Path: ...!Xl.tags.giganews.com!local-1.nntp.ord.giganews.com!nntp.brightview.co.uk!news.brightview.co.uk.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 01 Jul 2024 16:02:10 +0000 From: David Langford Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom,uk.people.sf-fans Subject: Ansible 444 -- July 2024 Date: Mon, 01 Jul 2024 17:02:09 +0100 Organization: Ansible Information Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.93/32.576 English (American) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 452 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-Omb5gIqKDV3MZiZ2NXAfkGIDnx4HJU7uVCTPayj07T6yrh0tvB/zzUD3eIHwF/svHbPagJbdpT5Cp74!viy0leJMlSQ5rbkAp8xemMJ1SWyFGyjrF8LQFUl8aMLJP0mT69i49pjau3NKcDT6B8Oh8DakNZre!IVvo4TjkGEJY4IM= X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 Bytes: 26025 ANSIBLE(R) 444 JULY 2024 From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE, or secrets of the Temper Racket, Honeymoon Rob and Glim-Drop. [NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a444.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a444.pdf for a printable PDF. Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL] ### THE BLUE JAUNTE ### FORREST J ACKERMAN's 1953 Hugo as #1 Fan Personality -- much hyped as the first Hugo ever presented -- was auctioned in June for $12,065 ($9,500 plus 'buyer's premium'). Happily it was acquired by the Worldcon Heritage Organization for its regular Worldcon Hugo exhibit. [BB] HILARY HARWELL, literary agent at KT Literary, incautiously tweeted: 'Just read a query that was essentially THE ROAD meets DELIVERANCE and now I want someone to write this for me, please?' (Xitter, 23 June). This vision of aspiring authors being brushed off and their interesting ideas farmed out to others was not well received ('I'd rather pitch my story straight into the heart of the sun ...'); Harwell very soon deleted her X.com account. Next day, KT Literary announced the departure of an agent 'whose recent public statements directly contradict our values and the trust we work to build with our clients'. [F770] Oh dear. URSULA K. LE GUIN's house in Portland, Oregon, is being donated to Literary Arts as a venue for the Le Guin Writers Residency. (AP, 10 June) CHRIS PRIEST's library has for the most part (over 2,000 books) been donated to Abbey Books in Paisley, Scotland, where a 'gobsmacked' bookshop worker reported severe autograph overload: '[He] wrote his name in all of the books he purchased so, in a sense, everyone buying any of his books will be receiving a signed copy.' (_Daily Record_, 17 June) [GVG] The shop owner has been told about the coming Worldcon in nearby Glasgow. IMELDA STAUNTON, whose genre credits include _The Snow Queen_ (1995) and the _Chicken Run_, _Harry Potter_ and _Paddington_ films, was made a Dame in the King's Birthday Honours. (BBC, 14 June) Other honours include an OBE for the UK Children's Laureate Joseph Coehlo, and an MBE for actor and stuntman Kiran Shah, seen in _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ (1981) plus _Star Wars_ and _Hobbit_ films, among many others. THOMAS TAYLOR, who for GBP500 created the watercolour cover art for the first edition of _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ and much later sold it for some $100,000, was, well, philosophical about its Sotheby's auction sale in June for $1.92 million. (_New York Times_, 27 June) J.R.R. TOLKIEN has a new bronze memorial at Pembroke College, Oxford, created by his great-nephew Tim Tolkien and unveiled in a 12 June ceremony with Neil Gaiman (whose Tolkien Lecture that day drew record queues) as MC and a poem read by Roz Kaveney. (BBC, 12 June) ROBERT CHARLES WILSON was thrilled by an irresistible offer from _New Scientist_ Discovery Tours: 'Robert, interested in becoming a science fiction writer?' With enormous will-power he demurred: 'Thanks, guys, but I already crossed that one off my bucket list.' (Facebook, 20 June) ### CONTORTAE ### 6 Jul [] TOLKIEN SOCIETY SEMINAR on his 'Romantic Resonances', Leeds Hilton and online. Free. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events/. 7 Jul [] AINTREE-CON, Aintree Racecourse. 10am-4pm. Adult tickets GBP11; other rates at www.ljeventsentertainment.com. SOLD OUT 19-21 Jul [] FANTASY FOREST (cosplay), Sudely Castle, Cheltenham. Waiting list at fantasyforest.co.uk. 26-29 Jul [] CONTINUUM (RPG), Cranfield University CMDC . GBP60 reg; day pass GBP25 for any day. See continuumconvention.co.uk. 2-4 Aug [] DIANA WYNNE JONES (conference/festival), Watershed, Bristol. Enquiries to dianawynnejones2024@gmail.com SOLD OUT 2-5 Aug [] DISCWORLD CONVENTION, Birmingham NEC Hilton. GBP100 reg; GBP60 concessions. Waiting list at 2024.dwcon.org . 3-4 Aug [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials. 6 Aug [] EXTRA LONDON PUB MEETING before Worldcon: The Crown, 51 New Oxford St, upstairs 7-11pm. If venue is closed try the Bloomsbury Tavern, 236 Shaftesbury Avenue (ground floor, same times). See also file770.com/london-experiences-for-those-heading-to-the-worldcon/. 8-12 Aug [] GLASGOW 2024 (Worldcon), Glasgow SEC. _The planned 1 July price rise has been cancelled._ GBP230 reg; first Worldcon and 'historically under-represented' GBP165; Scots residents GBP150; under-26s GBP135 (GBP95 if Scots); under-16s GBP90; under-11s GBP55; under-6s GBP5. Virtual membership GBP80. Further details and day rates at glasgow2024.org. 9-11 Aug [] TFNATION (_Transformers_), Hilton Birmingham Metropole near the NEC. Various day ticket rates at tfnation.com/2024. 16-19 Aug [] ERASMUSCON (Eurocon), Rotterdam, Netherlands. Euro125 reg; under-23s Euro75; under-13s Euro10, under-3s free. Under-19s must be accompanied by an adult. See www.erasmuscon.nl for day rates. 17 Aug [] SMALL PRESS DAY, various events throughout the UK and Ireland, and online. See smallpressday.co.uk. 17 Aug [] STARS OF TIME (comics), Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare. GBP11.55; child/concessions GBP7.21. See www.starsoftime.co.uk. 29 Sep [] FANTASY & SCI-FI SPOTLIGHT, The Nerdy Cafe, Shrewsbury. 11am-7pm. See www.fantasyandscifispotlight.co.uk. 11-13 Apr 2025 [] CORFLU 42 (fan), Chequers Hotel, Newbury. GBP75/$95 reg; GBP25/$32 supp; GBP10/$15 virtual. More details at corflu.org. _Room bookings are now open to members and The Boss advises fans to book early._ 18-21 Apr 2025 [] RECONNECT, Hilton Lanyon Place Hotel and ICC, Belfast. _Now GBP80 reg_; GBP40 discounted (_under-18s, concessions, Eastercon first-timers, fans living in Ireland)_; GBP25 supp. See easterconbelfast.org. 3-4 May 2025 [] PORTSMOUTH COMIC CON, Guildhall, Portsmouth. Tickets GBP33; concessions and day rates at portsmouthcomiccon.com. 18 Oct 2025 [] PICTCON1, Salutation Hotel, 30-34 South St, Perth, Scotland. GoH Francesca Tristan Barbini. GBP30 reg; GBP20 concessions. See www.facebook.com/events/1186045639366253/. RUMBLINGS. _Birmingham Anime Film Festival_ returns in September/October 2024: dates and prices are awaited at www.baff.uk. _Worldcon 2026:_ site selection voting is open at the Glasgow 2024 site, the only filed bid being Los Angeles. _Worldcon 2028:_ at last, several signs of life from Australia's Brisbane bid, which in June updated its banner at x.com/brisbanein28 to say 2028 rather than 2025 and launched a new website at brisbane28.org. The only active bid had long been Kampala, Uganda, regarded by many fans as problematic owing to the country's horrific anti-LGBT laws (punishments include life imprisonment and death). ### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ### TECHNOLOGY MASTERCLASS. _Microsoft Windows Time Estimates Predicted!_ 'In the indicator windows of the electronic brain various groups of figures began to appear. First, "400,000", then appeared a little sign "3 Minutes", which promptly disappeared and gave place to "800,000 Minutes". There was a whirring and clicking which rapidly changed to "133,33/20". Just as rapidly these figures also vanished to the accompaniment of another clicking, then a new row of fives began to appear, "555----".' (Vargo Statten [John Russell Fearn], _A Time Appointed_, 1954) [BA] AWARDS. _Bram Stoker_ (horror) novel winners: NOVEL _The Reformatory_ by Tananarive Due. DEBUT _The Daughters of Block Island_ by Christa Carmen. CHILDREN'S _The Nighthouse Keeper_ by Lora Senf. YA _She Is a Haunting_ by Trang Thanh Tran. Full list at locusmag.com/2024/06/2023-stoker-awards-winners/. _Lambdas_ (LGBTQ+) speculative fiction category: _I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself_ by Marisa Crane, [F770] _Locus:_ SF NOVEL _System Collapse_ by Martha Wells. FANTASY NOVEL _Witch King_ by Martha Wells. HORROR NOVEL _A House with Good Bones_ by T. Kingfisher. YA NOVEL _Promises Stronger Than Darkness_ by Charlie Jane Anders. FIRST NOVEL _The Saint of Bright Doors_ by Vajra Chandrasekera. NOVELLA _Thornhedge_ by T. Kingfisher. NOVELETTE 'The Rainbow Bank' by Uchechukwu Nwaka (8/23 _GigaNotoSaurus_). SHORT 'How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub' by P. Djeli Clark (1/23 _Uncanny_). ANTHOLOGY _Out There Screaming_ ed. Jordan Peele & John Joseph Adams. COLLECTION _White Cat, Black Dog_ by Kelly Link. MAGAZINE _Uncanny_. PUBLISHER Tor. EDITOR Neil Clarke. ARTIST John Picacio. NONFICTION _Space Crone_ by Ursula K. Le Guin. ART _The Culture: The Drawings_ by Iain M. Banks. _Special_ Jeanne Cavelos and the Odyssey Writing Workshop. _National Fantasy Fan Federation:_ these awards' wildcard 'none of the above' category went to the 2023 Hugos as 'Best example of how not to run fan awards'. [NF] _Nebulas:_ NOVEL _The Saint of Bright Doors_ by Vajra Chandrasekera. NOVELLA _Linghun_ by Ai Jiang. NOVELETTE 'The Year Without Sunshine' by Naomi Kritzer (_Uncanny_ 11/23). SHORT 'Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200' by R.S.A. Garcia (_Uncanny_ 7/23). CHILDREN'S/YA _To Shape a Dragon's Breath_ by Moniquill Blackgoose. GAME _Baldur's Gate 3_. DRAMATIC _Barbie_. ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========