Ansible 461 -- December 2025
8 views
Skip to first unread message
Ansible Newsletter
Dec 1, 2025, 12:36:42 PM (11 days ago) Dec 1
to Ansible Newsletter
ANSIBLE(R) 461
DECEMBER 2025
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, hodmandods, Magimuck, flaked corns, or stercoraceous dungarees.
[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a461.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a461.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]
### WHEN THINGS GET OUT OF HAND ###
JOE HILL, son of Stephen King, was one of three horror authors who withdrew from the British Library's 'Tales of the Weird' event on 1-2 November, in sympathy with BL workers on strike owing to 'poverty wages'. 'I have to eat a Thanksgiving dinner with Tabitha King and if I cross a picket line to sell a book, it's not going to be a good one.' V. Castro and Keith Rosson also pulled out. (_Guardian_, 31 October)
N.K. JEMISIN is the latest author to be honoured by SFWA with the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. (SFWA, 16 November)
R.F. KUANG should set her sights higher, according to her husband: 'Yeah, sure, the Hugo is nice. But what about a Booker? I can see it for her.' (Bennett Eckert-Kuang, _The New Yorker_, 25 August) [MM]
JEANETTE WINTERSON's _One Aladdin Two Lamps_ puzzled reviewer Craig Brown: 'Some of the cultural references are laboriously spelled out, while others are left to fend for themselves. The reader, for example, is expected to have heard of Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, but needs a bit of help with "fantasy writer Terry Pratchett", "poet Ted Hughes" and, best of all, "Irish poet WB Yeats".' (_Private Eye_, 28 November)
### CONVALLY ###
5 Dec [] TOLKIEN SEMINAR LECTURE, Magdalen College, Oxford. 5pm. 'No registration is required.' See tolkien50.web.ox.ac.uk.
5-8 Dec [] GRIMMFEST ONLINE (film). Full pass GBP55.50 or tickets at GBP6.50 for each film. See www.grimmfest.com/grimmfest-online.
11-13 Dec [] TALOS SF THEATRE FESTIVAL, Bread & Roses Theatre, 68 Clapham Manor St, London. Thursday/Friday evening, all day Saturday. GBP12/performance; concessions GBP10. See www.cyborphic.com/talos-2025.
12 Dec [] BSFA XMAS SOCIAL, The Doric Arch pub, Euston. 7-9pm. See www.bsfa.co.uk/event-6444410.
17 Dec [] LONDON XMAS MEETING (additional to First Thursdays), The Bishop's Finger, 9-10 West Smithfield, EC1A 9JR. All evening.
29 Dec - 1 Jan [] STEAMPUNK NEW YEAR, Belmont Hotel, Leicester. See www.ministryofsteampunk.com/steampunknewyear2025.
30 Dec [] _THE FEMALE MAN_ online discussion panel, 7pm. Details on Facebook event sign-up at fb.me/e/3F0xoFwPh.
16-18 & 23-25 Jan 2026 [] HORROR-ON-SEA (film festival), Park Inn Radisson Palace Hotel, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 2AL. Tickets GBP80 for either weekend or GBP130 for both at the-white-bus-limited.sumupstore.com.
5-7 Mar 2026 [] FRIGHTFEST (film), Glasgow Film Theatre, Rose Street. Tickets and line-up awaited at frightfest.co.uk/filmsandevents/.
18-19 Apr 2026 [] FOR THE LOVE OF HORROR, BEC Arena, Manchester. Tickets at various rates from www.fortheloveofhorroruk.com.
22-24 May 2026 [] MCM COMIC CON, London ExCel. Tickets from GBP97; day rates at www.mcmcomiccon.com/london/en-us.html.
23-24 May 2026 [] STEAM TRAINS AND FAIRYTALES (steampunk), Midland Railway Trust, Butterley. See www.ministryofsteampunk.com.
24-27 Jul 2026 [] CONTINUUM (RPG), Cranfield University CMDC . Ticket sales expected 'early 2026' at continuumconvention.co.uk.
26-27 Sep 2026 [] NORCON (media), Norfolk Showground Arena. 9:30am-4pm. Tickets GBP43.25 (GBP34.25 for 10:30am entry); under-14s GBP27 (GBP23); family GBP132.50 (GBP106.25). See www.nor-con.co.uk.
17 Oct 2026 [] PICTCON2, Salutation Hotel, 30-34 South St, Perth, Scotland. GoH Neil Williamson. GBP30 reg; GBP20 concessions, under-18s GBP11.55. Tickets available at tinyurl.com/242ya33b.
24-25 Oct 2026 [] BRISTOLCON, Hilton DoubleTree Hotel, Bristol.GoH Cheryl Morgan, Trip Galey. Registration awaited at www.bristolcon.org.
6-8 Nov 2026 [] ARMADACON, Future Inns, Plymouth. GoH Mike Collins, Andy Lane. GBP50 reg; GBP40 concessions. More at www.armadacon.org.
6-8 Nov 2026 [] NOVACON 55, Palace Hotel, Buxton. GoH Una McCormack. GBP55 reg; under-17s GBP12; under-13s free. More at novacon.uk.
26-29 Mar 2027 [] UNCONFINED (Eastercon), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow. _Now GBP105 reg, GBP70 concessions, GBP25 under-27s, GBP10 under-13s_ -- _as of 1 December._ See easterconglasgow.org.
21-25 Apr 2027 [] DEAD BY DAWN (horror film festival), Filmhouse, Lothian Road, Edinburgh -- returning after a long gap since 2019. Further details and ticket sales to follow in late 2026 at deadbydawn.co.uk.
11-13 Jun 2027 [] FUNCON TWO, Palace Hotel, Buxton. GBP55 reg first 50 members; GBP65 next 40; GBP70 thereafter; GBP50 unwaged. See funcon.lol.
RUMBLINGS. _LAcon V_ (Worldcon 2026) will continue the convenient if not strictly constitutional practice of online WSFS business meetings.
_Montreal Worldcon 2027:_ membership rates increases expected on 1 December 2025 have been deferred to January.
_Brisbane in 2028:_ this Worldcon bid (Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, 27-31 July) is accepting AUD donations from $20 and pre-memberships -- not including WSFS -- at $50 (virtual), $250 (full), $125 (under-25s) or a $550 'Best Mates' option. More at brisbane28.org.
_Nuremberg in 2028_ is a newly announced bid for a German Worldcon in July 2028 ('August is rainy').
_Glasgow in 2034_, yet another Worldcon bid, has provisionally booked the SEC for 3-6 or 10-13 August and cites Glasgow's vibrant food culture.
### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
THE USES OF LITERACY. _New York Times_ headline: 'Sex Had Become a Chore. Then They Started Reading Romantasy. / The wildly popular fiction genre allows readers to talk openly about yearning, sex and desire. And it's spilling over into their bedrooms.' (17 November) [AIP]
AWARDS. _Aldiss_ (worldbuilding): inaugural presentation to _The Dance of Shadows_ by Rogba Payne.
_British Fantasy._ ANTHOLOGY _Bury Your Gays_ ed. Sofia Ajram. ARTIST Kelly Chong. AUDIO _Breaking the Glass Slipper_. COLLECTION _Elephants in Bloom_ by Cecile Cristofari. ROBERT HOLDSTOCK (fantasy novel): _Masquerade_ by O.O. Sangoyomi. AUGUST DERLETH (horror novel): _My Darling Dreadful Thing_ by Johanna van Veen. INDEPENDENT PRESS Flame Tree Press. MAGAZINE /PERIODICAL _ParSec_. SYDNEY J. BOUNDS (newcomer): Frances White for _Voyage of the Damned_. NON-FICTION _Queer as Folklore by_ Sacha Coward. NOVELLA _The Last to Drown_ by Lorraine Wilson. SHORT 'Loneliness Universe' by Eugenia Triantafyllou (_Uncanny_). KARL EDWARD WAGNER (special): Rosemary 'Ro' Pardoe.
_Goldsmiths Prize_ (GBP10,000 for a mould-breaking UK/Irish book): _We Live Here Now_ by C.D. Rose.
_World Fantasy._ NOVEL _The Tainted Cup_ by Robert Jackson Bennett. NOVELLA _Yoke of Stars_ by R.B. Lemberg. SHORT 'Raptor' by Maura McHugh (in _Heartwood_ below). ANTHOLOGY _Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology_ ed. Dan Coxon. COLLECTION _A Sunny Place for Shady People_ by Mariana Enriquez, trans Megan McDowell. ARTIST Liv Rainey-Smith. SPECIAL -- PROFESSIONAL _Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction_ by Gabriela Lee, Anna Felicia Sanchez and Sydney Paige Guerrero. SPECIAL -- NON-PROFESSIONAL Steve J. Shaw for Black Shuck Books.
WE ARE EVERYWHERE. The Ansible Cafe, a science-fiction-themed coffee shop in Chengdu, China, opened on 28 October. [F770]
R.I.P. _Celeste Rita Baker_ (1958-2025), New York-born Virgin Islands author active since 2010 whose genre collection is _Back, Belly, & Side: True Lies and False Tales_ (2015) and who won a 2021 World Fantasy Award for best short story, died on 30 October aged 67. [L]
_Carl Ciarfalio_ (1953-2025), US actor/stuntman in Roger Corman's unreleased _The Fantastic Four_ (1994, as The Thing) and other genre tv/film productions, died on 19 November aged 72.
_Pauline Collins_ (1940-2025), UK actress in _Doctor Who_ (1967, 2006), _From Time to Time_ (2009) and _The Last Dragonslayer_ (2016), died on 6 November aged 85. [RH]
_Sergey Desnitsky_ (1941-2025), Russian actor in the Lem-based _Doznaniye pilota Pirksa_ (_Pilot Pirx's Inquest_, 1979), died on 19 November aged 84. [AM]
_Jonathan Farwell_ (1932-2025), US actor in _Frankenstein General Hospital_ (1988), _C.H.U.D. II_ (1989), the Poe-based _The Haunting of Morella_ (1990) and _Watchers II_ (1999), died on 22 November aged 93. [SJ]
_Leslie Fish_, US fan active since the 1960s in filk and early _Star Trek_ fandom, who was honoured for her musical work with multiple Pegasus awards and entry to the Filk Hall of Fame in 1995, died on 29 November. [O] Many of her songs are collected as _The Incomplete Leslie Fish_ (2001).
_Jill Freud_ (1927-2025), UK actress who in WW2 was evacuated to Oxford and there stayed with C.S. Lewis, inspiring (he later told her) Lucy in the Narnia books, died on 24 November aged 98. [AIP] Her genre credits include narration and voice parts in _Torchy, the Battery Boy_ (52 episodes 1959-1961).
_Sue Granquist_ (1966-2025), US reviewer and blogger whose weekly horror-themed 'Goth Chick' column had appeared in _Black Gate_ since 2009, died on 18 November aged 59. [PS-P]
_Adam Greenberg_ (1937-2025), Polish-born US cinematographer for _The Terminator_ (1984 plus sequel), _Ghost_ (1990), _Alien Nation_ (1998), _Sphere_ (1998) and others, died on 30 October aged 88. [SJ]
_Tcheky Karyo_ (1953-2025), Turkish-born French actor in _The Core_ (2003), _Utopia_ (2003)and _Mermaid in Paris_ (2020), died on 31 October aged 72. [AIP]
_Udo Kier_ (1944-2025), German actor in _Flesh for Frankenstein_ (1973, as Baron von Frankenstein) plus several vampire films, and voice actor in genre games and animations, died on 23 November aged 81.
_Sally Kirkland_ (1941-2025), US actress whose many genre films include _The Incredible Shrinking Woman_ (1981), _Brave New World_ (1988), _The Visitor from Planet Omicron_ (2013), _The Haunting of Hell Hole Mine_ (2023) and _Woods Witch_ (2023), died on 11 November aged 84. [SJ]
_Pete Knifton_ (1959-2025), UK sf/fantasy/comics artist who illustrated Games Workshop's _Blood Bowl_, Fighting Fantasy books, fantasy wargames, heavy metal record covers and _Transformers_ comics, and appeared in _Omni_ and _New Worlds_, died on 29 October aged 66. [MG]
_Jorga Kotrbova_ (1947-2025), Czech actress who played the title role in the fairytale film _Zlatovlaska_ (_Princess Goldilocks_, 1973), died on 24 November aged 78.
_Diane Ladd_ (1935-2025), US actress in _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ (1983), _Carnosaur_ (1992), _Kingdom Hospital_ (2004), _Grave Secrets_ (2013) and others, died on 3 November aged 89. [LP]
_Gerry Lively_, UK cinematographer for _Waxwork_ (1988 plus sequel), _Lobster Man from Mars_ (1989), _Hellraiser III_ (1992 plus sequel), _Children of the Corn III_ (1995) and several more, died on 7 November. Director credits include two _D&D_ films (2005, 2012) and _All Saints Eve_ (2015). [SJ]
_Dan McGrath_ (1964-2025), Emmy-winning US screenwriter who scripted 50 episodes of _The Simpsons_ (1992-1994) and was consulting producer for 20 more (1996-1998), died on 14 November aged 61. [AIP]
_Tatsuya Nakadai_ (1932-2025), noted Japanese actor in _Kwaidan_ (1964), _Illusion of Blood_ (1965), _The Face of Another_ (1966), _The Tale of the Princess Kaguya_ (2013) and others, died on 8 November aged 92. [SJ]
_Alexander 'Sasha' Okun_ (1949-2025), Israeli author writing in Russian whose YA novel _Placebo_ (2007; reissued as _Uchenik aptekarya_ [_Apothecary's Apprentice_]) is fantasy, died on 6 November. [AM]
_Danny Seagren_ (1943-2025), US actor in _Sesame Street_ (1969-1986), _The Great Santa Claus Switch_ (1970) and -- as the first live-action Spider-Man -- _The Electric Company_ and _Spidey Super Stories_ (both 1974-1977), died on 10 November aged 81. [SHS]
_Ralph Senesky_ (1923-2025), US director whose credits include _Star Trek_ (7 episodes 1967-1968) and the fixup film _Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes_ (1980), died on 1 November aged 102. [SJ]
_Jack Shepherd_ (1940-2025), UK actor in _The Bed Sitting Room_ (1969), _Count Dracula_ (1977) and _The Golden Compass_ (2007), died on 25 November aged 85. [SJ]
_Ken Smookler_ (1929-2025), long-time Canadian fan who was a founder of the Ontario SF Club in 1966 (and its first president) and worked on the successful Toronto in 1973 Worldcon bid, died on 11 November aged 96. [MM]
_Tom Stoppard_ (1937-2025), distinguished Czech-born UK playwright and Oscar winner, several of whose stage plays -- notably _Jumpers_ (1972) -- had sf/fantasy elements, died on 29 November aged 88. Genre cinema script work included _Brazil_ (1985), _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ (1989, uncredited but openly acknowledged by Spielberg) and _Revenge of the Sith_ (2005, uncredited). [AW]
_Lee Tamahori_ (1950-2025), New Zealand director of _The Ray Bradbury Theatre_ (3 episodes 1990-1992), _Die Another Day_ (2002) and _Next_ (2007), died on 7 November aged 75. [SJ]
_John Russell Taylor_ (1935-2025), UK author, critic and biographer of Alec Guinness, Alfred Hitchcock -- with the authorized _Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock_ (1978) -- Orson Welles and others, died on 18 August aged 90. [AIP]
_Ron Tiner_ (Ronald Charles Tickner, 1940-2025), UK artist whose work -- besides much illustration and comics art -- includes _The Encyclopedia of Fantasy & Science Fiction Art Techniques_ (1996 with John Grant) and the text for _Mass: The Art of John Harris_ (2000), died on 18 October aged 85. He was a contributing editor of _The Encyclopedia of Fantasy_ (1997). [SH]
_Jean-Louis Trudel_ (1967-2025), Canadian author who wrote in French and published some 30 sf novels and collections (both adult and YA) beginning with _Aller simple pour Saguenal_ (1994), died in November aged 58. [PDF]
_Peter Watkins_ (1935-2025), UK filmmaker who wrote and directed the unforgettable Oscar-winning docudrama _The War Game_ (1966) -- about a nuclear attack on Britain -- died on 30 October aged 90. [AIP] His other genre films are _Privilege_ (1966), _The Gladiators_ (1968 aka _The Peace Game_) and _Punishment Park_ (1971).
THE WEAKEST LINK. _Alexander Armstrong:_ 'Fill in the movie title missing word. It's a mythical creature, and we've given you the first letter.' (_The Little M_____, 2023) _Contestant:_ 'Mouse.' (BBC1, _Pointless_) [PE/AR/FD]
_Bradley Walsh:_ 'The Rubens painting _The Wrath of Achilles_ depicts a scene from which war?' _Contestant:_ 'World War 2.' (ITV, _The Chase_) [PE]
AUCTION COMICS. Here we go again: a 1939 first issue of _Superman_ found last year in a California attic sold through Heritage Auctions on 20 November for a record $9.12 million. (ABC7news.com, 26 November) [LB] Meanwhile a mint copy of the first ever _Ansible_ has been valued at 12p.
FANFUNDERY. _TransAtlantic Fan Fund:_ the 2026 race will run from North America to the Berlin Eurocon (MetropolCon, 2-5 July). Nominations are now open and will close on 1 February; voting then runs to 7 April. Candidates must find nominators (3 NA, 2 Euro) and provide a platform of up to 101 words plus $20 bond. More details at taff.org.uk.
_TAFF Library._ Our latest release is Rob Hansen's _British SF Conventions Volume 4: 1958-1965_, exploring sf events between the first and second UK Worldcons chronicled in volumes 3 and 5. With much funny reportage from days when the guests included Kingsley Amis and Edmund Crispin, while Brian Aldiss and Michael Moorcock were not only striving pros but fans behaving badly. See taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=UKcons4.
THE DEAD PAST. _20 Years Ago_, Terry Pratchett reported: 'On _Sunday AM_ on BBC1 yesterday Andrew Marr was kind enough to describe me as "following in the tradition of Philip Pullman and JK Rowling." And a fine tradition it is.' (_Ansible_ 221, December 2005)
_30 Years Ago_, fandom was already everywhere: '_The Financial Times_ offered a cartoon feature showing the financial past, with a highwayman stockbroker threatening Victorian investors, and the future -- symbolized by the Mekon threatening investors _wearing propellor beanies_.' (_Ansible_ 101, December 1995)
OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Jonathan Cowie_ views with alarm: '_SF2 Concatenation_ news pages forthcoming books listing for Spring edition is being compiled right now. Well over a dozen imprints have sent in SF/F catalogues ... all well and good so far. But there has been a huge, HUGE, surge in fantasy, especially romantasy, and a bigger than usual decline in SF (SF always was junior to fantasy). One publisher, HarperCollins and also their Voyager imprint, has zero SF books in their catalogue!' [SF2C]
RANDOM FANDOM. _Dave Hicks_ received the 2025 Rotsler Award for life achievement in fanzine art. [F770]
_Novacon 54_ in November had (according to _Read Me_) a generous hotel checkout time of 11pm. Alas, this was a typo for 11am -- as the hotel had told the committee while, it sadly emerged, really meaning 10am. [SB]
_Pavel A. Samsonov_ explained the mysteries of the WSFS Business Meeting handbook _Robert's Rules of Order_. The First Rule goes: 'A Robert may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.' SF scholars can now deduce the Second and Third Rules. (Mastodon.social, 1 November)
ZINE SCENE. The Birmingham SF Group is feeling the pinch and has polled its members about the future of _Brum Group News_ (est. 1971): should monthly printed newsletters cease, presumably to be replaced by a digital version, or go quarterly? (Email, 22 November)
Space Cowboy Books launches a new print magazine, _Electronic Brain_, on 9 December. For this 'Cultural idiopathy' see bookshop.org/a/197/9781968958008.
THIS IS THE FUTURE. Campbell's, of soup fame, has fired an IT vice-president who was recorded saying he wouldn't touch his company's products 'because they contain "bioengineered meat" and he doesn't want to "eat chicken that came from a 3D printer".' (_The Register_, 28 November)
THE LAW'S DELAYS. Chris Barkley withdrew his arduous Hugo recovery lawsuit against the 2023 administrator Dave McCarty (see _A456_, _A459_, _A460_), despite the latter's persistent failure to deliver any Hugos. [F770] The US Development Center for Chengdu Worldcon company has -- as already happened in October, only to unhappen very shortly afterwards (_A460_) -- revoked McCarty's administrator status and taken over the responsibility of getting the 2023 trophies to their winners. Phew. [F770]
THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _It's That Time of Year Again._ 'He's all snotted up in this like slurry in alveoli.' (China Mieville, _Kraken_, 2010) [BA]
_But What About the Neutron Flow?_ '...by reversing the drive polarity to open a quantum singularity in Bear's gravity well, then thread the aperture with negative energy so that they create a stable wormhole. After that, it's mainly a matter of expanding it to a usable size.' (Allen Steele, _Coyote Frontier_, 2005) [BA]
_The Girl Had Guts._ 'Her jaw line began to flex and I admired the firm, strong chin she wore below the softness of her face. She had the sort of chin which goes with plenty of giblets.' (Michael Morgan, _Charity Begins at Homicide_, 1950)
_Flowers of Rhetoric._ 'The next day dawned bright and clear on my empty stomach.' (Michael Avallone, _Meanwhile Back at the Morgue_, 1960) 'He was like a ghoul blown out of shape through a briar thicket by a harsh wind.' (Tom Roan, _The Dragon Strikes Back_, 1936) 'I was as confused as a sterile rabbit ...' (Shell Scott, _Way of a Wanton_, 1956)
### 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 on this page:
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://ansible.uk/books/index.html
GROUP THEORY.
18 December 2025, 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.'
1 January 2026, 6pm to late: an additional virtual gathering instread of the First Thursday gathering, since the pub will not be open on New Year's Day.
https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f
EDITORIAL. 2025 has been a year of many distractions at 94 London Road, where modest plans for a less muddy front path escalated when the gigantic cedar out there was diagnosed as increasingly likely to shed massive branches in bad weather (probably on to passing cars or people) or even fall over. At colossal expense it was removed, and eventually we ended up with new garden walls, a new paved parking space, and as an unexpected side effect a new bit of roof over the front bay window where the rain had kept coming in. Office work was particularly difficult when noisy things were happening outside, especially in the fraught days when burly chaps and heavy machinery laid siege to the huge stump and too many roots of that cedar, working in a big hole crossed by the slender wobbly pipe carrying our Internet connection.
Neverthless I dutifully churned out twelve monthly issues of _Ansible_, did a lot of _SF Encyclopedia_ writing and editing (with site updates at least weekly), and added eight ebooks to the Little Free Library at taff.org.uk -- where there are now 118 downloadables, 29 also available as paperbacks sold in aid of TAFF (or GUFF, or other funds). And already the indefatigable Rob Hansen is working on further fanhistorical projects....
CLARKE AWARD. Submissions for 2025 opened in November and close on 31 December. See www.clarkeaward.com/#contact.
R.I.P. II -- LATE AND LAST-MINUTE REPORTS. _Chet Clingan_ (1944-2024), author of short fiction 1973-1982 and editor -- with various co-editors -- of the fiction zine _The Diversifier_ (1974-1979), died on 28 December 2024 aged 80. [PS-P]
_Michael Kenward_ (1945-2025), UK science writer and editor of _New Scientist_ from 1979 to 1990, died in August aged 80. David Garnett reminds me that he edited and wrote reviews for six issues of the BSFA's _Vector_, 1968-1970.
_Ingrid van Bergen_ (1931-2025), German actress whose films include _The Vampire Happening_ (1971) and _Sharknado 5_ (2017), died on 28 November aged 94. [SJ]
THE DEAD PAST II. _40 Years Ago_, Thog's 1994 _Ansible_ debut was pre-empted: 'At the next Minicon Damon Knight will judge a "bad SF" writing contest, in two categories. One will include "Putrid passages purloined from published pros(e)." Entries must identify the author and story they're from.' (_File 770:56_, December 1985)
SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
Scott Edelman on contract issues at _F&SF_ (and sister magazines)
https://www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/2025/11/12/a-dream-denied/
SMOFcon Future Conventions and Bids Q&A
https://www.smofcon42.com/at-smofcon-42/future-conventions-q-a
TAFF accounts 2023-2025
https://taff.org.uk/news/Accounts2022-2025.pdf
THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 221, December 2005. _Prestidigitation Dept (or, Yoga Exercise #42)._ 'As Morgan sat in another chair beside him, Duncan rolled his head in Morgan's direction and looked at him searchingly, folding his hands and tapping joined forefingers against his cheek as he rested his elbows on the chair arms.' (Katherine Kurtz, _The Bishop's Heir_, 1984)
_Method Acting Dept._ 'Leash drilled his eyes into Ramsey.' 'May furrowed her brow. Her pupils jittered side to side, as if her frontal lobes were doing heavy lifting. Her gaze was so intense, it looked like her skull could blow up in a puff of hot steam at any moment. Then her face lit up with a divine epiphany.' (both Greg Vilk, _Golem_, 2005)
_Ansible_(R) 461 (C) David Langford, 2025. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Lenny Bailes, Sandra Bond, Paul Di Filippo, Fran Dowd, _File 770_, Marc Gascoigne, Rob Hansen, Steve Holland, Steve Jones, _Locus_, Murray Moore, Andrey Meshavkin, Omega, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, _Private Eye_, Ang Rosin, Steven H Silver, Phil Stephenson-Payne, _SF2 Concatenation_, Andrew Wells, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy, and Alan Stewart (Australia). Seasonal good wishes to all readers!
1 December 2025
DECEMBER 2025
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, hodmandods, Magimuck, flaked corns, or stercoraceous dungarees.
[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a461.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a461.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]
### WHEN THINGS GET OUT OF HAND ###
JOE HILL, son of Stephen King, was one of three horror authors who withdrew from the British Library's 'Tales of the Weird' event on 1-2 November, in sympathy with BL workers on strike owing to 'poverty wages'. 'I have to eat a Thanksgiving dinner with Tabitha King and if I cross a picket line to sell a book, it's not going to be a good one.' V. Castro and Keith Rosson also pulled out. (_Guardian_, 31 October)
N.K. JEMISIN is the latest author to be honoured by SFWA with the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. (SFWA, 16 November)
R.F. KUANG should set her sights higher, according to her husband: 'Yeah, sure, the Hugo is nice. But what about a Booker? I can see it for her.' (Bennett Eckert-Kuang, _The New Yorker_, 25 August) [MM]
JEANETTE WINTERSON's _One Aladdin Two Lamps_ puzzled reviewer Craig Brown: 'Some of the cultural references are laboriously spelled out, while others are left to fend for themselves. The reader, for example, is expected to have heard of Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, but needs a bit of help with "fantasy writer Terry Pratchett", "poet Ted Hughes" and, best of all, "Irish poet WB Yeats".' (_Private Eye_, 28 November)
### CONVALLY ###
5 Dec [] TOLKIEN SEMINAR LECTURE, Magdalen College, Oxford. 5pm. 'No registration is required.' See tolkien50.web.ox.ac.uk.
5-8 Dec [] GRIMMFEST ONLINE (film). Full pass GBP55.50 or tickets at GBP6.50 for each film. See www.grimmfest.com/grimmfest-online.
11-13 Dec [] TALOS SF THEATRE FESTIVAL, Bread & Roses Theatre, 68 Clapham Manor St, London. Thursday/Friday evening, all day Saturday. GBP12/performance; concessions GBP10. See www.cyborphic.com/talos-2025.
12 Dec [] BSFA XMAS SOCIAL, The Doric Arch pub, Euston. 7-9pm. See www.bsfa.co.uk/event-6444410.
17 Dec [] LONDON XMAS MEETING (additional to First Thursdays), The Bishop's Finger, 9-10 West Smithfield, EC1A 9JR. All evening.
29 Dec - 1 Jan [] STEAMPUNK NEW YEAR, Belmont Hotel, Leicester. See www.ministryofsteampunk.com/steampunknewyear2025.
30 Dec [] _THE FEMALE MAN_ online discussion panel, 7pm. Details on Facebook event sign-up at fb.me/e/3F0xoFwPh.
16-18 & 23-25 Jan 2026 [] HORROR-ON-SEA (film festival), Park Inn Radisson Palace Hotel, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 2AL. Tickets GBP80 for either weekend or GBP130 for both at the-white-bus-limited.sumupstore.com.
5-7 Mar 2026 [] FRIGHTFEST (film), Glasgow Film Theatre, Rose Street. Tickets and line-up awaited at frightfest.co.uk/filmsandevents/.
18-19 Apr 2026 [] FOR THE LOVE OF HORROR, BEC Arena, Manchester. Tickets at various rates from www.fortheloveofhorroruk.com.
22-24 May 2026 [] MCM COMIC CON, London ExCel. Tickets from GBP97; day rates at www.mcmcomiccon.com/london/en-us.html.
23-24 May 2026 [] STEAM TRAINS AND FAIRYTALES (steampunk), Midland Railway Trust, Butterley. See www.ministryofsteampunk.com.
24-27 Jul 2026 [] CONTINUUM (RPG), Cranfield University CMDC . Ticket sales expected 'early 2026' at continuumconvention.co.uk.
26-27 Sep 2026 [] NORCON (media), Norfolk Showground Arena. 9:30am-4pm. Tickets GBP43.25 (GBP34.25 for 10:30am entry); under-14s GBP27 (GBP23); family GBP132.50 (GBP106.25). See www.nor-con.co.uk.
17 Oct 2026 [] PICTCON2, Salutation Hotel, 30-34 South St, Perth, Scotland. GoH Neil Williamson. GBP30 reg; GBP20 concessions, under-18s GBP11.55. Tickets available at tinyurl.com/242ya33b.
24-25 Oct 2026 [] BRISTOLCON, Hilton DoubleTree Hotel, Bristol.GoH Cheryl Morgan, Trip Galey. Registration awaited at www.bristolcon.org.
6-8 Nov 2026 [] ARMADACON, Future Inns, Plymouth. GoH Mike Collins, Andy Lane. GBP50 reg; GBP40 concessions. More at www.armadacon.org.
6-8 Nov 2026 [] NOVACON 55, Palace Hotel, Buxton. GoH Una McCormack. GBP55 reg; under-17s GBP12; under-13s free. More at novacon.uk.
26-29 Mar 2027 [] UNCONFINED (Eastercon), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow. _Now GBP105 reg, GBP70 concessions, GBP25 under-27s, GBP10 under-13s_ -- _as of 1 December._ See easterconglasgow.org.
21-25 Apr 2027 [] DEAD BY DAWN (horror film festival), Filmhouse, Lothian Road, Edinburgh -- returning after a long gap since 2019. Further details and ticket sales to follow in late 2026 at deadbydawn.co.uk.
11-13 Jun 2027 [] FUNCON TWO, Palace Hotel, Buxton. GBP55 reg first 50 members; GBP65 next 40; GBP70 thereafter; GBP50 unwaged. See funcon.lol.
RUMBLINGS. _LAcon V_ (Worldcon 2026) will continue the convenient if not strictly constitutional practice of online WSFS business meetings.
_Montreal Worldcon 2027:_ membership rates increases expected on 1 December 2025 have been deferred to January.
_Brisbane in 2028:_ this Worldcon bid (Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, 27-31 July) is accepting AUD donations from $20 and pre-memberships -- not including WSFS -- at $50 (virtual), $250 (full), $125 (under-25s) or a $550 'Best Mates' option. More at brisbane28.org.
_Nuremberg in 2028_ is a newly announced bid for a German Worldcon in July 2028 ('August is rainy').
_Glasgow in 2034_, yet another Worldcon bid, has provisionally booked the SEC for 3-6 or 10-13 August and cites Glasgow's vibrant food culture.
### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
THE USES OF LITERACY. _New York Times_ headline: 'Sex Had Become a Chore. Then They Started Reading Romantasy. / The wildly popular fiction genre allows readers to talk openly about yearning, sex and desire. And it's spilling over into their bedrooms.' (17 November) [AIP]
AWARDS. _Aldiss_ (worldbuilding): inaugural presentation to _The Dance of Shadows_ by Rogba Payne.
_British Fantasy._ ANTHOLOGY _Bury Your Gays_ ed. Sofia Ajram. ARTIST Kelly Chong. AUDIO _Breaking the Glass Slipper_. COLLECTION _Elephants in Bloom_ by Cecile Cristofari. ROBERT HOLDSTOCK (fantasy novel): _Masquerade_ by O.O. Sangoyomi. AUGUST DERLETH (horror novel): _My Darling Dreadful Thing_ by Johanna van Veen. INDEPENDENT PRESS Flame Tree Press. MAGAZINE /PERIODICAL _ParSec_. SYDNEY J. BOUNDS (newcomer): Frances White for _Voyage of the Damned_. NON-FICTION _Queer as Folklore by_ Sacha Coward. NOVELLA _The Last to Drown_ by Lorraine Wilson. SHORT 'Loneliness Universe' by Eugenia Triantafyllou (_Uncanny_). KARL EDWARD WAGNER (special): Rosemary 'Ro' Pardoe.
_Goldsmiths Prize_ (GBP10,000 for a mould-breaking UK/Irish book): _We Live Here Now_ by C.D. Rose.
_World Fantasy._ NOVEL _The Tainted Cup_ by Robert Jackson Bennett. NOVELLA _Yoke of Stars_ by R.B. Lemberg. SHORT 'Raptor' by Maura McHugh (in _Heartwood_ below). ANTHOLOGY _Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology_ ed. Dan Coxon. COLLECTION _A Sunny Place for Shady People_ by Mariana Enriquez, trans Megan McDowell. ARTIST Liv Rainey-Smith. SPECIAL -- PROFESSIONAL _Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction_ by Gabriela Lee, Anna Felicia Sanchez and Sydney Paige Guerrero. SPECIAL -- NON-PROFESSIONAL Steve J. Shaw for Black Shuck Books.
WE ARE EVERYWHERE. The Ansible Cafe, a science-fiction-themed coffee shop in Chengdu, China, opened on 28 October. [F770]
R.I.P. _Celeste Rita Baker_ (1958-2025), New York-born Virgin Islands author active since 2010 whose genre collection is _Back, Belly, & Side: True Lies and False Tales_ (2015) and who won a 2021 World Fantasy Award for best short story, died on 30 October aged 67. [L]
_Carl Ciarfalio_ (1953-2025), US actor/stuntman in Roger Corman's unreleased _The Fantastic Four_ (1994, as The Thing) and other genre tv/film productions, died on 19 November aged 72.
_Pauline Collins_ (1940-2025), UK actress in _Doctor Who_ (1967, 2006), _From Time to Time_ (2009) and _The Last Dragonslayer_ (2016), died on 6 November aged 85. [RH]
_Sergey Desnitsky_ (1941-2025), Russian actor in the Lem-based _Doznaniye pilota Pirksa_ (_Pilot Pirx's Inquest_, 1979), died on 19 November aged 84. [AM]
_Jonathan Farwell_ (1932-2025), US actor in _Frankenstein General Hospital_ (1988), _C.H.U.D. II_ (1989), the Poe-based _The Haunting of Morella_ (1990) and _Watchers II_ (1999), died on 22 November aged 93. [SJ]
_Leslie Fish_, US fan active since the 1960s in filk and early _Star Trek_ fandom, who was honoured for her musical work with multiple Pegasus awards and entry to the Filk Hall of Fame in 1995, died on 29 November. [O] Many of her songs are collected as _The Incomplete Leslie Fish_ (2001).
_Jill Freud_ (1927-2025), UK actress who in WW2 was evacuated to Oxford and there stayed with C.S. Lewis, inspiring (he later told her) Lucy in the Narnia books, died on 24 November aged 98. [AIP] Her genre credits include narration and voice parts in _Torchy, the Battery Boy_ (52 episodes 1959-1961).
_Sue Granquist_ (1966-2025), US reviewer and blogger whose weekly horror-themed 'Goth Chick' column had appeared in _Black Gate_ since 2009, died on 18 November aged 59. [PS-P]
_Adam Greenberg_ (1937-2025), Polish-born US cinematographer for _The Terminator_ (1984 plus sequel), _Ghost_ (1990), _Alien Nation_ (1998), _Sphere_ (1998) and others, died on 30 October aged 88. [SJ]
_Tcheky Karyo_ (1953-2025), Turkish-born French actor in _The Core_ (2003), _Utopia_ (2003)and _Mermaid in Paris_ (2020), died on 31 October aged 72. [AIP]
_Udo Kier_ (1944-2025), German actor in _Flesh for Frankenstein_ (1973, as Baron von Frankenstein) plus several vampire films, and voice actor in genre games and animations, died on 23 November aged 81.
_Sally Kirkland_ (1941-2025), US actress whose many genre films include _The Incredible Shrinking Woman_ (1981), _Brave New World_ (1988), _The Visitor from Planet Omicron_ (2013), _The Haunting of Hell Hole Mine_ (2023) and _Woods Witch_ (2023), died on 11 November aged 84. [SJ]
_Pete Knifton_ (1959-2025), UK sf/fantasy/comics artist who illustrated Games Workshop's _Blood Bowl_, Fighting Fantasy books, fantasy wargames, heavy metal record covers and _Transformers_ comics, and appeared in _Omni_ and _New Worlds_, died on 29 October aged 66. [MG]
_Jorga Kotrbova_ (1947-2025), Czech actress who played the title role in the fairytale film _Zlatovlaska_ (_Princess Goldilocks_, 1973), died on 24 November aged 78.
_Diane Ladd_ (1935-2025), US actress in _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ (1983), _Carnosaur_ (1992), _Kingdom Hospital_ (2004), _Grave Secrets_ (2013) and others, died on 3 November aged 89. [LP]
_Gerry Lively_, UK cinematographer for _Waxwork_ (1988 plus sequel), _Lobster Man from Mars_ (1989), _Hellraiser III_ (1992 plus sequel), _Children of the Corn III_ (1995) and several more, died on 7 November. Director credits include two _D&D_ films (2005, 2012) and _All Saints Eve_ (2015). [SJ]
_Dan McGrath_ (1964-2025), Emmy-winning US screenwriter who scripted 50 episodes of _The Simpsons_ (1992-1994) and was consulting producer for 20 more (1996-1998), died on 14 November aged 61. [AIP]
_Tatsuya Nakadai_ (1932-2025), noted Japanese actor in _Kwaidan_ (1964), _Illusion of Blood_ (1965), _The Face of Another_ (1966), _The Tale of the Princess Kaguya_ (2013) and others, died on 8 November aged 92. [SJ]
_Alexander 'Sasha' Okun_ (1949-2025), Israeli author writing in Russian whose YA novel _Placebo_ (2007; reissued as _Uchenik aptekarya_ [_Apothecary's Apprentice_]) is fantasy, died on 6 November. [AM]
_Danny Seagren_ (1943-2025), US actor in _Sesame Street_ (1969-1986), _The Great Santa Claus Switch_ (1970) and -- as the first live-action Spider-Man -- _The Electric Company_ and _Spidey Super Stories_ (both 1974-1977), died on 10 November aged 81. [SHS]
_Ralph Senesky_ (1923-2025), US director whose credits include _Star Trek_ (7 episodes 1967-1968) and the fixup film _Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes_ (1980), died on 1 November aged 102. [SJ]
_Jack Shepherd_ (1940-2025), UK actor in _The Bed Sitting Room_ (1969), _Count Dracula_ (1977) and _The Golden Compass_ (2007), died on 25 November aged 85. [SJ]
_Ken Smookler_ (1929-2025), long-time Canadian fan who was a founder of the Ontario SF Club in 1966 (and its first president) and worked on the successful Toronto in 1973 Worldcon bid, died on 11 November aged 96. [MM]
_Tom Stoppard_ (1937-2025), distinguished Czech-born UK playwright and Oscar winner, several of whose stage plays -- notably _Jumpers_ (1972) -- had sf/fantasy elements, died on 29 November aged 88. Genre cinema script work included _Brazil_ (1985), _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ (1989, uncredited but openly acknowledged by Spielberg) and _Revenge of the Sith_ (2005, uncredited). [AW]
_Lee Tamahori_ (1950-2025), New Zealand director of _The Ray Bradbury Theatre_ (3 episodes 1990-1992), _Die Another Day_ (2002) and _Next_ (2007), died on 7 November aged 75. [SJ]
_John Russell Taylor_ (1935-2025), UK author, critic and biographer of Alec Guinness, Alfred Hitchcock -- with the authorized _Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock_ (1978) -- Orson Welles and others, died on 18 August aged 90. [AIP]
_Ron Tiner_ (Ronald Charles Tickner, 1940-2025), UK artist whose work -- besides much illustration and comics art -- includes _The Encyclopedia of Fantasy & Science Fiction Art Techniques_ (1996 with John Grant) and the text for _Mass: The Art of John Harris_ (2000), died on 18 October aged 85. He was a contributing editor of _The Encyclopedia of Fantasy_ (1997). [SH]
_Jean-Louis Trudel_ (1967-2025), Canadian author who wrote in French and published some 30 sf novels and collections (both adult and YA) beginning with _Aller simple pour Saguenal_ (1994), died in November aged 58. [PDF]
_Peter Watkins_ (1935-2025), UK filmmaker who wrote and directed the unforgettable Oscar-winning docudrama _The War Game_ (1966) -- about a nuclear attack on Britain -- died on 30 October aged 90. [AIP] His other genre films are _Privilege_ (1966), _The Gladiators_ (1968 aka _The Peace Game_) and _Punishment Park_ (1971).
THE WEAKEST LINK. _Alexander Armstrong:_ 'Fill in the movie title missing word. It's a mythical creature, and we've given you the first letter.' (_The Little M_____, 2023) _Contestant:_ 'Mouse.' (BBC1, _Pointless_) [PE/AR/FD]
_Bradley Walsh:_ 'The Rubens painting _The Wrath of Achilles_ depicts a scene from which war?' _Contestant:_ 'World War 2.' (ITV, _The Chase_) [PE]
AUCTION COMICS. Here we go again: a 1939 first issue of _Superman_ found last year in a California attic sold through Heritage Auctions on 20 November for a record $9.12 million. (ABC7news.com, 26 November) [LB] Meanwhile a mint copy of the first ever _Ansible_ has been valued at 12p.
FANFUNDERY. _TransAtlantic Fan Fund:_ the 2026 race will run from North America to the Berlin Eurocon (MetropolCon, 2-5 July). Nominations are now open and will close on 1 February; voting then runs to 7 April. Candidates must find nominators (3 NA, 2 Euro) and provide a platform of up to 101 words plus $20 bond. More details at taff.org.uk.
_TAFF Library._ Our latest release is Rob Hansen's _British SF Conventions Volume 4: 1958-1965_, exploring sf events between the first and second UK Worldcons chronicled in volumes 3 and 5. With much funny reportage from days when the guests included Kingsley Amis and Edmund Crispin, while Brian Aldiss and Michael Moorcock were not only striving pros but fans behaving badly. See taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=UKcons4.
THE DEAD PAST. _20 Years Ago_, Terry Pratchett reported: 'On _Sunday AM_ on BBC1 yesterday Andrew Marr was kind enough to describe me as "following in the tradition of Philip Pullman and JK Rowling." And a fine tradition it is.' (_Ansible_ 221, December 2005)
_30 Years Ago_, fandom was already everywhere: '_The Financial Times_ offered a cartoon feature showing the financial past, with a highwayman stockbroker threatening Victorian investors, and the future -- symbolized by the Mekon threatening investors _wearing propellor beanies_.' (_Ansible_ 101, December 1995)
OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Jonathan Cowie_ views with alarm: '_SF2 Concatenation_ news pages forthcoming books listing for Spring edition is being compiled right now. Well over a dozen imprints have sent in SF/F catalogues ... all well and good so far. But there has been a huge, HUGE, surge in fantasy, especially romantasy, and a bigger than usual decline in SF (SF always was junior to fantasy). One publisher, HarperCollins and also their Voyager imprint, has zero SF books in their catalogue!' [SF2C]
RANDOM FANDOM. _Dave Hicks_ received the 2025 Rotsler Award for life achievement in fanzine art. [F770]
_Novacon 54_ in November had (according to _Read Me_) a generous hotel checkout time of 11pm. Alas, this was a typo for 11am -- as the hotel had told the committee while, it sadly emerged, really meaning 10am. [SB]
_Pavel A. Samsonov_ explained the mysteries of the WSFS Business Meeting handbook _Robert's Rules of Order_. The First Rule goes: 'A Robert may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.' SF scholars can now deduce the Second and Third Rules. (Mastodon.social, 1 November)
ZINE SCENE. The Birmingham SF Group is feeling the pinch and has polled its members about the future of _Brum Group News_ (est. 1971): should monthly printed newsletters cease, presumably to be replaced by a digital version, or go quarterly? (Email, 22 November)
Space Cowboy Books launches a new print magazine, _Electronic Brain_, on 9 December. For this 'Cultural idiopathy' see bookshop.org/a/197/9781968958008.
THIS IS THE FUTURE. Campbell's, of soup fame, has fired an IT vice-president who was recorded saying he wouldn't touch his company's products 'because they contain "bioengineered meat" and he doesn't want to "eat chicken that came from a 3D printer".' (_The Register_, 28 November)
THE LAW'S DELAYS. Chris Barkley withdrew his arduous Hugo recovery lawsuit against the 2023 administrator Dave McCarty (see _A456_, _A459_, _A460_), despite the latter's persistent failure to deliver any Hugos. [F770] The US Development Center for Chengdu Worldcon company has -- as already happened in October, only to unhappen very shortly afterwards (_A460_) -- revoked McCarty's administrator status and taken over the responsibility of getting the 2023 trophies to their winners. Phew. [F770]
THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _It's That Time of Year Again._ 'He's all snotted up in this like slurry in alveoli.' (China Mieville, _Kraken_, 2010) [BA]
_But What About the Neutron Flow?_ '...by reversing the drive polarity to open a quantum singularity in Bear's gravity well, then thread the aperture with negative energy so that they create a stable wormhole. After that, it's mainly a matter of expanding it to a usable size.' (Allen Steele, _Coyote Frontier_, 2005) [BA]
_The Girl Had Guts._ 'Her jaw line began to flex and I admired the firm, strong chin she wore below the softness of her face. She had the sort of chin which goes with plenty of giblets.' (Michael Morgan, _Charity Begins at Homicide_, 1950)
_Flowers of Rhetoric._ 'The next day dawned bright and clear on my empty stomach.' (Michael Avallone, _Meanwhile Back at the Morgue_, 1960) 'He was like a ghoul blown out of shape through a briar thicket by a harsh wind.' (Tom Roan, _The Dragon Strikes Back_, 1936) 'I was as confused as a sterile rabbit ...' (Shell Scott, _Way of a Wanton_, 1956)
### 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 on this page:
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://ansible.uk/books/index.html
GROUP THEORY.
18 December 2025, 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.'
1 January 2026, 6pm to late: an additional virtual gathering instread of the First Thursday gathering, since the pub will not be open on New Year's Day.
https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f
EDITORIAL. 2025 has been a year of many distractions at 94 London Road, where modest plans for a less muddy front path escalated when the gigantic cedar out there was diagnosed as increasingly likely to shed massive branches in bad weather (probably on to passing cars or people) or even fall over. At colossal expense it was removed, and eventually we ended up with new garden walls, a new paved parking space, and as an unexpected side effect a new bit of roof over the front bay window where the rain had kept coming in. Office work was particularly difficult when noisy things were happening outside, especially in the fraught days when burly chaps and heavy machinery laid siege to the huge stump and too many roots of that cedar, working in a big hole crossed by the slender wobbly pipe carrying our Internet connection.
Neverthless I dutifully churned out twelve monthly issues of _Ansible_, did a lot of _SF Encyclopedia_ writing and editing (with site updates at least weekly), and added eight ebooks to the Little Free Library at taff.org.uk -- where there are now 118 downloadables, 29 also available as paperbacks sold in aid of TAFF (or GUFF, or other funds). And already the indefatigable Rob Hansen is working on further fanhistorical projects....
CLARKE AWARD. Submissions for 2025 opened in November and close on 31 December. See www.clarkeaward.com/#contact.
R.I.P. II -- LATE AND LAST-MINUTE REPORTS. _Chet Clingan_ (1944-2024), author of short fiction 1973-1982 and editor -- with various co-editors -- of the fiction zine _The Diversifier_ (1974-1979), died on 28 December 2024 aged 80. [PS-P]
_Michael Kenward_ (1945-2025), UK science writer and editor of _New Scientist_ from 1979 to 1990, died in August aged 80. David Garnett reminds me that he edited and wrote reviews for six issues of the BSFA's _Vector_, 1968-1970.
_Ingrid van Bergen_ (1931-2025), German actress whose films include _The Vampire Happening_ (1971) and _Sharknado 5_ (2017), died on 28 November aged 94. [SJ]
THE DEAD PAST II. _40 Years Ago_, Thog's 1994 _Ansible_ debut was pre-empted: 'At the next Minicon Damon Knight will judge a "bad SF" writing contest, in two categories. One will include "Putrid passages purloined from published pros(e)." Entries must identify the author and story they're from.' (_File 770:56_, December 1985)
SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
Scott Edelman on contract issues at _F&SF_ (and sister magazines)
https://www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/2025/11/12/a-dream-denied/
SMOFcon Future Conventions and Bids Q&A
https://www.smofcon42.com/at-smofcon-42/future-conventions-q-a
TAFF accounts 2023-2025
https://taff.org.uk/news/Accounts2022-2025.pdf
THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 221, December 2005. _Prestidigitation Dept (or, Yoga Exercise #42)._ 'As Morgan sat in another chair beside him, Duncan rolled his head in Morgan's direction and looked at him searchingly, folding his hands and tapping joined forefingers against his cheek as he rested his elbows on the chair arms.' (Katherine Kurtz, _The Bishop's Heir_, 1984)
_Method Acting Dept._ 'Leash drilled his eyes into Ramsey.' 'May furrowed her brow. Her pupils jittered side to side, as if her frontal lobes were doing heavy lifting. Her gaze was so intense, it looked like her skull could blow up in a puff of hot steam at any moment. Then her face lit up with a divine epiphany.' (both Greg Vilk, _Golem_, 2005)
_Ansible_(R) 461 (C) David Langford, 2025. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Lenny Bailes, Sandra Bond, Paul Di Filippo, Fran Dowd, _File 770_, Marc Gascoigne, Rob Hansen, Steve Holland, Steve Jones, _Locus_, Murray Moore, Andrey Meshavkin, Omega, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, _Private Eye_, Ang Rosin, Steven H Silver, Phil Stephenson-Payne, _SF2 Concatenation_, Andrew Wells, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy, and Alan Stewart (Australia). Seasonal good wishes to all readers!
1 December 2025
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages