda Bushyager from her SUNCON report in KARASS #33 (September 1977) ed. Bushyager

***

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I'll eventually be adding a section on the 1979 Worldcon to this site, but the story of how the idea of holding a UK Worldcon in the 1970s emerged, and how things came together and the bid then evolved, is worthy of its own entry.

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Guest of Honour - Richard Cowper.
Fan Guests of Honour - Pat Charnock and Graham Charnock.

The Doc Weir Award - Roger Peyton.

BSFA AGM

Some changes to the constitutional structure. The Vice Chair role, the position that oversaw the practical management of the BSFA's general affairs, now became the Chair role, with the honorary Chair returning to being a President.

Election/Re-election:
Arthur C. Clarke confirmed as President of the Association
Alan Dorey - Chair.
Malcolm Edwards, Joseph Nicholas and David Langford voted on to the BSFA Council.
Sandy Brown - Membership Secretary.
Mike Dickinson - Vector editor (after David Wingrove planned to leave in September).

Rob Holdstock suggests reviving Tangent. Instead, he and Chris Evans begin wor on a new project - Focus.

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BSFA Membership Secretary, Dave Cobbledick resigns.
BSFA Club Liaison Officer, Bill Little resigns.

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1979: BSFA Matrix 22 Announces Changes and Debut's 'The Captive' by Jim Barker

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1979: BSFA Matrix 22 Announces Changes and Debut's 'The Captive' by Jim Barker

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Alan Dorey volunteers to take over as BSFA Vice Chair from Tom Jones.

The BSFA publishes an open letter to Ian Garbutt, editor of Tangent. They criticise his letters in a variety of fanzines and state his 'inability to work within the committee structure of the BSFA'. They also state that the publication must not be lithoed as if it fails, the BSFA will be liable for the cost.

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Ian Garbutt offers to make Tangent a litho publication at his own expense. The proposal is accepted.

David Wingrove announces he will step down at Vector editor in 1979.

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Editors' introduction: Most people know Dave Langford through his personal zine Twll Ddu. He is instantly recognizable in any crowd as the tall one who wanders around cupping his ear at people and saying 'Pardon?' (He is a trifle deaf except when someone is buying drinks or being indiscreet.)

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Matrix 19 was published in August 1978. In it, the committee explains that the included fanzines in the April mailing had (in the case of Waif) been paid for by the editor and (in the case of Paperback Parlour), been incorporated as a BSFA publication.

New information on the BSFA's debt issues were revealed, with the association now back in 'the black.' Blame for the debt issue was laid at the feet of Vector editor, Chris Fowler.

Additionally, Andy Sawyer announced the end of his tenure as Matrix editor. He would complete issue 20 and then hand over to John and Eve Harvey.

Vice Chair, Toby Jones also announced he would be standing down.

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1978: Matrix 18 - D. West Criticises the BSFA.  

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1978: Matrix 18 - D. West Criticises the BSFA.  

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This issue contains an essay from D. West criticising the BSFA and its accounting, with the association in debt owing to high publication costs.

West also criticised the association for including two non-BSFA  fanzines in its mailing. These were the second edition of Phil Stephensen-Payne's Paperback Parlour and the first issue of Tom Jones' Waif.

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Held at the Heathrow Hotel, London.

Guest of Honour - Robert Sheckley.
Fan Guest of Honour - Leroy Kettle.
BSFA Award - The Jonah Kit by Ian Watson.

BSFA AGM

Election/Re-election:

Previous incumbents were re-elected.
Kevin Smith appointed as Company Secretary.

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Did I really once run an Eastercon? I did the publications, anyway, and was vaguely cheered whenever some fan pundit admitted that these were pretty good. Unfortunately the pundit’s next word was invariably “But ...”

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1977: Vector 84. First edited by David Wingrove.

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1977: Vector 84. First edited by David Wingrove.

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1977: Andy Sawyer takes over as editor of BSFA Matrix

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1977: Andy Sawyer takes over as editor of BSFA Matrix

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Issue 13 would be the last edited by Tom Jones, who found his new role as Vice Chair of the Association taking up more of his time. The new editor, Andy Sawyer, took charge from issue 14.

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The convention returned to the De Vere Hotel in Coventry.

Guest of Honour - John Bush.
The BSFA Award - Brontomek! by Michael G. Coney.
The Doc Weir Award - Keith Freeman.

BSFA AGM
Election/Re-election

Dave Kyle stands down. Tom Jones becomes Vice Chair.

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The last edition was the April edition, appearing in May 1976.

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Held at Owens Park Hall of Residence in Manchester.

Guest of Honour - Robert Silverberg.
The Doc Weir Award - Ina Shorrock.

BSFA AGM
Election/Re-election:
Chair - Arthur C. Clarke (Honorary Chair in perpetuity).
Vice Chair - Dave Kyle.
Administrator - Alan Stewart.
Mervyn Haigh - Company Secretary.
Elke Stewart - Membership Secretary.
Vector and BSFA Publishing - Chris Fowler.
Matrix/BSFA Newsletter - Tom Jones.

A re-emergence of the 'Fanzine Foundation Crisis' of 1972 occurred when more of the Charlie Winstone collection was auctioned off. However, there are conflicting reports as to how precious the items were and whether they went to worthy collectors.

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Checkpoint 67, edited and produced by Ian Maule, 8 Hillcroft Crescent, Ealing. London W5 2SG, United Kingdom. Available for letter, trade or subscription (5/40p or 10/70p). News this issue from Terry Hughes, Peter Presford, Eric Bentcliffe and George J. Laskowski Jr.

FANZINE NEWS

Richard Bergeron is hard at work on the special Willis issue of Warhoon. Dick is trying to make this the definitive collection of Willis material. Contents will include: The Harp That Once or Twice, Willis Discovers America, The Harp In England (1&11), The Harp Stateside, The Enchanted Duplicator and many more besides. The whole volume will come to well over 300 pages. Dick sent me a copy of a page that has already been run off, so as you can see this project is very much alive. (Terry Hughes)

John Piggott is intending to produce a new fanzine this Summer after his stint as General Secretary of the National Games Club ends in July. It won't be a resurrection of The Turning Worm but may contain certain letters that were originally sent as locs for that zine.

Henry P. Pijohn and Kevin Williams are planning a new fanzine to be called Bland. Kevin has already written his section and it only awaits Henry to finish his.

MANCON 5

The idea of holding a convention on a University campus is one that I'm sure won't be brought up again. Mancon 5 will go down in fan history as one of the worst British Eastercons due mainly to the site and not a little to the lack of organisation. My doubts about the whole affair were to a certain extent realised soon after I arrived on the Thursday afternoon when the Chairman came towards me and asked where the restaurant was! From that point onwards the convention lost all credibility. Things went wrong from the outset: the first film on the Friday morning was projected with the wrong second reel and the TAFF panel on after lunch was cancelled as no-one had told the participants that it was on. In effect the first day of the programme was a complete failure with nothing coming off as the committee intended.

As usual I spent most of my time in the bar talking and socialising. There too problems arose - the bar was too small for the number of people attending the con and the lack of carpets on the floor meant that those unfortunates without seats had to stand and suffer the pains of sore feet. The bar staff were not the friendliest of people either and many a time they would ignore people standing waiting to be served and talk to their boyfriends.

Friday night I went to bed before midnight out of boredom and thus was fit for any all night parties that would take place on the Saturday night. Just like the previous day the programme didn't exactly excite me apart from the Bob Shaw talk in the evening which as you can expect was side-splitting and perhaps the highlight of the convention; this will be appearing in Maya 11. All night parties there indeed were. A combined Ratfandom/Gannet party took place in one of the quiet rooms in the Tower block and attracted a fair proportion of active fandom to it. This finished in the small hours of Sunday morning just in time for me to go outside and watch the dawn break over Manchester. At that hour the Swedish fans were still entertaining and so I made my way back into the block to round the night off. I'll say one thing for the Swedes, they certainly can drink, unfortunately their parties tend to get out of hand and this one was no exception. The first thing I noticed on stepping into the room was that my feet weren't on the floor but on the debris of broken bottles, chairs and people. The second thing I noticed was that the Swedes were still sober whereas the British fans were in various stages of drunkenness. The party lasted until breakfast which is just as well as there was no other place to go to at that time in the morning, the bar area being closed.

Sometime during the weekend the long awaited football match between Ratfan Dynamo and Gannet Flyers took place on a full size pitch not far from the con. With Ratfandom leading four to nil we were turned of the pitch and told to play somewhere else which we eventually did. Bob Shaw was referee and ably controlled the two teams of maniacs. The eventual score was two goals each but being on the Ratfan team I have to say that we wuz robbed.

SILICON. Imperial Hotel, Newcastle on Tyne. 27th-30th August 1976.

Although an excellent idea along the same lines as the recent Boakcon in Blackpool I can see several problems with this convention, and I hope my good friends in Gannetfandom don't mind me pointing them out as I see them. First of all the whole idea of Boakcon was for a cheap informal convention with no programme where people who knew one another could relax and have a good time in each others company. I feel that Gannetfandom have gone the wrong way about organising Silicon. The hotel is expensive, it's the wrong time of year and perhaps more important the short spiel about the con given to the massed ranks of neofans in the con hall at Mancon 5 may mean that it won't be the fannish affair they envisage if these neo's register and attend. Boakcon worked because we all knew each other, there was no need for name badges or other items usually associated with a convention. It was fun. I just hope that the Gannets haven't bitten off more than they can chew.

FANZINES RECEIVED

Drilkjis 1, Dave Langford, Boundary Hall, Tadley, Basingstoke, Hants., RG26 6QD, and Kevin Smith, 26 Hawks Rd., Kingston on Thames. Surrey, KT1 3EG. Usual or 40p. Another new fanzine; the things are breeding like flies these days. This one is more impressively produced than many a first issue but nevertheless still manages to be fairly tedious. All the usual obligatory short stories, book reviews and crosswords are there and quite a dire lot they are.

Mota 15, Terry Hughes, 866 N. Frederick St., Arlington, VA. 22205, USA. Usual; sample available on request. As you may have guessed from previous issues of Checkpoint this is my favorite fanzine and as such you can't really expect an unbiased review from me.

Scabby Tales 2, John Brosnan, c/o 43 Chesholm Rd., Stoke Newington. London N16. Usual. Unofficial journal of the Malcolm Edwards and Chris Priest appreciation society. Main feature this time around is John's disclosure of being a Rosicrucian.

Maya 10, Rob Jackson, 21 Lyndhurst Rd., Benton, Newcastle on Tyne. NE12 9NT. Usual or 40p each, 3/£1 in UK. USA and Canada $1 or 4/$3. Perhaps the most absorbing fanzine ever published in Britain and a just winner of the Nova award last year. Rob manages very nicely to combine fannish and sercon material in a way no other British faned can do.

The Inverted Ear-Trumpet 3, Richard McMahon, 287 South Lane, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 5RR. Usual. Rather a skimpy fanzine composed mainly of the editors ramblings. Graham Poole contributes an article of sorts on SF music and TV.

Fanew Sletter 53, Leigh Edmonds, P0 Box 114, Balaclava, Victoria 3183, Australia. 10/$2. The Australian counterpart of Checkpoint.

Vibrator 5, Graham Charnock, 70 Ledbury Rd. London W11. Usual. One of the few personalzines now being produced. Good comments on the Nova award controversy as well as an introspective view of performing in a group.

The Proper Boskonian 13 NESFA, Box G, MIT Branch Post Office. Cambridge. Mass. 02139, USA. This issue edited by David Stever. Not much in this issue apart from a short story and a couple of articles; not very interesting.

Forthcoming SF Books 30, Joanne Burger, 55 Blue Bonnet Ct., Lake Jackson, Texas 77566, USA. 50&cent; per issue airmail in Europe. Useful listing of SF books to be published.

NESFIG Newsletter 9, Alan Isaacson, 34 Weldon Cres., High Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Usual. This is the official newsletter of the North East Science Fiction Group but don't be put off by that. This issue is particularly useful containing as it does articles originally printed in the Tynecon programme book on the history of British Easter conventions, if you didn't read the programme book I strongly recommend you get a copy of the Newsletter.

Fanzine Fanatique 16, Keith & Rosemary Walker, 2 Daisy Bank, Quearnmore Rd., Lancaster, Lancs. Usual or 4/35p, 3/$1 US. Fanzine reviews.

The Spang Blah Vol. 1V, No. 1, Jan Howard Finder. PSC Box 614, US Air Base 1-33081 Aviano, Italy. Free. The truly international newszine that covers fan news from all parts of the globe.

Instant Message 189, NESFA, Box G, MIT Branch Post Office, Cambridge, Mass. 02139, USA. Usual. Official newsletter of the New England SF Association.

Stop Breaking Down 1, Greg Pickersgill, 4 Lothair Rd., South Ealing, London N5, Usual of 20p (in stamps). Every time I came to this fanzine I looked at it and put it back on the bottom of the pile. It wasn't because I was afraid to make disparaging comments about it, rather the fact that I couldn't find the words to describe this, the first Pickersgill fanzine for over two years. From a cursory glance it's the usual Pickersgill package apart from a front cover, ably hand-cut by Graham Charnock. A look at the contents page soon makes you realise that this fanzine is something special; articles from Peter Roberts, Rob Holdstock, Graham Charnock and the long unpublished Simone Walsh make this something of a London group zine. For all this ingroupish contribution Stop Breaking Down if remarkable, being readable and understandable to a large segment of fandom; something previous Pickersgill fanzines have been criticised for not being. Greg seems to have learned in his two years in exile that a fanzine can be painted on a broader canvas than he previously imagined.

I won't attempt to give an analysis of the articles published. Take my word for it that they are interesting and well written. One point I will mention though is Greg's own fanzine reviews. A few years ago one of the joys of reading the late lamented Fouler was the fine fanzine reviews contributed by Greg. When Fouler ceased publication and Greg's reviews went the way of all flesh a certain arrogance went out of the British review field. The joy of Greg's reviews are in essence this arrogance....he is right, you are wrong. You may not agree with his conclusions but Christ you can't help admiring the way he reaches them.

Karass 19, Linda Bushyager. 1614 Evans Ave., Prospect Park, Pa. 19076. USA. Usual or 3/$1. After a lengthy gap between issues it's good to see this American newszine back in production.

Ash-Wing 18, Frank Denton, 14654 - 8th Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA. 98166, USA. Usual. Not up to the standard of previous issues mainly because of the predomination of fiction. Still worthwhile getting though.

Sfinx 11, Andrew Chapman, Oriel College, Oxford. 3/80p. Billed as the foremost amateur SF magazine in Britain - who am I to disagree?

True Rat 7, Roy Kettle, 43 Chesholm Rd., Stoke Newington, London N16. Usual. Best thing in the issue is the seventh progress report from Mancon; the remainder of the zine is pretty good too.

Thangorodrim 27, Patrick Hayden, 206 St. George St., #910. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Usual or 3/$1.50. Although ostensibly an apazine, this fanzine makes a rather good genzine. Apart from some mailing comments most of the issue is taken up with articles and letters that wouldn't disgrace many a genzine. Well worth getting.

Vector 73, Chris Fowler, 72 Kenilworth Ave., Southcote, Reading, RG3 3DN. After all I've said about this magazine it pleases me to say that Chris now appears to have full control of the reins now. Oh, it's available in Britain for £3.30 for 6 and $6 in US and Canada.

K2, Dave Rowe, 8 Park Drive, Wickford, Essex, SS12 9DH and Bernie Peek, 6 Hawks Rd., Kingston on Thames, Surrey, KT1 3EG. Usual or at the last resort, 25p. Coming only a month after the first issue I'm quite surprised they've managed to produce such a good second issue. One thing missing though is some of that famous Dave Rowe artwork; how about it Dave?

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Checkpoint 67, edited and produced by Ian Maule, 8 Hillcroft Crescent, Ealing. London W5 2SG, United Kingdom. Available for letter, trade or subscription (5/40p or 10/70p). News this issue from Terry Hughes, Peter Presford, Eric Bentcliffe and George J. Laskowski Jr. FANZINE NEWS Richard Bergeron is hard at work on the special Willis issue of Warhoon.

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Mostly an edition of reprinted material, packaged with BSFA Newsletter 1 which would later become known as Matrix and be edited by Tom Jones.

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Held at the One Tun in London. The meeting was chaired by Fred Hemmings and an entirely new committee was elected.

Dave Symes is appointed Membership Secretary.
David Kyle is Vice Chair
Jill Adams agrees to serve as Treasurer, pro tem.

Later in the year when the company accounts were submitted, Jill Adams passed the role on to Keith Freeman

At NOVCACON 5 in November, Tom Jones takes over the role of Membership Secretary.

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Guest of Honour: Harry Harrison.
Doc Weir Award: Peter Weston.
Ken Mcintrye Award: Carol Gregory.
The BSFA Award: Inverted World by Christopher Priest.

The BSFA AGM was not held at Eastercon. The Association's absence from the event as notable. The SEACON organising committee dealt with the BSFA Award.

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SEACON 75 : Eastercon : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Science fiction convention held in 1975. See Wikidata; SFcentral; Fancyclopedia; Fanac

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1974: Fanzine Claims the 'Death of the BSFA'

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1974: Fanzine Claims the 'Death of the BSFA'

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Operation SF, published in Novemver 1974, featured a picture of a Tombstone with the inscription 'Born 1958, BSFA, Died 1974'.

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The Mid 1970s: THE BASTARD OFFSPRING OF SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY

If late 1963 had been the start of the period of social and artistic revolution we think of when we refer to 'the Sixties', then 1974 surely marked its end. That period began with the death of one US president and ended with the disgrace of another as Richard Nixon, mired in the Watergate scandal, only escaped impeachment by resigning first, late in 1974. The Vietnam War, too, was winding down to its ignominious end but, badly bruised as America would be by these twin traumas, the West as a whole faced a far graver threat. In October 1973, in the wake of the Yom Kippur war, the oil states of the Middle East increased oil prices by 70 per cent and cut back production in protest at US support for Israel in that war. Western Europe, which then depended on Arab producers for 80 per cent of its oil, was particularly hard hit by the fuel rationing which followed with Britain, already reeling from a wave of industrial strikes, soon forced to adopt a three-day working week. The social revolution of the Sixties and the liberal advances that were made then had only been possible because of the affluence produced by near full employment. Jobs had been easy to come by, but in the wake of the Oil Crisis there was a rapid increase in unemployment, an end to easy affluence, and the beginnings of a more conservative mood in the country. A grim situation then, and one which was to affect fans as much as anyone else, yet British fandom was soon to receive a large influx of new people. Most of these would learn of it from a single new source.

As a general rule individual professional SF magazines haven't had that much effect on British fandom, but SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY changed things irrevocably. Large-size poster magazines were popular in the early 1970s; until SFM, though, no-one had put out an SF magazine in this format. The title of the magazine as originally announced before publication was 'SCI-FI MONTHLY'. It was changed after it was pointed out that this hideous neologism (much beloved of the media and Forrest J Ackerman, who coined it in the first place) was anathema to the SF community. The first issue, in February 1974, featured fiction by Brian Aldiss, Christopher Priest, and Isaac Asimov (a book extract), a film column by John Brosnan, art column by SFM editor Pat Hornsey and, most significantly for fandom, a news column by Penny Grant. That first column carried details of the 1974 Eastercon, the BSFA, and the monthly Globe meetings (this last at the suggestion of Priest), with drastic consequences for all three. In 1964, British fandom had been overwhelmed by the first wave of post-war 'baby boomers', and now it faced another wave of them. The 1974 Eastercon and the BSFA received a flood of membership applications thanks to SFM, while the first-Thursday gatherings at the Globe were suddenly crowded with newcomers. Many of these were followers of TV shows such as STAR TREK and DR WHO and these media fans, the Trekkies and Whovians, soon formed a large and separate contingent at the Globe.

The first ROMPA mailing appeared in February 1974. The official organ, BUMF, listed sixteen members, ten of whom had zines in the mailing (only two of which ran to more than six pages). Members listed were Britons Rob Jackson, Keith Walker, Gray Boak, Pete Presford, Lisa Conesa, Ian Williams, Ian Maule, John Piggott, John Hall, Greg Pickersgill, and Ian Butterworth; Americans Frank Balazs and Chris Hulse; South Africans Nick Shears and Brian Lombard; and Rune Forsgren of Sweden. Pickersgill and Forsgren never produced anything for ROMPA and were soon dropped. Keith Walker ran his FANZINDEX through the first mailing, a first brief attempt at a fanzine bibliography for British fandom, albeit not a very successful one. In the January CHECKPOINT, Peter Roberts commented:

"Contents of the first mailing might be judged light and certainly rather feeble for a new apa (interest should be at its highest at the beginning). Nevertheless, ROMPA already looks healthier than its ailing forbear, OMPA itself."
This last was an odd verdict since the January OMPA mailing, the 72nd, was 128 pages as against the 72 in ROMPA's first mailing (the highest ROMPA was ever to achieve), while those on either side, the 71st and 73rd OMPA mailings, had 166 and 143 respectively. Few OMPAzines were shorter than ten pages, and most were longer. Using these figures as an indicator, it's clear there was still a level of interest in OMPA among its members that ROMPA was never to match, let alone exceed. However, while OMPA was obviously still healthier than its feeble rival would ever be there were those in the apa who were no happier about its condition. In his 'President's Letter' in that January mailing, Terry Jeeves bemoaned the fact that only four members, himself included, had voted in OMPA's recent 'Egoboo Poll', which covered the previous year's OMPAzines and had categories similar to those in the CHECKPOINT Fan Poll. He was also concerned about the gradually decreasing size of the mailings, and annoyed with those who thought that "slim affairs of about two or four sheets" constituted fanzines:
"...but even these slim efforts are genuine efforts, and of greater value than the blank pages not submitted by our sleeping members, those who join OMPA, produce one zine and are never heard of again. Responses like this make even more ridiculous Ian Maule's claim that OMPA has a stranglehold on British fandom - our only stranglehold is on ourselves. Likewise, how can we be ruining fandom as he alleges if we produce nothing, be it good, bad or (like Ian's ROMPA circular) idiotic? Surely non-existent fanzines from non-active fans cannot seduce fandom?...It seems sad that a small society like this can put on a major convention but can't put out a handful of fanzines."
On 9th February 1974, John Brosnan flew out of Britain for an extended visit to his native Australia as announced that month in SCAB 5, the final issue. Nor was he the only fan leaving for the Antipodes. In March, Jean Muggoch emigrated to New Zealand, "to revitalise New Zealand Fandom, I trust" commented Peter Roberts. It was not to be. Jean Muggoch was taken ill on arriving in New Zealand and died before her new life could even commence.
The Norwich Science Fiction Club, also known as the 'Discovery' SF Society of Norwich, was formed in March 1974 by Phil Watson, proprietor of Goose's Bookshop. Starting out with around a dozen members, the group met fortnightly in the Queen's Head pub on Upper St.Giles St. Its first officers were Phil Watson as President, Roger Robinson as Secretary, Sheila Ritchie as Treasurer, and Alan Marshall as Treasurer.

In SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY 2 (March '74), Penny Grant's news column carried a short piece on fanzines and gave the addresses to write to for copies of SPECULATION, ZIMRI, and CHECKPOINT. By the time it appeared, only one of these was still being published. As Peter Roberts wrote in the issue where he bowed out, CHECKPOINT 46 (March '74):

"Three years is enough, Meyer. Producing a newszine, particularly a small-scale one like CHECKPOINT, is a comparatively thankless task. A fanzine like EGG is interesting to produce and stimulates a fair amount of comment and response. CHECKPOINT too often becomes a burden to publish... So farewell and thanks...."
In a note to SFM readers, Roberts added:
"As you can see from the above, those of you who've written after seeing the plug in SF MONTHLY have come upon CHECKPOINT rather too late. The large response, however, has encouraged me to go ahead with a small project that I'd been intending to do for some time, namely: the production of a brief guide to current fanzines."
That same issue carried the results of the third annual CHECKPOINT Fan Poll with Malcolm Edwards being voted Best British Fanwriter (runners-up being Pickersgill, Brosnan, Boak, and Williams - last year's number one, down to number five), Andrew Stephenson being Best British Fanartist (followed by Bell, Turner & Rowe, and ATom), and Best British Fanzine being ZIMRI (followed by VECTOR, BLUNT, CYNIC, and RITBLAT/GRIM NEWS, the first issue of which had only been published a few weeks earlier).
RITBLAT/GRIM NEWS 1 (March '74) was the first solo fanzine from Greg Pickersgill. Conrad Ritblat was an estate agent (realtor) whose signs were then much in evidence on London properties. Pickersgill, liking the name, purloined it. GRIM NEWS was actually a separate newszine that went out bound with RITBLAT, one started in response to the news that Peter Roberts was folding CHECKPOINT. As to the main fanzine, RITBLAT carried pieces by Ian Williams, John Brosnan, and Leroy Kettle, with Pickersgill's own column of fanzine criticism making a (for many, but not all) welcome return and just as acerbic as ever. It was well received, got generally favourable reviews, and even roused John Piggott, who was then deeply involved in games fandom and still publishing ETHIL THE FROG:

"When I received your rag, Greg, I suddenly realised again what a lot of fun fandom can be. I'd drifted away over the past eighteen months, chiefly because there seemed to be so little happening in the fanzine world...but I suddenly realised, reading RITBLAT, that I wasn't getting as much out of postal games as I might...that I wasn't getting enough response. The following day I typed out a final issue of ETHIL, number 46."
This renewed interest in fandom caused Piggott to produce a fanzine, 61 CYGNI C 1, for the next ROMPA mailing. Unfortunately, it was a one-off and, in fact, Piggott's last SF fanzine.
Though enthusiastic about the BSFA, Graham Poole, the BSFA Company Secretary, was discovering that living in Cheltenham was a problem:

"I felt I was doing a useful job and people were interested in what I had to say. I raised many ideas and suggestions, some of which were adopted, many more of which were not although I am sure they would have been if I could have argued my case over a pint face-to-face rather than by the long and laborious process of typing out and posting the idea and receiving the reply a week or so later."
Determined to improve the BSFA and to shake up its apathetic membership, Poole decided to put his ideas directly to the members. To this end he produced REVELATIONS/THE FANNISH INQUISITION in March 1973, a single sheet questionnaire that was also a flyer for the first issue of REVELATIONS proper, which he intended as a forum for BSFA members. Despite the scepticism of other committee members, Poole received seventy replies. It looked like REVELATIONS would get off to a flying start.
TYNECON '74, the 1974 Eastercon, was held at the Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle over the weekend of 12th - 15th April, registration was 504 with a final attendance of over 400 - a testament to the effect SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY was having. Guest of Honour was Bob Shaw, Fan GoH was Peter Weston, and other notable attendees included Samuel R.Delany, Roger Zelazny, Brian Aldiss, Chris Priest, Anne McCaffrey, James Blish, Don Wollheim, Michael Moorcock, Mark Adlard, Ken Bulmer, James White, and John Brunner. As the committee: Ian Maule was Chairman, Ian Williams was Secretary, Rob Jackson was Treasurer, and Harry Bell was Press Officer. Irene Bell was also a committee member, but the Programme Book lists no specific role for her. Programme items included a 'Poetry Soiree' hosted by Lisa Conesa; 'Out of the Slushpile', a new writers panel chaired by Chris Priest, with Ian Watson and Andrew Stephenson; 'What's Wrong with SF Art' with Eddie and Marsha Jones and others; ' The Future of Fanzines', a panel chaired by Gray Boak, with Peter Roberts, Ian Maule and Lisa Conesa; 'The Golden Fifties', a panel discussion of 1950s fandom chaired by Bob Shaw, with Ron Bennett, Ken Bulmer, and James White; 'The Need for an Ideology', an examination of how SF had so far reflected need for a belief in higher beings, with John Brunner, James Blish, and Anne McCaffrey; a 'Publishers Panel' featuring John Bush, Don Wollheim, Sam Lundwall, and Phil Harbottle; 'Whither the BSFA?' with Ken Bulmer, Fred Hemmings and Keith Freeman; and other items.

Though originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, Bob Shaw's GoH speech - the first in what was to be a long and celebrated run of such speeches - was delivered after Sunday's banquet. The films shown at TYNECON included The Omega Man, Slaughterhouse-5, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Cat People, and a feature on Apollo-17.

In other business at TYNECON, Malcolm Edwards received the Doc Weir Award in appreciation of his editorship of VECTOR (the Ken McIntyre wasn't awarded this year), Mike Rosenblum and Ken Bulmer were made life members of the BSFA, the BSFA SF Award went to Arthur C.Clarke's ' Rendezvous With Rama', Brian Aldiss received a special BSFA Award for ' Billion Year Spree', and the winners of the Gollancz/Sunday Times SF Competition were awarded their cheques by John Bush of Gollancz. At the BSFA AGM, Chris Bursey (of the Kingston/Kittenfandom group) took over from Keith Freeman as Vice-Chairman. The other committee members were Graham Poole, Roger Hensey, Fred Hemmings, Malcolm Davies, and Dave Tillston, Tillston being the Membership Secretary. Chris Fowler offered to take over editorship of VECTOR from Malcolm Edwards, who was retiring from that position after his next issue. Also, as Darroll Pardoe reported afterwards:

"The business meeting...was the liveliest for some time. The night before it had seemed that three bids were likely; as it turned out there were only two, the Manchester bid having withdrawn in favour of 1976 (for which they requested, and got, the meeting's approval). In view of the confusion the two year in advance system has caused in the past, I doubt the wisdom of reviving it, even though all concerned were at pains to make clear that next year's convention is not bound by the decision. The two bidders for 1975 were a Bristol convention committee with Keith Freeman as their chief spokesman; and a SEACON (South-East Area) committee spoken for by Rob Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards, and containing a formidable combination of forces including Peter Roberts, Peter Weston, and the Rats. The latter bid won by a large margin."
This last was particularly impressive given that Ratfandom had only decided to bid for 1975 since arriving at TYNECON in order to block the Manchester bid, which they expected to produce a disastrous convention. In many ways that win marked the end of Ratfandom as any sort of cohesive unit. What had been largely responsible for holding them together until then was their 'us-against-them' attitude but on winning the 1975 Eastercon the rebellious young turks, as always happens, became the Establishment. They would still be known as Ratfandom by some as late as 1979 but things were never really the same again. SEACON was to be their swan-song as a group. It was intended that SEACON should be held in a coastal resort town but, as we shall see, things didn't quite work out that way. The latest in the series of short fanzines produced by Ratfandom for handout at conventions, SOME LETTERS WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED, appeared at TYNECON. It was the last.
TYNECON '74 is commonly held to have been a classic Eastercon, one where almost everything went right, and whose tremendous end of con party sent the attendees away on a real high. Bob Shaw rated the event a 'five-bed convention', while Brian Aldiss was seen at one room party bouncing up and down on a bed with such enthusiasm that he broke it. TYNECON was to be the yardstick by which all other British conventions were measured for years after. One of the first reports to appear after the convention was by Darroll Pardoe in CHECKPOINT 47 (April '74), which appeared a mere month after the last Roberts-edited issue. New editor Pardoe explained:

"I have taken over the rights from Peter Roberts and will continue to publish CHECKPOINT as a news-and-chatzine with basically the same philosophy as before."
Not with the same format however. Where previous issues had been duplicated on quarto paper, the Pardoe issues were all litho-printed on a single sheet of A4, folded down to A5. This made them all four pages long where the Roberts issues had varied to suit the amount of news to hand.
Now that CHECKPOINT wasn't folding, the GRIM NEWS part of RITBLAT/GRIM NEWS was rendered superfluous. However, it may well have been what was providing Pickersgill with the impetus to continue publishing since RITBLAT 2 (April '74) was the final one. Another solid issue, it contained an admission by Pickersgill of fanhistorical interest:

"Sitting around...I had the unpleasant spectre of Silly Animal Fandom cross my mind like a deformed and retarded black cat. And it occurred to me for the first time in several days that it's not a generally known fact that I, directly or not, have been responsible for the whole depressing thing. This is not a happy thing to identify with..."
Pickersgill explained that one day in 1969, while still living in Wales, he'd travelled to Bristol to visit Peter Roberts and the Mercers and had mentioned to them an item he'd seen in a MENSA newssheet about an aardvark hunt in Swansea Docks, organised by that town's Young MENSA Group. This inspired a flood of jokes, puns, and the like from Roberts and the Mercers, to his immense irritation:
"Next damn thing I knew EGG had come out as the Official Organ of Aardvark Fandom, and my opinion of Peter James Roberts had slid down several stages. That, of course, started several related inanities such as Wombat fandom, which I had only the distant connection with. The reality of the situation finally came down during the publication of FOULER, when I called for something to put up as a parody of all these cuddly cretinacies. Something vaguely repellant, not at all warm, friendly, or sweetness and light."
Leroy Kettle came back with 'Rat' in response to his co-editor's suggestion of 'Axolotl', and Ratfandom was born. Pickersgill's final contribution to Silly Animal Fandom was to rename the North East Fan Group as 'Gannetfandom'. The Kittens came by their name without his help.
Making their first appearance in April were PETER ROBERTS' LITTLE GEM GUIDE TO SF FANZINES (the project referred to in his final CHECKPOINT), and BLAZON 1 from Eric Bentcliffe for the Knights of St. Fanthony. Nor was this the only zine Bentcliffe put out that month since April also saw the publication of TRIODE 19, which he co-edited with Terry Jeeves, the first issue since 1960. It featured some beautiful James Cawthorn artwork, articles by Bentcliffe, Jeeves, and Don Allen, and even an adventure featuring 'Harrison', the fictional mainstay of pieces in many earlier issues. It was firmly in the mould of the TRIODEs of yore, and appreciated by many for that very reason. The revived TRIODE would see eight issues in all, folding late in 1977 with TRIODE 26.

Formed at some point in early 1974 was Reading SF Club, which met the first day of the month at Reading University and featured formal SF readings and discussions. Founders were Keith Freeman and Chris Fowler.

VECTOR 67/68 (Spring '74) was the last issue to be edited by Malcolm Edwards, and could have been the last one ever. Few realised it as yet, but the BSFA was in serious trouble. Though still eager to improve the BSFA, Graham Poole was beginning to realise that all was not well with the Association. As he later wrote:

"At the same time as producing THE FANNISH INQUISITION and the first issue of REVELATIONS, I also produced GENESIS which took a lot of time and effort to compile. I succeeded in my task and sent it for publication in April (actually, 13th May). GENESIS was my endeavour to let new members, and old ones too, know a lot more about the BSFA and SF fandom. REVELATIONS was my endeavour to get BSFA members corresponding. The con came and went. I felt wildly enthusiastic and sent a letter dated 28/4/74 to the new Vice- Chairman Chris Bursey, Fred Hemmings, and newly elected Malcolm Davies. I asked for deadlines, their views on REV's contents and name, and made at least nine other suggestions all requiring answers. None of the Committee members had the courtesy to reply."
GENESIS would never be mailed out, and over the next few months the BSFA's silence would become total.
'WESTON WINS TAFF' was the headline on CHECKPOINT 48 (May '74). Weston beat Peter Roberts to become the TAFF delegate at the 1974 Worldcon (called DISCON and held in Washington DC at the end of August) by 154 votes (62 US, 60 UK, 32 Europe) to 65 (42, 19, 4). CHECKPOINT 49, later that same month, carried a letter from Don Allen stating his intention to reform the North East SF Society, an idea which ultimately came to nothing.

John Brosnan, returning to the UK after his trip back to Australia, decided to re-enter the fanzine stakes with BIG SCAB, successor to his earlier scandal- sheet, in June 1974. Apart from an interview with Richard Matheson, one of a number conducted by Brosnan during a stay he made in Hollywood on his trip back to the UK, the issue was entirely editor-written.

The final regular first-Thursday meeting to be held at the Globe took place on 6th June 1974, but it was not the final meeting of all at the Globe. That occurred on Wednesday 12th June 1974, a special gathering held to honour the first visit to these shores of Isaac Asimov. Asimov's ship arrived at Southampton on Wednesday 5th June. As well as the usual book-signing sessions, interviews, publishers' receptions and the like, his itinerary included a reception on Monday 10th June to install him as an Honorary Vice President of International MENSA; a lunchtime lecture to students of the Science Faculty of Kings College, University of London, on Tuesday 11th June; the Globe meeting on Wednesday 12th June; a lecture to the Birmingham Group at the city's Holiday Inn on the Thursday 13th June; and a public lecture, organised jointly by British MENSA and the SF Foundation, at the Commonwealth Hall, Craven Street, London, where Asimov was introduced by Arthur C.Clarke. Of the Globe meeting, Asimov wrote in his autobiography:

"That evening I attended a science-fiction fan-club meeting at a bar, one that had the air of an impromptu convention. Ruth Kyle was there. She and Dave Kyle were living in England at that time, and Dave was recovering from an appendectomy."
As of Thursday 4th July 1974 the first-Thursday meetings were held at the One Tun. This was a pub on Saffron Hill in London's Farringdon district, a short walk from the soon-to-be-demolished Globe, and had been found by John Brunner. It would be the venue for the meetings for the next decade.
HELL 10, the final issue, appeared in July 1974. Though credited to both Paul Skelton and Brian Robinson it was essentially a solo Skel production and marked Robinson's last connection with fanzines. Also out in July was the first issue of WRINKLED SHREW, edited by Pat Charnock with assistance from husband Graham. The first issue carried pieces by both Charnocks, Chris Priest, Dicky Howett, Charles Platt (whose London flat Pat and Graham were then renting), and the first in a column of excerpts from letters Graham Hall had written Graham Charnock in the 1960s. It was all high-quality stuff, and SHREW would go on to become one of the classic fanzines of the decade.

Out in August 1974 was 'Progress Report 01' of BRITAIN IN '79, the British Worldcon bid, which listed 201 pre-supporters to date. This had risen to 360 by October, more than 200 of whom were American. Among the fanzines to appear in August were EGG 8 and BIG SCAB 2. BIG SCAB ('The Special Robert P.Holdstock Issue') contained a couple of hilarious and unflattering pieces about Holdstock, and a piece by Brosnan titled 'Bitchings... or How to Start a Fannish Feud' which was about an argument between him and Malcolm Edwards over who had the 'right' to interview authors for SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY. Brosnan, who had sold interviews to SFM, alleged that Edwards had tried to sew up a deal that would leave him as their sole interviewer. A few months after this, in the course of an article in WRINKLED SHREW 2 in which he blasted those who trashed SFM (which he thought 'crass' and 'shoddy') yet bought it anyway, Graham Charnock commented on...

"...the ridiculous example of two fans like Malcolm Edwards and John Brosnan, not only not making vast sums of money or accruing vast glory from SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY but making utter fools of themselves not doing it by running around arguing and feuding about who has the right to interview people for the magazine. Neither of these are undertaking their work in a strict professional sense (although John would appear to have a better claim in this respect than Malcolm) and both of them have told me at some stage or other how worthless they feel the magazine is. Whatare they doing it for?"
Shortly before Easter, Gannetfandom were barred from the Gannet after an argument with the landlord and thereafter had moved their meetings to other venues such as the Ceolfrith Arts Centre and the Imperial Vaults pub, both of which were also in Sunderland. Exhausted by TYNECON, but buoyed by its success, Gannetfandom lay low for a few months after the con, and in September there was a burst of activity from them in the form of the fourth and fifth issues of Ian Williams' SIDDHARTHA, and MAYA 6. This was Maule's last MAYA, but the fanzine would survive, going on to its finest hour under the guidance of a third and final editor, Rob Jackson.
The Friends Of Kilgore Trout (FOKT) was a new fan group that formed in Glasgow in the wake of TYNECON, where most of its founder members had first met each other, and which included people from that city's earlier ASTRA-derived fan club. As to the group's name:

"John Duffy thought of it first. Ian Black echoed his enthusiasm, along with Alan Milne. Chris Boyce and Jim Campbell applauded warmly...The Friends Of Kilgore Trout were baptised in a beery bar named The Dunrobin, one of the last genuine Glasgow pubs. Having failed to persuade any female to come twice running, a change was made to a classier establishment, the Horseshoe, in Drury Lane. Here too were problems, not least being the sheer popularity of the place with the rest of humanity. At last, after six months of travel, the perfect home was found in the Andros, a large and empty pub in the West End. FOKT had a name, and now - a home! (Of course, as soon as we had publicity material printed, the pub changed hands; it is now Wintergill's, and we're stuck with 100 postcards promoting the Andros.)"
Wintergill's was on the Great Western Road, and FOKT meetings were held there every Thursday evening. (Later, a comics fan group called the Friends Of Clark Kent, which had some members in common with FOKT, would meet in Wintergill's on Wednesday evenings.)
A mention from Jim Linwood of the Kingston SF Group (Kittenfandom) on the news page of the August SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY (Vol. 1, No. 7) brought them a new member in the person of Janice Wiles. On Thursday 26th September 1974, in the early hours of the morning, the 6 Hawks Road venue for the group's meetings was raided by officers of the bomb squad much to the surprise of Bernie Peek, the fan who had taken over the flat following Gray Boak's move to Preston some months earlier. As Linwood reported:

"The room was quickly filled by several officers looking for explosive substances; the contents of the room gave them much concern as Bernie is a full-time chemist and also a photography and electronics buff. After sniffing and tasting assorted chemicals and poking various pieces of circuitry they began to interrogate Bernie, asking if he was associated with any known terrorist group (..."I've never heard of Ratfandom," he screamed as they...). Eventually they left, leaving Bernie to his slumbers."
With terrorist acts now no longer confined to Northern Ireland but also a fact of life on the British mainland, police vigilance was at its height. Two months on, in November 1974, bombs would rip through two Birmingham city centre pubs whose customers were predominantly in their late teens and early twenties, killing seventeen and maiming dozens more.
The UK's first STAR TREK convention was held on the weekend of 28th/29th September 1974 at the Abbey Motor Hotel in Leicester. It was organised by the Star Trek Action Group (STAG) which had only been in existence a year and was already the largest Star Trek club in Europe. Guests of Honour were James (Scotty) Doohan and George (Sulu) Takei. Profits from the con were being donated to the World Wildlife Fund. Advertised attractions included exhibitions of artwork, writing, and models; group discussions, panels, and speeches; and a 'shore leave' party with a disco. A few people from mainstream SF fandom attended the con including Peter Roberts, Greg Pickersgill, and John Brosnan. Or, in the case of this trio, tried to, at any rate. They travelled up to Leicester by train, attempted to register at the door, and were turned away. The con was apparently fully-booked and there was no registration at the door. Stunned, they travelled straight back to London, arriving in time for the pubs to open. Pickersgill wrote the incident up for the next EGG. (However grim something might be, there's always a little voice at the back of a true fan's mind that says: "I can write a fanzine article about this."). One of the trio's reasons for travelling to the con had been the possibility of meeting women, Star Trek fandom being known to attract far more than were then involved with SF fandom. They weren't the only SF fans to have the same idea however, and the involvement with Star Trek fandom of one who did get into the convention, Malcolm Davies, introduced him to his future wife, Kate Solomon.**

By September 1974, six months after its formation, Norwich's Discovery SF Society had grown to the point that the Queen's Head was no longer large enough to accommodate them. (Membership numbered 25 - 30, with weekly attendance averaging 20 people.) That month they moved to The Artichoke, Magdalen Gates, and meetings were held every Thursday night. Once a fortnight the group had a pre-set subject for discussion and, as of September, had a guest speaker once a month. The first speaker was Anthony Cheetham, then Managing Director of Futura Books. The second, in October, was R.Lionel Fanthorpe, who was to have a long association with the Norwich group in all the various incarnations it would pass through in the coming years. In December the group would publish the first issue of their official club fanzine, BLACK HOLE, (they didn't then know of the Leeds University fanzine of the same name) edited by Roger Robinson with assistance from David Bryant, Roger Campbell, Alan Marshall, Ian McFarlane, and Steve Paseby.

Where the plug in SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY had boosted TYNECON, its effect on the BSFA proved disastrous. A huge number of enquiries resulted, more than the membership secretary could handle. There were now an enormous number of people out there interested in SF (and, potentially, fandom) and SFM had provided them with a point of entry to the SF and fan community they might otherwise never have found. After years of struggling, the BSFA had now received a massive and unexpected show of interest that, if it could be harnessed, might revitalise the Association. It was not to be, however. As Graham Poole reports:

"At the convention the news was released that at least 1200 people had up to then enquired after recent adverts for the BSFA appeared in SFM. But, as the months after TYNECON rolled by the ultimate gafiation was rumoured. Dave Tillston, apparently, for reasons only known to himself, decided he wasn't going to reply to any of the thousands of letters he'd received. The trouble was he didn't tell anyone of this and subsequent attempts to communicate... all proved negative. I then learnt that similar problems were being experienced with Hensey, and an even nastier shock came with the news that the long incommunicado Joe Bowman's house had burnt down, along with the complete BSFA magazine library, a fitting epitaph to the illegal sale a few years ago of the BSFA's fanzine library.

I sympathise to some extent with Chris Bursey. He became Vice-Chairman on the crest of a wave of potential members clamouring at the door, a wave that soon turned turbulent when those clamouring members were turned away.

He must have been unprepared for what happened so soon after his election, a nightmarish situation after the BSFA struggling along for years with only two or three hundred members...."
In September 1974, Poole severed his ties with the moribund BSFA:
"The Monday before last I finally resigned as Company Secretary of the BSFA, throwing off all the totally unnecessary burdens I'd laid upon my back only to find that no-one gave a damn or would give me a hand. 'Sod it!' I thought. 'I'll run an SF group and I'll show the BSFA how to do it properly'."
The first meeting of the revived Cheltenham SF Group was held at the end of September in the Hurdles bar of the Star Hotel. A few weeks later, in October, Poole published the first issue of his fanzine, SPI. SPI (the name was short for 'spirogyra') enabled Poole to make use of the replies to THE FANNISH INQUISITION that had been intended for the now never-to-be-published REVELATIONS, and to lay out his problems with the BSFA and his thoughts on where it should go from here. It also served as a diary of sorts:
"Recent events have included the visit of Tim Apps, yet another fan interested in joining the Cheltenham Group ((he did)), and the receipt of a letter from Joseph Nicholas, a Lyme Regis fan who is apparently a science fiction writing machine, introduced by Tim."
Nicholas, who was soon move from Lyme Regis to Surrey in order to take up a job in London, would go on to become the most prolific letterhack in British fandom. As for the BSFA, matters were to receive a new twist after the forthcoming NOVACON.
Among the other fanzines appearing in October 1974 were INFERNO 5, the first general distribution issue; TRUE RAT 3 (issue 2 had appeared earlier in the autumn, the first issue in a year); WARK 1, a fanzine about fanzines from Ro Pardoe; and MALFUNCTION 6, in which editor Pete Presford complained about Ian Williams not allowing two-year bids at the TYNECON bidding session so that the MaD Group now had to bid for the 1976 Eastercon at SEACON 75, and in which Andrew Stephenson explained how that same SEACON, which was going to be held at a coastal town, was now being held in Coventry. This is about as far away from the sea as you can get in Britain, and the move afforded fans across the country much amusement.

As usual, OMPA's October mailing marked the start of a new year for the apa but not, alas, of a renewed vitality. The 14 memberships were 10 UK, 3 US, and 1 Belgian. Total page count for 1973/4 had been 564, the second substantial drop in succession and this October mailing, at 92 pages, was the smallest in more than four years. It carried a letter from Terry Jeeves containing further bad news:

"With typical OMPA enthusiasm, only TWO members bothered to vote, Paul Skelton and myself...So with this resounding victory for the forces of APAthy, I hereby submit my resignation both as President, and from the virtually moribund ranks of OMPA. I have staggered along for quite a while trying to stir some sort of activity into the ranks, but it seems it is not to be. If OMPA ever regains (or regroups) in the future, and you wish to have me back, then I'll gladly rejoin."
He never did. From here on the decline of OMPA was inexorable.
NOVACON 4 was held at the Imperial Centre Hotel, Birmingham, over the weekend of 25th - 27th October 1974, and Guest of Honour was Ken Slater. Registration was approximately 250, and actual attendance somewhat less than that. It was held earlier than usual in order to attract Americans visiting the UK for a MENSA conference in October. Programme items included a report on his recent TAFF trip by Peter Weston; 'Gods In SF' - a talk by James Blish; Tom Shippey on 'Science and Magic'; 'Is Hugo Alive and Well?' with Blish, Holdstock, Nicholls, and Priest; and 'Wigan Pier in 1984', a panel on conventions-to-come with Andrew Stephenson, Peter Weston, Pete Presford, Fred Hemmings, and Rob Jackson. Films included The Day Mars Invaded Earth and a blooper reel. A panel of knowledgeable fans had been chosen to judge the Nova Award by administrator, Gillon Field, shortly before her death earlier that year. The judges were Jim Linwood, Greg Pickersgill, Ina Shorrock, Andrew Stephenson, and Keith Walker. They were not able to reach a consensus as to which title was Best British Fanzine of 1974 however, so the Nova was awarded jointly to ZIMRI and BIG SCAB, the third and final issue of which had been published a few weeks earlier.

The North-East Science Fiction Group (NESFiG) was set up by the Gannets as a sercon SF group that they hoped would draw in newcomers who could then be seduced by the ways of fandom and recruited into Gannetfandom. Following a favourable write-up in a local newspaper, ' The Evening Standard', the first meeting was held at the Bridge Hotel, High Level Bridge, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on Friday 8th November 1974. It featured Brian Aldiss who gave a talk: 'What Science Fiction Means To Me'. The speaker at the second meeting, on 29th November, was Bob Shaw. NESFiG NEWSLETTER, a fanzine in its own right that was originally edited by Harry Bell, would later be produced on behalf of the group. It would see twenty issues in all. NESFiG lasted a little over three years, folding early in 1978, and was judged "a limited success" by the Gannets. It did bring in some new people, though, most notably Andy Firth.

Following on from the FANZINDEX he had distributed via ROMPA and OMPA in January, Keith Walker distributed the follow up, MAIN TITLE INDEX, of his project at NOVACON 4 and via the fourth ROMPA mailing. Reviewing it in CHECKPOINT, Darroll Pardoe commented on its many errors and omissions and wrote:

"It's difficult to resist the conclusion that Keith has rushed this index into print without completing the necessary research. I hope he gets things more into order before publishing the main indexes."
He didn't, but a proper bibliography of British fanzines would be produced - by someone else - before the end of the decade. Walker was bursting with grand ideas at this point and in late-November 1974 he sent out a flyer titled OPERATION SF. One side showed a tombstone with the inscription: "Born 1958, BSFA, Died 1974" and asked "Why Not Join a *Living* Science Fiction Organisation? Join Operation SF", while on the other side was a picture of an astronaut lying in the dust and holding a flag marked 'BSFA'. Commenting on this in CHECKPOINT 57 (Nov '74), under the heading ' Come In BSFA, Your Time Is Up', Darroll Pardoe wrote:
"The present whereabouts of the BSFA are obscure, but the other day a flyer arrived from Keith Walker...Peter Weston wrote to me expressing his thoughts on the subject and I have to say that they coincide largely with my own: 'For the last two months Vernon Brown has been chewing over this subject. He first wanted to reorganise the BSFA but then realised that far too many others have sunk out of sight in that mire. So Vernon decided that something new and better is required. He took the opportunity of Novacon to discuss this with others of like mind with the hope that some ideas would be established to present at Eastercon. The thing is, any new organisation must not just repeat the mistakes of its predecessor. It needs to be thought about, structured, and its purpose defined. Interested parties please get in touch with Vernon...something like this shouldn't be a unilateral, one- man project if it is to have any chance of success...the whole subject of a successor to the BSFA...of a central organisation for fandom, is too important to play with'."
New to the fanzine scene in December 1974 was GLIMPSE 1, an SF and comics fanzine from Paul Hudson, who would later go on to be the founder and proprietor of the London shop 'Comics Showcase'. There were four GLIMPSEs in all, the final one published mid 1976.
The December issue of SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY (Vol.1 No.11) carried the first instalment of a feature called 'Fanzines In Focus', which looked at a prominent sercon fanzine and its editor. The feature lasted for three issues, focusing first on Peter Weston and SPECULATION, then Lisa Conesa and ZIMRI and, finally, on Jim Goddard and CYPHER, which was now published from Nomansland in Wiltshire following Goddard's move there some months earlier. According to the feature, CYPHER had:

"...the distinction of being probably the only amateur SF magazine to receive a grant. The Southern Arts Association have just awarded Jim Goddard enough money to bring out the next three issues..."
A shame, then, that by the time this feature appeared CYPHER had already ceased publication with its twelfth issue in November, the only one to see print after the grant was awarded. Goddard would later join Brosnan, Edwards, and Weston as a regular contributor to SFM. The penetration of the magazine by current and former fans is well-illustrated by the January issue, which featured an interview with Chris Priest conducted by John Brosnan, the fanzine focus on Lisa Conesa, a feature on artist Jim Cawthorn, and the regular articles by Mike Ashley and Walter Gillings.
Early in January 1975, Dave Patterson, a fan who had worked with Bob Shaw and James White at Short's in Belfast, announced that he was forming the Northern Ireland Science Fiction Association. The first meeting was to be held on 14th January at The New Tudor, a privately run SF cinema, and that an association journal, CYGNUS, would appear quarterly. Things didn't work out quite that way, however.

Also formed in January was Jomsborg, the Cambridge University Fantasy Society, which was named after the famous Viking order. This in turn inspired the formation of Jomsborg-in-Oxford, the OUSFG Fantasy Discussion Group. Both groups had a large overlap in membership with their respective university SF groups.

SF TIMES 1 (Jan'75) was a follow up to editor Keith Walker's OPERATION SF which, Walker admitted, had been published:

"...to give a kick in the pants to the long-silent BSFA. By announcing prematurely the death of that august body we hoped to elicit at least a squeal of protest. But that slumbering monster shrugged off our pin-prick and went back to sleep."
SFT contained both Walker's own further thoughts on the BSFA and a screed by Vernon Brown on the possible shape of the organisation that might replace it. Brown's ideas were sketchy and impractical, calling for any new organisation to have a larger committee than the BSFA and to be aimed at active members only. For his part, Walker was unwilling to accept that the BSFA had yet died:
"Well we might be tempted to do so but your letters indicate an increasing sense of frustration and anger at the 'rip-off' being perpetrated on them as BSFA members. There has been serious suggestion of a 'new' organisation. This however will not solve the problems of the old. Someone somewhere out there has the answers. What has happened to the BSFA? Who has all the money? What is intended to be done with its assets? What has happened to VECTOR? IS THE BSFA DEAD? If so we have a right to know! If not then we have the right to some positive indication that it intends to honour its recently inflated subscription, that its members will not continue to be cheated. An honest statement giving an honest appraisal of the current status of the BSFA should, naymust be given! Let's not forget that many neofans who came into fandom via SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY and the BSFA ad in that journal. Their view of fandom's integrity must be pretty low. For their sake and that of all BSFA members something must be done."
Though people like Walker and Graham Poole were worried about the state of the BSFA, most didn't care. The feeling of many in fandom was summed up by Peter Roberts when he wrote in EGG 9 (Feb '75):
"The BSFA was a tedious organisation which rarely generated any great interest or excitement. It hung around British fandom for sixteen years and its history can best be summed up as a series of trivial disasters. At times individual fans wasted their talents in heroic efforts to bring the thing to life; but it was moribund from birth."
That issue of EGG also contained a long and fascinating article by editor Roberts on 1940s US fan Claude Degler and his 'Cosmic Circle', an organisation that had grandiose plans for fandom, which it considered to be composed of individuals who represented the next stage in humanity's evolution (no kidding!). EGG 9 also had a unique cover, featuring as it did a photograph of Pat Charnock's naked backside.
ROMPA's second year started in February 1975, and its new thirteen member roster featured Gray Boak, Ian Butterworth, Lisa Conesa, John N.Hall, Rob Jackson, Ian Maule, Pete Presford, Julia Stone, Ian Williams, & Keith Walker, from the UK; and Frank Balazs, Chris Hulse, & Neil Stein, from North America.

Rob Jackson took over as OE from Ian Maule, who moved down to London that same month, and announced that the next mailing would appear in May. It didn't. The February ROMPA mailing, the fifth, was the last. ROMPA had lasted a mere year and, despite its original aims, had never looked like a serious rival to OMPA. Not that this left Jackson with time on his hands. In February 1975 he also published MAYA 7, his first issue as editor. It was lithographed (as all his issues would be) and A5 size (subsequent issues would be A4). During Jackson's editorial tenure, MAYA would become the fanzine with the biggest circulation of any in the country, and the most internationally well-known British fanzine of the 1970s. Fannish and sercon in equal measure, it would attract articles by well-known fans and pros and eventually be nominated for a Hugo.

CHECKPOINT 59 (Feb '75) reported that Sonya Porter was organising an SF group in the Woking/Guildford area. First meeting was to be 5th March 1975 at the Robin Hood Inn, Robin Hood Rd, Knaphill near Woking. Among the fanzines reviewed this issue was NEBULA 4. The first NEBULA (no relation to the 1950s prozine), from David H.Taylor, had appeared in January and the fanzine would see twelve issues in all, folding in September 1977. Though undoubtedly an SF fanzine, NEBULA was not really part of the fannish mainstream. As Darroll Pardoe commented in his review:

"There's a whole unsuspected alternate fandom in Britain. This fmz (mostly fiction) is a manifestation of it."
A fanzine that was definitely mainstream fannish was Graham Poole's SPI. The second issue, in March, carried further news of the BSFA:
"John Brunner is resigning as Chairman. It is quite likely that the BSFA will be wound-up after the AGM this Easter at SEACON. I've recently heard from the Registrar of Companies that the Annual Return I completed over six months ago hasn't yet been submitted...(which) contravenes the Company Acts."
So on top of everything else it looked like the BSFA could soon find itself in legal trouble as well. As to Poole's own views:
"...two years ago Jill Adams proposed that the Company be wound up. This motion was subsequently tabled at the AGM but in my view it is time to raise it again. The BSFA should be wound up as soon as possible...The BSFA and the BSFA system must be disbanded for once and for all time."
Strong stuff. The letters page carried responses to Poole's piece on the BSFA in the first SPI, including a poignant one from Mike Rosenblum:
"I wish I could offer to get back into the BSFA and try to pull it together but I'm afraid I'm an old and tired fan, with little energy or time and plenty of mundane and family preoccupations. Another point against myself is that I seem to be out of touch with today's younger people - the generation gap, I suppose. We have a Leeds University Science Fiction Society (at least there was last academic year) but somehow I have never been able to feel close to them despite contacts and attending three meetings; and also despite the fact that they seem nice young people and know their SF literature better than I did at their age."
Jim Campbell's CELTIC WARRIOR, a one-off devoted to amateur fiction, in March 1975, was the first fanzine to be produced by a FOKT member. Other new titles were John Jarrold's PREVERT, which wouldn't see another issue until the 1980s, and DURFED 1 from Gannets Kev Williams and Neil Jones. In WRINKLED SHREW 3, that same month, Graham Charnock wrote about his experiences over the previous year working on a record album with Michael Moorcock. The album, called NEW WORLD'S FAIR and billed as being by 'Michael Moorcock and the Deep Fix' (who consisted of Charnock and Steve Gilmore), was duly released a couple of months later, sold badly, and was soon deleted. It is now a valuable rarity.
The 1975 Eastercon, SEACON '75, was held at the De Vere Hotel in Coventry over the weekend of 28th - 31st March 1975. Guest of Honour was Harry Harrison, who replaced the previously-announced Michael Moorcock who, in fact, was never to attend an Eastercon again. (The selection of Moorcock as GoH in the first place had earlier led to the resignation from the committee of Andrew Stephenson, who had shown great prescience by insisting that Moorcock was unreliable and wouldn't show up.) Total registration by the end of the weekend was 550 which, even allowing for no-shows, made SEACON '75 the largest Eastercon to date.

Malcolm Edwards was Chairman, Rob Holdstock was Secretary, Peter Roberts was Treasurer, John Brosnan oversaw Films, and Pat Charnock guided the Fancy Dress. Other committee members were Graham Charnock, Roy Kettle, John Piggott and Christine Edwards. As well as a variety of serious items featuring Peter Nicholls, Philip Strick, Chris Priest, Tom Shippey, James Blish and John Brunner, there was another of Bob Shaw's humorous 'scientific' speeches (by popular demand after his success at TYNECON) 'Time Travellers Among Us', and the films Sleeper, Night of the Lepus, and Duel. Curiously, for a con put on by Ratfandom, SEACON featured virtually no fannish programming. It did, however, have something called the Fandom Room which featured free fanzines, fanzines for sale, convention flyers, and photo-displays of fans and conventions recent and long gone. It also featured Peter Roberts trying to publish an issue of EGG during SEACON as a way of demonstrating fannish techniques. This was foiled by an erratic paper feed on his duplicator. One flyer on display in the room advertised something called The Science Fiction Society of Great Britain. This had never been heard of before and, like the British Science Fiction Association that made a fleeting appearance in the early 1950s, was assumed to be no more than the product of someone's overactive imagination. More would be heard of the SFS after the con. There was a dance on the Sunday evening, an innovation first seen at TYNECON and a regular feature of Eastercons thereafter, with music from Graham Charnock's regular band, The Burlingtons, and there was much comment about Lee Montgomerie's amazingly lifelike impersonation of Chris Priest in the Fancy Dress.

The De Vere Hotel came as something of a shock to fans, firstly for how posh it was, and secondly for a problem with static electricity that led to an audible discharge whenever anybody who had built up a charge touched anything metal.

Manchester won the 1976 Eastercon in the bidding session, Birmingham was given the nod for 1977, and the Britain In '79 bidding group reported on their progress. In other business, the Doc Weir Award went to Peter Weston, the Ken McIntyre Award to Carol Gregory, and Chris Priest's Inverted World won the BSFA Award. This was awarded by the SEACON committee this year in the absence of the BSFA, an absence about which Darroll Pardoe said in his CHECKPOINT report:

"The BSFA mystery was not exactly resolved at this convention. Since the statutory notices had not been sent out to the membership, no AGM was held at this Easter. There was though an 'unofficial' meeting, which was followed later in the day by a second meeting in John Brunner's room. The BSFA seemed set for extinction by rampant apathy, but all these people emerged from the woodwork and made an attempt to put it back on the road. Is it worth it? The legal AGM has been set for June at a location, yet to be announced, in the London area."
Within a fortnight of SEACON ending Graham Poole, fired with new enthusiasm by the convention, published SF CONTACT, which was full of BSFA news and business and also designed to solicit fanzines.
CHECKPOINT 62 (Apr' 75), though not advertised as such, was Darroll Pardoe's final issue. It would be seven months before another appeared. This issue carried further news of the SF Society of Great Britain, but made things no clearer since there seemed to be not one but two separate groups with that name. According to Dave Kyle:

"The SF Society of Great Britain is a working name used by a few SF types who are working on a number of projects here in Britain. This Society is part of a larger group of individuals and organisations or clubs which is known as SF International. Here in Britain we have the SF & Fantasy Film Society of Britain (Stan Nuttall), the SF & Fantasy Film Festival (Harry Nadler), the SF Digest (Keith Freeman), and the Ted Carnell Society (Dave Kyle)."
However, according to Surrey fan Richard McMahon:
"The SFS is a country-wide SF club aimed at teenagers up to the 15-16 age group. It was formed after the mention on the news page of SF MONTHLY 1:10. It is a free society with county groups and (hopefully) a clubzine called SF REFLECTIONS."
Curiouser and curiouser. The relevant SFM news page, from November 1974, carried a mention from Neil Stott of Old Hutton, near Kendal in Westmorland:
"...for a junior science fiction club he is interested in forming. Strictly for 10-14 year olds, this club will be formed by Neil and his friends."
In April 1975, McMahon published INVERTED EAR TRUMPET 1. A scrappy two-sheeter, with each page a different size and printed by a different process. McMahon had further news of the SFS:
"IET is my own fanzine which, although distributed to the members of the Science Fiction Society and their friends, is not the official fanzine of the SFS...The genuine fanzine of the SFS is SF REFLECTIONS and has returned to its point of origin in Cumbria, so it won't be out yet...John Jackson, Surrey Representative of the SFS...is thinking about producing a newsheet for his group...called SURREY SCI FI."
Whether SURREY SCI FI ever appeared is unknown, but a single issue of SF REFLECTIONS was published later in the year by Neil Stott. The SFS never achieved any sort of national recognition and, since nothing more was heard of it after this, was presumably short-lived.
Shortly after Easter, the Northern Ireland SF Association (NISFA) finally held its inaugural meeting. Or, rather, its successor group did, as Dave Patterson explains:

"I carried out my plans carefully, dropping leaflets into the libraries, sent them off to the far corners of our little Province, God bless its bleeding hand - I even had the audacity to despatch some into Indian country, saying to myself 'to pot with the hostilities'. Well, some people were kind enough to reply...after reading through the letters I found that the majority of people who would like to join were in fact living in and around North Down. So, I have decided...to narrow my sights and concentrate on this area. So NISFA is reduced to NDSFG (North Down Science Fiction Group)...."
The NDSFG's official inaugural, post-Easter, meeting was held in 'The New Tudor', a cinema they had built in "a converted over-sized hen-house" and the films The Thing From Another World and Fiend Without A Face were shown. No details on how many people attended or who they were, unfortunately.
Another group that held its first meeting around this time was the Stockport and District (SaD) SF Group. After some months of trying to drum up local support by inserting slips in SF books in local shops and the like, Paul Skelton set the date for the inaugural meeting. Nineteen people showed up which (since that number included the Skeltons, Petes Presford and Colley, and Kevin Hall, from the MaD group) meant fourteen possible converts to fandom. However, there were only six at the second meeting. After a handful of meetings the group faded away, thwarting Paul Skelton's plan to "find new blood, put it in contact with each other and with fandom, and hope some stuck none did, as far as I'm aware."

SaD meetings were held on the second Monday of the month at the White Lion pub in the Lower Underbank district of Stockport, and Skelton published a newsletter, SaD NEWS, for the short-lived group. Sonya Porter's Woking SF Group also finally held its first meeting around this same time. There were ten people at the first meeting, subsequent meetings being held on the first Wednesday of the month at the Robin Hood pub, in Knaphill.

Publishing their first issues in April 1975 were Brian Parker of Bradford with PARKER'S PATCH 1, and David Griffin of Bristol with AFTER THE FLOOD 1. Also out in April was CYNIC 7, the first issue in fifteen months due to the disruption caused by editor Boak's marriage and relocation to Preston. SCIENCE FICTION INTERNATIONAL NEWS 1, edited by Dave Kyle and Keith Freeman, appeared in May. It aimed to cover the SF scene in the UK, particularly those endeavours previously revealed by Kyle to operate under the umbrella of SF International, but was pretty feeble stuff. (The second issue, for instance, consisted entirely of a list of forthcoming SF books for the UK.) It lasted for barely five issues before folding in 1976.

The spring of 1975 was proving a fertile time for new fanzines and June brought the first issue of Stuart & Rosie Clark's EGLADIL (five issues in all, the last in Autumn '77), the one-off PREVIEW from Chris Fowler, and Ian Williams' GOBLIN'S GROTTO 1, whose contents included a transcript of Bob Shaw's TYNECON speech. Also published in June were the 'Results of the 1974-1975 CHECKPOINT Fan Poll'. With CHECKPOINT in limbo, Peter Roberts was forced to put these out as a six-page stand-alone publication. TRUE RAT was voted Best British Fanzine (runners up being WRINKLED SHREW, EGG, INFERNO and ZIMRI) with TRUE RAT 4/5 as Best Single Issue of a fanzine; Leroy Kettle was voted Best British Fanwriter (runners up being John Brosnan, Peter Roberts, Greg Pickersgill, and Pat Charnock); and Harry Bell was voted Best British Fanartist (runners up being Harry Turner, Andrew Stephenson, Dave Rowe, and Paul Skelton) with Harry Turner's cover for ZIMRI 6 as Best Fanzine Cover.

The continuing silence from the BSFA led Leroy Kettle to run the following 'advert' in TRUE RAT 6 (Apr'75):

BROMLEY SILENT FARTING ASSOCIATION

Interested in Silent Farting? Join NOW, and we promise you won't hear anything from us.

Actually, this situation was soon to change. The 1975 BSFA AGM was finally held in an upstairs room at the One Tun on Friday 27th June. All who were paid-up members for 1974 had their membership carried forward to 1975 and were eligible to attend and vote at the meeting. Writing in SPI 3 shortly before the meeting, Graham Poole explained that:

"The BSFA is not yet dead...A members' meeting was held at SEACON and I volunteered to return as Company Secretary until the AGM. I also volunteered to contact fanzine editors with a view to buying copies of their zines for distribution to BSFA members...The support I've received for this scheme has been surprisingly good and only goes to show that fandomis willing to help the BSFA if the BSFA is willing to show interest in fandom."
At the meeting, chaired by Fred Hemmings, a new council and committee were elected, it was resolved to publish a new VECTOR as soon as possible, and Poole was charged with publishing the AGM minutes. With the appointment of new membership secretary Dave Symes it was now possible to actually join the association once again. The BSFA, it seemed, was back in business.
The July issue of SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY (vol.2, no.6) carried a piece by Peter Weston titled 'A Stranger in a Very Strange Land', which was an account of his experiences at DISCON, the 1974 Worldcon he had attended as the TAFF winner. Given the fuss people have raised over TAFF down the years, Weston's decision to publish this in a prozine attracted surprisingly little comment.

Following the demise of LURK - the final issue, the seventh, appeared in April - Mike & Pat Meara returned to fan publishing with KNOCKERS FROM NEPTUNE 1 in July 1975. Having found LURK, a largish genzine, an increasing burden, the Mearas had decided instead to publish a personalzine. That same month they also co-edited, with Paul & Cas Skelton, a one-shot called THE FANNISH FOUR GO TO THE SEASIDE and inspired by a vacation the four had shared. Also out in July was the first issue of Keith Richmond's UGLY DUCKLING, which would fold with its eighth issue in November 1977.

RELATIVITY 4 (July '75) was Bryn Fortey's first fanzine since the late 1960s. Fortey had not been very active in the intervening years, writing the occasional fanzine piece and attending the Eastercon every other year or so, but had been inspired to return to fanediting after having agreed to be Lisa Conesa's co-editor on the forthcoming ZIMRI 8 (issue 7 had appeared in January, and featured fanzine reviews by Greg Pickersgill), which they intended should be more fannish. In RELATIVITY 4, Fortey ripped into Ian Williams, Pete Presford, Keith Walker, Mike Meara, and Paul Skelton for 'attacks' on Conesa that he felt were motivated more by her gender than by anything she had done. Skelton had been opposed to MANCON having a 'Poetry Soiree' while the others had criticised ZIMRI for being 'pretentious', 'arty', 'pseudy', and 'unfannish'. For the time such remarks didn't constitute a particularly savage assault, and were hardly evidence of sexism, and all of those castigated by Fortey responded in their fanzines by telling him he was overreacting and should calm down. As for ZIMRI 8, that was to take a lot longer to come to fruition, and be a much different fanzine than either Fortey or Conesa imagined.

OMPA MURDERED BY MEARAS!!!!! was the heading on a circular sent to OMPA members by Keith Walker in August. He wrote that:

"It now seems that the final coffin nails are being driven into the corpse of OMPA. I now hear from Ian Maule that the ashes of ROMPA are being rekindled and that ROMPA seems likely to survive in the hands of John Hall. Whilst we OMPAns have been walking round with doom-laden expressions wailing like a Greek chorus, whilst ROMPA our arch-rival has been drowning like a man going down for the first and second time, the Gods have been looking down upon the game. Now as penalty for our prevarication and monumental indecision we are to be punished. ROMPA will survive. OMPA will die! And clearly a special vote of thanks must go to Mike Meara for so clearly sealing the fate of OMPA. The BSFA are also indebted to Mike for his sterling work on helping to nearly wind up that sterling British institution, too. However, it seems that under new management the BSFA may still survive...."
Later in the circular, Walker conceded that Meara had done good work on behalf of OMPA and that its current state was as much the responsibility of the members. He concluded:
"There can no longer be any 'Real Soon Now' about it. It will take several weeks for ROMPA to be handed over. It may take several more for John to get out even a letter to ROMPA members. Our next mailing is not until October. It's going to be too late if we hang about kicking our heels 'til then. It's damn all use waiting until Novacon to do anything. By then our fate will be sealed good and proper.

The time to make that last gasping breath is NOW!

Don't delay, write to Mike today!"
There was a burst of activity from the Charnocks in August, with Graham publishing the first issue of his personalzine, VIBRATOR, hot on the heels of WRINKLED SHREW 4 (the second issue to be credited to Pat Charnock alone). Among the many delights in this SHREW was a fine SEACON '75 report by Peter Nicholls, his first substantial contribution to a fanzine. ARDEES 1 from Andrew and Ruth Dunlop saw the first of its two issues in August (it folded in December), while September brought first issues of Paul Ryan's ORION (no relation to the Enever/Parker ORION of the '50s/'60s), and Kevin Easthope's LOGO. Among other titles to appear in September were the second (and final) SF CONTACT and SPI 4, both from Graham Poole...and VECTOR 69.
VECTOR 69 was the first issue since the spring of 1974, the first to be edited by Chris Fowler, and part of the first mailing to its membership of the newly reformed BSFA. Unfortunately it was, apart from the fine Andrew Stephenson cover, primarily reprint material with the remainder being trivial and boring. Also sent out with this mailing and edited by Fowler was BSFA NEWSLETTER 1, a four page newsheet also known as BSFAN. As inauspicious a new beginning as this seemed, the BSFA was finally back on the rails.

One fanzine that made its first appearance in September 1975 deserves special mention. OUR FAIR CITY was produced by Martin Easterbrook for the University of London SF & Fantasy Society. (An SF group had existed in the university at least as early as 1965, and for the past five years the university's Department of Extramural Studies had organised a series of lectures on SF. (This was the course, started in 1969 by Phil Strick, whose attendees had dubbed themselves 'The City Illiterates' and the sixth series, to be presented at the Stanhope Institute with Chris Priest as course tutor, would be held on Friday evenings starting this September and ending in March.) It soon became apparent that producing OFC would be a difficult and time-consuming process, so to fill the increasing gap between issues Easterbrook began issuing a monthly newsheet, a listing of conventions and forthcoming SF events that was distributed at the monthly One Tun meetings, which members of the university group regularly attended. The newsheet was called SMALL MAMMAL and Easterbrook took it with him when he graduated, distributing it at London fandom's first-Thursday pub meetings. It was still being regularly distributed, if sporadically, as of this writing.

Dave Cockfield joined the ranks of Gannetfandom's fanzine editors in October with ATROPOS 1 (which saw four issues in all before ceasing publication in September 1977), while November brought SCABBY TALES 1, the new fanzine from John Brosnan (its second issue, in April 1976, would be Brosnan's last fanzine); the one-shot PETER ROBERTS' BOOK OF RECORDS from Pat & Graham Charnock; THE ZINE THAT HAS NO NAME 1, a fanzine produced for trade by Paul Skelton; and the sercon PROCYON 1, edited by Yorkshire fan John Collick under the name 'Paul Radford'. Collick edited the subsequent four issues under his own name.

BSFA NEWSLETTER 2, which went out in the November BSFA mailing with VECTOR 70 (which reprinted Bob Shaw's 'Time Travellers Among Us'), Vice-Chairman Dave Kyle reported that the Association's long-overdue company filing had been finally completed in September, and that Keith Freeman had taken over as Treasurer from Jill Adams, who had been serving pro tem. Freeman was trying to reconstruct the BSFA's membership records from the debris of the 1974 collapse. It was also announced that a meeting of the BSFA Council would take place at NOVACON, and it was here that Tom Jones - a fan since PADS in the 1960s - became Membership Secretary.

Two Gannetzines out in November were Ian William's GOBLIN'S GROTTO 2 and Rob Jackson's MAYA 9. They were visually very similar. Both were A4 and litho- printed, used double-column text and featured Harry Bell cover-art, and were typed on the same typewriter. They also had a similar mix of sercon and fannish contents, but GOBLIN'S GROTTO was the sharper of the two. Harry Bell's cover for MAYA 9 depicted a neo, a trufan, and a BNF, representing the mythical three stages of fanhood. When you first find fandom you are a neofan, filled with enthusiasm for science fiction and for this new world of fandom you've just discovered (this enthusiasm is sometimes referred to as 'goshwowboyoboyism'). After one has been in fandom for a while, fascination with fandom itself overtakes interest in science fiction as the neo becomes a trufan and begins to publish fanzines and become involved in the running of conventions. Becoming a BNF, or Big Name Fan, is not something you can readily aspire to but, rather, an appellation bestowed by your peers, and so not a status that everyone attains.

MAYA was highly regarded by this point, particularly by the Americans, but unfortunately in straining to appeal to an international audience MAYA usually steered well clear of anything likely to provoke controversy and its contents were often blander than British fans around since the heady days of FOULER had come to expect. Even so, MAYA enjoyed a good reputation in the UK, but other fanzines were more highly thought of, at least by some people. This difference of opinion about MAYA would lead one of the most prominent British fans of the early 1970s to quit fandom, after a chain of events that started at NOVACON 5.

NOVACON 5 was held in Birmingham's Royal Angus Hotel over the weekend of 7th-9th November 1975. Dan Morgan was GoH, Rog Peyton was Chairman, and the Programme Book listed 272 people. The programme consisted of the usual round of panels, films and the like, including a Fancy Dress on the Saturday evening. This last caused some problems, as Peyton recalls:

"I'd done a radio interview that morning and mentioned there would be a Fancy Dress, little thinking that anyone listening would come along and register for the con and enter the Fancy Dress Parade. If any would-be convention organisers out there get interviewed on the radio, stress that it is aScience Fiction Fancy Dress! Otherwise you too might find yourselves in the embarrassing position of having to announce entrants like 'Ena Sharples' and other TV personalities. I was doing the announcing and hadn't evenheard of some of the characters. I still shudder at the memory of that evening."
The panel of judges voting on the Nova Award this year were Greg Pickersgill, Malcolm Edwards, Peter Roberts, and Andrew Stephenson, (all London fans, most being Ratfans) and the fanzines that had been nominated were MAYA and WRINKLED SHREW. There was some confusion as to whether the award was for a single issue or for the year's run of a fanzine. In the event Peter Weston, reading out the judges' decision because of stage fright on their parts, announced that the choice had been between two fanzines, one regular and of consistent quality, the other less frequent but with one exceptionally good issue in the qualifying year, and that though the panel had wanted to give the award to WRINKLED SHREW it appeared that under the rules it had to go to MAYA. Rob Jackson accepted his Nova gracefully, but the manner in which the award had been made was to cause a lot of trouble in the months to come.
Dave Rowe was the first to make adverse comment on the 1975 Nova Award, in the pages of the first issue of K, the fanzine he co-edited with fellow Kittenfan Bernie Peek. K - which also carried contributions from other Kittens, including a fanzine review column by Jim Linwood - had had a long gestation. Various Kittens had talked of doing a fanzine since late 1974, but it was during their February visit to Kitten founder Graham Boak in Preston that the idea finally crystallised and serious planning began. Another fanzine making its first appearance in December was TITAN 1 from Geoff Rippington, which would eventually achieve greater fame under another title.

CHECKPOINT 63 (Dec'75) was the first issue in seven months, and the first to be produced by new editor Ian Maule. Maule returned to the duplicated quarto format favoured by original editor Peter Roberts, though his reportage was closer to that of Darroll Pardoe. Apart from a brief NOVACON report and fanzine reviews, the issue carried the news that John Piggott was now Secretary of The National Games Club, that Bob Shaw was quitting his job to become a full-time writer, and that Manchester's MaD Group had two new members in the person of Mike Scantlebury (who had been a member of Bristol's BaD Group in the 1960s) and Paul Kincaid, a newcomer whose first con had been SEACON'75.

The results of the 1975/76 TAFF race were the lead item in CHECKPOINT 64 (Jan'76), and for the first time ever the race ended in a dead heat with Bill Bowers (20 UK, 52 US) and Roy Tackett (15 UK, 57 US) each receiving 72 votes. Administrators Len Moffatt and Pete Weston announced that both would be attending MANCON, but in the event only Tackett got to make the trip.

The first FAANCON (or, to give it its official title, THE 1ST WORLD FAAN CONVENTION) was held in the Gresham Hotel, Blackpool, over the weekend of 20th- 22nd February 1976, and 40 or so fans attended including numerous Gannets, Kittens, MaD Group members and others. Bob & Sadie Shaw were there, and Norman Weedall brought along old-time fan Les Johnson. There were no Ratfans attending. Totally unprogrammed, the con was conceived and organised by Graham Boak, who had first floated the idea in CYNIC 7 back in February 1975 with this question:

"Why do we have conventions? A convention is for meeting people. For the newcomer this means the professional writers, the Great Names. For the established fan, this means his friends. We all enjoy that wonderful reunion, that party atmosphere all good cons produce, and that is nothing at all to do with the programme... As one observant fan said, many years ago, 'The convention begins when the programme ends.' More recently, Bob Shaw was reported as saying, 'I'll go to any convention that has a bed and a bar.' There you have it. The two main essentials of a convention. Add a sprinkling of assorted fans, stir well, and hang around to enjoy yourself. Drop the programme altogether."
Boak's theory proved correct, and those at FAANCON (sometimes also referred to as 'Boakcon' in contemporary zines) enjoyed themselves sufficiently that it was decided to hold another FAANCON the following year, this time organised by Mike Meara and held in Derby. The Nova Award was much discussed at FAANCON, with the result that, as Boak reports:
"Riding high on drinks and fannishness, and sharpened by a bout of 'programme items not to appear at Meara Con', a group involving myself... came up with the 'British Fan Editor's Award'. An award for the best British fanzine rightly belonged to MAYA, but due to a technicality in the rules we were forced to give it to WRINKLED SHREW. For the actual award, Bernie (Peek) offered the battered rock dummy he had been wearing around his neck all convention, but we compromised on a box of ordinary Blackpool rock. After all, no-one wanted to insult Pat...but if Ratfandom required knowing what the majority of British fan editors thought of their action - well, they know now."
Boak wrote up the FAANCON, and expanded on his disquiet over the Nova Award in CYNIC 9, which appeared in April and was, as it turned out, the final issue.
If he thought he had succeeded in avoiding giving insult, Boak was soon to be severely disabused of that idea.

The St. Albans SF Fan Group, STAFFEN, began meeting early in 1976. Meetings were held on the second Wednesday of the month, initially at the Peacock pub in St.Albans. Members would eventually include Peter Wareham, Arthur Cruttenden, Mic Rogers, Tim Illingworth, Paul Dormer, and John Dallman.

BSFA NEWSLETTER 5 (March '76), the second issue to be edited by Tom Jones, carried a piece called 'A Newcomer Looks at Fanzines' by new member Ian Garbutt. Garbutt complained that the fanzines supplied to him for review by Jones (K2, DRILKJIS 1, and MAYA 10) lacked material about SF and had an unhealthy preoccupation with beer. "Is British fandom being run by a bunch of pontificating alcoholics?" he asked. In reply to a letter from a Glasgow member about fannish jargon, editor Jones wrote that:

"...unfortunately, fans tend to use the jargon as a shield to keep new fans at arm's length. It's best to ignore these people if you come across them; they're just kids, no matter what their age, and you don't want to bother with kids."
This was, of course, nonsense. Like members of other interest groups fans had developed a number of shorthand terms for aspects of their hobby, but these were used for convenience only and not to exclude newcomers. Chris Fowler had also criticised fanzine fandom in VECTOR, but Jones and Garbutt were to take their attacks on fanzine fandom further, portraying it as a group composed entirely of louts and drunkards with no interest in SF. Quite why they chose to do this is unclear, though it has been suggested that fandom was being castigated for not coming to the BSFA's rescue in 1974. Whatever the reasons behind them, the attacks were to continue in the months to come.
Two fanzines that saw first issues in March 1976 could not have been more different from each other. The first of these, DRILKJIS, was edited by David Langford and Kevin Smith (the name derived from their initials, DRL & KJS), two former members of the Oxford University SF Group, OUSFG, where they had been regular contributors to its amateur fiction-based official organ, SFINX, which in its time had also carried work by such as Rob Holdstock and Mike Rohan. DRILKJIS was unimpressive, though subsequent issues would see great improvement. It was, to use Langford's own description, "an intermittently serious SF genzine", and as well as sercon SF items that included an interview with George Hay and reviews of some dreadful hack SF series, this first issue carried an account by Langford of what it had felt like to go on trial on bombing charges the previous year with fellow student Mike Skelding. (All the 'bombs' were in fact fireworks freely available over the counter, although Skelding managed to get hold of unusually big ones and set them off in clusters.) Replying to letters of comment in the following issue, he explained that:

"...for most of the time during which Mike Skelding was gaily letting things off all over Oxford, a bang meant 'practical joke' not 'IRA'. Even in the first half of '74 bombs were something which happened in Ireland or maybe London. The fact that Mike's last spree coincided with the Birmingham explosions was bad luck - the rules were changed. From an irresponsible idiot who ought to be fined, Mike suddenly became a criminal menace to be locked away. In June 1974, when I committed my own indiscretion, no-one worried much (the police didn't until Mike stirred them up); by 1975 public opinion had moved so far up the hysteria-scale that Mike was advised not to appeal: there were no unbiased juries any more."
While Skelding went to prison, Langford was let off with a fine so that he could take up a job at the UK's Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston. His experiences working there later formed the basis for his comic novel, The Leaky Establishment.
Built on the experience gained from its predecessors, STOP BREAKING DOWN - the other new title to appear in March - was Greg Pickersgill's third entry in the fanzine stakes, and another of the decade's classic fanzines. SBD carried pieces by the best fanwriters of the day and continued Pickersgill's column of acerbic and generally spot-on fanzine criticism. It also carried a regular column by Simone Walsh, who was listed as 'Overseas Editor' and presumably responsible in that capacity for seeing that the only three copies of SBD regularly sent outside the UK (to North American fans Terry Hughes, Rich Coad, and Mike Glicksohn, if you must know) got safely on their way. The fanzine's title derived from the Robert Johnson track 'Stop Breaking Down Blues' and the covers for the first two issues were traced onto stencil from the sleeves of volumes I and II of 'Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers', as released by Columbia Records. Following hard on the heels of that first issue came the second in April, just in time for the 1976 Eastercon, the decade's most notorious convention....

MANCON 5 was held on the campus of Owen's Park University in Manchester over the weekend of 16th - 19th April 1976. Committee members were Brian Robinson, Paul Skelton, Roy Sharpe, John Mottershead, Kevin Hall, Chuck Partington, and Harry Nadler, with Pete Presford as Chairman. MANCON 5 was so named because it was the fifth in a series of Manchester-organised cons that included MANCON (1952), SUPERMANCON (1954), THIRDMANCON (1968), and CHESSMANCON (1972), and the programme book listed 491 members. Unfortunately, the con was a disaster. Even as eminent a GoH as Robert Silverberg couldn't save it, and MANCON is regarded by many survivors as the worst con they ever attended. This was due not only to the collapse of the programme and the total absence of any signs of organisation, but also to the grimly awful venue. When similar situations had arisen in the past fans had at least been able to console themselves by falling back on the bar and the comfort of the con hotel, but the harsh conditions of a university campus precluded this. Walt Willis, attending his first convention in 11 years, was less critical than most, perhaps seeing little difference between the conditions at Owen's Park and those at the conventions he remembered from the 1950s. What he did notice, however, was that:

"It was stranger and more poignant that I had to go to Manchester to meet for the first time two young Belfast fans from opposite sides of the barricades".

More poignant still when you realise the troubles in Willis's native land were responsible for finally finishing off Irish Fandom. In 1975, in an American fanzine, he had written:

"What no feud could ever do has been accomplished by the IRA, and Irish Fandom has disintegrated as a group. It was nothing to do with the political polarisation of the Ulster community, though both sides are represented in Irish Fandom: it was simply that travelling outside one's own district became too chancy".

As well as the usual SF panels and talks, MANCON 5 programming included another of Bob Shaw's humorous talks, 'The Return of the Backyard Spaceship'; 'Aims and Objectives of Spectrum', a meeting to announce the inauguration of ESA-2 (the European Space Association) introduced by George Hay; and films shown wereFlash Gordon Conquers The Universe, The Phantom Speaks ("a fantasy film so far refused a certificate in Britain and obtained through the usual dubious channels..."),The Legend of Hell House,Mighty Joe Young, and - a coup - The Man Who Fell to Earth, though, as Dave Langford notes:

"Despite what looked like a redeeming film programme, MANCON (alas) fell down in this area too. Some said the projector bulbs were under-powered, others that the screen was intended for back projection and too much of the light went through to the far side; anyway the movie pictures strained the eyes and made one long for a BRIGHTNESS control.

A major MANCON PR problem was that they'd booked the accommodation as a block and were sub-letting it to members...so the committee felt forced into the role of Big Brother/Peeping Tom, maximising revenue by checking up on fans who might be sharing rooms etc., and writing some pretty tactless letters in the process. Even man of mirth Kettle found it a bit much that one MANCON progress report made gags about concentration camp 'showers', with Silverberg as GoH. This convention never published accounts."

An unofficial item on Saturday afternoon was a soccer match in a nearby park between 'The Ratfan Dynamo' and 'The Gannet Flyers' refereed by Bob Shaw. There was an 'Official Souvenir Programme' produced which included helpful descriptions like these:

"Admire the nerve of little Ian Williams as he gets lost amongst his opponents' legs... Watch Harry Bell regret his large double-curry breakfast... After witnessing this team you'll know what made Newcastle Brown."
The match ended in a 2-2 draw after the participants were evicted from their first pitch and made to play elsewhere.
Something Malcolm Edwards reported having observed on the first evening of MANCON was:

"...three concom members, like all other concom members we saw that evening, were wearing 'Greg Pickersgill Fan Club' badges, based on a childishly insulting cartoon that appeared in MALFUNCTION a couple of years ago. Greg became, understandably, more than a little pissed off at this, especially since some of the wearers were people he had had no contact of any kind with before...The badges did not reappear the next day. It does make you wonder, though, about the level of intelligence of a convention committee who adopt something like that as a semi-official emblem...."
Actually, the badges were not produced by the MANCON committee but by a clueless neofan from Cardiff, Rob Hansen. This was Hansen's second convention, his first being SEACON '75, and he had only recently taken his first tentative steps into fanzine fandom by writing off for copies of MAYA and MALFUNCTION. Eager to join in things, but having little idea yet about fandom, he made xerox copies of the offending cartoon into badges and handed them out to the few people in fandom he then knew (MaD Group members all). It was also at MANCON that Hansen penned his first published fanzine article for inclusion in ATACON, the fanzine edited and produced at MANCON by Paul Skelton in the Fan Room during the very brief periods that room (a pale shadow of the SEACON Fan Room) was open. All in all, Hansen's initial impact on fandom could hardly have been less auspicious. Another confrontation at MANCON occurred on the Sunday when Tim Apps was reportedly blackballed (with boot polish) by Dermot Dobson and Mike Skelding for plagiarising a Dave Langford story published some years earlier in the OUSFG groupzine SFINX, said plagiarism then seeing print in the Cheltenham Group's SPACES under the byline 'Ian Trent', which in its turn was the known pseudonym of OUSFG member Keith Plunkett. Writing about the affair later in the first issue of her fanzine, THE SOUTHERN VOLE, Liese Hoare (then the wife of Martin Hoare) asked that Apps be ostracised, and he does appear to have faded from fandom soon after this. At the BSFA AGM, the first since the Association was reformed, Dave Kyle was confirmed as Vice-Chairman (Arthur C. Clarke having agreed to being honorary Chairman in perpetuity after interim Chairman Ken Bulmer stood down), Alan Stewart became Administrator, Mervyn Haigh the Company Secretary, Elke Stewart the Membership Secretary, Chris Fowler continued as editor of VECTOR and was put in charge of Publishing and Distribution, while Tom Jones stayed with MATRIX. The Doc Weir Award went to Ina Shorrock. Though not connected with the BSFA, an event that was due to take place after the Sunday morning authors' panel would rake up an old BSFA scandal. According to Malcolm Edwards:
"The fanzine auction was due to follow this panel, and I spent some time rushing around trying to warn various BSFA officials that the remnants of the Fanzine Foundation which hadn't been sold at the previous Manchester-run convention were about to be put up again. No-one seemed too interested, and in the event the auction was postponed anyway."
But only until Monday afternoon, when Edwards and many others had already left for home. As Keith Walker later reported in CHECKPOINT, under the headline 'LAST REMAINS OF BSFA FANZINE FOUNDATION AUCTIONED OFF AT MANCON 5':
"The full realisation of the above simple fact didn't strike home until the early hours of Wednesday morning. I could kick myself, for if I'd been able to put together the pieces at the con itself I might have registered some feeble protest at least... To add fuel to my consternation I am on record as having joked to Mike Meara, 'Looks like they're selling off the Foundation again.'... The more I ponder upon this matter the more clues come to hand and the more convinced I become that I'm right...

As evidence Walker offered the reluctance of the committee to hold the auction until Monday afternoon, the number of fanzines that had originally been addressed to Charlie Winstone or to John Muir, Winstone's own file of letters on PADS being among the material on offer, the number of multiple copies of scarce early issues of VECTOR included, and the like:

"The zines on sale covered a large time span stretching from the 1940s to the present day. Despite the appalling manner in which these fragile zines had been tossed thoughtlessly into a sack some of the items - a bound set of the last ten issues of QUANDRY - had obviously been treated at one time with the tender loving care due to them. Both factors indicate a collection not acquired overnight but only after a long period of sustained effort."
And so, incredibly, what little of the BSFA Fanzine Foundation that hadn't been illegally auctioned off in 1972 was illegally auctioned off in 1976. Or was it? Responding to Walker on behalf of the BSFA in the next CHECKPOINT, Jones claimed:
"The story, apparently, is not strictly as you set it out. On the Monday afternoon Keith Freeman and Dave Kyle both saw the fanzines and were allowed to go through them removing everything with BSFA on it, including those sent to Charlie Winstone which mentioned the BSFA. Ken Slater was asked to look at the ones marked 'Operation Fantast' to see if he could recognise them as the BSFA ones; he couldn't. Similarly, the MANCON committee allowed Chris Fowler to go through the VECTORs and take what he wanted. Keith's opinion of the fanzines were that they were a pretty ragtag bunch with nothing of importance in them. It is likely they were the 2nds and 3rds held by the Fanzine Foundation, but what proof is there?"
Commenting in that same CHECKPOINT, editor Maule wrote:
"My own personal opinion on this whole affair and the previous eruption after Chester in 1972 is that whether or not the BSFA Fanzine Foundation was sold the fanzines in these two auctions went to genuine collectors who will take more loving care of them than any organisation that accumulates them just for the sake of it."
MANCON was the first convention ever attended by D.West (as Don West was known), and where he was adopted by Ratfandom and started the Astral Leauge (sic). This last seems to have been started mainly as a gag so that West could sell memberships at fifty pence a go (for which you got a potato-print cardboard badge) and help finance his con, but it would grow beyond that. The following year saw the publication of THE ASTRAL LEAUGE YEARBOOK, a now-rare fanzine containing a joke article by Chris Priest on 'static gravity' that was later sold to OMNI, then the world's highest-paying SF market. There have also been three Astral Leauge albums, recorded on cassette by Graham Charnock, containing songs that could be described as 'filking', though they are a good deal wittier than most filk songs. Perhaps the most famous manifestation of the Leauge, however, is the initiation test West introduced at the outset and which has since been attempted at many conventions on both sides of the Atlantic. This involves contorting your body around a pole in a highly improbable manner impossible to describe and harder to do. Still, all of this is peripheral to what West is best known for: his fanzine criticism.
For a figure destined to loom large in the fannish consciousness from the mid-70s onward, West was a long time arriving. Having encountered fandom as far back as 1961 when he read his first fanzine, West went on to become...

"..a BSFA member and half-hearted fringefan. I used to write LoCs that were tolerant, serious, intelligent, etc., etc. Mostly they never got published. I worked away at such laborious and conscientious correspondence for several years. All to no discernable effect."
Tiring of this approach West...
"...took to writing letters sprinkled with snarls, maledictions, and recipes for unnatural methods of self-destruction. Nobody took any more notice than before, but I certainly felt better."
A talented artist, West had published a portfolio of pieces based on Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' earlier in the decade and a couple of comic strips for CYPHER in 1973. However, it was his fanzine review columns that West was to be best known for in the 1970s, the first of which had appeared in PARKER'S PATCH 2, edited by Brian Parker, in September 1975. In April 1976, shortly before MANCON, he published a largely illegible fanzine, printed on a home-made rotary duplicator and containing nothing but fanzine reviews, called DAISNAID, (Do As I Say Not As I Do). West's criticism was solidly in the tradition established by Jim Linwood and Greg Pickersgill but, good though these two pieces had been, it was the next two that would establish his reputation.
Other fanzines distributed at or around MANCON during April were INFERNO 11, KNOCKERS FROM NEPTUNE 3 and 4, O'RYAN 3 (the former ORION, now renamed after editor Paul Ryan learned of the 1950s/60s fanzine of the same name), SPI 5, TRUE RAT 7, STOP BREAKING DOWN 2, K2, SCABBY TALES 2, and ZIMRI 8 (these last three being the final issues). ZIMRI 8 was solo-edited by Conesa and was her final fanzine. Thereafter her involvement with fandom would gradually fade, the 1979 Eastercon being her last convention.

Also appearing in April were the first issues of GHAS, whose name derived from editors Carol Gregory, John Harvey, and Eve S immons (all of the Leeds University group), TWLL DDU (which is Welsh for Black Hole, sort of) from Dave Langford, and ONE-OFF from David E. Bridges of Sheffield. Where GHAS was neatly printed on A4, stapled on the short side, and sercon, ONE-OFF was scrappily duplicated on A5, and filled with wonderfully quirky personal writing; while TWLL DDU, which was scrappily printed on A4 (including one page run off on the back of rejected DRILKJIS covers), was pretty insubstantial. Nevertheless, editor Langford's polysyllabic and idiosyncratic approach to humorous writing soon gained it a large and enthusiastic audience. Though partially deaf, Langford had an uncanny knack of hearing things he wasn't supposed to, and when committing minor indiscretions it was wise to check if he was about, since these had a disturbing habit of being reported in the next TWLL DDU. Appearing that same month was TRUE RAT 7, which included the following fine example of editor Kettle's writing, parodying Peter Nicholls:

New from TRUE RAT PUBS

Peter Nicholls' astonishing unpublished history of Sci-Fi.

Today's Tomorrow's and Yesterday's Hacks.

You'll never appreciate Sci-Fi until you read this unbelievable critic:

"Sci-fi can be succinctly defined as speculation, whether based on established scientific facts or on logical pseudo-facts consistent with the framework of the fiction in question, involving smelly green pimply aliens furiously raping or eating, or both, beautiful naked bare-breasted chicks, covering them in slime, red, oozing, living slime, dribbling from every horrific orifice, squeezing out between bulbous pulpy lips onto the sensuous velvety skin of the writhing sweating slave- girls, their bodies cut and bruised by knotted whips brandished by giant blond vast-biceped androids called Simon, and written in the Gothic mode."

Read about the Wooden Age of Sci-Fi built by John Campbell in his back garden. Before your very eyes you will see how all those 'heroic hairy boy-engineer' stories were slipsticked together.

Astonish yourself with the tale of howThe Magazine of Fantasy and Sci-Fi introduced long words and poetry into the genre and Has A Lot To Answer For.

Stupend yourself by discovering all about the New Waive (so-called because it 'waived' all rights to be called Sci-Fi) and how it came into being to sell the works of J.G.Ballard.

New titles in May included the first issues of A FOR ANTARES from Ian Garbutt and of THIS DAY, NEXT DAY, SOMETIME, NEVER from Sheffield fans David and Jean Staves. Also seeing print was SUPERCRUD '69 a one-shot from Bryn Fortey that parodied the fanzines of the late 1960s.

SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY ceased publication in May 1976 with its twenty eighth issue. In those two years and four months its price had doubled from 25p to 50p, in line with an unprecedented increase in the cost of paper over that same period, while circulation had fallen from over 100 000 to under 20 000. Despite the large numbers of newcomers SFM was responsible for introducing to fandom, the magazine died largely unmourned by British fanzines.

The Peterborough SF Club held its first meeting on 10th May 1976. Organised by Chris Wakelin (who'd attended three Star Trek cons and the MANCON, following mentions in SFM) and her husband, Dave, that first meeting attracted only two other people but by the end of the month membership was up to twelve. The group held author readings at the John Hammerton bookshop in the town centre, ran a club library, and also gathered for astronomy readings.

STOP BREAKING DOWN 3 (June '76) carried a letter from Graham Boak expounding further on the 1975 Nova Award:

"Rob seems to have forgiven you all... He expected you to give the award to SHREW; I couldn't really believe that you could - though I feared mightily. I believed that you could be honest detached and objective - I was nearly right. I certainly would never have believed beforehand the rotten way it was presented. (Well, maybe of Malcolm....)"

In the course of his long and angry reply to Boak's letter, Pickersgill wrote:
"I am naive enough to be astonished when someone assumes my belief that WRINKLED SHREW was in the last analysis a better fanzine than MAYA is evidence of dishonesty and a conspiracy against fair play and decency."
Indeed. The manner in which the Nova Award was presented may have been insensitive, but Boak's anger was fuelled as much by the Ratfan bias he thought he saw as by any offense he believed Rob Jackson had suffered. To Boak, the superiority of MAYA over SHREW was so self-evident that bias was the only possible explanation for any opposing view. In this he was wrong. Both were fine fanzines, with MAYA's litho production giving it the slicker appearance, but there were still those with no particular bias in favour of Ratfandom or the Gannets, this writer included, who thought SHREW the better fanzine overall. As it happened, the ultimate victim of this affair was Boak himself. CYNIC 9 turned out to be the final issue, and before the year was out Boak had quit fandom.
SPECULATION 33, the final issue of Peter Weston's celebrated fanzine, rode out with MAYA 11 early in August 1976. As Weston explained:

"Just before MANCON I decided to release the Monster in my attic. A thousand copies of SPECULATION 33 have been lurking there, undistributed, for the last three years, mainly because I was ashamed of the issue. Originally I had intended to send it out as a sort of supplement with my next real issue: but then we moved house, my wife had a new baby, and number 34 never left the ground. SPECULATION 33 should never have been started. It contains an excellent long article by John J. Pierce, so good that I asked to reprint it back in 1971. Then committed, I realised SPEC should not be a reprint magazine, but I compounded my folly by choosing to 'go litho', and in the end the issue took nine months to produce; during which time I completely lost any sense of involvement with the thing. A complete botch...."
In his column in MAYA 11, Weston told the story of his first contact with fandom. The issue is also notable for running Bob Shaw's Eastercon speech, 'The Return of the Backyard Spaceship', and 'The Revenant', the first new piece by Walt Willis to appear in a British fanzine in many years. MAYA 11 was also the first major showcase for the cartoons of Jim Barker, a Scottish fanartist whose work had started appearing in fanzines a few months earlier.
Peter Roberts temporarily resumed the editorship of CHECKPOINT in August with issue 72, which carried the results of the 1975-76 CHECKPOINT Fan Poll. MAYA was voted Best British Fanzine (followed by STOP BREAKING DOWN, TRUE RAT, WRINKLED SHREW, and EGG), Leroy Kettle was Best British Fanwriter (followed by Bob Shaw, Greg Pickersgill, Peter Roberts, and Graham Charnock), Harry Bell was again Best British Fanartist (followed by Harry Turner, Paul Dillon, Terry Jeeves and Dave Rowe); and 'The Great Seacon Freak-Out', a con report by Peter Nicholls that had been published in SHREW, was voted Best Article.

MANCON aside, 1976 was a good year for cons and two more joined the convention calender. This first of these had been FAANCON. SILICON, which was organised by Gannetfandom and held in Newcastle's Imperial Hotel over the weekend of 27th - 30th August 1976, appeared on the surface to have a lot in common with FAANCON, both being held in small hotels and set up for the social benefit of fanzine fans rather than for the greater glorification of Science Fiction, but there the similarity ended. Whereas FAANCON was a totally unprogrammed convention devoted solely to socialising, SILICON had a programme designed to involve most of those present in fun and games and to contribute to the illusion of being a weekend-long party. Around fifty people attended this first SILICON, including most of Gannetfandom, various Rats, a number of old- time Liverpool fans, many of the Sheffield SF Group, as well as Bob & Sadie Shaw, Rob Hansen, Eric Bentcliffe, Paul Dillon, Paul Ryan, Rog Peyton and others. The hotel had a swimming pool, fairly unusual at British cons, affording the opportunity to view the unlovely sight of the cream of British fandom semi-nakedly splashing about during something called 'the Chaos Game', while on Saturday night those present found themselves sharing the facilities with the splendidly named North East Western Society (NEWS), a wild west appreciation group. One innovation at SILICON was the provision of a TV soccer game, a primitive video game and almost certainly the first time that electronic gaming appeared at a British convention. As Greg Pickersgill later reported in CHECKPOINT:

"By far the Star Event was the TV electronic football tournament organised by David 'Superfan' Bridges, in which sixteen hopeful (and in some cases hopeless) players battled through qualifying rounds for the Big Prize of 50p. Curiously enough organiser Bridges won, smashing hot (and tired) favourite Greg Pickersgill out in the final. TV games could easily become a big thing at future cons after this; Leicester and Novacon organisers Rog Peyton and Stan Eling were deeply fascinated by the whole thing and intend to acquire machines for those conventions."
Apart from a few moments of trouble when an anonymously-produced fanzine called STOP PUKING UP, an unfunny and mean-spirited parody of STOP BREAKING DOWN, made an appearance, SILICON was a remarkably good-humoured and harmonious convention judged a great success by most of those who attended.
That there was felt to be a need for conventions where fanzine fans wouldn't be swamped by all those other people who now greatly outnumbered them shows how the increased attendances from 1974 onwards had already begun to affect things. Those effects weren't all negative, however, because when those who'd been active since the FOULER incursion started to run out of steam towards the end of the year and the fanzine scene began to flag a little, there were people able to pick up the torch and carry it on. Largely made up of people whose first conventions were the 1974 and 1975 Eastercons, by 1976 this group were beginning to make their own contributions to fandom.

Though Kevin Smith and David Langford's first conventions had been the second and third NOVACONs respectively, they are usually lumped in with this group, which included John and Eve Harvey, David Bridges, Joseph Nicholas, Rob Hansen, Merf Adamson (who would shine but briefly before vanishing from fandom), and Paul Kincaid. They were referred to in one contemporary fanzine as "the bastard offspring of SFM", but not all had discovered fandom through its pages. Smith and Langford predated it, of course, and as members of OUSFG (Oxford University SF Group) had written fiction for the group's magazine, SFINX, while the Harveys had started out as members of the Leeds University SF Group. Other neos from the '74/'75 influx had produced fanzines in late 1975, most of them largely forgettable, but this particular group, having held fire a bit longer and gained a better appreciation of what was going on before taking the plunge, produced a crop of rather more worthwhile fanzines. Interestingly, they were also perfectly in tune with the existing fandom and so avoided the clashes that earlier groups of newcomers had had with the established fans of their day. The last of the new fanzines to emerge from this group were Merf Adamson's THE NEXT BEST THING TO PERFECT LEGS, Kevin Smith's DOT and, in September, Rob Hansen's EPSILON.

Among the dozen or so other fanzines out in August were the fifth issue of Ian Maule's PARANOID, the first in three years and the last for another three; THE ICHNEUMON FLYER 1 from Birmingham's Paul Thompson; MATRIX 7 from the BSFA (the previous six issues had been called BSFAN or BSFA NEWSLETTER); TRUE RAT 8, which carried the first of D West's major pieces of fanzine criticism; and QUARK 13, the first issue in ten years and the first to be published over here by Tom Perry, an American fan briefly resident in the UK during the mid 1970s.

With its 74th issue, in September 1976, Peter Roberts returned as permanent editor of CHECKPOINT, which became again the newszine it had once been. Despite their undoubted abilities, neither Darroll Pardoe nor Ian Maule possessed the particular quirky way of looking at things and dry wit that had made the Roberts issues such a joy. In contrast to the final Maule issue, which had been a mere single-sheeter, CHECKPOINT 74 weighed in at six pages. It also carried the announcement that henceforth CHECKPOINT would carry only fannish news, and that those requiring SF news should seek out LOCUS.

Peter Roberts' move from London to Devon in late October was celebrated by the publication of EGG 10 1/2, an issue of his fanzine in which various members of Ratfandom wrote humorous reminiscences of Roberts, edited by the Charnocks and illustrated by D West. That same month, in CHECKPOINT 75, Roberts announced that he would be standing for TAFF in 1977, along with Pete Presford and Terry Jeeves.

BAR TREK 1 (Oct'76) was the first general-circulation fanzine to emerge from the new generation of Leeds fans. Edited by former LUUSFSer Lee Montgomerie and Mike Dickinson, it contained a blend of serious and not-so-serious commentary on SF and lasted three issues, ceasing publication in November 1977.

Newcastle proved again what a fannish hotspot it was in October when there was yet another manifestation of new fannishness, this time in the form of the Newcastle University SF Society. Organised by Robert Carter, the society soon boasted a membership of fifty and Carter himself soon made contact with Gannetfandom, swelling further the city's burgeoning fannish population. In November, Norwich's Discovery SF Group collapsed and reformed itself as a new group called 'Breakaway' which met every Wednesday at The Adam and Eve, a pub in the city's Bishopgate area. This reorganisation was judged necessary to shake the group out of its apathy and to reform it along the more sercon lines favoured by R.Lionel Fanthorpe, Mike Bootman, Sherry Ward, Pete Tyers, Stuart Andrews and Roger Campbell. The group were now very sercon - just how sercon would become clear at the 1977 SILICON.

Birmingham's sixth NOVACON was held in the Royal Angus Hotel over the weekend of 5th - 7th November 1976. Stan Eling was Chairman, with Helen Eling, Rog & Arline Peyton, and Laurence Miller also on the committee. Dave Kyle was Guest of Honour, and attendance was around 300. As well as the usual panels and talks, the films shown were Soylent Green and Westworld. There was also a showing of Phil Foglio's slide show, The Capture. Reports on the con were generally favourable but, as Peter Roberts reported:

"The sixth Novacon was a pleasant, but unremarkable affair which seems destined to fade comfortably into the general haze of annual Birmingham cons. For some people in fact this haze is already a substantial fog - ace actifan Pete Weston, for example, not only forgot to register but turned up unexpectedly on Friday at the old Imperial Centre Hotel, scene of the first four Novacons. Thus are Secret Masters removed from the shackles of everyday time and space."
As the years passed it would become ever more difficult to separate one NOVACON from another in memory.
Towards the end of the 1976 Autumn term, students Phil Wain and Dave Penn founded the Keele University SF Society. Previously known in fandom mainly for being Peter Roberts' old alma mater, Keele University was to produce a number of fans in the coming years who would go on to be active in fandom nationally and to be the venue for some memorable conventions in the early 1980s. KUSFS would grow steadily over the next few years, its membership reaching 60 in mid-1978, but would meet irregularly, its members only gathering when special lectures or film shows could be arranged.

December 1976 saw both the formation of the Stoke-on-Trent SF Society (SoTSFS) and the first parliamentary candidate to be fielded in an election by an SF group. SoTSFS was founded by Chris Hall, who became its Chairman, and over thirty people attended its inaugural meeting. Numbers dropped off sharply after this but stabilised at around thirteen regular members, including people like Dave Rowley and MATRIX scribe Bill Little. The group met on the first Tuesday of every month at the WFA, Cartwright House, Hanley, had its own library and internal newsletter, and was sercon in orientation with talks by visiting pros and regular SF discussion sessions. As for the parliamentary election, Peter Roberts reported in the December CHECKPOINT that:

"To the relief of professional politicians, Philip Sargent, standing for the Science Fiction Looney Party, gained only 374 votes and thus failed to become the new Member of Parliament for the city of Cambridge. The Cambridge University SF Society were responsible for this bizarre, fannish bid for power...and indeed polled sufficiently well to score a genuine political point by embarrassing the far-right National Front, which didn't poll much better."
In fact there was a fan in Parliament at this point, namely Lord St.Davids, a member of the House of Lords, who attended a few One Tun meetings around this time. As amusing as this was, though, it wasn't politics but developments in the fields of film and rock music that would make an impact on fandom in the late 1970s.
Rob Hansen would welcome feedback and factual corrections, at: rob@fiwaol.org.uk

All material in THEN is copyright © by Rob Hansen, 1988-1994. The THEN files may be freely copied for private enjoyment or research but may not be republished (e.g. in printed or CD-ROM versions), distributed in modified form, incorporated into other works, or quoted out of context without the express written permission of the copyright holder.

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The Mid 1970s: THE BASTARD OFFSPRING OF SCIENCE FICTION MONTHLY If late 1963 had been the start of the period of social and artistic revolution we think of when we refer to 'the Sixties', then 1974 surely marked its end.

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1974: Graham Poole Resigns as BSFA Membership Secretary

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1974: Graham Poole Resigns as BSFA Membership Secretary

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Following the upsurge in membership inquiries after the launch of Science Fiction Monthly, the BSFA saw no discernible growth in membership. Frustrated by the lack of action by the association to recruit and welcome new members, Poole left the committee.

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1974: Dave Tillston Resigns as BSFA Membership Secretary

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1974: Dave Tillston Resigns as BSFA Membership Secretary

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Tillston departed towards the end of the year to be replaced by Dave Symes.

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Produced by New English Library, Science Fiction Monthly quickly became a popular magazine. In 1974, its advertisements boosted attendance at Tynecon and inquiries to the BSFA.

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Held at the Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle.

Guest of Honour - Bob Shaw.
Fan Guest of Honour - Peter Weston.
The Doc Weir Award - Malcolm Edwards.
The BSFA SF Award  Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke.

BSFA AGM

Vice Chair - Chris Bursey.
Membership Secretary - Dave Tillston.

Other committee members:
Graham Poole
Roger Hensey
Fred Hemmings
Malcolm Davies

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Tynecon 74 : Eastercon : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Science fiction convention held in 1974. See Wikidata; SFcentral; Fancyclopedia

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Held at the Grand Hotel in Bristol.

Guest of Honour - Samuel R. Delany.
The Doc Weir Award - Ethel Lindsay.

BSFA AGM
Fred Hemmings, Malcolm Edward and Peter Nicholls elected to the association council.

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Eastercon 24, OMPAcon '73, (which was also called OMPAcon 2) was held in Bristol over Easter (April 20-23), 1973. The GoH was Samuel R. Delany.

The committee were Gerald Bishop, Ken Cheslin, Mike Meara, Pat Meara, Fred Hemmings, Terry Jeeves, Brian Robinson.

This convention was named because it was bid for and run by OMPA members who comprised the committee; as usual for the UK national convention, all fans were welcome. Publications included and OMPAcon 73.

This is a convention page. Please extend it by adding information about the convention, including dates, GoHs, convention chairman, locale, sponsoring organization, external links to convention pages, awards given, the program, notable events, anecdotes, pictures, scans of publications, pictures of T-shirts, con reports, etc.

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Eastercon 24, OMPAcon '73, (which was also called OMPAcon 2) was held in Bristol over Easter (April 20-23), 1973. The GoH was Samuel R. Delany. The committee were Gerald Bishop, Ken Cheslin, Mike Meara, Pat Meara, Fred Hemmings, Terry Jeeves, Brian Robinson.

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This was announced by Dan Morgan in 1972 owing to a lack of response from readers.

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The magazine mentions that Robert Holdstock is now running BSFA Orbiter.

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1972: Last issue of BSFA Bulletin (Issue 47)

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1972: Last issue of BSFA Bulletin (Issue 47)

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In May it was announced that Archie Mercer's publication would now be folded into Vector, with new editions appearing every two months.

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1972: Vector 59 edited by Malcolm Edwards

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1972: Vector 59 edited by Malcolm Edwards

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The first issue edited by Gollancz and Orion aficionado, Malcolm Edwards. This was rushed out to be available at Chessmancon.

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Held at the Blossoms Hotel, Chester.

Guest of Honour - Larry Niven.

BSFA AGM

Election/Re-election:
John Brunner - Chair.
Vice Chair - Keith Freeman.
Graham Poole - Company Secretary.

After the AGM, the 'Fanzine Foundation' scandal occurred. This was where the BSFA committee elected to sell off the collection of fanzines that the association had gathered together 'sight unseen' in cardboard boxes.

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CHESSMANCON, the twenty-third post-war UK National Science Fiction Convention, took place over the weekend of Friday, 31st March to Monday, 3rd April 1972. Named for both its location (Chester) and the city (Manchester) from whose Delta Group most of those organising it were drawn, CHESSMANCON was the fourth MANCON, the others being MANCON, SUPERMANCON, and THIRDMANCON. The 1976 Eastercon would be MANCON 5, and there was a Manchester convention called MANCON 6 planned for July 1991 (so not an Eastercon) that was cancelled, more on which can be found here. The next Manchester Eastercon in 1998 would be named INTUITION. No sense of history, some people - or at least that's how it appeared. In actual fact the initially all-female committee decided that them running a con named MANCON risked too many tiresome 'jokes' and were also concerned about any association with the still well-remembered and famously awful MANCON 5. By 2016 this was less of a concern and that year's Eastercon went by the more traditionally city-evocative MANCUNICON, which once again contains MANCON. (I wonder what a future MANCON 8 - or 9 if you count the cancelled one - will be called when it eventually happens?)

Presumably because of its name, the organisers of CHESSMANCON decided to include a chess tournament. Sadly, I don't think SUPERMANCON made any reference to Clark Kent, or THIRDMANCON any reference to Harry Lime. So far as I'm aware, CHESSMANCON is the only con to be named after *two* cities.

CHESSMANCON was held at the Blossoms Hotel in Chester.

Larry Niven was the Guest of Honour. The previous Eastercon had an official Fan Guest of Honour, a UK first which was not repeated at this one.

Committee:

Tony Edwards, Chairman

Harry Nadler, Vice-Chair

Bill Burns, Treasurer

Chuck Partington, Programme

Norman Shorrock, Hotel Liaison

Dave Britton, Art Show

Eddie Jones, Art Consultant

Report below edited together from those by Bob Shaw, Rob Holdstock, Peter Weston, and others. Comments by me appear in parentheses and are italicised. Source notes can be found here.

The photos presented herein come from a variety of collections, though this doesn't necessarily mean a particular picture was taken by that person. The collection photos are from, where known, is noted in parentheses thus: (lo) Lars-Olov Strandberg, (mb) Merv Barrett, (pm) Peter Mabey, (gp) Greg Pickersgill, (mm) Mike Meara, (im) Ian Maule. As always, a tip of the hat to the late Peter Weston for identifying many of the people in these photos and for supplying them in the first place, though rather more than usual did not have the photographers initials attached.

Here are links to pages devoted to the individual days and to convention literature.

The Fortean Connection

***

Thursday 30th March

FRED POHL:

Chester is a pretty little ancient English city surrounded by a pall of smoke and a Roman wall. The wall is great fun; you can walk all around the old city, on top of it, viewing things like a reconstructed hypocaust ("What's a hypocaust?" "Oh, about $15 with a full load of smack."), a Roman garden, the River Dee, the flat swampy place where the River Dee used to be when Chester was the main port for that part of England (but isn't now, because it silted up on them and all the shipping went across the way to Liverpool), and so on.

The place was the Blossoms Hotel, the time was Easter Sunday weekend, 1972, the occasion was the Chessmancon. The official attendance was around 250, making this one a mammoth in the English Eastercon series. Guest of Honour was Larry Niven, who gave a reprise of his Philcon 1970 GoH speech, somewhat updated and delightedly received by all but the few who had heard it before. [ Not so much. See later.] Stars present included Brian Aldiss, Harry Harrison, E.C. Tubb, Bob Shaw, James White, David Kyle, Christopher Priest, Donald Wollheim, James Blish, Anne McCaffrey, Brian Ball, and I'm sorry to say quite a few others whose names escape me.

The occasion was bright, cheerful and productive, but there was sorrow in it: Ted Carnell's funeral took place in London the day before the con officially opened, and many of the mourners went direct from the funeral to Chester.

PETER ROBERTS:

Last year at the Worcester Eastercon everyone told me how good a time they'd had on the Thursday evening before the official start of the convention, so I arrived happily and expectantly on Thursday afternoon, found no one in the Blossoms, and walked the mile and a half to my overspill hotel, the notorious Peacock. This bustling place was a giant Twenties pub and was closed until the landlord arrived at 6 p.m. "We generally go to bed at eleven o'clock," said his wife. "But I daresay you'll be back before then?"

Looks like a really good con, I thought.

However, things became somewhat brighter with the arrival of Greg Pickersgill, famed FOULER editor, and ex-Australian comic fan John Brosnan. We kept the poor landlady up till half past one waiting for Roy Kettle who, as it happened, was still sleeping peacefully in London. She had her own back the next morning, though, and charged John £4 for the double-room...

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CHESSMANCON, the twenty-third post-war UK National Science Fiction Convention, took place over the weekend of Friday, 31st March to Monday, 3rd April 1972. Named for both its location (Chester) and the city (Manchester) from whose Delta Group most of those organising it were drawn, CHESSMANCON was the fourth MANCON, the others being MANCON, SUPERMANCON, and THIRDMANCON.

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Known to his friends as either Ted or John, was a British science fiction editor known for editing New Worlds in 1946 then from 1949 to 1963. He also edited Science Fantasy from the 1950s. After the m

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1972: First Issue of Foundation from the Science Fiction Foundation.

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1972: First Issue of Foundation from the Science Fiction Foundation.

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This appeared in March 1972.

Editor in Chief - Charles Barren.
Technical Editor - Ken Bulmer.
Features Editor - Georges Hay.

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The Science Fiction Foundation was launched as an educational and research network in 1971. Its founding aims were and are:

To provide research facilities for anyone wishing to study science fiction.

To investigate and promote the usefulness of science fiction in education.

To disseminate information about science fiction.

To promote a discriminating understanding of the nature of science fiction.

Through its archive based at the University of Liverpool, publication of the academic journal Foundation, and its support of activities such as the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the George Hay Lecture, the Science Fiction Masterclass, Science for Fiction and SF Outreach, the SFF continues to promote academic research within science fiction and to encourage greater public understanding of the genre. Our current patrons are Neil Gaiman, Nalo Hopkinson and Prof David Southwood. We are a registered charity - No. 1041052.

Foundation is the essential critical review of science fiction. We publish on all aspects of the genre, and on all media. In addition to academic articles, we regularly feature author interviews, conference reports, exhibition reviews and, uniquely, reviews of both fiction and non-fiction. We also publish a number of special issues. The journal is peer-reviewed and appears three times a year (Spring, Summer and Winter). ISSN: 0306-4964. Our current editorial team are:

Find out more about the history of the journal at our Wikipedia page. The current editor talks about the journal . John Clute discusses the history of the SFF, and his time as Book Reviews Editor, . Our 50th anniversary panel, recorded in 2021, can be listened to .

Neil Gaiman at the SFF Collection

The support of members is key to all we do at the SFF. Annual membership enables us to finance our activities. These include publication of the journal, the maintenance of the SFF Collection, bursaries for researchers to visit the Collection, speakers for the George Hay Lecture and SFF AGM, tutors for the SFF Masterclass, and financial assistance for events such as the academic track at Worldcon.

Whether you're a fan, a student, an independent scholar, an academic researcher or a university institution with a commitment to sf studies, we think you should be part of the SFF. The more members we have, and the greater our network grows, the more we can do to further our aims and to expand the sf community. So, do take out one of the packages on the memberships page - it's easy to do - and reasonably priced! In return, you will receive a year's subscription to the journal and voting rights at our AGM. ​

Editing SF panel at the SFRA 2016, co-organised with the SFF in Liverpool

From its official launch, the SFF's research library has been an integral part of its activities. Dependent upon the generosity of readers, writers, publishers and fans for its acquisition of new material, the SFF Collection has become one of the most important research resources in the field. With holdings now of over 40,000 items, the Collection is the largest archive of material related to science fiction in Western Europe, and one of the most important outside of the USA.

In addition to the Collection, the SFF organises the annual George Hay Lecture at Eastercon - delivered by a leading scientist; the SFF Masterclass for sf criticism; and the Science for Fiction classes for writers interested in the latest scientific ideas. We have also organised conferences on themes such as 'fantastika and the classical world'.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

By providing Foundation with your personal data, you are assumed to have opted in to allow us to process this data for the purposes of sending you SF Foundation information. (This includes the journal if you have subscribed and notice of general meetings).

If you wish to opt out of receiving these benefits, or if you have any queries regarding this, please e-mail sff@beccon.org.

We will not pass your information to any third parties, nor use your information for any other purposes.

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SF Foundation Net About Science Fiction Journal

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The Science Fiction Foundation was launched as an educational and research network in 1971. Its founding aims were and are: To provide research facilities for anyone wishing to study science fiction. To investigate and promote the usefulness of science fiction in education. To disseminate information about science fiction.

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Published in February, this mentions Ted Carnell being BSFA Chair.

The BSFA's Fanzine Foundation is to be passed on from Charlie Winstone to Mike Meara.

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(April 8, 1912 - March 23, 1972)

Edward John "Ted" Carnell (also called John Carnell and E. J. Carnell) was a UK fan and later prozine editor. He attended the 1937 Leeds Convention and the Second British Convention.

In 1949, he was the recipient of the Big Pond Fund, the first fan fund, to bring him to the Cinvention, where he was Fan GoH. A CFG post- con party for him at Doc Barrett's place on Indian Lake, Ohio, was the origin of Midwestcon.

Carnell was a member of the London Circle. He chaired the first UK Worldcon, Loncon, in 1957.

Before World War II, he took over the fanzine Novae Terrae and renamed it , using Pendulum Publications as a publishing house name. After four issues he attempted to turn it into a prozine, but failed because the publisher he was working with turned out to be a crook. After the War, he was successfully founder and first editor of the prozine. He also edited Science Fantasy starting in the 1950s, and then started the long-lived New Writings in Science Fiction anthology series.

He was a member of the International Fantasy Award judging panel. He was was on the committee of Festivention and London SF Con and was GoH at London, the 1960 Eastercon.

He helped launch the careers of Brian W. Aldiss, J. G. Ballard, Damien Broderick, Michael Moorcock, and James White.

He was married to Irene Carnell.

Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

Fanzines and Apazines:

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

This is a biography page. Please extend it by adding more information about the person, such as fanzines and apazines published, awards, clubs, conventions worked on, GoHships, impact on fandom, external links, anecdotes, etc. See Standards for People and The Naming of Names.

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(April 8, 1912 - March 23, 1972) Edward John "Ted" Carnell (also called John Carnell and E. J. Carnell) was a UK fan and later prozine editor. He attended the 1937 Leeds Convention and the Second British Convention.

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Held in November at the Birmingham Imperial Centre Hotel.

Guest of Honour - James White

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Birmingham Science Fiction Group

Novacon - our annual convention

The first NOVACON was organised by the University of Aston SF Group in 1971. At that time there was only one annual SF convention in the UK which took place over Easter weekend and the ASFG in its youthful exuberance realised that there was more than enough support for another one to be held midway between these.

After a year or so of hard work and worry NOVACON (NOV- November, NOVA - New) was held during the first weekend of November 1971, taking over a small hotel in the centre of Birmingham with the programme running from lunchtime on Saturday to lunchtime on Sunday, although most fans stayed from Friday to Sunday evening to meet and chat with old friends.

The weekend proved such a success that its members voted to make it an annual event so the ASFG formally handed it onto the recently formed Birmingham Science Fiction Group to ensure continuity from year to year. Since then NOVACON has developed into a fan centred rather than academic convention, based around a single stream structured Programme and intended to let its members circulate and talk to one another if they wish as well as attend programme items.

NOVACON attendees are drawn from all over the UK while a fair number come from Europe, to provide an eclectic mixture of SF knowledge and opinions. Although there is a Programme of science fiction orientated panels, talks and other items there is also a Book Room with a variety of booksellers and other dealers, an Art Room to view and buy, an Art Auction and a Book Auction while a licensed Bar serves as a centre for discussions or just relaxing.

The NOVACON 50 was posponed from 2020 due to covid and will now run from Friday night to Sunday night 12th to 14th November 2021. The event will take place at The Palace Hotel in Buxton, Derbyshire.

Interested? Then look at the website:

Or get more information at a BSFG meeting. https://www.novacon.uk

THE NOVACON SPECIALS - Limited edition chapbooks published by the Birmingham SF Group each year celebrating work by their Guest of Honour. Unless specified otherwise the cost of the item also includes the Programme Book for the event which includes bibliographies and articles on the GoH. The Specials all have cover art in colour by David A Hardy.(There are only limited numbers of these titles available other years are already sold out)

NOVACON 36 (2006) - Ken MacLeod, THE INVASION DREAM, 2 short pieces - 23pgs. 300 numbered copies. £8.00

NOVACON 39 (2009) - Justina Robson, ERIE LACKAWANNA SONG (STORM FRONT). 24pg story. 250 numbered copies. £8.00

NOVACON 41 (2011) - John Meaney, STUDY IN SHADOW. Short story, 41pgs. 300 numbered copies. £8.00

NOVACON 42 (2012) Jaine Fenn THE SHIPS OF THE ALEPH 45pgs 300 numbered copies £8.00

NOVACON 43 (2013) Jo Walton TURNOVER 21pgs 250 numbered copies £8.00

NOVACON 44 (2014) Kari Sperring STRONG BROWN GOD 14 pgs 300 numbered copies £8.00

NOVACON 45 (2015) Stan Nicholls EVENTS, Anne Nicholls HEATWAVE 50 pgs 250 numbered Copies £8.00

NOVACON 46 (2016) Juliet McKenna TRACE ELEMENTS 34 pgs 250 numbered Copies £8.00

NOVACON 47 (2017) Adrian Tchaikovsky PRECIOUS LITTLE THINGS 30 pgs 250 numbered Copies £8

NOVACON 48 (2018) Chris Beckett SONS OF EDEN 34 pgs 250 numbered Copies £8

NOVACON 49 (2019) Mike Carey ALL THAT'S RED EARTH 60 pgs 250 numbered Copies £8

(Novacon 49 cover by Alex Storer)

We also have very limited numbers of the following:

NOVACON 18 (1988) Gary Kilworth TRIVAL TALES 16 pgs 500 numbered copies £10

NOVACON 20 (1990) Jack Cohen ARE YOU CONTENT IN YOUR CONTEXT? 12 pgs 450 numbered copies £8

NOVACON 21 (1991) Colin Greenland IN THE GARDEN 16 pgs 500 numbered copies £10

NOVACON 23 (1993) Stephen Baxter CHIRON 12 pgs 400 numbered copies (signed by author) £18

Please note that these can only be purchased from Durdles Books by PayPal, cheque or credit card. Postage is extra. Price and availability may have changed. Please contact
[email protected] for current details.

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Birmingham Science Fiction Group Novacon - our annual convention The first NOVACON was organised by the University of Aston SF Group in 1971. At that time there was only one annual SF convention in the UK which took place over Easter weekend and the ASFG in its youthful exuberance realised that there was more than enough support for another one to be held midway between these.

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1971: Formation of the British Weird Fantasy Society

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1971: Formation of the British Weird Fantasy Society

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After some speculation from Roger Peyton in December 1970 around the lack of representation for fantasy as part of the BSFA, April 1971 saw the formation of a new national organisation. The British Weird Fantasy Society was first reported on in an issue of Checkpoint, by Patrick Roberts.

Rosemary Pardoe - Secretary.
Keith Walker - Bulletin Editor.
Phil Spencer - Magazine Editor (Dark Horizons).

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1971 was also the year August Derleth died and Ramsey Campbell suggested that the BWFS should institute a memorial award to be given annually to the best literary work in the genre. An ambitious start for the Society with 34 members at the end of its first year.

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Guest of Honour - Anne Mccaffrey.
Doc Weir Award - Phil Rogers
BSFA Award - Jagged Orbit by John Brunner

BSFA AGM

Joe Hart voted off of BSFA Committee in favour of Roger Gilbert.

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EASTERCON 22, the twenty-second post-war UK National Science Fiction Convention, took place over the weekend of Friday, 9th April to Sunday, 11th April 1971. It was held at the then new (built 1967) Giffard Hotel in Worcester, which was demolished in March 2016.

A total of 404 finally registered, and 284 are recorded as having been present, including fans from ten other countries, such as Jon Bing (Norway), Jannick Storm (Denmark), Michel Feron (Belgium), and a whole contingent of Germans. Brian Aldiss, James Blish, John Brunner, Bob Shaw, Ken Bulmer, Chris Priest, James White, and Don Wollheim were among the professionals present. Expected but absent were Ted Tubb and Mike Moorcock.

The Giffard Hotel (l-o).

Committee:

Peter Weston, Chairman

Vernon Brown

Roger Peyton

Bob Rickard

Guests:

Anne McCaffrey, GoH

Ethel Lindsay, FGoH (a UK first)

Phil Rogers, Toastmaster

Report below edited together from those by Ethel Lindsay, Graham Poole, and written by various people for CYNIC #4. Pete Weston's quotes are pulled from several places, including his book WITH STARS IN MY EYES. Comments by me appear in parentheses and are italicised. Source notes can be found here.

The photos presented herein come from a variety of collections, though this doesn't necessarily mean a particular picture was taken by that person. The collection photos are from, where known, is noted in parentheses thus: (ns) Norman Shorrock, (lo) Lars-Olov Strandberg, (mb) Merv Barrett, (mp) Mary Peek, (RH) Robert Hepworth, (PW) Peter Weston (pm) Peter Mabey, (gp) Greg Pickersgill, (mm) Mike Meara, (im) Ian Maule. As always, a tip of the hat to Peter Weston for identifying many of the people in these photos and for supplying them in the first place.

The convention badge:

Here are links to pages devoted to the individual days and to convention literature. Artwork for badge, envelope, and Programme Book cover supplied by Vincent di Fate.

The Accounts

***

Prologue
VERNON BROWN:
It all started just after the '70 con when Peter gave me a ring to ask if I would give him a hand with the '71 con. At first things were not too bad. After Peter had run through the AA book of Midland Hotels we picked out a few promising ones - few being the operative word, as there seems to be a dearth of reasonably-sized medium-priced hotels. The ones large enough to take over 100 guests and more attendees appeared rather staid; the managers usually tended to look askance at the very mention of the term Science Fiction. After a disappointment or six we found the Giffard, which was not only new but large and with a genial manager. The toilets (gents at least) were large and clean - I have found on my various wanderings that it's not the bar or the main decor that is the yardstick of a place but the state of the humble hidden loo!

We were now on a solid foundation, with an abode and a Guest of Honour. Letterheads were printed - it's surprising what a difference a piece of headed notepaper will make when communicating with almost anyone, from private individuals to large firms - and we could shoot off official letters in all directions. Committee meetings were held every few weeks - a necessary requirement of a functional committee is that its members live fairly close to one another in order that meetings can be held frequently or as often as necessary and at short notice if the occasion arises. It's no good trying to hold a meeting by phone or letter.

Various responsibilities were thrashed out, each member being more or less solely responsible for his area with as little overlap as possible. This meant that each member worked at his best as there could be no passing the buck. Among other things I ended up with the gathering of auction material and the organisation of commemorative covers. I wrote off, hopefully to a fair number of authors for donations to the auction - mss, books, etc. A number replied, the majority of whom were most helpful and courteous even if, as happened in several cases, they could not donate anything as all their material was being filed in University archives. Some passed me on to others who might help, some didn't reply. Gods with feet of clay! The secretaries at work, noticing sheaves of multi-coloured envelopes instead of catalogues in my post, were most intrigued to discover that 'those' people who read 'those peculiar space/BEM/A-war books' were actually organised and unashamed of it.

Vernon Brown (RH)

The commemorative covers started out reasonably well. After much telephoning and letter writing all the snags were ironed out, details of when and where organised and the design for the hand-frank sent off and received by the GPO well before the appointed deadline. However, the internal-communications of the P.O. were as efficient as the external and the designs disappeared. I didn't even know about this until the Friday before Eastercon, by which time it was much too late to resubmit and/or arrange private franking/posting. Peter managed to get a small stamp made with the legend "Posted at Eastercon '22" but of course the whole point of a commemorative cover was lost.

Another thing that we didn't realise was that there is a tax on printed matter and the cost of the covers went up by about 20% in tax. However the final cost was such that, had things been OK with the GPO, we could have covered the complete cost of the covers by charging 15p per cover including postage. As we ended by charging 5p we made a bit of a loss.

Other aspects went off fairly well; adverts came in by various means the postal strike didn't help much but even the foreign post managed to reach us - or I should say Peter, as he had the devious connections necessary - the Banquet menu was decided upon, even a new GoH was found at short notice to take Brian Aldiss' place when he had to resign due to personal reasons.

THE BRIAN ALDISS GoH SAGA - Peter Weston

At SCI-CON 70:

Brian confided that this was the second time he had been asked to be Guest of Honour but had then been required to step down. We were suitably shocked, as he went on to explain how he had been invited as GoH for 1969 in Oxford, but when a new committee had taken over, headed by John Brunner, they had wanted to have Judith Merril instead. George Hay had heard about this, thought it was a bit poor, and so he had asked Brian to be GoH in 1970, which he had accepted. Then George heard that James Blish was moving to England and he did exactly the same thing, pushing out Brian once again in favour of a supposed bigger "name." Rog and I were suitably disgusted, and promptly offered to make amends. We would bid for the 1971 Eastercon and would do it properly. We promised to find a decent hotel and make Brian our Guest of Honour. (p.191)

***

Suddenly, however, we hit double trouble. Brian Aldiss resigned as Guest of Honour, and this was immediately followed by the start of a postal strike. Brian's letter was a bombshell! The only reason Rog and I had taken on the convention was to do justice to him, and now he was dropping out for no very good reason, saying vaguely that he "might be living in Hong Kong for a while." No Eastercon had ever lost their GoH before, and the postal strike made it impossible to find anyone else, and we couldn't receive hotel bookings or advertising copy for our programme book. We were in a deep hole. Somehow, it all worked out. Anne McCaffrey had just moved to Eire from the United States and graciously stepped in as last-minute GoH. (p.197)

***

Brian Aldiss came after all, his Hong Kong adventure having proved something of a mirage, and he checked in at the neighbouring Talbot and seemed to enjoy himself. However, he later said,

"At the time I was suffering from an undiagnosed illness which turned out to be hepatitis A, B, and probably C as well. A couple of sips of a good red wine and my body seemed to turn into a slagheap. I remember two burly fans carrying me out to the Volvo and Margaret driving me home to die. On that fateful drive, I coined a perfectly splendid few Famous Last Words and was pretty pissed off later to find myself recovering. I have long since forgotten what those Last Words were, but I know John Brunner's name came into it." (p.198)

- excerpted from WITH STARS IN MY EYES (2004, NESFA Press)

Films were ordered several months in advance after poring over various catalogues and a riverboat trip arranged. One hectic evening was spent putting together the Programme Booklet. Piles of artwork, adverts, articles and programme information littered the table while a huge sheet of paper, divided into numbered page sections, was slowly filled in, erased, and refilled with details of the layout of the Booklet.

Finally most of the material required was stored in Peter's house and arrangements made for travelling down on the Thursday evening to get everything set up for the 'off' on Friday.

I arrived at Peter's late after a last minute hitch - I realised that my 'genuine-type' helmet looked nothing like those depicted on S&S covers ... why-in-hell don't the artists realise that a helmet fitting the head like a glove (?) would cause the chap inside to die of a homogenized brain and multiple skull fractures if a hailstone hit it? I got a 'suitable' one from R-x-charms and sprayed it silver.

The taxi-driver who drove me across town must have had a tiring day or something because he gave me peculiar looks as I climbed in with a huge suitcase, a large newspaper-covered box (for posting) and a 3ft-odd broadsword. Perhaps it's as well that someone else was taking down my 2ft. diameter shield and seven one-gallon containers of wine.

After several false starts Peter, Eileen, Rick and I were on our way to Worcester. Arriving rather late in the evening there was little time to do much convention setting-up so after a drink or three I got my last night of reasonable sleep.

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EASTERCON 22, the twenty-second post-war UK National Science Fiction Convention, took place over the weekend of Friday, 9th April to Sunday, 11th April 1971. It was held at the then new (built 1967) Giffard Hotel in Worcester, which was demolished in March 2016.

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Held in the Royal Hotel in London.

Guest of Honour - James Blish.
The Doc Weir Award - Mike Rosenblum.

BSFA AGM
At this point, the association has converted to having a management council, with individuals elected to this body and a Chair chosen by the council from this group.

Outgoing Council Members:
Brian Aldiss, S.R. Dalton, Archie Mercer, Beryl Mercer, and the Chair, Bruce ("Edmund Crispin") Montgomery.

The New Council (Post AGM):
E. . Carnell, Roger Peyton, S. R. Dalton and Archie Mercer.

Retiring Chair/President Bruce Montgomery is awarded a lifetime membership.

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Saturday 28th March - [Programme]
PETER ROBERTS:
Saturday I awake with groan and rise with lurch (we're just good friends). Cleaners enter and leave immediately with haste. It is afternoon at best and Sunday evening at worst. Necessary cleaning, then down with thoughts of witty apologies for late entrance. Butit is 8.45am and the day is yet cold. I meet a fannish friend of the previous evening and enter the breakfast bedlam to sit eating fried eggs and hearing pleasantly of wartime grape jelly from Jill Adams and friend. They're replaced on leaving by Brian Hampton, attempting to gain coffee the second time around, Ho ho, no luck - even with fine look of innocence.

Front row: unknown, Bob Rickard, Jeff Hacker, unknown, Perry Chapdelaine, Don Wollheim,
Ruth Kyle, unknowns (lo)

Into the Con Hall for Publishers' Panel - sad tales of sf writers in the fifties (two novels per week at £5 per time!), entertaining talk of manuscript reading, cover designing, and hinted beauty of respective publisher's lists. Kit Pedler and Harvey Matusow follow with, serious and constructive thoughts on scientific ombudsmen -- I stay to marvel at Harvey Matusow whose amazing Jew's Harp Band is captured on a friend's Ip.
BILL BURNS:
I borrowed a Nagra portable tape recorder from the BBC for the weekend (although I don't think anyone in authority knew about it; its value was about £2000 at the time!), and I recorded a number of program items - you'll see me sitting holding a microphone in one of the photos.

((John Clarke's talk was immediately after the lunch break, and was followed by James Blish's Guest of Honour speech. Recordings of both are linked to above and below - Rob))

PETER ROBERTS:

Lunch seems unpopular, but I venture out with Gray Boak and Ian Williams, a new fan of poor bridge playing and similar interests to my own. To the mock Wimpey bar, greeted by dark moaning from large group already ensconced, containing John Hall, Roy Kettle, and such specimens as populate conventions...

Afternoon I listen to quietly entertaining speech from James Blish and chat briefly to Tony Walsh and Gray Charnock who places EGG in inside pocket - "Next to my heart" Roger Waddington is met for the first time - so quietly that I fail to realize who he is at first. Hello Roger.
MALCOLM EDWARDS:
That 'very aged' James Blish was in fact just 52 years old at TYNECON in 1974, though he did look much older. I always had a lot of time for him, not least because at my first convention, where he was Guest of Honour, he was one of the few people willing to talk to a new fan. I published a couple of pieces by him -- based on talks he gave in Cambridge -- in my early fanzines. After one of them he wrote to inform me gently that there was no apostrophe in FINNEGANS WAKE (apparently there are a multiplicity of Finnegans -- who knew?) so in the spirit of channelling him I pass this on.

PETER ROBERTS:

Flurry of krumhorns and CRABAPPLE group appears. Mary Reed fails to recognize me for the third year - oy vey, such is fannish fame! But I am consoled with individually marked Crab - "Peter Rabbit" (bunny playmate of the month, perhaps ?). Roy Kettle wanders off muttering dimly, having been mistaken for Greg Pickersgill - a fate worse than death. Greg morosely considers that he might have been mistaken for Roy Kettle, a fate twice as worse as death. John Hall leaves for drag-racing or somesuch barbarity, stopping only to purchase a Mk.II pellet-gun from salesman, Keith Bridges, who is doing a fine trade (judging from the constant shower of pellets descending on me from the balcony).

The mock Wimpey is raided once more - in the company of Greg, Gray, Ian, Roy, and Ken Eadie (another newcomer with prized autographs and leering extrovert nature).

((Following Blish's speech was a talk on computers by Dr Chris Evans and Perry Chapdelaine....))

MARK PLUMMER:

(In re the Programme Book membership list....))

...it doesn't help for all the people who didn't make it on to the printed list. Malcolm, for instance. And, apparently, Jon Courtenay Grimwood. Claire and I were talking to him in 2009 and he said he'd attended a London sf convention as a teenager, although he didn't go to anything else for 20+ years. SciCon fits -- he was 16/17 at the time. So I guess he might be in the photos somewhere.

JIM LINWOOD:

The list doesn't seem to mention Mike Moorcock or Dick Ellingsworth who, along with Pete Taylor, I spent some time with. Also missing from the list are Chris Priest and Graham Hall who I chatted to. I seem to remember meeting Ian Williams there for the first time possibly along with Pete Roberts. Marion and I took our very young daughter, Eleanor, to a panel on the Saturday afternoon and pointed out Mike to her because her favourite Teddy Bear had been christened "Moorcock". Dick and I went to a dreadful room party on Saturday night at which some American fan was holding forth at length. Afterwards the London Transport system had shut down for the night and I walked several miles back to Kew Bridge.

MALCOLM EDWARDS:

Maybe that American fan was Perry C. Surely there can't have been two equally dreadful Americans in attendance?

I was very short of money at that convention (I'd probably mostly spent my grant by Easter). I think I scraped together enough for a hotel room one night; the other I spent on a bench at Euston station. I guess that would have been because the hotel chucked out non-residents at some hour, and I didn't know about room parties. I managed to get swept up one lunchtime by a group going to an Indian restaurant on Edgware Road, which included Brian Aldiss, the Blishes and Willis McNelly. I think Vic Hallett -- who was one of the two fans I knew prior to the convention -- must have been responsible. So at least I had one decent meal.

PETER ROBERTS:

Evening rolls in.

The costume party starts vaguely with lights, projected films, noise, and Ted Tubb's ubiquitous wine - I stop only to admire Tony Walsh's fine costume of household rubbish.

PETER WESTON:

Labelled 'The Real 1984', Tony's message was "this is the future, and it stinks!" and he had drenched himself with butyric acid to make his point. *Not* a good idea!

Tony Walsh (lo)

Marion Kearney (mb)

PETER ROBERTS:

Jim Marshall (ns)

Simone Walsh, Ramsey Campbell (ns)

Arthur Cruttenden, Peter Roberts, Jill Adams (ns)

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PETER ROBERTS: Saturday I awake with groan and rise with lurch (we're just good friends). Cleaners enter and leave immediately with haste. It is afternoon at best and Sunday evening at worst. Necessary cleaning, then down with thoughts of witty apologies for late entrance. Butit is 8.45am and the day is yet cold.

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1969: BSFA Secretary becomes a split role.

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1969: BSFA Secretary becomes a split role.

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Doreen Parker becomes Company Secretary.
Beryl Mercer becomes Executive Secretary.

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Beryl Mercer (nee Henley) (1924 - 12 October 2003) was a fanzine editor from the UK.

Beryl Henley was married and had two young sons when she discovered fandom and fanzines. Despite appearances, she was far from a typical housewife; according to an article by Jim Linwood, published in the pages of Prolapse, she was a witch who was a member of a local coven. She soon became popular in fandom through her first fanzine, produced in the 1960s, called Link, and co-edited with Mary Reed. Link was published from 1964 till 1966, but not without a certain amount of controversy. This fanzine is regarded as one of the "New Wave" of zines emerging in the 1960s, who were often at odds with an earlier generation of fanzine editors and fans.

As reported in Prolapse, this antagonism between new and older fans was widely written about in fanzines, and in the pages of Beyond Beryl Henley took up the case of the newcomers, while Archie Mercer explained the position of established fans. Ironically, a year later the two were having a relationship and living together and were soon married.

Beryl then went on to do her OMPA zine Oz throughout the rest of the 1960s, while Mary did Crabapple.

From 1966 till 1967, Beryl Mercer was one of the co-editors with Joe Gibson ( G2), John Berry ( Pot Pourri) and Terry Jeeves ( ERG), of The Damned Patrol, a fanzine made by SF fans that was devoted to aviation.

In 1968, she co-edited one issue of Grimwab with well known fan artist Harry Bell. That same year, the first manned spaceship orbited around the moon. Beryl Mercer echoed the popular sentiment of the day in her fanzine DEC. 27th., 1968 which, she wrote, was...

"...offered as a token of my gratitude to the people of the USA. I would have given ten years of my life to have been fit enough and brilliant enough to have been a member of Apollo-8's crew."

She returned to this theme later in 1969, with Moon-shot Oneshot.

In 1969, Beryl Mercer won the "Doc" Weir Award, presented annually at Eastercon for service to British fandom.

In the 1970s Beryl began to co-edit fanzines with her husband, Archie Mercer. She joined him on his publication the Mercatorial Annual and later the two began co-editing The Middle Earthworm, which saw 29 issues published between October, 1968 and June, 1976, Their next fanzine, The Once and Future Worm, first appeared in October of 1976 and saw fifteen issues released, the last one in June 1981.

Contributions

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Beryl Mercer (nee Henley) (1924 - 12 October 2003) was a fanzine editor from the UK. Beryl Henley was married and had two young sons when she discovered fandom and fanzines. Despite appearances, she was far from a typical housewife; according to an article by Jim Linwood, published in the pages of Prolapse, she was a witch who was a member of a local coven.

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1969-1970: The BSFA's Purpose is discussed in Pertinence. 

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1969-1970: The BSFA's Purpose is discussed in Pertinence. 

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Archie Mercer's six-issue fanzine questions the role of the BSFA and its relationship with Eastercon.

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Held in Oxford.

Guest of Honour - Judith Merrill
The Doc Weir Award - Beryl Mercer

The BSFA's involvement in the convention appears to have been much reduced. The original plans for the event to be in Cambridge did not materialise.

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Galactic Fair 1969 : Eastercon : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Science fiction convention held in 1969. See Wikidata; SFcentral; Fancyclopedia

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1969: BSFA Vice Chair Ken Slater Resigns

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1969: BSFA Vice Chair Ken Slater Resigns

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This was announced in BSFA Bulletin 23. Slater had contributed to extensive reform of the association throughout his tenure. He passed away in 2008.

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In 1954 Ken wrote: For the information of a vast number of people who couldn't care less, I was born of British (mixed English-Irish-Scots-Welsh and some other nationalities) parents in 1917 (Dec. 27). No brothers or sisters, and my parents died before I was ten, leaving me (and little else) to a grandmother, who did her best to "bring up" a somewhat wayward youth. Being a mobile family I'd attended some seventeen schools (with disastrous results to what passes for my education) by the time I turned my hand in at fourteen (without permission) and went to work at Burnley Streamline. I'd already made acquaintance with s-f through the local library, and juvenile two-pennies, and my first American mag. was the September '28 Amazing Stories, purchased in December of that year from Woolworths-at 3d! This made me think that the streamline car was the thing of the future. Well, it was, but both the directors of Burnley's and myself were too early - the firm closed down three years later.

I then did sundry things in the line of earning a living, with varying success, until 1940 found me a private soldier. Some slight clerical knowledge obtained my rapid promotion to lance-corporal (unpaid acting) three days later, and I progressed steadily-but not so rapidly-until I received my commission in March '43. Most of that time I was cut-off from s-f, but when things quietened down in '45 I went on a buying spree and by '47 I had one of the best collections of books and mags in the U.K. During that period I met John Carnell, Walter Gillings, and many other leading folk in the British s-f world, and also became involved in acti-fandom. So involved that it hardly seems possible that I knew what to do with my spare time in earlier years. So involved that it seems improbable that I could get out... even if I wanted to. I don't, but still...

In the middle of my acti-fan-tivities I found time to get married to Joyce, getting her mixed up in the general melee of publishing and swapping and letter-writing. Some place along the line we've acquired a couple of kiddies (a boy and a girl), a Boxer dog, and a lot of odds and ends which have nothing to do with s-f and therefore always puzzle me.

- Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine. Volume 1 Number 1, January 1954 -

(Reprinted in The Inquisitor - Fan Columns from the Vargo Statten Magazine. Fishlifter Press, 2000.)

Peter Weston recalls : In my very early years the only thing I knew about Ken Slater was that he wrote the book reviews in Nebula. Then, in 1963 I learned he was also a science fiction bookseller, and I came to eagerly await his monthly catalogue, which provided my supply-line and usually contained all sorts of news. Then, when I went to my first SF convention I discovered Ken was in charge of the book-room, and was also on the programme running a sort of 'Any Questions?' event. Then, I discovered he was heavily involved in running that con, and had been Chairman the year before.

Then, someone told me about Ken's wartime and post-war trading activities with 'Operation Fantast', which for years kept British fandom alive, and in the wreckage of the British Science Fiction Association Fanzine Foundation I came across some of his neatly-printed, half-size journals and yearbooks which - though out of date - were packed with information. Then, at the 1966 Yarmouth SF convention, Ken became Vice-Chairman of the BSFA, and at the end of 1966 together with Doreen Parker, rescued the BSFA's magazine Vector and bailed-out the Association, which would otherwise have gone broke. Then, much later. I discovered Ken had been one of the original voices pressing for the formation of a national SF organisation. Then, in the seventies, he was one of the first fans to embrace the opening-up of international fandom, with his trips to conventions all over Europe.

Everywhere I go, Ken seems to have been there first. He started pushing the cause of SF fandom in the year I was born, and shows no signs of stopping yet; he is still selling books, he is still 'reading the rubbish' (to quote his own words) and now he's into electronic fandom where his memory for detail is as good as ever (except for faces!) and his anecdotes are greatly appreciated. He won the Doc Weir Award, been Guest of Honour at various British SF conventions, and was properly honoured at the Brighton Worldcon in 1987.- Peter Weston -

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In 1954 Ken wrote: For the information of a vast number of people who couldn't care less, I was born of British (mixed English-Irish-Scots­-Welsh and some other nationalities) parents in 1917 (Dec. 27). No brothers or sisters, and my parents died before I was ten, leaving me (and little else) to a grandmother, who did her best to "bring up" a somewhat wayward youth.

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Featuring the early work of Robert Holdstock.

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1967: BSFA launches The SF Writer's Bulletin

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1967: BSFA launches The SF Writer's Bulletin

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Announced as a quarterly, but produced annually in 1967 and 1968, this publication was aimed at advising writers.

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Despite motions at the 1967 AGM, this event was still considered to be under the jurisdiction of the BSFA.

Guest of Honour - Ken Bulmer.

Doc Weir Award - Mary Reed

The British Fantasy Award - Phillip K. Dick, Michael Moorcock

BSFA AGM Election/Re-election:

Chair - Roger Gilbert.

Vice Chair - Ken Slater.

Secretary - Doreen Parker.

John Hart - Treasurer.

Publications Officer - Tony Sudberry (resigned after the convention. Replaced by Michael Kenward).

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It's hard to overstate the anticipation I had for Eastercon 1968. It was going to be the largest national convention ever, with over 200 fans expected! In the end I understand that something like 150 people turned up; still the largest British national convention yet.
Still Riding the Slow Train
I set off from Hoe Street station on Good Friday morning in a state of considerable expectation. My journey was quite tedious, involving travelling into the city, crossing town on the Metropolitan line, taking the express train, but only as far as Stockport, and then finally changing to a beautiful but majestically slow branch line down to Buxton. The convention had originally been planned for a town with a mainline station, something I considered frequently while stopping at stations with names like Hazel Grove, Disley, Dove Holes, and Chapel-en-le-Frith.
Authentic Georgian Piles
Buxton is a beautiful spa town that has perhaps seen slightly better days. That was certainly true of St. Ann's Hotel, situated at one end of the once glorious but now dilapidated Georgian Crescent. I arrived to find someone waving a sword through his car window. This set the scene for a very vibrant but perhaps rather disorderly con.

I was in the overflow hotel, at the other end of the terrace, and there were a lot of fans milling around. It turned out that the hotel had misplaced their booking, and mine. Fortunately they quickly realised I was a lone female traveller and sorted me out with a tiny single room that I suspected might have previously been used to store laundry. The hotel appears to have retained many original features, like the plumbing, the lino, and the bedlinen. Ah well, all I'd be doing here was sleeping.

After I picked up my badge and programme book, I was a bit overwhelmed at how many fans were there. I was later told it was nearly 150; a huge number for an S-F convention! Quite a lot were local to the northwest, but there were fans from Ireland and several from America. This year the convention was being run by the Delta film group from Manchester, and so there was a lot of film-themed programming, including some of their own films, other films, and film related items. So some of the influx of fans was other film buffs. But not all by any means. Luckily I spotted Ella Parker, who had magisterially formed a one-woman tea salon in the lounge, having noticed that everyone would pass through that point. I was just happy to see a friendly face and fellow London Circle member.

Ella introduced me to a group of German fans. My German is terrible, but their English was quite good. They're bidding to hold Germancon, the World SF Convention, in Heidelberg, West Germany in 1970; that will be quite the event I'm sure. The decision will be made at this year's Worldcon in America. They were drumming up support but most fans were pretty supportive anyway and in fact the convention passed a motion of support for the bid. I spoke to some of the US fans about it, and they think that US fans are also enthusiastic about the idea of Worldcon going to a non-English speaking country for the first time.

After a little while, we all moved into the convention hall. It was very striking! Eddie Jones had painted a huge backdrop featuring an alien landscape and a giant red star; a fitting setting for our weekend conventioning.
Films and even more Films
After the opening ceremonies, horror film buff John Ramsey Campbell gave a talk accompanied by films. I myself am not a horror film buff, but John Ramsey is very entertaining. I hear he is a promising writer, but I'm not a horror fiction buff either.

This led naturally into a film show, featuring the work of the Delta film club and promising an X-rated film! I think it was probably a humorous rather than a scandalous one, but I returned to my room to save my energy for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday Morning: Fully Charged
I arose on Saturday in good time for the panel about starting fan clubs. I have no plans to leave London, and surely London will always have the London Circle? But it was interesting to hear about other cities and their clubs.

I then spent some time milling about with other fans. Most people at the convention were wearing ordinary working clothes, but some were dressed in jeans and other trendy gear. But on Saturday morning I encountered what I think might have been the most extraordinarily dressed man I've ever met in my life. I checked my wristwatch but the Fancy Dress was not due for several more hours. He was wearing bright pink trousers, an orange Chinese silk jacket with dragons on it, and a rather odd hat that looked a bit like a fez. "Oh, meet Peter Roberts!" said Beryl Mercer. "He thinks this is stylish, but I'd say he's just an exhibitionist."

As I was travelling by train, I had no desire to pick up books or mags at the auction, and I took the opportunity to have a walk around Buxton. It's a very lovely spa town, though it has rather fallen on hard times. The hot thermal baths closed a few years ago, and the natural spa bath is now a public swimming pool. Saturday lunchtime is never a great time to visit such a place, so a swim will have to wait for another visit.
What is this Solar System Thing Anyway?
I returned to the convention in time for the talk by a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Alan Whittaker, "Life in the Solar System". I think Mr Whittaker had judged his audience poorly; his talk was clearly aimed at people who had never heard anything of the planets rather than an audience who were deeply familiar with all nine of them. He could perhaps have altered his tone or content, given this, but chose not to.

By this time the con was running very late, and Ken Bulmer, giving his Guest of Honour speech, made great play of this. His speech was long but he delivered it at a furious pace. It was terrifically entertaining and we were all held spellbound. I didn't take proper notes but Peter Weston told me later smugly that he had already made plans with Ken to republish his speech in the pages of his fanzine Speculation. Speculation is perhaps the best and most famous of current British fanzines. A small chunk of it was available to all at Thirdmancon in the form of the 'combozine', where samples of several current fanzines are bound together for distribution to convention members. This year's combozine also featured Ethel Lindsay's Scottische, the Bristol and District group's Badinage, and Gothique.

After a second auction, the people who'd booked full board went off to dinner and some of the rest of us went out to explore alternatives in Buxton. There were not so many of these! But I knew I wouldn't be able to eat as much dinner as the full board would be. When we returned, however, we discovered that the portion sizes on the set dinner were so small that some of the unhappy fans went out for a second dinner. According to Keith Freeman, the hotel manager was as unhappy as we were and swore he would never entertain the possibility of a science fiction convention again.

Nevertheless, our dinnertime woes were forgotten as soon as Eric Bentcliffe started his hilarious 'Fandom Exposed' slideshow. We were not sure what to expect, but of course this was a set of mostly funny and some fascinating slides from previous conventions, all narrated with great glee by Eric. This was followed by the Fancy Dress, won by Tony Walsh as "The Black Cloud". I thought that Doreen Parker should have won for her turn as the girl from Cordwainer Smith's "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell".
Late Night Mayhem
Before we could all go and party, there was a grand jousting tourney, where Brian Burgess and Ted Tubb bashed each other with swords quite a lot. None of this had any noticeable effect on their very well-built suits of armour and eventually the entire thing was declared a draw.

Although there had been amiable parties on the Friday night, it was Saturday when they really got going. They were often very crowded; the rooms in this hotel were not large, and in some cases the siren call of free booze was enough to draw large numbers of fans, even if the free booze was the most questionable of home brews.

Ted Tubb had apparently brought a hogshead of home brewed wine, but I rather preferred the idea of Bill Pettit's party with crates of perfectly good commercial beer. Oddly, so did everyone else, and I couldn't get near it. The parties were spilling out into corridors and even staircases.

Some of the more established femme fans took me under their wing. Although they insisted that all the fans were perfect gentlemen, it was clear that some of them might occasionally forget this fact after having a few drinks.

Eventually after far too much fun, I went to bed, glad that the first item on Sunday morning was the eminently skippable Annual General Meeting of the British Science Fiction Association
I did not feel quite so well on Sunday
I emerged a bit later for the second pro panel, which featured Christopher Priest, John Brunner, Ken Bulmer and Tom Disch, discussing "the difference between real life and fictional speculation." You would expect it to be quite easy for these science-fiction professionals to spot the difference, really.

The fan guest of honour was the winner of the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, Steve Stiles. I was pleased to get a chance to chat to him over the weekend. I learnt of his shock at the recent news from America that has been covered so well in the Journey. It had quite discouraged him at the very start of his trip, but he was determined to make the best of it. His talk was very good, but was interrupted by hecklers! I later learnt that they had been set up by Stiles himself; a jolly jape but perhaps a slightly embarrassing one?
Assorted Ceremonies
The evening session on Sunday was a presentation of "This is your fan life" by Eric Bentcliffe to convention chair Harry Nadler. This used audio tape, film, slides, personal reminiscences, and a rambunctious high-kick dance by what appeared to be the entire Liverpool SF group.

That was followed by the presentation of the Doc Weir Award, which is a cup, held for one year, given to 'a fan who deserves a bit of public recognition', and a certificate. This year it went to Mary Reed. She was clearly a popular choice, and delighted and overwhelmed with the award.
Messages from the Future
Dave Kyle told us all about his recent viewing of Stanley Kubrick's new film, " Year 2001, a Space Odyssey ". It was based, apparently, on a short story by Arthur C Clarke, but is very different now. Clarke is expanding his short story into a novel and I will be very interested to both read it and see the film. Apparently it is opening in the West End in just a couple of weeks. I do hope the London Circle will organise a visit!

Finally we had the mysterious, and perhaps slightly bizarre, Knights of St Fantony ceremony, in which three new knights were invested in the order - Beryl Mercer, Doreen Parker and Ken McIntyre. Phil Rogers became the new Noble Master. That concluded the formal proceedings, but there was still a lot of partying to be done.

We carried on carousing long into the night. I was encouraged to try some more of Ted Tubb's home-brew wine but I have resolved never to make the same mistake twice. Nevertheless, I only just managed to get up in time for breakfast and to catch my train home.

The convention had some problems with cancelled and late running items, and a hotel that bordered on the hostile. However, I had a splendid time and would like to thank all the Delta Group for putting on the con.
Thanks to Sandra Bond, Claire Brialey, Bill Burns (both in person and here), FANAC, Rob Hansen, and Dave Langford for help with this article.

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It's hard to overstate the anticipation I had for Eastercon 1968. It was going to be the largest national convention ever, with over 200 fans expected! In the end I understand that something like 150 people turned up; still the largest British national convention yet.

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The last 'Printing and Distribution Service' of fanzines from the BSFA occurred in 1967. Arthur Mercer then passed the responsibility to Dave Sutton. Sutton did not receive many requests or submissions for the bundle, so decided to stop producing it

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In November 1967, in Vector 47, edited by Tony Sudbery, the BSFA is announced as now being BSFA Ltd, with the process to making the association a limited company, now complete.

At this stage, the president and chair positions were essentially merged.

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Publication: Vector 47 Publication Record # 308613 ( View All Issues) ( View Issue Grid)

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May 1967. Vector 44, edited by Darroll Pardoe, publishes the results of a vote for the BSFA to become a limited company. 57 votes for, 27 votes for, subject to the endorse of a select committee, six for either of the above and 1 against.

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Held at the Hawthorns Hotel in Bristol.

Guest of Honour - John Brunner.
The Doc Weir Award - Doreen Parker

BSFA AGM
Election/Re-elections:
Chair - Roger Gilbert.
Vice Chair - Ken Slater.
Secretary - Doreen Parker.
Treasurer - Dave Barber.
Publications Officer - Darroll Pardoe.

The AGM also includes decisions for hosting Eastercon 1968 (Machester) and Eastercon 1969 (Cambridge).

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Vector #250Download Ken Slater sent me Vectors 41, 42 and 43 when I was asked to do this article and it all came flooding back to me.I was the Secretary of the BSFA. We had a new Publications Offic…

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2007: Tony Cullen is Acting Chair of the BSFA.

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2007: Tony Cullen is Acting Chair of the BSFA.

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2006: Pat McMurray and Julia Rigby are BSFA Co-Chairs

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2006: Pat McMurray and Julia Rigby are BSFA Co-Chairs

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2008: Vector 256 Arthur C. Clarke Memorial Edition

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2008: Vector 256 Arthur C. Clarke Memorial Edition

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2020: BSFA AGM Pat Cadigan Becomes President of the Association

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2020: BSFA AGM Pat Cadigan Becomes President of the Association

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Also Luke Nicklin elected as Membership Officer.

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2021: BSFA AGM. Tade Thompson Becomes Vice President of the Association.

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2021: BSFA AGM. Tade Thompson Becomes Vice President of the Association.

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2008: Stephen Baxter Becomes President of the BSFA

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2008: Stephen Baxter Becomes President of the BSFA

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The official website of science fiction author Stephen Baxter.

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2013: Donna Bond Becomes Chair of the BSFA

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2013: Donna Bond Becomes Chair of the BSFA

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Hey peeps!

The word polymath comes from the Greek: πολυμαθής, polymathēs, "having learned much" i.e. someone who is brilliant at loads of things. I don't think we use this word enough. Some of us are proud to be "geeks", which means we are super keen on a particular subject, or "nerds", also super keen on a particular subject but with less cool t-shirts. I wear these which are pretty darn cool. If you are clever and talented you may have been called worse things than a geek or nerd, but never mind the jealousy. My credo is "Dream, Strive, Achieve", which is the happy, centred ideal between "Live, Laugh, Love", and "Bind, Torture, Kill".

On this website, I would like to enthuse about lots of things - not just what I can do, but also how talented my friends are.

Think about all the horrible people in the world: dictators, haters with followers, online trolls. They all had that one talent and made it work for them! Isn't it time you took your much vaster potential for awesomeness and made the world a brighter, happier place? Be Leonardo DaVinci! Be Madame de Pompadour! Be Danny Devito ( Renaissance Man)!

Join my club!

Or, easier, join an Arts Lab.

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Hey peeps! The word polymath comes from the Greek: πολυμαθής, polymathēs , "having learned much" i.e. someone who is brilliant at loads of things. I don't think we use this word enough. Some of us are proud to be "geeks", which means we are super keen on a particular subject, or "nerds", also super keen on a particular subject but with less cool t-shirts.

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2020: Concatenation publishes Allen Stroud's "A Year in the Chair"

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2020: Concatenation publishes Allen Stroud's "A Year in the Chair"

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The British Science Fiction Association’s chair’s first year

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The BSFA’s new chair recounts his foirt year and hopes for the future.

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2008: Ian Whates becomes Chair of the BSFA

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2008: Ian Whates becomes Chair of the BSFA

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1967: Vector 43 Announces Changes to the BSFA.

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1967: Vector 43 Announces Changes to the BSFA.

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Ken Slater proposes a series of reforms:

- The Association will purchase its own printing equipment.
- The Association will act to support the formation of local groups.
- Vector to become a twice yearly publication.
- BSFA Bulletin to be a monthly association newsletter.
- BSFA to become a limited company.

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Announcement of Doreen Parker to remain as Secretary and Dave Barber to take over as Treasurer, replacing Charlie Winstone.

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1966: Vector 41 edited by Ken Slater and Doreen Parker

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1966: Vector 41 edited by Ken Slater and Doreen Parker

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The BSFA's flagship publication reverts to mimeo production. This was an emergency issue. The BSFA's financial situation had become precarious. Membership fees were raised to try to resolve the problems.

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The first edition after Roger Peyton stepped down.

(Source: Then (2016) by Rob Hansen. Page 240).

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Announcement of 'Central Contributors Pool' to coordinate fanzine content.

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1966: YARCON (Eastercon) Royal Hotel Great Yarmouth.

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1966: YARCON (Eastercon) Royal Hotel Great Yarmouth.

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Guest of Honour - Ron Whiting

First British Fantasy Award (sponsored by the BSFA) went to John Brunner.

The Doc Weir Award given to Ken Slater.

BSFA AGM
Election/Re-election:
Ken Slater - Vice Chair.
Public Relations Officer - Peter Weston.
Administrator of British Fantasy Award - David Kyle.

Controversy in the presentation of the accounts. Treasurer Charlie Winstone's work is required to be audited.

Decision made to separate the BSFA and Eastercon. This was delayed for a time.

(Source: Then (2016) by Rob Hansen page 236).

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Eastercon 17, Yarcon, was held at the Royal Hotel in Great Yarmouth, UK over Easter 1966. The GoH was Ron Whiting. The committee was Dave S. Barber, Ken F. Slater, Steve Oakey, Phil Rogers, Archie Mercer, and Beryl Mercer.

At this convention, Eastercon voted to disassociate itself from the BSFA under whose nominal umbrella it had been running. Brian Aldiss, Harry Harrison, Dave Barber and Michael Rosenblum were inducted into the Order of St. Fantony. The Doc Weir Award was presented to Ken Slater.

Skyrack conrep

Skyrack conrep 2

This is a convention page. Please extend it by adding information about the convention, including dates, GoHs, convention chairman, locale, sponsoring organization, external links to convention pages, awards given, the program, notable events, anecdotes, pictures, scans of publications, pictures of T-shirts, con reports, etc.

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Eastercon 17, Yarcon, was held at the Royal Hotel in Great Yarmouth, UK over Easter 1966. The GoH was Ron Whiting. The committee was Dave S. Barber, Ken F. Slater, Steve Oakey, Phil Rogers, Archie Mercer, and Beryl Mercer. At this convention, Eastercon voted to disassociate itself from the BSFA under whose nominal umbrella it had been running.

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2023: BSFA AGM Passes Expanded Awards Slate

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2023: BSFA AGM Passes Expanded Awards Slate

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The new awards categories are:

BEST AUDIO FICTION

BEST ARTWORK

BEST COLLECTION

BEST NON-FICTION (LONG)

BEST NOVEL

BEST SHORT FICTION

BEST NON-FICTION (SHORT)

BEST SHORTER FICTION

BEST TRANSLATED SHORT FICTION

BEST FICTION FOR YOUNGER READERS

Luke Nicklin steps down as Membership Officer. Andre Garzia elected.

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2021: First edition of Fission: Anthology for Writers

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2021: First edition of Fission: Anthology for Writers

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Fission #1: An Anthology of Science Fiction: The British Science Fiction Association

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Buy Fission #1: An Anthology of Science Fiction: The British Science Fiction Association by Stroud, Dr Allen James, Muhammad, Syeda Fatima, Wood, Nick, Mayer, So, Bilbao, Jon, Harpe, E. Don, Haynes, Peter, Oliver, Rosie, Franklin, Katherine, Bacon, Eugen (ISBN: 9781910987964) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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The current constitution was redrafted in December 2019.

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MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION

1. The name of the Company (hereinafter called "the Association") is "THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION LIMITED".

2. The Association is registered at Companies House UK, on the register for England and Wales. It will maintain a registered office address within England or Wales.

3. The objects for which the Association is established are:

(A) (i) to promote and encourage the creation, reading, criticism, and dissemination of science fiction and allied arts, across literature and other media; to heighten public knowledge, understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of it; to educate the public in connection with it; and to generally further the development of science fiction and allied arts, and of the communities surrounding it.

(ii) To assist and encourage persons interested in science fiction to meet and maintain contact; providing liaison and other facilities enabling persons interested in science fiction to meet and discuss science fiction with science fiction creators.

(iii) To stimulate, help and encourage science fiction writers by providing them with facilities or opportunities for learning or improving their knowledge of the nature of science fiction literature; to promote and organise lectures, courses and discussion of, and about the subject of science fiction literature.

(iv) To help and encourage persons interested in science fiction literature, and the public generally, to acquire or improve their knowledge of science fiction literature and to establish and maintain libraries and to publish and print books, pamphlets and articles of science fiction; and to establish and maintain scholarships and provide grants, prizes and financial assistance to students, writers and others with a view to promoting knowledge and writing of science fiction and its scholarly study.

(v) To act as proprietors and operators of such premises and providers of such facilities and amenities as will in any way assist the furtherance of the aims of the Association.

(B) To purchase, take on lease or in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire any real or personal property and any rights or privileges which the Association may think necessary or convenient for the promotion of its objects, and to construct, maintain and alter any buildings or erections necessary or convenient for the work of the Association.

(C) To sell, let, mortgage, dispose of or turn to account or any of the property or assets of the Association as may be thought expedient with a view to the promotion of its objects.

(D) To undertake and execute any charitable trusts which may lawfully be undertaken by the Association and may be conducive to its objects.

(E) To borrow or raise money for the purposes of the Association on such terms and on such security as may be thought fit.

(F) To invest the moneys of the Association not immediately required for its purposes in or upon such investments, securities or property as may be thought fit, subject nevertheless to such conditions (if any) and such consents (if any) as may for the time being be imposed or required by law and subject also as hereinafter provided.

(G) To establish and support or aid in the establishment and support of any charitable associations or institutions and to subscribe or guarantee money for charitable purposes in any way connected with the purposes of the Association or calculated to further its objects.

(H) To do all such other things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above objects or any of them.

Provided that :-

(i) In case the Association shall take or hold any property which may be subject to any trusts, the Association shall only deal with or invest the same in such manner as allowed by law, having regard to such trusts.

(ii) The Association shall not support with its funds any object, or endeavour to impose on or procure to be observed by its members or others any regulation, restriction or condition which if an object of the Association would make it a Trade Union.

(iii) In case the Association shall take or hold any property subject to the jurisdiction UK law, the Association shall not sell, mortgage, charge or lease the same without such authority, approval or consent as may be required by law, and as regards any such property the Council of Management or Advisory Board of the Association shall be chargeable for any such property that may come into their hands and shall be answerable and accountable for their own acts, receipts, neglects and defaults, and for the due administration of such property in the same manner and to the same extent as they would as such Council of Management or Advisory Board have been if no incorporation had been effected.

4. The income and property of the Association, whencesoever derived, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Association as set forth in this Memorandum of Association, and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly, by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise howsoever by way of profit, to the members of the Association.

Provided that nothing herein shall prevent the payment, in good faith, of reasonable and proper remuneration to any officer or servant of the Association, or to any member of the Association, in return for any services actually rendered to the Association, nor prevent the payment of interest at a rate not exceeding 5 per cent per annum on money lent or reasonable and proper rent for premises demised or let by any member to the Association; but so that no member of the Council of Management, Advisory Board or Appointed Group of the Association shall assume any salaried office of the Association or any office of the Association paid by fees, and that no remuneration or other benefit in money or money's worth shall be given by the Association to any member of such Council , Advisory Board or Appointed Group, except repayment of out-of-pocket expenses and interest at the rate aforesaid on money lent or reasonable and proper rent for premises demised or lot to the Association; provided that the provision last aforesaid shall not apply to any payment to any company of which a member of the Council of Management, Advisory Board or Appointed Group may be a member, and in which such member shall not hold more than one hundredth part of the capital, and such member shall not be bound to account for any share of profits they may receive in respect of any such payment.

5. The liability of the members is limited.

6. Every member of the Association undertakes to contribute to the assets of the Association, in the event of the same being wound up while they are a member, or within one year after they cease to be a member, for payment of the debts and liabilities of the Association contracted before they cease to be a member, and of the costs, charges and expenses of winding up, and for the adjustment of the rights of the contributors among themselves, such amount as may be required not exceeding One Pound there remains, after the satisfaction of all its debts and

7. If upon the winding up or dissolution of the Association liabilities, any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the Association, but shall be given or transferred to some other institution or institutions having charitable objects similar to the objects of the Association, and which shall prohibit the distribution of its or their income and property among its or their members to an extent at least as great as is imposed on the Association under or by virtue of Clause 4 hereof, such institution or institutions to be determined by the members of the Association at or before the time of dissolution, and if and so far as effect cannot be given to such provision, then to some charitable object.

THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION LIMITED.

ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION

GENERAL.

1. In these articles the words standing in the first column of the Table next hereinafter contained shall bear the meaning set opposite to them respectively in the second column thereof, if not inconsistent with the subject or context.

The Act

The Companies Act

The Association

The above-named Company.

The Office

The registered office of the Association

The United Kingdom

Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In Writing

Written, printed or lithographed, or partly one and partly another and other modes of representing or reproducing words in a visible form.

The Council

A body of the elected officers of the Association

The Appointed Group

A body of appointed officers of the Association.

The Advisory Board

The elected non-executive officers of the Association

The Directors

Elected former and current executive officers of the Association who remain part of its administration for the purpose of corporate governance. These positions fulfil a role under the requirements as a company limited by guarantee.

The Auditors

Appointed assessors of the Association accounts.

Special Resolution

A resolution passed at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).

Poll

A duly conducted vote of members present at a meeting. This can be done by a show of hands or an anonymous vote with the appropriate logistical equipment. The requirement of any poll is that all votes for, votes against and abstentions be recorded in the meeting minutes.

Ballot

A motion is to be put before the full membership and a ballot is to be conducted that will primarily be conducted online but will allow time for postal voting.

The Chair

The elected Chair of the British Science Fiction Association and Chair of General Meetings conducted by the British Science Fiction Association. Responsible for the agenda of its General Meetings.

The Membership Officer

The elected Membership Officer of the British Science Fiction Association. Responsible for Minutes of its General Meetings and the recording of digital votes.

The Treasurer

The elected Treasurer of the British Science Fiction Association. Responsible for the submission of the Association's accounts as required at its General Meetings.

Company Secretary

Responsible for ensuring the Association remains compliant with the relevant United Kingdom legislation under its registration as a company limited by guarantee.

Non-executive board members

Elected former executive officers of the Association who remain part of its administration for the purposes of support and advice. These members form the Advisory Board of the Association.

2. Any person (not being a corporate entity) through their purchase of membership through any fee by whatever means (including by any electronic means approved by the Association) shall be considered to have consented to become a member of the Association and to comply with its Memorandum and Articles of Association.

3. The Association is established for the purposes expressed in the Memorandum of Association.

4. The Association is considered to be an organisation of good standing and repute. Any member of the Association may bring forward a complaint about another member of the Association if they believe their behaviour is unbecoming of a member of the Association. The Council will investigate such a complaint. The Council reserves the right to remove the membership of any member who is deemed to have fallen below the standards expected of a member.

5. Upon admission to membership each person shall pay an admission fee and in the year of admission and each subsequent year a membership fee. The Association is under no obligation to remind any member of any due date.

6. The admission and membership fees shall be at such amounts as the Council shall from time to time determine. The Council may at their discretion admit a person to membership without payment of an admission fee or membership fee.

7. Any member who fails to pay the annual membership fee within three months of the due date will be deemed to have resigned.

GENERAL MEETINGS.

8. The Association shall hold a General Meeting in every calendar year as its Annual General Meeting at such time and place as may be determined by the Council, and shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it, provided that every Annual General Meeting except the first shall be held not more than fifteen months after the holding of the last preceding Annual General Meeting, and that so long as the Association holds its first Annual General Meeting within eighteen months after its incorporation it need not hold it in the year of its incorporation or in the following year.

9. All General Meetings, other than Annual General Meetings, shall be called Extraordinary General Meetings.

10. The Council may whenever they think fit convene an Extraordinary General Meeting.

11. The Advisory Board may, with good cause and unanimous assent, convene an Extraordinary General Meeting.

12. Twenty-one days' notice in writing at the least of every Annual General Meeting and of every meeting convened to pass a Special Resolution, and fourteen days' notice in writing at the least of every other General Meeting (exclusive in every case both of the day on which it is served or deemed to be served and of the day for which it is given), specifying the place, the day and the hour of meeting, and in the case of special business the general nature of that business, shall be given in manner hereinafter mentioned to such persons (including the Auditors) as are under these articles or under the Act entitled to receive such notices from the Association; but with the consent of all the members having the right to attend and vote thereat, or of such proportion of them as is prescribed by the Act in the case of meetings other than Annual General Meetings, a meeting may be convened by such notice as those members may think fit.

13. Members will be given notice of any General Meeting. Notice will specify the day and hour of the meeting, and the general nature of the business to be conducted. In the case of an Annual General Meeting, members will be given at least three weeks' notice. In the case of an Extraordinary General Meeting, members will be given at least two weeks' notice.

14. Unless such notice has been given, or unless an exception has been agreed by all members permitted to vote at the General Meeting, no General Meeting shall be held. Any meeting which does occur under these circumstances will be held to be an informal gathering, without the power to pass resolutions.

15. The Council shall publish the draft agenda of the meeting two weeks prior to its occurrence. and the Membership Officer of the Council agrees to record any vote on a motion that has been communicated to them 48 hours before the date and time of the meeting.

16. Should a member of the Association wish to add an item to the agenda, this must be communicated to the Chair one week before the date and time of the meeting.

17. The accidental omission to give notice of a meeting, or the non-receipt of such notice, by, any person entitled to receive notice thereof shall not invalidate any resolution passed, or proceeding had, at any meeting.

PROCEEDINGS AT GENERAL MEETINGS.

18. All business shall be deemed special that is transacted at an Extraordinary General Meeting, and all that is transacted at an Annual General Meeting shall also be deemed special, with the exception of the consideration of the income and expenditure account and balance sheet, and the reports of the Council and of the Auditors, the election of members of the Council in the place of those retiring, and the appointment of, and the fixing of the remuneration of the Auditors.

19. No actions shall be taken at any General Meeting unless a quorum is present when the meeting proceeds to business. Save as herein otherwise provided 10 members personally present shall be a quorum. In such circumstances. The presentation of annual accounts, the reports of the Council and its officers may still be submitted but are not considered to be accepted.

20. The Chair of the Council shall preside as Chair at every General Meeting, but if there be no elected Chair, or if at any meeting the Chair is not present within fifteen minutes of the designated time, or is unwilling to preside, the members present may choose another member of the Council, or if no such member be present, or if all the members of the Council present decline to chair the meeting, they may choose another member of the Association who is present to preside.

21. Any General Meeting at which a quorum is present may be adjourned from time to time, and/or from place to place. When the General Meeting recommences, no business shall be transacted except that which might have been transacted by the General Meeting before adjournment. If a General Meeting is adjourned for thirty days or more, at least two weeks' notice should be given to the membership. If a General Meeting is adjourned for less than thirty days, no notice is necessary.

22. At a General Meeting, the Chair will organise business according to the published agenda. Motions shall be proposed by a member who is present and is not the Chair and be seconded by another member who is not the Chair. It is then open to be passed or objected to. If an objection is raised to a motion, the Chair may call for a poll of all members present.

23. Subject to the provisions of Article 22, polls shall be conducted with a show of hands for, against, and in abstention.

24. No poll shall be demanded in the election of a Chair of a meeting, or on any question of adjournment.

25. In the case of an equality of votes, whether on a show of hands or on a poll, the Chair of the meeting shall be entitled to a second or casting vote.

26. The demand of a poll shall not prevent the continuance of a meeting for the transaction of any business other than the question on which a poll has been demanded.

27. Should the motion require it the Chair may elect to conduct the poll as a secret ballot. In such case, voting cards will be issued to all members present.

28. Matters that are not part of the agenda and have been raised as other business at the end of the meeting may not be put to a vote.

VOTES OF MEMBERS

29. Subject as hereinafter provided, every member shall have one vote.

30. No member other than a member duly registered, who has an up to date subscription to the Association in respect of membership, shall be entitled to vote on any question either personally or by prior arrangement through digital means, at any General Meeting.

31. No member who is not present at the Meeting can raise additional motions to be considered for a vote of any type at the Meeting.

32. A digital vote must be sent to the Council's Membership Officer no less than forty-eight hours before the time given for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which the person named in the instrument proposes to vote. Any vote correctly sent and recorded is valid for purposes of the meeting under any circumstances.

COUNCIL OF MANAGEMENT

33. Until otherwise determined by a General Meeting to revise this article, the number of members of the Council shall not be less than three nor more than eight. At all times it shall endeavour to be of six or more. The Council shall include the Chair, Treasurer, and Membership Officer.

34. From amongst the members of the Council there shall be appointed a Company Secretary who is not the Chair of the Association. The Company Secretary is responsible for ensuring that the Memorandum and Articles of the Association remain compliant with the relevant Companies Act of United Kingdom law. At the time of writing, this is the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006.

35. From amongst the membership there may be nominated and elected members of the Council. Subject to these Articles, members of the Council shall be responsible for the management of the Association's business, for which purpose they may exercise all the powers of the Association.

36. From amongst the members of the Council there shall be nominated and elected a Treasurer of the Association who is not the Chair of the Association. The Treasurer is responsible for the upkeep of all records that are pertinent to the Association's financial records and is tasked to deliver a financial report to each Annual General Meeting. The Treasurer shall also be appointed as a Director of the Association's limited company.

37. From amongst the members of the Council, there shall be nominated and elected a Membership Officer who is not the Chair of the Association or the Treasurer of the Association. The Membership Officer shall be responsible for communication of Association matters to its members. The Membership Officer shall also be appointed as a Director of the Association's limited company.

38. There can be nominated and appointed a President who holds no other office within the Association. This President shall be of good standing in the community of British Science Fiction.

39. There can be nominated and appointed Vice Presidents who hold no other office within the Association. Any Vice President so nominated shall be of good standing in the community of British Science Fiction.

39A. Regarding the positions mentioned in Article 38 and in Article 39, (i) any nomination shall only be by:

(a) --The Council

or

(b) --The Appointed Group

or

(c) --The Advisory Board

or

(d) --The Directors

or

(e) --any combination of (a)-(d) above

and (ii) the appointment of any nomination shall be only be via the approval of the members in a vote at any General Meeting.

40. The Council may from time to time and at any time appoint any member of the Association as a member of the Council, either to fill a casual vacancy or by way of addition to the Council, provided that the prescribed maximum be not thereby exceeded. Any member so appointed shall retain their office only until the next Annual General Meeting, but they will be eligible for re-election.

41. No person who is not a member of the Association shall in any circumstances be eligible to hold office as a member of the Council.

42. From amongst the membership there can be nominated and elected Directors of the Association who hold no other elected office within the Association. These Directors shall perform an advisory and support role for the Association and form its Advisory Board. Directors may serve a term of up to five years before being required to step down and be nominated again. These Directors shall also be appointed as a Directors of the Association's limited company.

POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.

43. The Council manages the day-to-day business of the Association. Subject to these Articles, the Council may exercise the full powers of the Association. The Council will give account for its actions at each General Meeting. The members of the Association may, by special resolution at a General Meeting, direct the Council to take, or refrain from taking, specific actions

44. Should a matter arise where there is a reduction in members of the Council below the minimum number prescribed in the Articles of Association, the Council is empowered to make an appointment to fill such a vacancy. The appointee is required to present themselves at the next General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting and be confirmed in their role through the usual business of such a Meeting.

CHAIR

45. From amongst the members of the Association there shall be elected a Chair of the Association. The Chair shall be the first member of the Council of Management - the policy making body of the association and shall serve for a period of up to three years before stepping down.

46. The Chair shall be appointed by the Council for such time, upon such conditions as they may think fit, and any Chair so appointed may be removed by them. This Chair must not also be the Treasurer of the Association, the Membership Officer of the Association or the Company Secretary. The Council may from time to time by resolution appoint an assistant or deputy Chair, and any person so appointed may act in place of the Chair if there be no Chair or no Chair capable of acting. The Chair or any assistant or deputy Chair shall be a member of the Council.

47. The Chair shall serve in post for a maximum of three years. After such time, the Chair must stand down. The Chair can be re-elected for a second term of three years. The Chair may not stand for a third term.

48. The executive authority of the Association shall not be deemed valid unless so affirmed by at least two members of the Council and by the Chair. Signatures of these officers shall be conclusive evidence of the fact that the Association's authority has been properly executed.

49. The office of a member of the Council or Director of the Association shall be vacated if the appointee:

(A) Has been found to have wrongfully traded.

(B) Has not adhered to filing rules as laid down in the Companies Act 2006 or any such superseding act of United Kingdom law.

(C) Has conducted themselves in a manner unbecoming to the Association,

(D) Has failed to comply with competition law.

(E) Has failed to submit tax returns when required or failed to pay tax owed.

(F) Has been found to have used company monies for personal benefit.

(G) Has failed to send required accounts to Companies House.

(H) Has attempted to deprive creditors with regard to assets.

(I) Has refused to comply with an official receiver or insolvency practitioner.

(J) Has been found to be fraudulent in their dealings.

(K) Is an undischarged bankrupt.

Proceedings under this article shall be decided upon by the Council, the Company Secretary, and the Association Directors. Where needed, a vote may be called, and by a majority a judgement shall be passed.

ROTATION OF MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.

50. Positions on the Council shall be held for three years. After three years, the officer must stand down at the next General Meeting. The same person may be nominated and elected to serve a second term in the same position or any other position.

51. The Treasurer and Membership Officer may not stand for a third term in the same position.

52. The Association may, at the meeting at which a member of the Council retires in manner aforesaid, fill up the vacated office by electing a person thereto, and in default the retiring member shall, if offering themselves for re-election, be deemed to have been re-elected, unless at such meeting it is expressly resolved not to fill such vacated office, or unless a resolution for the re-election of such member shall have been put to the meeting and lost.

53. Should a member of the Council retire, a member of the Association can be nominated and elected to fill that post at a General Meeting, provided the meeting is quorate. The retiring officer can be that nominated person, provided they are not standing for a third term in the same post (see Article 50).

54. No person not being a member of the Association shall be eligible for election to the Council.

55. Any member who wishes to stand for election to the Council must give advance notice of their intention to the Membership Officer prior to the General Meeting and be nominated by two other members of the Association at the General Meeting as part of the agenda of business.

56. The Association may from time to time in a General Meeting increase or reduce the number of members of the Council and determine in what rotation such increased or reduced number shall go out of office and may make the appointments necessary for effecting any such increase.

57. In addition and without prejudice, the Association may by Extraordinary Resolution remove any member of the Council before the expiration of their period of office, and may by an Ordinary Resolution appoint another qualified member in their stead; but any person so appointed shall retain their office so long only as the member in whose place they are appointed would have held the same if they had not been removed.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNCIL.

58. The Council may meet together for the dispatch of business, adjourn and otherwise regulate their meetings as they think fit, and determine the quorum necessary for the transaction of business. Unless otherwise determined three shall be a quorum. Questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes. In case of an equality of votes the Chair shall have a second or casting vote.

59. A member of the Council may, and, on the request of a member of the Council, the Chair shall, at any time, summon a meeting of the Council by notice served upon the several members of the Council.

60. A discussion between Council members via electronic communication that results in a decision that exercises the business of the Association shall be considered a meeting and the decisions of such a meeting such be duly recorded.

61. The Chair of the Council shall be entitled to preside at all meetings of the Council at which they shall be present. If no such Chair is elected, or if at any meeting the Chair be not present within five minutes

after the time appointed for holding the meeting and willing to preside, the members of the Council present shall choose one of their number to Chair the meeting.

62. A meeting of the Council at which a quorum is present shall be competent to exercise all the authorities, powers and discretions by or under the regulations of the Association for the time being vested in the Council generally.

63. The Council shall, as required appoint members of the Association to serve in specific roles as officers. Such roles may include responsibility for the Association Awards, or an Association publication. These officers together shall form the Appointed Group.

64. Individuals who are part of the Appointed Group serve under the direction of the Council and may be asked to provide a report to the General Meeting each year that explains their work.

65. Individuals who are part of the Appointed Group will be Members of the Association.

66. The Council reserves the right to remove appointments at any time as required or deemed necessary.

67. All acts bona fide done by any meeting of the Council or of any committee of the Council, shall, notwithstanding it be afterwards discovered that there was some defect in the appointment or continuance in office of any such member or person acting as aforesaid, or that they or any of them were disqualified, be as valid as if every such person had been duly appointed or had duly continued in office and was qualified to be a member of the Council.

68. The Council shall cause proper minutes to be made of all appointments of officers made by the Council and of the proceedings of all meetings of the Association and of the Council and of committees of the Council, and all business transacted at such meetings, and any such minutes of any meeting, if purporting to be signed by the Chair of such meeting, or by the Chair of the next succeeding meeting, shall be sufficient evidence without any further proof of the facts therein stated. These minutes, including a summary list of actions shall be made available no less than fourteen days before the next General Meeting.

69. A resolution in writing signed by all the members for the time being of the Council or of any committee of the Council who are entitled to receive notice of a meeting of the Council or of such committee shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Council or of such committee duly convened and constituted. For the purposes of such resolutions, an exchange of digital correspondence with a recorded summary of agreed resolutions is considered to be a meeting.

ACCOUNTS.

70. The Council shall cause proper books of account to be kept with respect to -

(A) all sums of money received and expended by the Association and the matters in respect of which such receipts and expenditure take place;

(B) all sales and purchases of goods by the Association;

and

(C) the assets and liabilities of the Association.

Proper books shall not be deemed to be kept if there are not kept such books of account as are necessary to give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the Association and to explain its transactions.

71. The books of the Association's accounts shall be kept in compliance with the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006 and shall always be open to the inspection of the members of the Council.

72. A member of the Association may request to see the accounts of the Association by submitting a request to the Treasurer. The Treasurer shall provide the accounts within three months of the request.

73. At the Annual General Meeting in every year the Treasurer of the Council shall lay before the Association a proper income and expenditure account for the period since the last preceding account (or in the case of the first account since the incorporation of the Association) made up to a date not more than nine months before such meeting, together with a proper balance sheet made up as at the same date. Every such balance sheet shall be accompanied by proper reports of the Council and (where appropriate) the Auditors, and copies of such account, balance sheet and reports (all of which shall be framed in accordance with any statutory requirements for the time being in force) and of any other documents required by law to be annexed or attached thereto or to accompany the same shall (where appropriate) not less than twenty-one clear days before the date of the meeting be sent to the Auditors and to all other persons entitled to receive notices of General Meetings in the manner in which notices are hereinafter directed to be served. The Auditors' report shall be open to inspection and be read before the meeting as required.

AUDIT.

74. The Association's requirements for the performance of an audit shall be those of the Companies Act 2006 including any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof.

75. Auditors shall be appointed as required and their duties regulated in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 including any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof.

NOTICES.

76. A notice may be served by the Association upon any member, either personally, by receipted electronic communication, or by sending it through the post in a prepaid letter.

77. All such communication shall be to the member's provided address upon their registration or re-registration of membership.

78. The Council agrees to abide by the guidance of the United Kingdom's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) with regards to the use, maintenance and disposal of Association membership information.

79. Members of the Association who are not resident in the United Kingdom may nominate a United Kingdom correspondence address which the Association will use for the purposes of communication and which will be considered the same as a residency address for the purposes of notices.

80. Members of the Association who have not provided an address within the United Kingdom shall be notified of Association business through electronic communication.

81. Any notice, if served by post, shall be deemed to have been served within 48 hours of being sent. Proof of postage in proving such service it shall be sufficient to prove that the letter containing the notice was properly addressed and put into the post office as a prepaid letter.

DISSOLUTION.

82. Clause 7 of the Memorandum of Association relating to the winding up and dissolution of the Association shall have effect as if the provisions thereof were repeated in these Articles.

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MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION 1. The name of the Company (hereinafter called "the Association") is "THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION LIMITED". 2. The Association is registered at Companies House UK, on the register for England and Wales. It will maintain a registered office address within England or Wales. 3.