Ansible 419 -- June 2022

[Ansible Newsletter]

ANSIBLE(R) 419
JUNE 2022

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 sightings of isons, nisons, null-nisons, isotrons or phlogistons.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a419.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a419.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 DISCOVERY OF THE NULLITRON ###

NEIL CLARKE of _Clarkesworld_ had what one might call a senior moment on hearing from 'someone who believes I'm "too old to be editing one of the leading science fiction magazines" and that I should "get out of the way" so someone younger can do it.' (Facebook, 27 May) Neil Clarke is about 13 years younger than the suddenly worried editor of _Ansible_.

JO FLETCHER is leaving Jo Fletcher Books, the Quercus sf/fantasy/horror imprint that she founded in 2011, but will continue to edit some of her long-standing JFB authors. (_The Bookseller_, 27 May) [AIP]

NCUTI GATWA, Rwandan-Scots actor in _Sex Education_, is to follow Jodie Whittaker as _Doctor Who_'s Fourteenth Doctor. (News from all media outlets everywhere, including pirate websites that subtly change their plagiarized stories: '14th Physician of "Physician Who"' -- Twitter, 8 May)

SUSIE HAYNES told Fantast Three customers that she has sold off her stock of genre books and will close down the no longer financially viable US magazine import service (_Analog_, _Asimov's_, _F&SF_) after sending the July/August issues to subscribers. This ends a long family tradition: her father Ken Slater set up Operation Fantast in 1947 and traded as Fantast (Medway) Ltd from 1955 until his death in 2008. [MA]

MERCEDES LACKEY, SFWA's latest Grand Master, was 'removed' from the Nebula Conference after a panel in which she described Samuel R. Delany as coloured rather than Black. (SFWA, 22 May) Two days later she posted an apology for this 'mental/verbal stumble'. (Tumblr, 24 May).

ALAN PATTILLO, a director of _Thunderbirds_ (1965-1966), explained: 'I don't count _Thunderbirds_ as science-fiction. It's too nice, its values are too human... science-fiction is a cold description for such warm-hearted stuff.' (Quoted in Marcus Hearn's _Thunderbirds: The Vault_, 2015) [CM]


### CONATUS ###

3-5 Jun [] CYMERA SF FESTIVAL 2022, Edinburgh and online. GBP80 in person; GBP50 digital. See www.cymerafestival.co.uk.

ONLINE. 6-10 Jun [] ANTHROPOLOGY, AI AND THE FUTURE OF HUMAN SOCIETY (conference). GBP150; BSFA members GBP90; GBP45 concessions. See tinyurl.com/ys5xxuy3. Account setup required to get registration form.

14 Jun - 2 Oct [] BRYAN TALBOT'S LUTHER ARKWRIGHT (exhibition), Cartoon Museum, 55 Wells St, London. See www.cartoonmuseum.org.

25 Jun [] BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY JUBILEE online Zoom event. 10am-6pm. Tickets GBP5; members free. See tinyurl.com/ycy5tpzx.

CANCELLED. 25 Jun [] ORION@40, Southend. See www.orionat40.com.

25-26 Jun [] STEAMPUNK WEEKEND, Belvoir Castle, Grantham. GBP22; under-17s GBP10; family GBP55. See belvoircastle.com/steampunk-weekend/.

3 Jul [] TOLKIEN SOCIETY SEMINAR, Leeds Hilton and online. Free. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events/tolkien-society-seminar-2022/.

SOLD OUT. 10 Jul [] FOREVER AVON (_Blake's 7_), Steventon Village Hall, Steventon, Oxon. See www.facebook.com/TeamBlakeForeverAvon.

13-17 Jul [] ONCE AND FUTURE FANTASIES (conference), Centre for Fantasy, University of Glasgow. GBP225 reg; GBP98 concessions. See fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/onceandfuturecon/.

15-17 Jul [] LAVECON (gaming), Kents Hill Park, Milton Keynes. Many ticket options from GBP21 per day at www.hwsevents.co.uk/shop-1.

CANCELLED. 5-7 Aug [] TITANCON, Belfast. Cancellation first announced on Facebook (27 May); memberships to be refunded. See titancon.com.

SOLD OUT. 19-22 Aug [] DISCWORLD CONVENTION, Hilton Metropole, Birmingham NEC. GBP85 reg, GBP60 concessions. Waiting list at dwcon.org.

23-28 Aug [] OUTDOOR CINEMA, Barbican, London. Includes sf and fantasy. See barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2022/series/outdoor-cinema-0.

26-29 Aug [] THE ASYLUM (steampunk), Lincoln. Weekend tickets now on sale at GBP48; under-17s GBP24; day rates at asylumsteampunk.co.uk.

1-5 Sep [] CHICON 8 (80th Worldcon), Chicago, IL, USA. $240 reg; first Worldcon $145; under-25s $110; other rates unchanged. _Hugo voting opened in late May, and the voter packet is available._ See chicon.org.

6 Oct - 4 May [] SCIENCE FICTION (exhibition), Science Museum, London. GBP20; over-60s GBP19; concessions GBP18. See www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/science-fiction. _With associated GBP4,000 sf debut prize:_ see www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/science-fiction-debuts-writing-prize.

28-30 Oct [] FESTIVAL OF FANTASTIC FILMS, Pendulum Hotel, Manchester. GBP105 reg. Day rates at the new website: fantastic-films.uk.

17-19 Feb 2023 [] SCI-FI BALL (media), Southampton. Tickets from GBP145 (GBP35 child) plus various more expensive options at scifiball.com.

7-10 Apr 2023 [] STAR WARS CELEBRATION (media), ExCel, London. Further details are awaited at starwarscelebration.com.

20-23 Oct 2023 [] IRISH DISCWORLD CONVENTION, Cork International Hotel, Cork.Euro75 reg; Euro55 concessions; under-17s Euro20. See idwcon.org.

29 Mar - 1 Apr 2024 [] LEVITATION (Eastercon), Telford International Centre. _Now GBP115 reg_; GBP50 concessions; GBP35 supporting; all memberships include virtual access. See eastercon2024.co.uk.

31 May - 2 Jun 2024 [] FUNCON ONE, Palace Hotel, Buxton. GBP55 early-bird membership, perhaps rising very soon. See funcon.lol.

RUMBLINGS. _London First Thursday:_ pub closed 2 June for the Jubilee bank holiday. Virtual Zoom meeting only, as on third Thursdays.
     _Corflu Craic_ is a bid to bring the fanzine-centred Corflu to the Malone Hotel in Belfast, 31 March to 2 April 2023. See tinyurl.com/32nukubk.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS PROVOKE US. '... suggesting that A-level physics is more difficult than A-level maths, which girls are much more likely to study than they are physics, is a good way to provoke a fight at a science fiction convention ...' (Stephen Bush, _Financial Times_, 3 May) [MMW]

AWARDS. _Bram Stoker_, selected categories: NOVEL _My Heart Is a Chainsaw_ by Stephen Graham Jones. DEBUT _Queen of Teeth_ by Hailey Piper. YA _The River Has Teeth_ by Erica Waters. GRAPHIC _The Inhabitant of the Lake_ by Alessandro Manzetti and Stefano Cardoselli. COLLECTION _In That Endlessness, Our End_ by Gemma Files. ANTHOLOGY _When Things Get Dark_ ed. Ellen Datlow. [F770] See file770.com/2021-bram-stoker-awards/ for the full list.
     _First Fandom Hall of Fame:_ George W. Price. [CP]
     _Kate Wilhelm Solstice Awards_ (SFWA): Arley Sorg, Troy L. Wiggins and Petra Mayer.
     _Nebulas:_ NOVEL _A Master of Djinn_ by P. Djeli Clark. NOVELLA _And What Can We Offer You Tonight_ by Premee Mohamed. NOVELETTE 'O2 Arena' by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (_Galaxy's Edge_ 11/21). SHORT 'Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather' by Sarah Pinsker (_Uncanny_ 3/21). ANDRE NORTON (YA etc) _A Snake Falls to Earth_ by Darcie Little Badger. DRAMATIC _WandaVision_ Season 1. GAME WRITING _Thirsty Sword Lesbians_. [SFWA]

PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS. Borderlands Press recently reprinted three Arthur Machen stories as _A Little Brown Book of Unnatural Narratives_ by -- embossed in gold on the front cover -- Robert W. Chambers. [BA]

AS OTHERS CLASSIFY US. Olga Ravn's _The Employees_ is reportedly different from other skiffy works: 'Gnomic and elliptical where most science fiction is expository ...' (_New York Review of Books_, 5 May) [JB]

R.I.P. _Neal Adams_ (1941-2022), noted US comics artist who drew such DC characters as Batman, Deadman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern and The Spectre -- and also worked for Marvel -- died on 28 April aged 80. [JC] He entered the Will Eisner and Jack Kirby Halls of Fame in 1998 and 1999 respectively.
     _Marshall Arisman_ (1938-2022), US artist who illustrated _Omni_ 1978-1990 and created cover art for several genre books, died on 22 April aged 83. [SJ]
     _John Aylward_ (1946-2022), US actor whose genre credits include _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III_ (1993), _Armageddon_ (1998) and _The Crazies_ (2010), died on 16 May aged 75. [AIP]
     _Joanna Barnes_ (1934-2022), US actress who co-starred in _Tarzan, The Ape Man_ (1959), died on 29 April aged 87. [LP]
     _David Birney_ (1939-2022), US actor in _Oh, God! Book II_ (1980), _Nightfall_ (1988) and many genre tv series, died on 29 April aged 83. [SJ]
     _Colin Cantwell_ (1932-2022) US visual effects and concept artist whose credits include _2001_ (1968), _Star Wars_ (1977, ship and Death Star designs) and _WarGames_ (1983), died on 21 May age 90. [SF2C]
     _John Cherry_ (1948-2022), US director of the often fantastical 'Ernest' comedies -- including _Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam_ (1985) -- died on 8 May aged 73. [PDF]
     _Pamela Chillemi-Yeager_, author of short fiction since 1989 and co-editor of _Fantasque_ 1999-2004, reportedly died in early May. [PDF]
     _Robert C. Cornett_ (1952-2022), US author whose sf includes the 'Time Mercenaries' and 'Seeds of War' series -- both with Kevin D. Randle -- died on 1 April aged 69. [L]
[]_ Dan Deckert_ (1952-2022), former Los Angeles fan who was active in LASFS (as president, director and chair of Loscon 1982), APA-L (with hundreds of issues of _Entropy_) and SCIFI, died on 8 May. [F770]
     _Sergey Dyachenko_ (1945-2022), Ukrainian author -- in the US since 2013 -- who with his wife Marina published 33 sf/fantasy novels in Russian, died on 5 May aged 77. [AM]
     _Milton Goncalves_ (1933-2022), Brazilan actor whose genre credits include _Xuxinha and Guto Against the Space Monsters_ (2005) and _Crashing Into the Future_ (2018), died on 30 May aged 88.
     _Mike Hagerty_ (1954-2022), US actor in _Space Truckers_ (1996), _Inspector Gadget_ (1999), _The Spy Who Shagged Me_ (1999) and various tv series, died on 29 April aged 67. [SJ]
     _Ronnie Hawkins_ (1935-2022), US actor in _Meatballs III_ (1986) and _Prom Night II_ (1987), died on 29 May aged 87. [LP]
     _Bo Hopkins_ (1942-2022), US actor in _Mutant_ (1984), _Phantoms_ (1998) and _From Dusk Till Dawn 2_ (1999), died on 28 May aged 80. [LP]
     _Jossara Jinaro_ (1973-2022), Brazilian actress in _GB: 2525_ (2009) and _Cucuy: The Boogeyman_ (2018), died on 27 April aged 48. [SJ]
     _Jack Kehler_ (1946-2022), US actor whose films include _Serpent's Lair_ (1995), _Waterworld_ (1995), _The Spy Who Shagged Me_ (1999), _Men in Black II_ (2002) and _Book of Days_ (2003), died on 7 May aged 75. [SJ]
     _Andrzej Korzynski_ (1940-2022), Polish composer whose sf music credits include _Mr. Blob in the Universe_ (1988) and _On the Silver Globe_ (1988), died on 18 April aged 82. [SJ]
     _Maja Lidia Kossakowska_ (1972-2022), Polish fantasy author who published five novels and many short stories, died on 23 May aged 50. [PDF]
     _Carlos Emilio Correa Lima_ (1956-2022), Brazilian magic realist author whose work often included SF themes, died on 2 April aged 65. [L]
     _Ray Liotta_ (1954-2022), US actor in _Field of Dreams_ (1989), _Muppets from Space_ (1999), _Muppets Most Wanted_ (2014), died on 27 May aged 67. [JB]
     _Patricia A. McKillip_ (1948-2022), highly regarded US fantasy author who won her first World Fantasy Award for _The Forgotten Beasts of Eld_ (1974) and received the World Fantasy life achievement award in 2008, died on 6 May aged 74. Her Riddle-Master trilogy, opening with _The Riddle-Master of Hed_ (1976), is an acknowledged genre classic. [L]
     _Bruce MacVittie_ (1956-2022), US actor in _The Stand_ (1994 tv) and _Vibes_ (1988), died on 7 May aged 65. [LP]
     _Gavin Millar_ (1938-2022), Scots producer and director whose credits include the Carroll/Alice _Dreamchild_ (1985) and the Iain Banks adaptations _The Crow Road_ (1996) and _Complicity_ (2000), died on 20 April aged 84. [AIP]
     _James Olson_ (1930-2022), US actor in _Moon Zero Two_ (1969), _The Andromeda Strain_ (1971), _Strange New World_ (1975) and genre tv series, died on 17 April aged 91. [LP]
     _Robin Parkinson_ (1929-2022), UK actor who narrated the children's sf series _Button Moon_ (1980-1988), died on 7 May aged 92.
     _George Perez_ (1954-2022), noted US comics artist who worked for DC (_Crisis on Infinite Earths_, _New Teen Titans_, _Wonder Woman_) and Marvel (two runs of _Avengers_, _Infinity Gauntlet_, others), died on 6 May aged 67. [GVG] He entered the Eisner Hall of Fame in 2017.
     _Kailia Posey_ (2006-2022), US actress in _Eli_ (2019), committed suicide on 3 May; she was 16. [LP]
     _Alexander Rybalka_ (1966-2002), Israeli fantasy (three novels) and mystery author, died on 5 May. [AM]
     _Atanas Slavov_ (1947-2022) Bulgarian fan and novelist who won three Eurocon awards for fan activity, died on 6 May. [AM]
     _Vangelis_ (1943-2022), Greek composer and musician whose soundtrack credits include _Blade Runner_ (1982) and _Vampire in Venice_ (1988), died on 17 May aged 79. [LP]
     _Fred Ward_ (1942-2022), US actor in _Timerider_ (1982), _Tremors_ (1990), _Cast a Deadly Spell_ (1991), _Chain Reaction_ (1996) and _The Crow: Salvation_ (2000), died on 8 May aged 79. [LP]
     _Dennis Waterman_ (1948-2022), UK actor in _Scars of Dracula_ (1970) and _Tube Mice_ (voice, 1988), died on 8 May aged 74. [PDF]
     _Kenneth Welsh_ (1942-2022), Canadian actor in _Twin Peaks_ (1990-1991), _The Day After Tomorrow_ (2004), _The Fog_ (2005) and _Survival of the Dead_ (2009), died on 5 May aged 80. [LP]
     _Alan White_ (1949-2022), long-time drummer with the prog-rock band Yes -- known for songs with sf/fantasy/mystical themes -- died on 26 May aged 72. [LP]

AS OTHERS RESEARCH US. 'See Aldiss's history of sci-fi, _Trillion Year Spree_ (2001), and his novel, _Prometheus Unbound_ (1973).' (Professor John Sutherland, _Frankenstein's Brain_, 2018)

WHITBY HORROR. The mass gathering of vampire impersonators at Whitby Abbey on 26 May set a new Guinness world record with 1,369 participants, beating the previous maximum of 1,039. (BBC, 27 May) A UK government spokesman complained that in view of our promised return to imperial measurements, the figure should be written MCCCLXIX.

YO-HO-HO. SFWA warned its members in late May that someone with access to the 'private' insiders-only online directory had scraped all available information -- addresses, phone numbers, social media accounts, etc. etc. -- and released it on an undisclosed public site. [F770] What fun!

AS OTHERS SEE US. On a survey which found that in terms of children's library checkouts sf (though in short supply) is far more popular than 'realistic fiction', with fantasy somewhere in between: 'In my survey, librarians and teachers said that they recommend science fiction to individual readers but rarely use it in group storytimes or lessons. They feel that the genre is too hard and polarizing; it's either very popular or very unpopular among children. Several even avoid the term "science fiction" when recommending the books, for fear that it might deter a potential reader!' (_Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf_, 29 April) [PL]

AWARD SHORTLISTS. _Mythopoeic_: ADULT. Katherine Addison, _The Witness for the Dead_; Ryka Aoki, _Light from Uncommon Stars_; P. Djeli Clark, _A Master of Djinn_; Susanna Clarke, _Piranesi_; Garth Nix, _Terciel and Elinor_; Jo Walton, _Or What You Will_. CHILDREN'S Sayantani DasGupta, 'The Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond' trilogy; Regina Hansen, _The Coming Storm_; Lori M. Lee, _Pahua and the Soul Stealer_; Eden Royce, _Root Magic_. SCHOLARSHIP -- INKLINGS Paul S. Fiddes, _Charles Williams and C. S. Lewis: Friends in Co-inherence_; John Garth, _The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth_; Peter Grybauskas, _A Sense of Tales Untold: Exploring the Edges of Tolkien's Literary Canvas_; Holly Ordway, _Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages_. SCHOLARSHIP -- OTHER Philip Ball, _The Modern Myths: Adventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination;_ Hadas Elber-Aviram, _Fairy Tales of London: British Urban Fantasy, 1840 to the Present_; Daniel Ogden, _The Dragon in the West: From Ancient Myth to Modern Legend_; Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, _The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games;_ Joseph Rex Young, _George R.R. Martin and the Fantasy Form_.
     _Orwell Prize_ (political fiction): genre finalists are _Cwen_ by Alice Albinia and _The High House_ by Jessie Greengrass. [L]

RANDOM FANDOM. _The Eye of Argon_ by Jim Theis (1953-2002) could surely hold no more surprises; but part 1 of a sequel was published in a 1972 fanzine whose editor is now selling PDF scans on Etsy. [DS]
     _Ben Yalow_ became a co-chair of the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon, which tweeted about this and other overseas staff appointments on 24 April. [F770]

THE DEAD PAST. _80 Years Ago_, those who had paid one shilling to join the new British Fantasy Society (no relation to the present one) included Forrest J Ackerman, Ken Bulmer and William F. Temple; E.J. 'Ted' Carnell was elected President. (_BFS Bulletin_ 1, 18 June 1942)
     _60 Years Ago_, Ethel Lindsay was announced as the first female TAFF winner. Also: 'Big split in Gerfandom at the moment. Franz Rottensteiner wrote a series of articles criticizing the standard of translations from English and American sf stories and was immediately boycotted by many clubs. Many German club-leaders, it appears, write books for lending libraries and have vested interests in the matter.' (_Skyrack_ 43, June 1962).
     _30 Years Ago_, Frederik Pohl deplored the official acceptance of backward-looking fantasy authors into SFWA, now renamed Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America: 'Sf is the very literature of change. In fact, it's the only such literature we have; and as such it really deserves to have its own, unshared institutions. Pity it doesn't.' (_SF Chronicle_ quoted in _Ansible_ 59, June 1992)

FANFUNDERY. _TAFF:_ Mike Lowrey's return from his European trip to the US was delayed by a week after a positive COVID test, happily allowing him to attend the May First Thursday pub meeting in London.
     _TAFF Free Ebooks:_ Rob Hansen's _1957: The First UK Worldcon_ -- a stirring saga that includes fan politics, dirty tricks, the controversial 'Snog in the Fog' bidding slogan, transatlantic contact, deeply squalid London hotel rooms, psionics, a tea-drinking contest, a mock gunfight and a lawsuit -- is now downloadable in the usual formats at taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=1957.

EDITORIAL. Apart from _Ansible_, the regular workload here is mostly book/ebook projects (see TAFF just above) and maintenance of the _SF Encyclopedia_, whose Department of Not Very Interesting Statistics breathlessly reveals that the word count passed 6,500,000 on 30 May. Also in preparation is an 'Ansible Link' news digest column requested for the forthcoming _Interzone_, whose previous double issue 290/291 appeared in late June 2021.

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Yoga Dept._ 'Kayla came back to me at the trail's edge, where I knelt in the rain with my head between my knees.' (Jae Steinbacher, 'The Angel's Call', May/June 2022 _F&SF_) [TS]
     _Too Much Information?_ 'They crossed to the docking field just as the planet was coming into view, a veiny gas giant like an infected testicle crawling up the horizon ...' (Adrian Tchaikovsky, _Eyes of the Void_, 2022) [AC]
     _Mysteries of Anatomy._ 'Pits parted the sinewy hair.' (Peter Newman, _The Deathless_, 2018) [AR]
     _Bounded in a Nutshell Dept._ 'Oktav was groping like a man shut in an infinite closet.' (Fritz Leiber, _Destiny Times Three_, 1957) [AR]
     _The Pernicious Influence of Picasso._ 'Kirk turned his head and his eyes moved to the right side of his face.' (C.J. Boyle, _The Adventures of Kirk Rogers Inside the Moon_, 2017) [SaS]


### GEEKS' CORNER ###

SUBSCRIPTIONS. To receive _Ansible_ monthly via email, send a message to:
ansible-news+subscribe [at] googlegroups.com
You will be asked to confirm by email that you want to join the group. To resign from the Google Groups list, send email to:
ansible-news+unsubscribe [at] googlegroups.com
More details, and an ALTERNATIVE LIST subscription form for those averse to Google, on this page (which is also where to unsubscribe from the alternative list, hosted at ansible.uk):
https://news.ansible.uk/asubs.html
Home page -- https://news.ansible.uk/
RSS feed -- https://news.ansible.uk/rss.html
LiveJournal syndication -- http://www.livejournal.com/users/ansiblezine/
Back issues -- https://news.ansible.uk/aseries2.html
Printable PDFs -- https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/
Email the editor -- https://news.ansible.uk/contact.php
Books Received -- https://ansible.uk/books.php

CONVENTION AND EVENT LINKS
     British Isles -- https://news.ansible.uk
     London -- https://news.ansible.uk/london.html
     Overseas -- https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]


### ENDNOTES ###

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Donate to support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
https://ae.ansible.uk/
https://ae.ansible.uk/ebooks.php
https://ansible.uk/books/index.html

R.I.P. II. Received after the print edition was full: _Marino Mase_ (1939-2022), Italian actor in _Nightmare Castle_ (1965, as Lawrence Clift), _The Spy Who Loved Flowers_ (1966), _Lady Frankenstein_ (1971) and _Contamination_ (1980), died on 28 May aged 83. [SJ]
     _Charles Siebert_ (1938-2022), US actor in _Coma_ (1978), _Topper_ (1979) and a few genre tv series, died on 1 May aged 84. [LP]
     _Maurizio Silvi_, Italian make-up artist for _Stigma_ (1980), _DragonHeart_ (1996), _Pinocchio_ (2002) and others, died on 24 May aged 73. [SJ]

VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
     2 June 2022, evening: extra London Zoom meeting as below since the First Thursday pub will be closed.
     16 June 2022, evening: London Zoom meeting, third Thursday of each month. 'Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop's Finger, but aren't on Facebook.'
https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f
     19 June 2022 (third Sunday of each month), afternoon/early evening: Sheffield SF and Fantasy Society online meeting using Zoom. For access details contact Fran Dowd, thesofa [at] gmail dot com.
     26 June 2022: BSFA AGM at 3pm 'following a short panel'. The Zoom link has been sent to members in the May BSFA newsletter.

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
     Locus Awards finalists
https://locusmag.com/2022/05/2022-locus-awards-top-ten-finalists/
     Sturgeon Award finalists
https://file770.com/2022-theodore-sturgeon-award-finalists/

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 179, June 2002. _Dept of Introspection._ '"Impossible to see, the future is," the small Jedi Master replied, his great orbs still looking inward.' (R.A. Salvatore, _Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones_, 2002) It is suspected that Yoda is here trying to read his own mind.
     _Eyeballs in the Sky._ 'Marley's great, popping black eyes bounced around the room, looking for any sign of retreat from any of the guests.' (James L. Swanson, _The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of_, 2001)
     _Dept of Theology._ 'Remember the first commandment? Thou shalt not kill?' (Jack Ketchum, _Right to Life_, 2002)
     _Dept of Morbid Physiology._ 'His sweat was cold and clammy now, and even his anus squeezed open and shut.'(Nick Mamatas, _Northern Gothic_, 2001)


_Ansible_(R) 419 (C) David Langford, 2022. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Mike Ashley, John Boston, BSFA, Jim Burns, Arthur Chance, John Clute, Paul Di Filippo, _File 770_, Steve Jones, _Locus_, Pamela Love, Andrey Meshavkin, Chris Moore, Lawrence Person, Curt Phillips, Andrew I. Porter, Adam Roberts, Darrell Schweitzer, _SF2 Concatenation_, SFWA, Sally Smith, Terry Somerville, Gordon van Gelder, Martin Morse Wooster, and our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy, and Alan Stewart (Australia).

1 June 2022