ANSIBLE(R) 432
JULY 2023

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 instructive tales of the Arthurian and Ad-Atomic Ages.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a432.html for the nice HTML version;
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### THE BLACK KNIGHT HATH MY HEART ###

MARTIN AMIS was posthumously knighted for services to literature (backdated
to 18 May) in the King's Birthday honours. Also knighted was Ben Okri,
while Ian McEwan was exalted as a Companion of Honour.

CHADWICK BOSEMAN of _Black Panther_ renown is to receive a posthumous
Hollyword Walk of Fame star in 2024. [F770]

JOHN-HENRI HOLMBERG was honoured for life achievement by the European SF
Society as a European Grandmaster. (ESFS, June)

DEMETRIOUS POLYCHRON's mindboggling effrontery in suing Amazon and the
Tolkien estate for 'plagiarizing' his unauthorized Tolkien fan fiction (see
_A430_) -- for which permission was explicitly refused -- has been rewarded
with a Tolkien Trust lawsuit against DP for having chosen to 'write,
publish, market and sell a blatantly infringing derivative sequel to the
Tolkien Trilogy entitled _The Fellowship of the King_ (the "Infringing
Work"). In addition to clearly mimicking the title of the first book in the
Tolkien Trilogy, the Infringing Work constitutes a blatant, wide-ranging
and comprehensive misappropriation of Professor Tolkien's creative opus.'
(_The Radar_, 2 June) The weed of crime bears bitter fruit.

ADAM ROBERTS confided: 'My favourite bit of _Lanark_ was when Alasdair Gray
fell into the chasm and we all thought he was dead but then he came back &
was all "I am Alasdair the White and I come back to you at the turning of
the tide" in a Glasgow accent.' (Twitter, 28 June)

MANON STEFFAN ROS received the 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal (fiction category)
for her YA sf novel _The Blue Book of Nebo_, whose Welsh version _Llyfr
Glas Nebo_ won the 2016 National Eisteddfod's top fiction award (see
_A374_). The Medal had never before been awarded to a translated work; Ros
herself made the translation. (_Guardian_, 21 June) [GM]

JEFF VANDERMEER offers a new service to fellow inmates of Florida: 'For a
reasonable fee I will, as a native plants expert, come to your yard and
instal the bushes and understory trees that serve as effective deterrents
to orcas. [...] I guarantee you will see no orcas in your backyard after
you pay me to plant these bushes.' (Twitter, 20 June)

### CONURUS ###

2 Jul [] TOLKIEN SOCIETY SEMINAR, Leeds Hilton and online. Free. See
www.tolkiensociety.org/events/seminar-2023/.

8 Jul [] EDGE-LIT 9, QUAD Centre, Market Place, Derby. GBP35 reg. See
www.derbyquad.co.uk/EdgeLit9.

9 Jul [] AINTREE COMICON (multimedia), Aintree Racecourse. 9am-4pm. Tickets
GBP9 (GBP11 early entry) from www.ljeventsentertainment.com.

14-16 Jul [] FANTASY FOREST (cosplay), Sudely Castle, Cheltenham. GBP44.95
reg plus booking fee; other rates at fantasyforest.co.uk.

28-31 Jul [] CONTINUUM (RPG), John Foster Hall, Manor Road, Leicester
University, Oadby. See continuumconvention.co.uk.

30 Jul [] PAPERBACK & PULP BOOK FAIR, Holiday Inn Bloomsbury, Coram St,
London WC1N 1HT. 9:30am-3pm. GBP3 admission. Combined with the Bloomsbury
Ephemera Fair: see etcfairs.com/ephemera-fairs/.

5 Aug [] SMALL PRESS DAY, all UK. See smallpressday.co.uk.

5-6 Aug [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See
bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.

24-28 Aug [] FRIGHTFEST (film), Cineworld, Leicester Square, London.
Tickets on sale from 15 July at frightfest.co.uk/tickets.html.

27 Oct - 25 Feb 2014 [] FANTASY: REALMS OF IMAGINATION (exhibition),
British Library, London. Details and dedicated web page to follow.

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

11-12 May 2024 [] PORTSMOUTH COMIC CON, Guildhall, Portsmouth. Early bird
tickets GBP33; more at portsmouthcomiccon.com.

18-19 May 2024 [] HORRORCON UK, Magna Science Adventure Centre, Sheffield.
Ticket sales to follow at horrorconuk.com.

8-9 Jun 2024 [] EM-CON (media), Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham. Ticket sales
to follow at www.em-con.co.uk.

18-21 Apr 2025 [] RECONNECT, Hilton Lanyon Place Hotel and ICC, Belfast.
GBP60 reg, _rising to GBP70 on 2 July_; GBP45 under-18s and concessions;
GBP25 supporting membership only. See easterconbelfast.org.

26-29 Jun 2025 [] ARCHIPELACON 2 (Eurocon), Mariehamn, Aland, Finland. GoH
Jeff & Ann VanderMeer, Mats Strandberg, Emmi Itaranta. Euro40 reg;
under-26s Euro20; under-12s Euro5. See archipelacon.org.

RUMBLINGS. _Middle-earth Festival:_ the event traditionally held at
Sarehole Mill, Birmingham, will return in September at a new venue yet to
be announced.
_Worldcon 2025._ The bid for Seattle, Washington, USA (13-17 August
2025) is the sole contender: see www.seattlein2025.org.

### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

THE BORIS FROM ANOTHER WORLD. 'Like a monster released from enclosure in an
iceberg as it is thawed by a warm weather front, Johnson arrived in
Westminster to wreak havoc ...' (_Guardian_, 19 June) [JH]

BLURBISMO. Michael Cunningham on _The Glow_ (2023) by Jessie Gaynor: 'Jane
Austen on steroids.' (Amazon.com) [GF]

AWARDS. _Arthur C. Clarke Award_ shortlist: _Venomous Lumpsucker_ by Ned
Beauman; _The Red Scholar's Wake_ by Aliette de Bodard; _Plutoshine_ by
Lucy Kissick; _The Anomaly_ by Herve Le Tellier, translated by Adriana
Hunter; _The Coral Bones_ by E.J. Swift; _Metronome_ by Tom Watson.
_Kitschies:_ NOVEL _The Last Blade Priest_ by Will Wiles. DEBUT _Our
Wives Under the Sea_ by Julia Armfield. COVER ART Klara Smith for _Paper
Crusade_ by Michelle Penn. SPECIAL Bisha K. Ali for her work as head writer
for _Ms. Marvel_.
_Lambda_ (LBGTQ) winners of genre interest: SPECULATIVE _The Wicked
and the Willing_ by Lianyu Tan. BISEXUAL _Reluctant Immortals_ by Gwendolyn
Kiste. STUDIES _Keeping It Unreal: Black Queer Fantasy and Superhero
Comics_ by Darieck Scott. [F770]
_Locus:_ SF NOVEL _The Kaiju Preservation Society_ by John Scalzi.
FANTASY _Babel_ by R.F. Kuang. HORROR _What Moves the Dead_ by T.
Kingfisher. YA _Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak_ by Charlie Jane Anders.
DEBUT _The Mountain in the Sea_ by Ray Nayler. NOVELLA _A Prayer for the
Crown-Shy_ by Becky Chambers. NOVELETTE 'If You Find Yourself Speaking to
God, Address God with the Informal You' by John Chu (_Uncanny_ 7/22). SHORT
'Rabbit Test' by Samantha Mills (_Uncanny_ 11/22). ANTHOLOGY _Africa Risen:
A New Era of Speculative Fiction_ ed. Sheree Renee Thomas, Oghenechovwe
Donald Ekpeki, Zelda Knight. COLLECTION _Boys, Beasts & Men_ by Sam J.
Miller. MAGAZINE Tor.com. PUBLISHER Tor. EDITOR Ellen Datlow. ARTIST
Charles Vess. NON-FICTION _Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes_ by Rob
Wilkins. ILLUSTRATED _Chivalry_ by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Colleen
Doran. SPECIAL Carl Brandon Society.
_SF and Fantasy Hall of Fame_ (Seattle Museum of Pop Culture): 2023
additions are N.K. Jemisin, John Carpenter, the _Dune_ franchise and _The
Rocky Horror Picture Show_.
_Stoker_ (horror) novel winners: NOVEL _The Devil Takes You Home_ by
Gabino Iglesias. DEBUT _Beulah_ by Christi Nogle. YA _The Triangle_ by
Robert P. Ottone. CHILDREN'S _They Stole Our Hearts_ by Daniel Kraus. LONG
_The Wehrwolf_ by Alma Katsu. SHORT 'Fracture' by Mercedes M. Yardley
(_Mother: Tales of Love and Terror_). COLLECTION _Breakable Things_ by
Cassandra Khaw. ANTHOLOGY _Screams from the Dark_ ed. Ellen Datlow.
NONFICTION _Writing in the Dark_ by Tim Waggoner. SHORT NONFICTION 'I Don't
Read Horror (& Other Weird Tales)' by Lee Murray (_Interstellar Flight
Magazine_ 24/10/22). GRAPHIC NOVEL _Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th
Anniversary_ ed. James Aquilone. SCREENPLAY (tie) _Stranger Things_: 'The
Hellfire Club' and _The Duffer Brothers_. POETRY COLLECTION _Crime Scene_
by Cynthia Pelayo. [F770]

THE DISCWORLD EMPORIUM at 41 Wincanton High Street is up for sale with a
suggested price of GBP395,000. (Twitter, 12 June)

IN TYPO VERITAS. 'We are looking for an euthanistic and self motivated
individual'. (NHS England apprenticeship ad in Bristol) [PE]

R.I.P. _Michael A. Banks_ (Alan Gould, 1951-2023), US fan active in the
Cincinnati Fantasy Group and author whose work includes _Understanding
Science Fiction_ (1982) and the novel _The Odysseus Solution_ (1986) with
Dean R. Lambe, died on 19 June aged 72. [LZ]
_Peter Belli_ (1943-2023), Danish actor in _Truly Human_ (2001) and
_Koko-di Koko-da_ (2019), died on 8 June aged 79.
_Sheldon Bergstrom_ (1971-2023), Canadian actor in _The Incredible
Elephant_ (2001), _A.R.C.H.I.E._ (2016 plus sequel), _SuperGrid_ (2018) and
others, died on 18 June aged 51.
_Sergio Calderon_ (1945-2023), Mexican actor in _Men in Black_ (1997)
and _Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End_ (2007), died on 31 May aged
77. [AIP]
_Nicolas Coster_ (1933-2023), UK actor in _The Deep Ones_ (2020), _The
Last Exorcist_ (2020) and genre tv series, died on 26 June aged 89. [AIP]
_Patricia Dainton_ (1930-2023), UK actress in _Castle in the Air_
(1952) and _The House in Marsh Road_ (1960), died on 31 May aged 93. [SG]
_Frederic Forrest_ (1936-2023), US actor in _It Lives Again_ (1978)
and _Return_ (1985), died on 23 June agd 86. [SJ]
_Sue Freestone_, UK publisher formerly with Heinemann, Hutchinson and
Quercus, whose authors included Douglas Adams, Stephen Fry and Robert
Harris, died on 5 June aged 78. [AIP]
_Vladimir Golovanov_ (1939-2023), Russian screenwriter for the
children's fantasy film _Polyot v Stranu Chudovishch_ (_Flight to
Monsterland_, 1987) and children's animated sf series _Neznayka na Lune_
(_Dunno in the Moon_, 1997-1999), died on 5 June. [AM]
_Robert Gottlieb_ (1931-2023), US editor at Simon & Schuster, Knopf
and _The New Yorker_, whose authors included Ray Bradbury, Anthony Burgess,
Michael Crichton and Doris Lessing, died on 14 June aged 92. [GVG]
_Iain Johnstone_ (1943-2023), UK creator of tv documentaries including
_The Making of 'Superman: The Movie'_ (1980, with two follow-ups about
sequels) and _Waging the War of the Worlds: From H.G. Wells to Steven
Spielberg_ (2005), died on 4 May aged 80. [SF2C]
_Evan Jones_ (1927-2023), Jamaican poet/playwright with screenwriter
credits for _The Damned_ (1962), _Modesty Blaise_ (1966) and _Ghost in the
Noonday Sun_ (1974), died on 18 April aged 95. [AIP]
_Grant McCormick_ (1955-2023), Kentucky fan and former publisher of
_FOSFAX_, died on 19 June. [F770]
_Ian McGinty_ (1985-2023), US comics writer/artist whose credits
include the comic book of _Bravest Warriors_ (16 issues 2014-2015), died on
10 June aged 38.
_Brian Mooney_, UK author who was a charter member of the British
Fantasy Society and published many supernatural/horror stories in magazines
and anthologies -- also the Cthulhu Mythos chapbook _The Guardian at the
Gates_ (1977) -- died on 11 June aged 83. [SJ]
_Noreen Nash_ (1924-2023), US actress in _Aladdin and His Lamp_ (1942)
and _Phantom from Space_ (1953), died on 6 June aged 99. [LP]
_Barry Newman_ (1930-2023), US actor in _Deadline_ (1982) and _G-Men
from Hell_ (2000), died on 11 May aged 92. [LP]
_Michael Norell_ (1937-2023), US actor and screenwriter for _Doomsday
Rock_ aka _Cosmic Shock_ (1997), died on 12 May aged 85. [LP]
_Lew Palter_ (1928-2023), US actor in genre tv series including _The
Flying Nun_ (6 episodes 1967-1970) and two _Alien Nation_ tv films (1994,
1997), died on 21 May aged 94. LP
_Allison Phillips_ (_nee_ Williams, 1928-2023), long-time Philadelphia
fan and con-goer who like her father and husband was a president of the
Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, died on 2 June aged 94. [LZ]
_Joshua Quagmire_ (Richard Glen Lester II, 1952-2023), US underground
and mainstream comics creator best known for the furry-superheroine
pastiche _Cutey Bunny_ (since 1982), died _circa_ 28 May aged 71. [TW]
_George Riddle_ (1937-2023), US actor in _The Superagent_ (2009) and
_The Innkeepers_ (2011), died on 2 June aged 86. [LP]
_John Romita Sr._ (1930-2023), US comics artist who joined Marvel in
1965, drew _Daredevil_ and _The Amazing Spider-Man_ and co-created The
Punisher and Wolverine, died on 12 June aged 93. [LP]
_Julian Sands_ (1958-2023), UK actor in _Warlock_ (1989 plus sequel),
_Arachnophobia_ (1990), _Naked Lunch_ (1991), _Tale of a Vampire_ (1992),
_The Turn of the Screw_ (1992) and others, was found dead on 24 June,
having gone missing during a mid-January US mountain hike; he was 65.
_Hans Siden_ (1935-2023), Swedish fan and journalist active
1954-_circa_ 2009, whose one sf novel was the juvenile _Cyberspace Surfin'_
(1998 with Per-Erik Winberg), died on 24 June aged 87. [J-HH]
_Nicky Singer_ (1956-2023), UK author whose novels include such
young-adult sf as _The Innocent's Story_ (2005) and _GemX_ (2006), died on
17 June aged 66. [L]
_Dean Smith_ (1932-2023), US actor/stuntman in _Darby O'Gill and the
Little People_ (1959), _The Birds_ (1963), _Westworld_ (1973) and
_Christine_ (1983), died on 24 June aged 91. [LP]
_Angela Thorne_ (1939-2023), India-born UK actress in _Haunted: Poor
Girl_ (1974), _The Rocking Horse Winner_ (1977), _The BFG_ (1989, voicing
the Queen) and others, died on 16 June aged 84. [SJ]
_Rajnar Vajra_ (David Rajnar Vajra-Loeb, 1947-2023), US author who
began publishing sf in 1997 -- mostly for _Analog_, including the
components of his fixup novel _Doctor Alien_ (2022) -- died on 16 May aged
75. [SHS]
_Angel Wagenstein_ (1922-2023), Bulgarian author who scripted the East
German sf film _Eolomea_ (1972), died on 29 June aged 100. [AM]
_Paxton Whitehead_ (1937-2023), UK actor in _Child of Darkness, Child
of Light_ (1991), _12:01_ (1993), _My Boyfriend's Back_ (1993), _RocketMan_
(1997) and others, died on 16 June aged 85. [SJ]
_Treat Williams_ (1951-2023), US actor in _Dead Heat_ (1988), _The
Phantom_ (1996), _Deep Rising_ (1998), _Age of Dinosaurs_ (2013) and
others, died on 12 June aged 71. [LP]
_Nick Wood_ (1961-2023), Zambia-born South African author active since
1999, whose novel _Azanian Bridges_ (2016) was shortlisted for several
awards, died unexpectedly in June; he was 62. [GR]
_Edward 'Ed Zed' Zdrojewski_ (1954-2023), US fan whose fanzines were
_Benton Harbor Rat-Weasel_ and _Intergalactic Animal Husbandry_, died on 4
May aged 68. [LZ]