Issue 6, 13th May 1996: Give it a Rest
[Computing, Law, Music, Science and Technology, SciFi, Sport, The Unexplained, UP, icons]
There's lots of news this month. According to the attendees, Easter Con's Evolutions might have been better named Convolutions due to to the unique and rather peculiar construction of the hotel at which it was held. Still, the conference went better than some had expected. Everyone seemed intent on having a good time. Jack Cohen gave the "same old talk under a different name". Again, your editor is quoting second hand source since she was unable to attend, thanks to an end-of-April deadline on her next book. Plans are already underway for next year's Easter Con, which will be SF on and Communications.
Colin Greenland, author of the "Plenty more where this came from" series, has left Ortygia House and moved to Cambridge. For the uninitiated Ortygia has housed such SF notables as Lisa Tuttle, John Brosnan, Chris Priest, Christopher Evans and yours truly. It was featured in Interzone 88/SF Nexus, in October 1994. At least twenty-seven books have been written within these hallowed halls. As one of Ortygia occupants with the longest tenure, Greenland's departure hearlds something of the ends of an era. The move results from a little publicised marriage. Good luck to you, Colin, from the residents of Ortygia house.
Also new is the advent of an SF line by Virgin. The imprint name, Virgin Lands, can best be summarised by what they don't want, rather than what they do: "no epic fantasy diguised as sf", (hurrah!) no cyber-punk or cut-and-slash horror. For those starry- eyed hopefuls or wannabe writers out there, don't innundate the editors with typescripts; authors will be selected more or less by "appointment only." Not good for potential new talent but great news for the SF fans and the reader in general.
BBC has new SF documentary series on the drawing boards. It promises to be interesting, although I may be biased. I know one of the producers who just came back this from filming in Sri Lanka, where he interviewed Arthur C. Clarke. Next two weeks it is off to the United States for more of the same, with several notables who will for now remain unnamed. After all, I have to have something to write about next month.
Mar. 15-17. LUNACON '96. Rye Town Hilton, Rye Brook NY, U.S.A. GoH: Terry Pratchett, Esther Friesner. Visual Humour GoH: Phil Foglio. Fan GoH: Bruce Pelz. Origami GoH: Mark Kennedy. Registration: $33 to 15 February'96, higher at the door. Contact: Lunacon 96, Box 3566, New York NY 10008, U.S.A. Email: Lunacon@lunacon.org.
Mar. 17-19. LONDON INTERNATIONAL BOOKFAIR. Grand Hall, Olympia Exhibition Centre, London, U.K. Trade fair for booksellers and publishers; not open to the public. Contact: London International Bookfair, Oriel House, 26 The Quadrant, Richmond Surrey TW9 1DL, U.K.
Mar. 22-24. 8th SF DAYS NRW. Duesseldorf, Germany. Theme: Religion. Contact: Heinrich Sporck, Am Sonnenberg 38, D-44879 Bochum 5, FRG. Tel: 49-234-461390
May 24-27. WISCON 20, Feminist Science Fiction Convention. Concourse Hotel, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
April 5-8. EVOLUTION, British National SF Convention. Heathrow (London), UK. GoH: Vernor Vinge, Colin Greenland, Jack Cohen, Brian Talbot, Paul Kincaid, Maureen Kincaid Speller. Registration: £ 20. Contact: Evolution, 13 Linfield Gardens, Hampstead, London, NW3 6PX, UK. Email: bmh@ee.ic.ac.uk.
April 12-14. I-CON XV. Long Island, NY,
USA.GoH: George Alec Effinger, Doug Beekman, Tom Smith.
Adult, at the door: US$28.
Email: Blaine S Atkins.
June 20-23. Dragon*Con 1996.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
July 26-28. SAARCON, SFCD annual convention. Germany. Themes: Eastern European SF, history of German fandom. Contact: Thomas Recktenwald, Huettenwerkstr. 40, D-66763 Dillingen, FRG. Tel: 06831-704555)
Queen's Birthday Weekend. CONSTELLATION. The Christchurch City Travelodge, New Zealand. Contact: Constellation, P.O. Box 29-119, Fendalton, Christchurch NZ.
June 26-29. Dragon*Con 1997.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Explore the SF scene in Europe with the European Science Fiction Society.
Cross the Channel for the French online fanzine Quarante-Deux.
Check out the new SF news and reviews magazine SFX.
Read the on line SF mag, QUANTA.
Browse your way through European SF Bookstores.
Go square-eyed watching the Sci-Fi Channel Europe.
Try the new online SF-zine Science Fiction Weekly for a mixture of book reviews, movie, games and media news updated weekly.
Find all those theme tunes you keep humming to yourself.
Back Issues: 1996 March 4(Genre or Generalities), Febuary 3 1995 December 2 (Crush, Ben Jeapes), November 1 (Bad Timing, Molly Brown).
SPECIAL SECTION: LINKS FOR TREKKIES
Visit London Science Museum's Star Trek Exhibition.
Visit the Star Trek Voyager homepage.
Klingon: the language of the future. Visit the home page of the Klingon Language Institute.
Let Quark the Ferengi guide you through his Star Trek Universe.