ANSIBLE(R) 439
FEBRUARY 2024

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,
bazils, erbs, deodands, gids, grues, hoons or leucomorphs.

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### THE BAGFUL OF DREAMS ###

STEVEN BRUST responded to the tweeted news that he is not dead: 'I don't
like to brag, but I have specialized in not being dead for years, and I
really feel like I've gotten good at it. I would say that I am one of the
most not-dead writers working today.' (Xitter, 25 January)

R.F. KUANG was widely expected to be a 2023 Hugo finalist with her
Nebula-winning novel _Babel_, and according to now-released voting
statistics it was the third most popular nominee. But the Chengdu Worldcon
Hugo administrators declared it ineligible 'After reviewing the [WSFS]
Constitution _and_ the rules we must follow' (my worried italics). There is
of course speculation about interference from the state or state-fearing
local committee members to prevent an expat winner from saying anything
inconvenient in Chinese at the Hugo ceremony. Also ruled ineligible were
the _Sandman_ tv series as dramatic presentation in both categories (Long
Form because one episode got more votes than the series as a whole; Short
Form for that episode with no reason given); former Hugo finalist Paul
Weimer as fan writer; and Xiran Jay Zhao for the Astounding award -- second
year of eligibility; there was no question about the first.
(www.thehugoawards.org, 20 January) Kuang, Zhao and Neil Gaiman of
_Sandman_ have all criticized or protested oppressive PRC/CCP actions.

R.L. STINE, author of the 'Goosebumps' children's horror series, has been
named as a 2024 Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

CHUCK TINGLE, who famously wears a pink bag over his head for all public
appearances as a way of dealing with his neurodivergence issues, was
invited to speak at the Texas Library Association conference in April. And
then uninvited: 'the reason given was that people could possibly be
uncomfortable with my mask'. TJ Klune, another invited speaker who was to
be on the same panel, dropped out in protest. (_File 770_, 9 January)
_Later:_ TLA issued a somewhat unsatisfactory apology -- no mention of the
cancellation or why it happened -- and a renewed invitation, but Tingle now
felt uncomfortable and declined. (TLA; Tumblr, 11 January)

JANE YOLEN enjoyed a little gloat about five of her books being reviewed on
one page of _Publishers Weekly_. (Facebook, 15 January)

### CONGEE ###

2-4 Feb [] CONTABILE 34 (UK filk), Palace Hotel, Buxton. Rates at the door
are GBP42 adult reg; GBP32 unwaged; under-18s GBP1 per year of age when
joining; under-5s free. See www.contabile.org.uk/tripletime.

2-4 Feb [] INTERNATIONAL BLACK SPECULATIVE WRITING FESTIVAL, Goldsmiths
University, London, and online. GBP50 reg, GBP25 concessions (plus fees);
online, day and other options at tinyurl.com/2wv9vw2a.

2-5 Feb [] SCOTIACON (furry), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow. 'Prehistoric
Panic' theme. GBP100 reg; GBP45/day. See www.scotiacon.org.uk.

16-18 Feb [] BOB FOWKE sf art exhibition at Bishop's Castle Arts Festival,
Shropshire. 10am-4pm. Free. See bishopscastleartsfestival.com.

16-18 Feb [] UK GHOST STORY FESTIVAL, Museum of Making, Derby. GBP105 plus
booking fee. Also online 12-15 February, GBP40 plus fee. See
www.ukghoststoryfestival.co.uk.

24 Feb [] IAIN M. BANKS CELEBRATION at Faversham Literary Festival, The
Alexander Centre. 3pm. Tickets GBP6. See tinyurl.com/2uyfcbk8.

24-25 Feb [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See
bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.

16 Mar [] GOLLANCZFEST 2024, Leonardo Royal London, St Paul's, London.
9:30am-6pm. GBP63; concessions GBP42. See
www.gollancz.co.uk/news/2023/10/06/gollanczfest-2024/.

23 Mar [] DARKNESS IN THE FIELDS (folk horror film festival), QUAD, Derby.
GBP30 reg. See www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/darknessinthefields/.

23 Mar [] PICOCON 41, Blackett Lecture Theatre, Imperial College, London.
'Watch this space' for details at picocon41.carrd.co.

24 Mar [] 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/.

29 Mar - 1 Apr [] LEVITATION (Eastercon), Telford International Centre._
Now GBP140 reg; GBP60 concessions; GBP35 supporting/virtual only; day GBP35
Friday or Monday, GBP50 Saturday or Sunday._ See eastercon2024.co.uk.

31 Aug [] EDGE-LIT 10, QUAD Centre, Market Place, Derby. GBP35 reg. See
www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/edgelit10/.

25-27 Oct [] FESTIVAL OF FANTASTIC FILMS, Pendulum Hotel, Manchester. GBP95
reg _until 21 February; then GBP110_. See fantastic-films.uk.

RUMBLINGS _Sci-Fi Ball_, February: no 2024 event according to Facebook
(December).
_Glasgow 2024_ Worldcon hotel bookings opened in January; likewise
Hugo nominations on the 27th, the latter temporarily closed online owing to
software problems found by nominators.
_Seattle Worldcon 2025:_ the expected January price rise has been
delayed for technical reasons. See seattlein2025.org.
_Eurocon 2026 Bid:_ the Berlin MetropolCon is bidding for a 2-5 July
event. See www.metropolcon.eu.

### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS WE SEE OTHERS SEEING US. '"... you've heard of a friend of mine named
Joe Henderson? Writes science fiction?" / "That escapist dianetics-spawning
rubbish?" the analyst exclaimed, as if each word were spelled with four
letters.' (Anthony Boucher, 'The Star Dummy', 1952)

AWARDS. _Emmys:_ _The Last of Us_ won in eight categories. [F770]
_Golden Globes:_ musical or comedy, _Poor Things_; cinema and box
office achievement, _Barbie_; animated, _The Boy and the Heron_.
_Oscar_ nominations: _Barbie_ 8, _Poor Things_ 11.
_Philip K. Dick_ shortlist: _Danged Black Thing_ by Eugen Bacon; _The
Museum of Human History_ by Rebekah Bergman; _Infinity Gate_ by M.R. Carey;
_Wild Spaces_ by S.L. Coney; _Where Rivers Go to Die_ by Dilman Dila;
_These Burning Stars_ by Bethany Jacobs.

ASTRONOMICAL UNITS. On that newly discovered cosmic structure: 'A GIANT
ring -- 15 times the size of the moon _[...]_ with a circumference of 4
billion light years'. (_Metro_, 12 January) [BA]

R.I.P. _Peter Berkos_ (1922-2024), US sound effects editor for _Battlestar
Galactica_ (1978), _Buck Rogers in the 25th Century_ (1979), _Voyagers!_
(1982-1983) and many more, died on 2 January aged 101. [SJ]
_Terry Bisson_ (1942-2024), noted US author whose first novels were
_Wyrldmaker_ (1981) and _Talking Man_ (1986), and who won Hugo, Nebula and
Sturgeon awards for his 1990 story 'Bears Discover Fire', died on 10
January aged 81. [CP]
_Adan Canto_ (1981-2024), Mexican actor in _X-Men: Days of Future
Past_ (2014), _Designated Survivor_ (2016-2019) and _The Devil Below_
(2021), died on 8 January aged 42. [LP]
_Fred Chappell_ (1936-2024), US author whose first novel was the
Cthulhoid _Dagon_ (1968) and who won two World Fantasy Awards for short
fiction, died on 5 January aged 87. [GVG]
_Darrah Chavey_, US academic, fan and sf scholar long involved with
WisCon and a contributor to ISFDb, died on 6 January. [PDF]
_Mickey Cottrell_ (1944-2024), US actor in _Hellraiser: Bloodline_
(1996), _Volcano_ (1997) and genre tv including later _Star Trek_ series,
died on 1 January aged 79. [O]
_Peter Crombie_, US actor in _The Blob_ (1988) and _House of
Frankenstein_ (1997, as the Creature), died on 10 January aged 71. [SJ]
_David Emge_ (1946-2024), US actor in _Dawn of the Dead_ (1978) and
_Hellmaster_ (1992), died on 20 January aged 77. [SJ]
_Tisa Farrow_ (1951-2024), US actress in _The Initiation of Sarah_
(1978), _Zombie Flesh Eaters_ (1979) and others, died on 10 January aged
72. [SJ]
_April Ferry_ (1932-2024), Emmy-winning US costume designer with many
genre credits from _Poltergeist II_ (1986) via _Flubber_ (1997), _Donnie
Darko_ (2001) and _Terminator 3_ (2001) to _Game of Thrones_ (2016), died
on 11 January aged 91. [SJ]
_Gary Graham_ (1950-2024), US actor in _Alien Nation_ (1989-1990 plus
spinoffs), _Robot Jox_ (1989) and _Star Trek: Enterprise_ (2001-2005), died
on 22 January aged 73. [LP]
_Georgina Hale_ (1943-2024), UK actress in _The Watcher in the Woods_
(1980), _Murder on the Moon_ (1989), several _T. Bag_ children's tv series
and films (title role, 1990-1992), _Beyond Bedlam_ (1994) and _Cockneys vs.
Zombies_ (2012), died on 4 January aged 80. [SJ]
_Lee Harris_ (1936-2023), South Africa-born UK publisher, writer,
musician and activist whose underground _Brainstorm Comix_ first published
Bryan Talbot and John Higgins, died on 14 December. [BT]
_Jack Hogan_ (1929-2023), US actor in _Now Is Tomorrow_ (1958) and
genre tv series, died on 6 December aged 94. [SG]
_Jennell Jaquays_ (1956-2024), US games designer and RPG/videogame
artist whose credits include _D&D_ modules and _Quake II/III_, died on 10
January aged 67. [SHS]
_Norman Jewison_ (1926-2024), Canadian-born US director of _Jesus
Christ Superstar_ (1973) and _Rollerball_ (1975), died on 20 January aged
97. [GVG]
_Glynis Johns_ (1923-2024), UK actress in _Miranda_ (1948), _No
Highway in the Sky_ (1951), _Mary Poppins_ (1964), _Scooby Doo and the
Ghoul School_ (1988) and others, died on 4 January aged 100. [LP]
_Harry Johnson_ (1942-2024), US actor with genre credits from
_Battlestar Galactica_ (1978 tv & film), _Captain America_ (1979) and _Time
Warp_ (1981) to _Vampires Anonymous_ (2003), died on 2 January aged 81.
[AIP]
_Laurie Johnson_ (1927-2024), who scored _Dr Strangelove_ (1964),
_First Men in the Moon_ (1964) and _Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter_ (1974),
died on 16 January aged 96. He wrote the theme tunes for _The Avengers_
(1965-1969) and _The New Avengers_ (1976-1977). [SJ]
_Tom Jones_, UK fan active since the 1960s, who edited the fanzines
_Proteus_ with Brian Stableford, _Waif_ and _BSFA Newsletter/Matrix_ both
before and after its 1976 title change, died on 23 December. He was BSFA
vice-chair (_de facto_ chair) 1977-1979. [KF]
_Mark Kharitonov_ (1937-2024), Russian novelist and winner of the
Russian Booker Prize whose novels include the children's fantasies _Uchitel
vraniya_ (_Teacher of Lying_, 2003) and _Prazdnik neozhidannostey_ (_Feast
of Surprises_, 2017), died on 8 January aged 86. [AM]
_Anthony Lawrence_ (1928-2024), US tv screenwriter who co-created and
wrote for _The Sixth Sense_ (1972) and _The Phoenix_ (1981-1982), died on
18 January aged 95. [SJ]
_Emanuel Lottem_ (1944-2024), Israeli editor, translator of much
canonical sf/f including _Lord of the Rings_ and _Dune_, founder of the
Israeli Society for SF and Fantasy, and editor with Sheldon Teitelbaum of
the anthologies _Zion's Fiction_ (2018) and _More Zion's Fiction_ (2021),
died on 7 January aged 80. [ST]
_Brian Lumley_ (1937-2024), prolific UK horror author whose many
series include the Lovecraftian 'Titus Crow' (from 1974) and the vampiric
'Necroscope' (from 1982), died on 2 January aged 86. His life achievement
honours include Stoker (2009) and World Fantasy (2010) awards.
(brianlumley.com)
_Martin McCallum_, UK producer of 500+ Broadway and West End shows
including _Cats_ (1981) and _Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark_ (2011), died on
14 January aged 73. [AIP]
_Brian McConnachie_ (1942-2024), US actor in _Strange Brew_ (1983) and
screenwriter for _Earthday Birthday_ (1990), _Shining Time Station_
(1989-1993 plus spinoffs) and _Noddy_ (1998-2000 plus spinoff film), died
on 5 January aged 81. [LP]
_Janusz Majewski_ (1931-2024), Polish director whose credits include
the horror films _Awatar_ (1964) and _Lokis_ (1970), died on 10 January
aged 92. [AM]
_Stan Mattson_ (1937-2024), US academic who founded the C.S. Lewis
Foundation in 1986, died on 9 January. [F770]
_Cindy Morgan_ (1954-2023), US actress in _Tron_ (1982) and _Amanda &
the Alien_ (1995) died on 30 December aged 69. [AIP]
_Jack O'Connell_ (1959-2024), US noir thriller author who contributed
to _F&SF_ and whose sf novel is _The Resurrectionist_ (2008), died on 1
January aged 64. [GVG]
_Christian Oliver_, German-born actor in _Hercules Reborn_ (2014),
_Sense8_ (2015) and _The Outer Wild_ (2018), died on 4 January aged 51.
[LP]
_Conrad E. Palmisano_ (1948-2024), US stuntman, stunt coordinator and
second unit director whose many genre films include _Oh, God!_ (1977), _The
Black Hole_ (1979), _RoboCop 2_ (1990), _Batman Forever_ (1995) and _Peter
Pan_ (2003), died on 10 January aged 75. [SJ]
_Roger Perkins_, UK fan active since the 1960s, who worked on
conventions including the 1987 and 1989 Eastercons and received the 1990
Doc Weir Award, died on the night of 15/16 January. [JB]
_Tom Purdom_ (1936-2024), US author active since 1957, whose debut
novel was _I Want the Stars_ (1964) and who was still publishing new
fiction in 2023, died on 14 January aged 87. [SHS]
_Herman Raucher_ (1928-2023), US screenwriter whose genre film was
_Watermelon Man_ (1970), died on 28 December aged 95. [AIP]
_Nikolay Romanetskiy_ (1953-2024), Russian author and editor of the sf
magazine _Polden_, whose 28 novels include 5 _X-Files_ novelizations, died
on 10 January. [AM]
_Gaston Santos_ (1931-2024), Mexican actor in _El pantano de las
animas_ (_Swamp of the Lost Souls_, 1957) and _El grito de la muerte_ (_The
Living Coffin_, 1959), died on 17 January aged 92. [SJ]
_Peter Schickele_ (1935-2024), US composer who created P.D.Q. Bach and
scored _Silent Running_ (1972), died on 16 January aged 88. [LP]
_David J. Skal_ (1952-2024) , US author whose first novel was
_Scavengers_ (1980) and who published nonfiction about horror, Bram Stoker
and vampire films, died on 1 January aged 71. [LP]
_Yuri Solomin_ (1935-2024), Russian actor in the genre films
_Obyknovennoye chudo_ (_An Ordinary Miracle_, 1978) and _Lunnaya raduga_
(_Moon Rainbow_, 1983), died on 11 January aged 88. [AM]
_David Soul_ (1943-2024), US _Starsky & Hutch_ actor in the tv
miniseries _Salem's Lot_ (1979) and _World War III_ (1982) and the
mockumentary _Mermaids: The Body Found_ (2011), died on 4 January aged 80.
[LP]
_Sergey Sukhinov_ (1950-2024), Russian author and translator whose 35
novels include 15 authorized sequels to Edmond Hamilton's 'Starwolf'
trilogy, died on 10 January. [AM]
_Tracy Torme_ (1959-2024), US screenwriter/producer whose credits
include _Star Trek: TNG_ (12 episodes 1987-1989), _Fire in the Sky_ (1993),
_Sliders_ (co-creator; 87 episodes 1995-2000) and _I Am Legend_ (2007),
died on 4 January aged 64. [F770]
[]_ Mike Voiles_, US comics collector and historian whose 'Mike's Amazing
World of Comics' website is regarded as a major resource, died on 27
November. [GD]
_Howard Waldrop_ (1946-2024), much-loved US author active since 1972,
best known for shorter works of complexly mythologized alternate history
(in the 1987 comedy 'Night of the Cooters', some of H.G. Wells's Martians
land in the Wild West), died on 14 January aged 77. He won a Nebula and
World Fantasy Award for 'The Ugly Chickens' (1980) and received the World
Fantasy life achievement honour in 2021. Howard was a popular and
entertaining convention guest: I and many other UK fans remember him fondly
from Mexicon IV in 1991.

On 2/1/24 12:41 PM, David Langford wrote:
>

> 2-4 Feb [] CONTABILE 34 (UK filk), Palace Hotel, Buxton. Rates at the door
> are GBP42 adult reg; GBP32 unwaged; under-18s GBP1 per year of age when
> joining; under-5s free. See www.contabile.org.uk/tripletime.

This year's UK filk con is called Triple Time, a wordplay on its being
the 34th in the series (3/4 time is triple time). The website is
contabile.org.uk, but the name changes every year.

> _Worldcon Intellectual Property_ announced board resignations (Dave
> McCarty, Kevin Standlee), censurings (McCarty for public comments, plus
> Chengdu co-chairs Ben Yalow and Chen Shi) and a reprimand (Standlee for
> public comments), all in connection with the Hugo debacle. (30 January)

This strikes me as desperate scapegoating. We don't know exactly what
pressures Chen Shi was under from the government, but it's obvious they
were serious. I blame Ben for lending the legitimacy of his name to the
con, but once he did that, he also had to play the game for the sake of
the Chinese fan organizers.

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