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Ansible 416 -- March 2022 [long]

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David Langford

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Mar 1, 2022, 12:32:09 PM3/1/22
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ANSIBLE(R) 416
MARCH 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,
blobel skins, wubfur, chains of air or webs of aether.

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### THE WAR WITH THE FNOOLS ###

RICHARD CORBEN (1940-2020) received a 2021 Chesley Award for lifetime
artistic achievement. For the full list of Chesley winners see the news
release at asfa-art.com/news/2021-chesley-award-winners.

PETER JACKSON, according to the _Forbes_ rich list, was the highest-paid
entertainer of 2021 -- as a result of selling off parts of his visual
effects business Weta Digital for some $1.6 billion. (_Guardian_, 11
February)

BEN OKRI is another author annoyed by online ghostwriting services'
fraudulent claims (see A_415_). To the amazement of nobody, he did not pay
'a ghost writer variously called Roseanne Wynter and Lisa P. Whitle' to
bash out his 1991 Booker-winning magic realist novel _The Famished Road_,
as asserted on Twitter. (_The Bookseller_, 7 February) [SF2C]

JARED SHURIN announced that he had fed the programmes of 2,432 post-WWII
American conventions into an AI which generated exciting new panel
permutations. Favourites include 'Asimov and Heinlein: Live Swordfighting',
'Gaiman on Gaiman', 'What is a Semi-Asimov?', 'Dune from a Lovecraftian
Perspective', 'Debate: Cake or Hugos?' and 'Ursula K. Le Guin and the Other
Woman of SF'. (Twitter, 1 February)

MICHAEL SWANWICK resigned his position as Honorary President of the
Moscow-based International Union of Writers, in protest against the Russian
invasion of Ukraine. (Flogging Babel blog, 23 February)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY,President of Ukraine, voiced Paddington Bear in Ukranian
dubs of _Paddington_ (2014) and its sequel (see Wikipedia). Hence cartoons
of a small bear giving a huge one a very hard stare.


### CONQUININE ###

Until 8 Jan 2023 [] BEATRIX POTTER: DRAWN TO NATURE (exhibition), V&A,
London. GBP14; children free. See tinyurl.com/2p89r2vf.

HYBRID. 5 Mar [] ANGELA CARTER: A RADICAL PRESCIENCE? (symposium),
University of Chichester. 8:45am-5:40pm. GBP40; GBP30 online only; GBP20
students/staff. See www.sussexfolktalecentre.org/events/.

5 Mar [] PICOCON, Blackett Lecture Theatre, Imperial College, London.
10am-6pm. GBP6; ICSF members GBP4. Attendance limited to 100; evidence of
negative Covid test required. Tickets from
www.imperialcollegeunion.org/activities/a-to-z/science-fiction-and-fantasy.

POSTPONED TO MAY. 10-13 Mar [] CHILLERCON UK (horror): _see below._

10-12 Mar [] FRIGHTFEST (film), Glasgow Film Theatre. Weekend passes GBP75,
linked from www.frightfest.co.uk/filmsandevents.html.

FULL UP. 11-13 Mar [] MINAMICON (anime), Novotel Hotel, Southampton. GBP60
reg. See www.minamicon.org.uk. _'Registration is now full.'_

1 Apr - 28 Aug [] SUPERHEROES, ORPHANS & ORIGINS (exhibition), Foundling
Museum, London. GBP10.50 admission; GBP8.25 concessions. See
foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/superheroes-orphans-origins/.

ONLINE. 9-10 Apr [] CONPULSION (games); physical event postponed to April
2023. See conpulsion.org for the smaller 2022 presence online.

15-18 Apr [] RECLAMATION (Eastercon), Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre,
Heathrow. GBP70 reg; GBP40 concessions; accompanied under-18s GBP25;
under-5s free; GBP35 supporting. See reclamation2022.co.uk. _Everyone
attending in person must be fully vaccinated unless medically exempt or in
a group that cannot be vaccinated._ (31 January announcement) Rail travel
problems are expected, with five of the seven mainline UK operators
planning vast repairs and upgrades during the Easter bank holiday.

ONLINE. 27 Apr-6 Jun [] WRITING SCIENCE FICTION (teaching course) with Adam
Roberts. GBP210 reg. Details at
www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/course/writing-science-fiction/.

26-29 May [] CHILLERCON UK (horror), Grand and Royal Hotels, Scarborough.
GBP130 reg; HWA members GBP120. _March memberships and hotel bookings
carried over unless otherwise requested:_ see chillercon-uk.com.

1-5 Sep [] CHICON 8 (80th Worldcon), Chicago, IL, USA. $210 reg; first
Worldcon $110; under-25s $90; under-18s $70; under 14s $50; accompanied
under-10s free; $50 supporting. _Rates valid to 30 April. Hugo nominations
close on 15 March._ See chicon.org.

HYBRID. 1-4 Sep [] OXONMOOT (Tolkien Society), St Anne's, Oxford. GBP100
reg; GBP50 online; members GBP10 less; a further GBP10 'early bird
discount' to 31 May. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-2022.

6-9 Oct [] GRIMMFEST (film), Odeon Great Northern, Manchester. _'Early
bird' tickets gone; now GBP110 plus booking fee._ See grimmfest.com.

20-23 Oct [] CELLULOID SCREAMS (horror film festival), Showroom Cinema,
Sheffield. Ticket prices awaited at celluloidscreams.co.uk.

11-13 Nov [] NOVACON 51, Palace Hotel, Buxton -- _venue now confirmed_.
GBP51 reg; under-17s GBP12; under-13s free. See novacon.uk.

12-13 Nov [] COMIC CON, Harrogate Convention Centre. Part of the 7-13
November Thought Bubble comics festival. GBP30 weekend; GBP19/day;
under-12s, over-65s and carers free. See thoughtbubblefestival.com.

RUMBLINGS. _London Paperback and Pulp Fair:_ there will be a 2022 event,
'but don't ask me where or when yet!' (Facebook, 7 February) [] _London
First Thursday_, Bishop's Finger pub, 3 March: an exciting clash between
the planned physical gathering and a confirmed Tube strike.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

SCIENCE MASTERCLASS. From a profile of the rapper RZA: 'He reaches for an
analogy from particle physics to sum up the current condition of rap. The
positive mass of the proton, he explains, is much bigger than the negative
mass of the electron. Similarly, hip-hop's positivity exceeds the present
turn to what he construes as negativity.' (Profile by Ludovic
Hunter-Tilney, _Financial Times_, 19 February) [MMW]

AWARDS. _Crawford_ (fantasy debut): _Midnight Doorways: Fables from
Pakistan_ by Usman T. Malik. [F770]
_Gaughan_ (emergent artist): not awarded this year.
_Skylark_ (NESFA): Mary Robinette Kowal.

SOUNDS FAMILIAR. 'Herpes genitalis and the philosopher's stance', a learned
paper by Dr Kilian Dunphy (BMJ _Journal of Medical Ethics_, 2014).

BSFA AWARDS finalists: NOVEL _A Desolation Called Peace_ by Arkady Martine;
_Blackthorn Winter_ by Liz Williams; _Purgatory Mount_ by Adam Roberts;
_Shards of Earth_ by Adrian Tchaikovsky; _Skyward Inn_ by Aliya Whiteley;
_Green Man's Challenge_ by Juliet E. McKenna.
FOR YOUNGER READERS _The Raven Heir_ by Stephanie Burgis; _A Snake
Falls to Earth_ by Darcie Little Badger; _Iron Widow_ by Xiran Jay Zhao;
_Redemptor_ by Jordan Ifueko; _The Empty Orchestra_ by Elizabeth Priest;
_Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep_ by Philip Reeve.
SHORTER FICTION 'Fireheart Tiger' by Aliette de Bodard (Tor.com);
'Light Chaser' by Peter F. Hamilton & Gareth L. Powell (Tor.com) 'O2 Arena'
by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, (_Galaxy Edge_); 'Things Can Only Get
Better' by Fiona Moore (_Abyss & Apex_)
NON-FICTION _Cyberpunk Culture and Psychology: Seeing Through the
Mirrorshades_ by Anna McFarlane, Routledge; _Diverse Futures: Science
Fiction and Authors of Color_ by Joy Sanchez-Taylor; _The Anthropocene
Unconscious: Climate Catastrophe Culture_ by Mark Bould; _Worlds Apart:
Worldbuilding in Fantasy and Science Fiction_ ed. Francesca T. Barbini;
_Octothorpe Podcast_ by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty; _Science
Fiction and the Pathways out of the COVID Crisis_ by Val Nolan.
ARTWORK Cover of Eugen Bacon's _Danged Black Thing_ by Peter Lo / Kara
Walker; Cover of Eugen Bacon's _Saving Shadows_ by Elena Betti; Cover of
Suyi Davies Okungbowa's _Son of the Storm_ by Dan dos Santos / Lauren
Panepinto; Cover of Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki's (as editor) _The Year's
Best African Speculative Fiction_ by Maria Spada; _Glasgow Green Woman_ by
Iain Clark for Glasgow2024.

AS OTHERS REMEMBER US. About the James Joyce papers recently donated to
Reading University: 'Other documents in the collection include several
letters to Joyce from Beckett and other writers including _Brave New World_
author HG Wells ...' (theJournal.ie, 2 February) [VS]

R.I.P. _Brian Augustyn_, US comics editor with DC 1987-1996 (working on
_Flash_, _Justice League_, _Wonder Woman_ and others), and writer of
_Batman: Gotham by Gaslight_ (2013), died on the 29/30 January weekend aged
67. [PDF]
_Anne D. Bernstein_ (1961-2022), US animation writer whose credits
include _Monster High: New Ghoul at School_ (2010), died on 8 February aged
60. [PDF]
_Stewart Bevan_ (1948-2022), UK actor in _Doctor Who_: 'The Green
Death' (1973), died on 21 February aged 73. [SS]
_Robert Blalack_ (1948-2022), Oscar- and Emmy-winning US visual
effects artist with genre credits from _Star Wars_ (1977) via _Altered
States_ (1980), _Wolfen_ (1981) and _Cat People_ (1982) to _Robocop_ (1987)
and _Freejack_ (1992), died on 2 February aged 73. [AIP]
_David S. Brenner_, Oscar-winning film editor with many genre credits
including _Independence Day_ (1996), _2012_ (2009), _Pirates of the
Caribbean: On Stranger Tides_ (2011), _Justice League_ (2017) and the
coming _Avatar 2_, died on 17 February aged 59. [SJ]
_Ashley Bryan_ (1923-2022), US children's author and illustrator whose
books include such folk retellings as _The Ox of the Wonderful Horns and
Other African Folktales_ (1971), died on 4 February aged 98. [PDF]
_Rustica Carpio_ (1930-2022), Filipina actress whose genre credits
include _100 Days to Heaven_ (2011), _Ang panday 2_ (2011), and _Aryana_
(2012-2013), died on 2 February aged 91. [PDF]
_Chor Yuen_ (1934-2022), Hong Kong film director, writer and actor
whose credits include _Haunted Tales_ (1980), _The Enchantress_ (1983) and
_The Seventh Curse_ (1986), died on 21 February aged 87. [PDF]
_Veronica Carlson_ (1944-2022), UK actress best known for such Hammer
films as _Dracula Has Risen from the Grave_ (1968) and _Frankenstein Must
Be Destroyed_ (1969), died on 27 February aged 77. Later credits include
_The Ghoul_ (1975) and _House of the Gorgon_ (2019). [SJ]
_George Crumb_ (1929-2022), US composer with music credits for _The
Exorcist_ (1973) and _For the End of Time_ (2009), died on 6 February aged
92. [LP]
_Tom Dupree_ (1949-2022), US fan in various APAs, short-story author,
and editor at Bantam Spectra 1992-1997 whose remit included sf, _Star Wars_
novels and (as co-editor) _Full Spectrum 5_, died on 7 February aged 72.
[F770] Later he was Executive Editor at HarperCollins.
_Lani Forbes_ (1987-2022), US author of a YA fantasy trilogy opening
with _The Seventh Sun_ (2020), died on 3 February aged 35. [AIP]
_Uschi Gatward_ (1972-2021), UK author of the collection _English
Magic_ (2021), died on 30 December aged 49. [AIP]
_Donald Gee_ (1937-2022), UK actor in _Doctor Who_ ('The Space
Pirates' 1969; 'The Monster of Peladon' 1974) and 1990 (1977), died on 14
January aged 84. [SS]
_Angelica Gorodischer_ (1928-2022), Argentine author of fiction in
many genres including sf and fantasy -- her _Kalpa Imperial_ (1983-1984)
was translated by Ursula K. Le Guin -- died on 5 February aged 93.
_Jon M. Harvey_, UK small-press publisher whose magazine was _Balthus_
(1971-1972) and whose weird fiction anthologies for Spectre Press began
with _Cthulhu: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos_ (1976), died on 22 February.
[JE]
_Joseph Horovitz_ (1926-2022), Austrian-born composer who scored the
1961 _Horrortorio_ homage to Hammer films -- with further music credits
including _Tarzan's Three Challenges_ (1963), _The Little Mermaid_ (1974)
and _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ (1976) -- died on 9 February aged 95.
[AIP]
_Harold R. Johnson_ (1954-2022), Canadian Cree author whose novels
include the speculative _Corvus_ (2015) and _The Bjorkan Sagas_ (2021),
died on 9 February aged 68. [L]
_Anna Karen_ (1936-2022), South African-born actress with a rare genre
credit for _Stainless Steel and the Star Spies_ (1981), died in a house
fire on 22 February; she was 85.
_Mel Keefer_ (1926-2022), highly prolific US comics, newspaper strip
and animation artist whose sf work included Filmation cartoons from
_Batman/Superman Hour_ (1968) to _He-Man_ (1985) -- also 1960s _Marvel
Super-Heroes_ shows -- died on 11 February aged 95. [PDF]
_Sally Kellerman_ (1937-2022), US actress in _Brewster McCloud_
(1970), _Lost Horizon_ (1973), _The Mouse and His Child_ (1977) and various
genre tv series, died on 24 February aged 84. [MMW]
_Ian Kennedy_ (1932-2022), legendary UK comics artist active since the
1940s with D.C. Thomson (especially the war comic _Commando_) and also as a
freelance from 1954, in later life drawing sf strips including _Dan Dare_
for the 1980s _Eagle_ relaunch and _Judge Dredd_ for _2000 AD_, died on 7
February aged 89. [PDF]
_Henry Lincoln_ (1930-2022), UK actor and writer best known for
scripting 1960s _Doctor Who_ series -- 'The Abominable Snowmen' (1967),
'The Web of Fear' (1968) and 'The Dominators' (1968 as Norman Ashby) --
died on 24 February aged 92. [SS]
Late report: _Brian Lombard_ (1940-2021), South African fan active
from the 1970s -- he founded the short-lived APA Africapa _circa_ 1973 --
died on 16 August 2021; he was 81. [NS]
_Melvin Maron_ (1931-2022), US film distributor who brought
martial-arts and monster B-movies to US audiences -- _Monster Zero_ (1965),
_Night of the Big Heat_ (1967), _Godzilla's Revenge_ (1969), _Godzilla vs.
Megalon_ (1973) and more -- died on 13 January aged 90. [SS]
_Melissa Mead_ (1967-2022), US author of much short fantasy since 1999
and the novel _Between Worlds_ (2005), died on 15 February aged 54. [GVG]
_Faren Miller_ (1950-2022), US author on the staff of _Locus_
1981-2000 (and regular reviewer there to 2012), whose novel is _The
Illusionists_ (1991), died on 15 February aged 71. [L]
_Moses J. Moseley_ (1990-2022), US actor in _The Walking Dead_
(2012-2015) and _Attack of the Southern Fried Zombies_ (2017), died in
January aged 31. [PDF]
_Jan Pienkowski_ (1936-2022), Polish-born illustrator of children's
books -- including several fantasies by Joan Aiken -- and creator of the
pop-up _Haunted House_ (1979, a Kate Greenaway Medal winner), died on 19
February aged 85. [PDF]
_Ivan Reitman_ (1946-2022), Slovakia-born US producer/director whose
credits include the Cronenberg _Shivers_ (1975) and _Rabid_ (1977), _Heavy
Metal_ (1981), _Ghostbusters_ (1984, plus sequel), _Mummies Alive!_ (1997)
and others, died on 12 February aged 75. [LP]
_Andy Remic_ (1971-2022), UK author whose sf debut was the SPIRAL
trilogy opening with _Spiral_ (2003), and who went on to publish galactic
space opera, fantasy, military sf and more, died on 26 February; he was 50.
[JE]
_Alfred Sole_ (1943-2022), US production designer for _Halloweentown_
(1998, plus sequel), _Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies_ (1999) and _Moonlight_
(2007-2008), died on 14 February aged 78. [AIP]
_Kira Soshinskaya_ (1933-2022), Russian artist and translator, wife of
popular sf author Kir Bulychov, died on February 17. She illustrated more
than 50 books including many genre titles, and translated novels by John
Christopher, Amanda Hemingway, Garth Nix, Christopher Stasheff and Leonard
Wibberley. [AM]
_Russell Starke_, Australian tv horror host for _Friday Suspense
Theatre_ (1975) and _Friday Night Thriller_ (1978), died in February aged
82. [SS]
_Richard Dean Starr_ (1968-2022), US author of stories about such
franchise characters as The Green Hornet, Kolchak the Night Stalker, The
Phantom and Zorro (he edited the authorized _Tales of Zorro_, 2008), died
on 4 February aged 53. [JG]
_Richard L. Tierney_ (1936-2022), US Lovecraft scholar who wrote
Cthulhoid, Gnostic and heroic fantasy (including novels about Robert E.
Howard's Bran Mak Morn and Red Sonja), died on 1 February aged 85. [LB]
_Douglas Trumbull_ (1942-2022), US filmmaker and visual effects
pioneer whose effects credits include _2001_ (1968), _The Andromeda Strain_
(1971), _Silent Running_ (1972, which he also directed), _Close Encounters_
(1977), _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ (1979) and_ Blade Runner_ (1982),
died on 7 February aged 79. [PH]
_Tom Veitch_ (1941-2022), US comics writer who with Cam Kennedy
created all-new _Star Wars_ comics for George Lucas in the 1990s and also
worked on DC's _Animal Man_, died on 18 February aged 80. [PDF]
_Beryl Vertue_ (1931-2022), UK producer whose credits include _Tommy_
(1975) and _Jekyll_ (2007), died on 12 February aged 90. [AIP]
_Monica Vitti_ (1931-2022), Italian actress in _The Flying Saucer_
(1964) and _Modesty Blaise_ (1966), died on 2 February aged 90. [AIP]

WHAT OTHERS LEARN FROM SF. Context: a scholarship essay on how to set up a
Mars colony with Earth's last 100 survivors. 'Some students had a sci-fi
bent, mandating things like a male-female ratio of one to ninety-nine in
order to ensure genetic diversity.' (_Heather Won Tesoriero, The Class: A
Life-Changing Teacher_ ... [long subtitle cut], 2016) [PL]

RANDOM FANDOM. _FAAN Awards:_ the voting deadline has now been extended
from 25 February to 11 March. Results will be announced via a Zoom
gathering on 20 March, whose sign-up details should soon be revealed at
efanzines.com/TIR/ and/or corflu.org.

THE DEAD PAST. _80 Years Ago_, the already threatened (see _A415_) UK
magazine _Tales of Wonder_ died the death of a thousand paper cuts owing to
wartime 'Paper Control' restrictions. (_Futurian War Digest_ 18, March
1942)
_50 Years Ago_ there was news from Bree: 'The _[Tolkien]_ Society has
about 90 members out of 200 known Tolkien fans in Britain. / The Secretary,
Belladonna, mentioned in her report the 80th birthday present she sent on
behalf of the Society to Prof. Tolkien: a jar of tobacco, which was
apparently very well received.' (_Checkpoint_ 16, March 1972)

FANFUNDERY. Another free TAFF ebook: _The Harrison Saga_ contains the spoof
world-saving adventures of Sir William Makepeace Harrison, hero of the
British Empire, recorded from 1957 to 1975 by 'Harry Hurstmonceaux O.B.E.
and Cyril Faversham M.M.' in _Beloved Is Our Destiny_ ('... a lovely bit of
satire.' -- Michael Moorcock) and further ripping yarns now at last
compiled by Rob Hansen. See taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=WMH.

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Along the Scenic Route._ '... the unearthly beauty of
their progress went deep into their souls, searing them with the prick of
loveliness and evil fused into a blade of diabolical power.' (Russell Rey
[Denis Hughes], _Valley of Terror_, 1953) [BA]
_Earth-Wrecking Comet Impact Has Silver Lining._ 'The only good thing
about Hammerfall, women's lib was dead milliseconds after Hammerstrike....'
(Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, _Lucifer's Hammer_, 1977)
_Grim Grin Dept._ 'Jonas Sown's thin smile overspread his
intelligent-looking features like a bloodless wound.' (_Doc Savage: The
Frightened Fish_ by Kenneth Robeson [Will Murray], 1992) [BA]
_Dept of Crawling Things._ 'Art Bishop's thick, white eyebrows edged
across a furrowed brow.' (Jeff Russell, _Continuity_, 2020) [RC] 'Sun's
eyes flickered to betray him. They winked sideways, crawling over her white
flesh, measuring, tasting, gauging clefts and indentations.' (Frederik Pohl
and Thomas T. Thomas, _Mars Plus_, 1994) [AR]
_Future Fashion Dept, or Mary Quant Goes to Mars:_ 'Demeter wore a
tube dress of sheer nylon the color of a raspberry Popsicle. It hung from
her nipples to a mere four centimeters below her crotch.' (_Ibid_) [AR]


### GEEKS' CORNER ###

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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

CRY HAVOC. A number of Russian sf authors and fans have signed a
declaration of support for Putin's invasion of Ukraine, whose citizens are
described as 'Bandits, armed with Nazi ideology'. The list of signatories
is headed by Sergey Lukianenko, a 2023 Chengdu Worldcon guest of honour,
which may influence some fans' decisions about whether to attend that
event. A response from Ukraine: 'Ukrainian writers and fans appeal to you
to ban these people who support the genocide of the Ukrainian people:
please, don't issue visas to them, don't publish them, don't invite them to
cultural events. Keep your culture clear from this dirt.' [SF2C]

ANOTHER LATE REPORT. _George Oleshevsky_ (1946-2021), US comics expert who
was chief compiler of the _Marvel Comics Index_ series, died on 12
December. [SS]

EDITORIAL. Further TAFF Little Free Library ebooks are already in
preparation. Next in line is _The Incompleat Burbee Volume 2_, expanding
Terry Carr's second selection of fanwriting by Charles Burbee (eventually
published by Jeff Schalles in 1996) with further notable and funny pieces.
In my copious free time I am also assembling the collected genre essays and
reviews of _SF Encylopedia_ founder Peter Nicholls, using his title for a
planned (in the 1970s) but never completed history of sf: _Infinity,
Eternity, and the Pulp Magazines_.

VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
17 March 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
20 March 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.

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
Bram Stoker Awards finalists
https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/front-page/4491/
Chesley Award winners 2021
https://asfa-art.com/news/2021-chesley-award-winners/
Locus Recommended Reading List for 2021
https://locusmag.com/2022/02/2021-recommended-reading-list/

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 176, March 2002. _Dept of Temporal
Science._ 'The remains gave off a strong earth smell. It suggested great
age, century piled upon century in which this jumble of now articulated
bones had lain forgotten in the volcanic silt of John Day Canyon. They had
been ancient already when Christ reportedly spun fishes and loaves from
thin air. Older still when Moses allegedly parted the Red Sea.' (Kirk
Mitchell, _Ancient Ones_, 2001)
_Dept of Splendid Simile._ ''He sounded like a dead child discovering
that eternity is some buzzing, languorous dream of Bath.' (M. John
Harrison, 'Running Down', 1975)
_Dept of Strange Endowments._ 'Her slender chest rose and fell gently
and slowly with her sleeping inhalations, her small breasts and rather
larger nipples outdenting the flimsy fabric of her ragged tunic ...' (Fritz
Leiber, _The Knight and Knave of Swords_, 1988)


_Ansible_(R) 416 (C) David Langford, 2022. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Leigh
Blackmore, Ramsey Campbell, Paul Di Filippo, John Eggeling, _File 770_, Joe
Gentile, Paul Heskett, _Locus_, Pamela Love, Andrey Meshavkin, Lawrence
Person, Andrew I. Porter, Adam Roberts, _SF2 Concatenation_, Nick Shears,
Steven Smith, Vernon Speed, Gordon van Gelder, Martin Morse Wooster, and as
always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group),
SCIS/Prophecy, and Alan Stewart (Australia).

1 March 2022
--
David Langford | http://ansible.uk/ | http://news.ansible.uk/

Gary McGath

unread,
Mar 1, 2022, 1:26:57 PM3/1/22
to
On 3/1/22 12:32 PM, David Langford wrote:
> MICHAEL SWANWICK resigned his position as Honorary President of the
> Moscow-based International Union of Writers, in protest against the Russian
> invasion of Ukraine. (Flogging Babel blog, 23 February)

Good! Now if only he'd revoke his endorsement of China as a "beautiful
country" to hold a Worldcon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REvnWZHPP6c

--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
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