a completely unauthorized production by
Garth Spencer
COLOPHON
THE BCSFA MEMBERS' HANDBOOK © February
2001 by Garth Spencer, also doing business as Stop Press, if "business"
isn't too strong a word. Write to Garth at P.O. Box 15335, V.M.P.O., Vancouver,
B.C. CANADA V6B 5B1, or email him at hrothgar@vcn.bc.ca.
Single copies $5.00 Canadian, $4.00 U.S. payable directly to Garth Spencer,
free
on request to BCSFA members.
CONTENTS
The British Columbia
Science Fiction Association (BCSFA) is a place where science fiction fans
can have fun and do neat stuff together.
BCSFA is a general interest science fiction fan organization. Club interests include: writing, art, movies and television, models and collectibles, personalities and celebrities, comics, music, trivia, writing (a number of our members are published authors), the history of SF, astronomy, space programs past and present, unusual science - in fact, anything at all to do with SF that you can think of - and finally, the phenomenon of SF fandom, in and of itself.
BCSFA grew out of a student group at the
University of British Columbia in 1969. Today, our club continues to hold
monthly meetings in members' homes, and a weekly informal gathering called
FRED at the Burrard Motor Inn. We also publish a monthly newsletter, BCSFAzine,
distributed both by mail and by email. Some of our members participate
in writers' workshops. At least three of our members are now published
science fiction and fantasy writers (Don DeBrandt, Donna McMahon, and Lisa
Smedman). Some of our writer members, professional and amateur, occasionally
produce a collection together, called Fictons. Other members produce
self-published fanzines; participate in role-playing games; and many take
part in Internet discussion groups and listservs, which may or may not
be related to BCSFA or VCon.
(as advertised in BCSFAzine's colophon):
| New | $26.00 |
| New Family | $32.00 |
| Renewal | $25.00 |
| Renewal | $25.00 |
| Family (2 Votes) | $31.00 |
These prices includes subscription to BCSFAzine. Make cheques payable to WCSFA (the account is at present still in the name of the West Coast Science Fiction Association), c/o our president, R. Graeme Cameron, 86 Warrick Street, Coquitlam, B.C. V3K 5L4. BCSFAzine is also available by e-mail as an Adobe Acrobat .PDF file. (Please e-mail Garth Spencer at hrothgar@vcn.bc.ca if you wish to receive the magazine by e-mail.)
Current
BCSFA Executive - since Oct. 2000
President: R. Graeme Cameron (86 Warrick St., Coquitlam, BC V6J 1J1, 526-7522, rgraeme@home.com)
Vice President: ? (a position not currently filled)
Treasurer: Doug Finnerty (113 Ovens Ave, New Westminster, BC V3L IZ1, (604) 526-5621)
Secretary: Alyx Shaw (same address as R. Graeme Cameron)
BCSFA Archivist: R Graeme Cameron
BCSFAzine Editor: Garth Spencer - mailing address P.O. Box 15335, V.M.P.O., Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5B1
Members at Large:
Randy Barnhart (10560 Whistler Court, Richmond, BC V7E 4C7, randy_barnhart@hotmail.com)
Alan Ferguson (11371 - 87A Avenue, Delta, BC V4C 3A7, 591-3293)
V-Con 26 Rep: Chris Sturges (235 Liberty Place Burnaby, BC V5C 1X5, 294-9851, chris@capricorn.bc.ca)
Keeper of FRED and V-Con Ambassador for Life: Steve Forty (S40), (1129 Sprice Ave., Coquitlam, BC V3J 2P3, 936-4754, Steve40@wimsey.com)
BCSFAzine
Specialist,
Layout, Acrobatics & Image Hyper Text Modem Retrieval Specialist: David
Hale (8448 - 121A Street, Surrey, BC V3W 3R6, 590-4067,
dahale@telus.net)
BCSFA has arranged 10% discounts for members at the following stores, in exchange for advertisements in BCSFAzine. Your member's discount is good at:
PoCo Place, in PoCo Place Mall, #18 - 2755 Lougheed Highway, Port Coquitlam, BC
Wrigley Cross Books, 1809 NE 39th Ave., in Portland, OR
FRED (Forget Reality Enjoy Drinking) is our weekly Friday-evening gathering at 8:00 p.m. with other BCSFAns, and all others interested in joining us for conversation and relaxation, at the Burrard Motor Inn opposite St. Paul's Hospital, in downtown Vancouver.
The Burrard Motor Inn is 6 blocks south of
Burrard Skytrain Station, 3 blocks west of Granville (where many buses
run), and right on the #22 Knight/ McDonald bus route along Burrard. On
the Fridays before holidays, we move to Bosman's Motor Inn. Steve
Forty (936-4754, Steve40@telus.net)
is the official Keeper of the Book of FRED and unofficial greeter to FRED
and BCSFA.
Video Lectures Starting This Month
In addition to FRED, club meetings, and writers' workshops, on scheduled weekends our president, R. Graeme Cameron, will give a one-hour video lecture at the Space Centre in the H.R. Macmillan Planetarium, which will be open to members of the public who have paid admission to the Space Centre. Each lecture will be followed by a one-hour open house/event opportunity in the Planetarium auditorium.
The Space Centre will put out media releases, plus info in their newsletter. BCSFA members either get in free (for the lecture, not for the rest of the Centre), or pay a discounted admission to attend the lecture plus tour the Centre, ride the simulator, etc. At the end of the lecture, the audience is invited to attend a BCSFA meeting in one of the rooms downstairs.
This room requires no admission, so BCSFAns could skip the lecture and just come to the meeting. We may put on panels, debates, lectures, etc. to attract new members. Now and again there'd be special SF days at the centre where participation by all clubs would be welcomed.
The meeting/events may range from readings by authors to Mr. Science Experiments, panel discussions, anything we can think of.
BCSFA will be a sponsor and participant;
so will the "Monster Attack Team Canada", a plastic-modelling group in
Vancouver, and Videomatica has agreed to be a sponsor and will provide
video clips from films not in my collection.
BCSFAzine is the
club newsletter published by the B.C. Science Fiction Association. Appearing
monthly since 1973, its subjects have been as diverse as films, fandom,
the space program, book reviews, TV shows, comics, personal essays, humour,
etc. The current editor is Garth Spencer. Send your submissions, comments,
locs to Garth Spencer at P.O. Box 15335, V.M.P.O., Vancouver, B.C. CANADA
V6B 5B1, or e-mail me at hrothgar@vcn.bc.ca.
Doug Finnerty, our current
treasurer, organizes FREFF (Forget Reality Enjoy a Feeding Frenzy), a sort
of BCSFA dinner club. The next announced gatherings are listed below.
VCon is Vancouver's oldest and most general SF convention, founded by BCSFA members. VCon has been held almost annually since 1971, featuring well-known SF and fantasy writers and artists as Guests of Honour, and drawing a convivial host of fans from throughout the Pacific Northwest and points beyond. VCons have been held at a number of venues in the Lower Mainland, over the past thirty years, with an ever-changing convention committee.
THE CHAIR is looking for additional people
to head several departments on the convention committee, and volunteers
for all departments are always appreciated. Contact the Chair, Chris Sturges,
at chair@v-con.org, telephone 294-9851,
or write to 235 Liberty Place, Burnaby, BC V5C 1X5.
This totally undemocratic award is a running
gag, a satire on "best of" SF awards held by fans and pros. The Elrons
are awarded for the worst contributions to SF, and are bestowed
after suggestions are contributed, but without voting or judging, and in
recent years, usually by R. Graeme Cameron at VCon. Graeme swears up and
down the name of this award has nothing to do with a former SF writer
who founded his own religion. For more information about the Elrons, contact
R. Graeme Cameron at rgraeme@home.com.
Imagine this: some of the worst writing that
passes for science fiction is read aloud at a convention. People offer
bids to have the reading continue. Or to make it stop. Bidding can get
fierce. Money is donated to a worthy cause, or at least the Canadian Unity
Fan Fund. Contact Fran Skene at
fskene@axionet.com
or Rob Deary at robd@desmaint.com.
Now that you've seen what kinds of things
our members get involved with, maybe you'd like to see how we make things
work?
We have club bylaws ? somewhere. Maybe Graeme
has them stored away, since he last moved, but there's some question anyway
which version of the bylaws is in force ? I think this is one of the several
topics I must defer to a future, upgraded version of the Handbook. (Is
that okay with you?)
The following BCSFA positions will come up for election again in October, 2001.
President: sets meetings and chairs them
Vice President: serves as president's understudy, and serves in his place, when president is unavailable
Treasurer: manages club accounts, tracks income and expenses, renders periodic statements and cash reconciliations
Secretary: takes minutes and maintains non-financial records
BCSFAzine Editor: collects contributions, lays out newsletter and distributes BCSFAzine by e-mail and regular mail
Members at Large: represent membership
at large without having the duties defined above
By now, I hope, you're interested in opening
your daytimers or PDAs and noting down what club events are coming up.
The Schedule of Club Events now runs as follows:
Saturday, March 10, 7:00 p.m.: Feeding Frenzy at the Mandalay Restaurant on Burrard Street, Vancouver's only Burmese restaurant.
(Friday, March 16 - BCSFAzine deadline)
Saturday, March 17th: - 2:00 p.m., Vidlecture on 'Robots in SF Films.' Followed at 3:00 p.m. by BCSFA (or other) club meeting/event, or, bearing in mind this is a special event day, some sort of ongoing event/display/table manning by any or all of the clubs?
(Friday, April 20 - BCSFAzine deadline)
Saturday, April 21st: - 2:00 p.m.,
Vidlecture on 'Visions of Mars.' Followed at 3:00 p.m. by BCSFA (or other)
club meeting/event?
May 4-6th: VCON 26/CANVENTION 21 at the Radisson Hotel in Burnaby, British Columbia. Theme "2001: A Space Oddity - Humour in Science Fiction". Guest of Honour Lynne Abbey. Gaming Guest of Honour James Earnest, President of Cheapass Games. Artist Guest Pat Turner.
This year, VCon 26 is very happy to host Canvention 21, and the 21st Prix Aurora Awards for Canadian science fiction, fantasy and fan activity. For more information on the Auroras, see Dennis Mullin's Aurora Web page at http://www.sentex.net/~dmullin/aurora/.
The venue, the Radisson Hotel in Burnaby offers rooms at $89/night for one to four occupants. Phone 800-333-3333 for reservations, or email reservations@villa.bc.ca - don't forget to tell them you're with VCon! (For more information see www.radisson.com/burnabyca/)
Membership rates are: Can. $35, U.S. $30
until April 30; Can. $45, U.S. $35 at the door. Contact information: Chair,
Chris Sturges at chair@v-con.org,
phone (604) 294-9851. See website: www.v-con.org
or write Vcon 26, c/o 235 Liberty Place Burnaby, BC CANADA V5C 1X5.
(Friday, May 18 - BCSFAzine deadline)
Saturday, May 19th: - 2:00 p.m., Vidlecture on 'The Way the Future Should Have Been' (sort of 2001 disappointment theme), followed at 3:00 p.m. by BCSFA (or other) club meeting/event?
(Friday, June 15 - BCSFAzine deadline)
Saturday, June 16th: - 2:00 p.m.,
Vidlecture on 'Teenagers From Outer Space (and other SF films aimed at
teenagers).' Followed at 3:00 p.m. by BCSFA (or other) club meeting/event?
Newsletters and Fanzines and Zines, Oh My
Some of the newsletters and fanzines in Canada
and the Pacific Northwest include the following. This list includes, but
is not limited to the zines for which we trade
BCSFAzine.
Ailleurs (ISSN: 1492-353X) is put out by Pierre-Luc Lafrance (743 Dalquier, Sainte-Foy, PQ G1V 3H7), plafrance@videotron.ca
Astronef: is a webzine available from afm@infinit.net
The Arcadian Guild Crier, #3426 - 333 Hunt, Courtenay, B.C. V9N 5B5, David Malinski, ed., email murdock@axionet.com - A gaming club newsletter from the "Arcadian Guild".
Aztec Blue (and several apazines), c/o Murray Moore, 1065 Henley Road, Mississauga, ON L4Y 1C8, mmoore@pathcom.com. Aztec Blue is one of the closest candidates we have now to a classic fannish genzine. (Murray is not only this year's Canadian Unity Fan Fund winner but a new BCSFA member.)
Canfandom, R. Graeme Cameron, 86 Warrick St., Coquitlam, B.C. V6J 1J1, (604) 526-7522, rgraeme@home.com; dormant since early/mid-2000, Canfandom started out as an apa dedicated to truth, justice, promoting fanzine publishing, and the Canadian way.
Con-TRACT, from John Mansfield (516 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3C 0G2) is a bimonthly listing of upcoming SF conventions in Canada, plus some news and editorial opinions. First distributed in 1988, Con-TRACT is now distributed via e-mail from pgh@pangea.ca.
Covert Communications from Zeta Corvi, Andrew Murdoch, #508 - 6800 Westminster Hwy., Richmond, BC V7C 1C5, (604) 272-1467, toreador@vcn.bc.ca.A personalzine from a Victoria fan now in the Lower Mainland. In my opinion Andrew's zine is one of the few that sometimes offers Canadian fan news.
DASFAX, from the Denver Area SF Association (3225 West 29th Ave., Denver, CO, USA, 80211-3705) ? come to think of it, I haven't seen this in a good few years! Do I have the right address?
File 770, from Mike Glyer (705 Valley View Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016) has been a major fan newszine since at least the late 1970s or early 1980s. In recent years F770 has appeared less regularly, and I think its news has focused increasingly on the world of American conrunners and fan fund people. (mglyer@compuserve.com)
FOSFAX, from the Falls of the Ohio SF association (P.O. Box 37281, Louisville, KY 40233-7281) is a big, thick, densely printed, highly political clubzine from rather a small group of people.
Horizons SF, from the U.B.C. SF Society (c/o UBCSFS, Box 75, SUB, 6138 SUB Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1) is supposed to come out twice a year, and feature art and stories from a wide variety of contributors. In point of fact it's a small-press SF market. Being sponsored by the university club, its editor changes yearly.
Jigsaw and TMOVzine, the Telefantasy Appreciation Society of Canada, c/o #1408 - 1005 Jervis Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3T1. Web page: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Realm/2972/jigsaw.html; email bob_furnell@telus.net.
TheNeutral Zone (club newsletter of S'harien), c/o Lisa McGovern, 1410 Regan Ave, Coquitlam, BC V3J 3B5, 931-1241, lisa93@home.com
Opuntia c/o Dale Speirs, Box 6830, Calgary, AB T2P 2E7, a personalzine and fanhistoryzine. Dale's interests range from native cacti, stamp collecting, cychlid fanciers, and alternative history, through fanhistory and the parallels between technologies introduced in the 19th century and the reception given the Internet. Keep reading this and you, too, will be convinced that All Knowledge is Contained in Fanzines.
The Ottawa SF Statement, the newsletter of the Ottawa SF Society (c/o Sharon Fall, 107 - 520 St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa , ON K1K 4N1, olympus@storm.ca), goes back almost to the club's founding in the mid-1970s. Sharon Fall, the current editor since 1999, recently re-established contact with us, at which point we realized we had been sending our trades to the wrong address for a couple of years.
Pulsar, the monthly newsletter of the Portland SF Society (P.O. Box 4602, Portland, OR 97208).
The Royal Swiss Navy Gazette - Garth Spencer, Box 15335, VMPO, Vancouver, BC V6B 5B1; last issue, #5, April 2000. Which really embarrasses him a lot.
The Space Cadet Gazette, also c/o R. Graeme Cameron, 86 Warrick Street, Coquitlam, B.C. V3K 5L4, rgraeme@home.com; dormant since early/mid-2000, this serves as Graeme's personalzine.
Warp, from MonSFFA/the Montreal SF and Fantasy Association (P.O. Box 1186, Place du Parc, Montreal, PQ H2W 2P4) ? come to think of it, I have rarely seen this clubzine, either! Lloyd Penney reported in winter 2000/2001 that Warp is edited by Lynda Pelley for the Montreal SF&F Association. "... Lynda is at pellyn@odyssee.net."
Westwind, the monthly newsletter of the Northwest SF Society (P.O. Box 24207, Seattle, WA 98124), regularly features reviews, topical articles and Northwest SF news.
The
Zero-G Lavatory, Scott Patri, Box 1196, Cumberland, B.C. V0R 1S0, email
real_headhoncho@yahoo.com
(Trekkie-bashing, faanfiction and other crowd-pleasers)
Locus, from Charles N. Brown (P.O. Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94661; locus@locusmag.com) is one of the major trade magazines in the science fiction publishing field.
SF
Chronicle, from Andrew Porter (Box 022730, Brooklyn, NY 11202-0056)
is another one of the major trade magazines in the science fiction publishing
field.
- The Greater Vancouver Public Library (350 West Georgia, Vancouver BC) receives and displays BCSFAzine, and a number of other amateur SF publications, including Fictons.
- The Merril Collection (formerly the Spaced Out Library, c/o L.H. Smith Br., 239 College St., Toronto, ON K2B 0B7) is a branch of the Metro Toronto Public Library, housing Canada's largest collection of Canadian SF&F under one roof. Rumour had it that they might be setting up a WWW server.
- The National Library of Canada (395 Wellington
St., Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4) ostensibly requires any publication to send them
two copies per issue. In practice, once you do so, they issue a publication
an International Standard Serial Number. Official like.
Some BCSFA events,
and many BCSFAzines, have featured panels or columns by Mr. Science,
who has the most bizarre explanations for the most mundane things. He has
usually been represented by Al Betz, one of our longstanding members; however,
both are in poor health and not making presentations, at the moment.
Some BCSFA members participate in local writers' workshops. Several of our writers are now published authors, such as novelists Don H. DeBrandt and Lisa Smedman, and short story writers Lisa R. Cohen and Alan Barclay. We also print the workshops' annual short story collection, Fictons.
For information on their meeting places and times, submission requirements and other particulars, contact:
BCSFA group #1 - Lisa Smedman, smed@uniserve.com, 875-1165
BCSFA group #2 - Allan Lowson, 946-2427
For more information contact Frances Skene
at 433-8817 or email fskene@axionet.com.
Doug Finnerty (526-5621) has issued a call
for submissions to Fictons. The guidelines should be included with
this handbook. Past editions, some of which are in the Vancouver Public
Library, have tended to be digest-sized photocopied publications.
SF Canada is (or was) a national organization for SF and fantasy writers in Canada. Two regular newsletters appeared, last time I contacted them: Communique, a quarterly and market newsletter available by subscription, and Top Secret, a newsletter for members only.
A multimedia press kit about SF Canada is available, and an on-line
information guide to most of the writers who are members of the
organization. They have (or had) an e-mailing list, and a Web page maintained by Karl Schroeder. (www.sfcanada.ca).
The Northwest SF Resources page, maintained
by Jack Beslanwitch in Seattle, can be found at
www.sfnorthwest.org,
and includes a link to a pageful of online writers' resources.
The V-Con Society is a non-profit society formally registered under the Society Act of British Columbia, with the goal of overseeing and supporting VCon, and perhaps other local SF conventions. As explained below, there are reasons why a formally registered society should be the advertised sponsor of our convention, and why the society should explicitly include everyone associated with the convention: all the individuals, and all the clubs. It is an umbrella organization - made up of members from several F&SF fan groups including BCSFA - whose primary purpose is to provide support for our local convention, VCon. The current address is c/o R. Graeme Cameron (see above).
Some of the parallel organizations in other cities include OSFCI (Oregon SF Conventions Inc. in Portland), the Con-Version SF Society (in Calgary), and Ottawa Fandom Inc. (in Ottawa).
There has been some confusion about the relationship between BCSFA, VCon, and the V-Con Society. Think of them as circles of different sizes, some of which overlap or contain others. I mean that some members of BCSFA form the VCon committee each year, but some committee members come from outside BCSFA. Also, not everybody in the executive of the Society sponsoring the con will come from BCSFA, nor should they all serve on the concom.
We have tried different ways of setting up a sponsoring society, which (it turned out) could not be BCSFA itself, partly because of our club's name. (The formally registered society's name can't legally include the province's name; but even though BCSFA isn't the legal name, it is the one most often used by BCSFAns.) First, we set up WCSFCCA, the Western Canadian SF Convention Coordination Association. (Then we had to explain to other clubs why we used "Western Canadian" rather than "B.C.")
In 1993 we had reason to set up WCSFA, the West Coast SF Association.
In 2000 this was re-formed as the V-Con Society.
The Society's mandate is to:
Educate the general public as to the significance of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
And to have as much fun doing the above as possible!
President: Clint Budd, either at 734-0723 (during the week), or email clintbudd@home.com
Vice-President: ?
Secretary: Garth Spencer (see above)
Treasurer: Jeff Hartt, 9287 114th St., Delta, BC V4C 5K6, 584-4693, ganrell5@hotmail.com
Members at Large: ?
VCon
Rep: Chris Sturges (see above)
Just to put BCSFA and everything into perspective,
you might care to note the following ?
The Northern Society for Creative Anachronism is B.C.'s version of the Society for Creative Anachronism. The Barony of Lionsgate (and the Shire of Seagirt, the Shire of Eisenmarche, and their friends) pursue a number of medieval-recreation activities: period costume construction, medieval dancing, calligraphy, medieval fighting practice, banquets, archery, arts and crafts. The Lionsgate Web page is www.lionsgate.antir.sca.org.
To find out about their regular annual events, write for a copy of The North Wind. The current Chronicler is Heather Bastien at 11146 Kendale Way, Delta, B.C. V4C 3P5, tel. 582-5775, or email lionsgate-chronicler@antir.com or heather@lightspeed.ca.
The demo coordinator is Nina Greco at Box
63631 - 935 Marine Drive, North Vancouver, B.C. V7P 1S3, email arielg@interchange.ubc.ca.
The Monster Attack Team - Canada is a club of "semi-professional and professional" Science Fiction and Fantasy modellers, but anyone with an interest in sculpting, model-building, and "monster-stuff" is welcome to attend meetings. (Members have worked on such shows as X-Files, The Outer Limits, The New Addams Family, Big and Hairy, and others.) Many are sculptors who sell their own original creations as model kits. Others have appeared in magazines like Hobby Japan, Kitbuilders, Amazing Figure Modeler, Modeler's Resource, Fine Scale Modeler, either as writers or featured in articles.
The club has an e-newszine, simply called The Monster Attack Team - Canada Newsletter, which reviews news about Vancouver Science fiction and Monster events, toy and model news, new film and TV news, DVD and home video news, somewhere between once and twice a month. The newszine is free and anyone who is interested in joining the list, or who just wants more info in general, should simply email shyde@axionet.com.
Meetings are held on the last Sunday of the month at 7:30 at a co-op near SFU. Our meeting contact is Dennis Kristos(#8 8700 Forest Grove Drive - home: 436 - 4099 internet: speek1@vcn.bc.ca) The meeting is held in the Common Room - #40 - 8700 Forest Grove Drive (Off Underhill if you're coming by the Lougheed Highway).
The club will be doing a day-long SF and Fantasy Model Contest, and show, on Sunday May 27th, from 10:00 until 4:00. This will feature a history of fantasy models, a contest, how-to demos, and panel presentations on "monster history." There will be a "small" entrance fee - yet to be determined. The venue is the Kitsilano Neighbourhood House.
Stan Hyde <shyde@axionet.com>,
Feb. 2001
The S'harien is a social club whose
past events have included video projects, movie nights, mini-golf, bowling,
picnics, and more. For further information write c/o Tamara Glazer-Midttun
at #74 - 12551 Cambie Road, Richmond, BC V6V 2A4, email tmidttun1901@home.com,
or phone 273-1901. Alternatively, see their graphics-rich Web page at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/7214/.
The Telefantasy Appreciation Society of
Canada (TASC) holds meetings and publishes Jigsaw magazine approximately
monthly; email Bob Furnell at bob_furnell@telus.net
or write to #1408 - 1005 Jervis Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3T1. Web page:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Realm/2972/jigsaw.html.
The Trumpeter Tabletop Gaming Society
is a gaming club in operation since 1964. Their flyer says that game nights
are held 6:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., one Friday every month, at the Bonsor
Community Centre in Burnaby at Metrotown. Upcoming games will be April
20, May 11, June 15, July 20, Aug. 17, Sept. 21, Oct. 26, and Nov. 23rd,
2001. A gaming convention will be held March 16-18 this year at the Bonsor
Centre. Contacts include their president (Steve Allen, 899-4970, big_dog@telus.net),
their treasurer (Kelly Jones, 988-9884, VaubanEnt@aol.com),
their editor-in-chief (Eric Hotz, 619-6925, erichotz@direct.ca),
and their Games Master (Terry Sawchenko, 942-6166, gamesmaster@home.com).
The UBC Science Fiction Society is,
in one incarnation or another, the oldest extant SF club in Vancouver.
UBCSFFEN was founded in the 60s by UBC students, and later formed the foundation
of BCSFA. UBCSFS publishes Horizons SF, a biannual fiction magazine
which emerged as a semiprofessional SF market in the late 80s/early 90s,
winning an Aurora (Canadian SF and Fantasy Award) for its editor at the
time, David New. UBCSFS holds monthly video nights, three to four parties
a year. Write to UBC AMS Science Fiction Society, Box 75, Student Union
Bldg., 6138 SUB Blvd., University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
V6T 1Y4.
VJAS - The Vancouver Japanese Anime Society
is the anime club run from Douglas College by president Will Chow and Chad
Ma. Will Chow also runs one of the few anime stores in the Lower Mainland,
Anime Jynai. VJAS has about 300 or 400 members; their Web page is at www.vjas.org.
VSWAT - The Vancouver Sleep is for wimps
Anime Team (http://users.uniserve.com/~ryanm6/vswat/)
is run out of Port Coquitlam by Ryan Matheuszik (ryanm6@uniserve.com).
Alternate Realities Club - The anime
club run out of SFU by Jen Wong, who put on a yearly "Showcase" in the
summer, a weekend of anime at SFU Harbour Centre. Note: "Showcase" features
no dealers, or guests. See
http://www.sfu.ca/ar-club/
ANCEA stands for the "Asia Northwest
Cultural Education Association" and is the sponsoring organization of Sakura
Con. It consists of five board members and a general membership. Email
Daniel Harrison at <skyhawk@internetoutlet.net>
The Con-Version SF Society holds Con-Version
annually in Calgary (formerly in July, but in August in 2001). Their current
address is now: PO Box 20098, Calgary Place RPO, Calgary, Alberta, T2P
4J2 Fax: (403) 277-4251. Call Paul Bushell (President, Con-Version Science
Fiction and Fantasy Society) at (403) 809-2221 for more info. Their Web
site URL has been changed to http://www.con-version.org
The Friends of the Merril Collection of SF, Speculation and Fantasy is
a support group for the Merril Collection, the special SF library
collection in Toronto. The club newsletter, Sol Rising, features
interviews & books printed in the last & upcoming year. Write to #401 -
399 Dupont St., Toronto, ON M5R 1W3. Dues
are C$25/yr.
The Klingon Imperial Diplomatic Corps
in Montreal has an interesting Web site at
http://www.klingon.org;
you can also e-mail founder Capucine Plourde at klingon@klingon.org.
The Northwest Science Fiction Society
(NWSFS) are responsible for the monthly newsletter
Westwind and
the annual SF convention, Norwescon.
The Orion Consulate holds alternative consuites at Pacific Northwest
conventions, and can be contacted through Bradley Luoma, 2654 Labieux
Road, Nanaimo, B.C. V9T 3N4, tel. (250) 751-2106.
The Ottawa SF Society has published a clubzine and held conventions in
Ottawa for a few decades now; see the contact
@dress c/o Sharon Fall for the Statement, above.
The Portland Science Fiction Society (PorSFiS) are responsible for the monthly newsletter Pulsar and the annual convention Orycon.
The Undiscovered
Province Science Fiction Inc. is at P.O. Box 7563 Saskatoon, SK S7K
4L4 club tel. line: (306) 652-4557. Current president: Heather Webb.
Warp Nine is a Quebec fan club covering
a wide range of SF interests, and publishing two periodicals, No Strings
Attached and Warp Factor. For more information write to Warp
9, 6265 "A" Belherbe, St.-Leonard, Quebec H1P 1G3, fax (514) 324-1815.
The Winnipeg SF Association (WinSFA)
holds KeyCon annually in Winnipeg in May. Members mounted the 1994 Worldcon
in Winnipeg, ConAdian, and hosted the 1995 NonCon (as a title added to
that year's Keycon). (NonCon is now considered, not just the Alberta, but
the Western Canadian regional perambulating convention.) For more information
write Box 3178, Winnipeg, MB R3C 4E6 or e-mail Con-TRACT, the Canadian
convention listing zine, c/o John Mansfield, pgh@pangea.ca.
More comprehensive information on SF clubs
in the Pacific Northwest can be found at www.sfnorthwest.org.
A staggering list of clubs in the English-speaking
world is available from Harry Hopkins, FANDATA Publications, 7761 Asterella
Court, Springfield, VA 22152-3133, U.S.A. for US$23.45. A Web site is now
maintained for the Fandom Directory online.
April 12-15: Norwescon 24 at the Doubletree
Hotel Seattle Airport at SeaTac, Washington. Guest of Honor: Connie Willis.
ArtGoH: Bob Eggleton. FanGoH: Charles N. Brown. See http://www.norwescon.org,
call (206) 270-7850 (hotline), email info@norwescon.org,
or write Norwescon 24, P.O. Box 68547, Seattle, WA 98168-0547, U.S.A.
April 27-29: SakuraCon 2001 at the Holiday
Inn in Everett, Washington. (An anime con.) Memberships U.S. $40 to March
31, 2001. (Children 6-12 half-price.) Mail to Sakura Con Registration,
900 Meridian East #19-407, Milton, WA 98354; URL
www.sakuracon.org.
May 4 - 6: VCon 26/Canvention 21 at the Radisson
in Burnaby, British Columbia, theme - 2001: A Space Oddity - Humour in
Science Fiction. Guest of Honour Lynne Abbey. Gaming Guest of Honour James
Earnest, President of Cheapass Games. Artist Guest Pat Turner. Can. $30,
U.S. $25 from Feb. 1 to April 30: Can. $35, U.S. $30 at the door: Can.
$45, U.S. $40. Contact information: Chair, Chris Sturges at chair@v-con.org,
phone (604) 294-9851. See website: www.v-con.org
or write Vcon 26, c/o 235 Liberty Place Burnaby, BC CANADA V5C 1X5.
May 18 - 20: Anglicon 14 at the Radisson
Hotel SeaTac Airport in SeaTac, Washington. GoH: Robert Trebor. Memberships
U.S. $45 to May 8, $55 at the door. Write to Anglicon 14, P.O. Box 75536,
Seattle, WA 98125, or phone (206) 789-BRIT, email anglicon@rocketmail.com,
or see
www.webwitch.com/anglicon.
May 18 - 20: CONduit 11 / 2001: A Space Oddity,
in Salt Lake City, Utah. Author GoH: Alan Dean Foster. Special GoHs: Three
Weird Sisters. Media Guest: James Rogers. Art GoH, Scientist GoH and Fan
GoHs: TBA. Memberships: $26 to April 19, 2001; $36 thereafter. See URL
http://conduit.sfcon.org/CONduit/or
Write to P.O. Box 11745, Salt Lake City, UT 84147-0745, U.S.A.
May 18-20: Keycon in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Author Guests of Honour: Spider & Jeanne Robinson. Artist Guests of
Honour: Phil & Kaja Foglio. Fan Guests of Honour: The Wild & Hairy
Guys. Adult Memberships Jan. 3 - Apr. 30, 2001: $40.00; Adult Memberships
May 1, 2001 - at the door: $50.00; Children's Memberships anytime: $25.00;
LARP Pass (Includes Friday and Saturday Nights) $30.00. c/o Pendragon Games
& Hobbies, 516 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg MB R3C 0G2; tel 204-772-5415;
email pgh@pangea.ca.
May 25-28: World Horror Convention 2001 at
the Seattle Marriott Sea-Tac in Seattle, Washington. GoHs: Richard Laymon
(U.S.), Simon Clark (U.K.). Editor GoH: Jessica Amanda Salmonson. Publisher
GoHs: Barbara & Christopher Roden. Artist GoH: Charles Vess. TM: Jack
Ketchum. Attending memberships U.S. $75 for a limited time, to World Horror
Convention. For more information see http://www.whc2001.org
or write WHC 2001, P.O. Box 5171, Bellingham, WA 98227, email whc2001@uswest.net.
MAY 25-28: Costume Con 19 at the Westin Hotel
in Calgary, AB. Memb: $85 till May 31, Supporting Memb: $35 (Publications
only). Full Memberships $100 Cdn, $70 US, $100 Aus; supporting memberships
(publications only), $35 Cdn, $25 US, $35 Aus. Cheques payable to Costume
Con 19 at Box 20001, Bow Valley Postal Outlet, 205-5th Ave SW, Calgary,
AB T2P 4H3, phone (403) 242-1807, or email capsam@nucleus.com.
Web page URL: http://www. msight.com/cc19.
June 1-3: Enfilade! at the Best Western Executive
Inn, Fife, WA. Enfilade! is the largest historical miniature gaming event
west of the Mississippi drawing nearly 300 attendees who participate in
almost 200 events and conect with historical miniature gamers from throughout
the region and beyond. See URL: http://nhmgs.simplenet.com/conventions.html
June 1-3: CONCOMCON 8 (the Northwest conrunners'
con). ConComCon will be held at the Ferrymans Inn in Centralia, Washington
this year: Exit 82 off I-5. Phone: 360-330-2094. Room rates are: 1 person,
1 bed, $39.00 + tax = $42.78 per night; 2 people, 1 bed, $42.00 + tax =
$46.07 per night; 2 people, 2 beds, $44.00 + tax = $48.27 per night. Each
additional person, $3.00 per night. Pets and rollaway beds $5.00 per night.
Price includes a free continental breakfast served from 6 to 10 a.m. When
people call to reserve a room they should tell the hotel they are with
ConComCon and should be in the main building. Convention memberships U.S.
$25 through May 31, 2001, $30 at the door. 2001 Chair: Bobbie Dufault.
Cheques payable to: ConComCon 8, 14616 Ley Rd., Goldbar, WA 98251.
JUN 22-29: SEATREK 2001 from Vancouver, B.C.;
an Alaska Media Cruise. Info:13931 SW 108th St, Miami, FL, 33186 800/326-8735.
Saturday, July 15, 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM and
Sunday, July 16, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM at Grant MacEwan Community College,
10700 - 104 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta. ANIMETHON is an annual festival
of Japanese Animation, or anime. There are ten viewing rooms showing the
best of the newest Japanese movies and television series as well as some
of the classics that made anime so popular to begin with. As well, we have
a dealers room where anime-related goods are sold by vendors from across
Canada! We also have contests, events such as cosplay or costume play,
game shows, improvisational games, lessons on drawing and the Japanese
language, and the ever-popular anime rant! On top of this, Animethon is
completely free with a donation to the Food Bank! So come on down and join
us at Animethon 7 this July! Don't miss it!
July 20-22: Toronto Trek 2001 at the Regal Constellation Hotel, 900 Dixon Road (at Carlingview). Guests so far: Andreas Katsulas ( 'G'Kar' - Babylon 5, 'Tomalak' - Star Trek: TNG); more guests to come. Note: All guest appearances subject to professional commitments. Toronto Trek, Suite 0116, Box 187, 65 Front Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5J 1E6.
July 5 - 8: Westercon 54 in Portland, Oregon.
A Portland Westercon. Theme - It's in the other Hotel. Author GoH: Tim
Powers. Fan GoH: Mike Glyer. Artist GoH: Frank Lurz. Editor GoH: Terri
Windling. At the Doubletree Hotels Jantzen Beach and Columbia River. Write
to: Westercon 54, P.O. Box 5901, Portland, OR 97228-5901. URL: http://www.osfci.org/w2001/.
Phone: (360) 993-2001 email deaner@pacifier.com
August 10-12: Con-Version 18 at the Metropolitan
Centre and International Hotel in Calgary, AB. GoH: David Drake; ArtGoH:
Jean Pierre Normand; Scientist GoH: Dr. Bill Brooks. Membership rates (for
those 17 and up) are $45 to August 1, 2001, $50 at the door, $110 for a
family of 2 adults and up to 3 children. The website address is http://www.con-version.ab.ca/.
The new mail address is P.O. Box 20098, Calgary Place RPO, Calgary, AB
T2P 4J2.
August 24-26: MosCon XXIII at the University
Inn Best Western in Moscow, ID. Author GoH: Jack Chalker. ArtGoH: TBA.
Fan Guests of Honour: Tam & Shelly Gordy. Scientist GoH: TBA. Memberships:
$20 to May 1, 2001; $25 to Aug. 21, 2001; $30 up to the door. See www.geocities.com/moscow_scifi_con/,
phone Jon Gustafson at (208) 882-3672 (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.), or write Miscon
XXIII, Box 9622, Moscow, ID 83843, U.S.A.
September 20 - 23: GateCon 2001, "A Gatecon
Odyssey"; venue TBA. A benefit convention for Make a Wish Foundation. NOTE:
The international group holding Gatecon talks about "tickets" rather than
memberships. See
http://www.gatecon.com/home.asp
September 28 - 30: Foolscap III (a Flat Stuff con) at the Southcenter Best Western in Tukwila, WA. ArtGoHs: Phil and Kaja Foglio. Author GoHs TBA. Banquet $20 now, $23 at the door. Memberships $38 to March 31, 2001, $41 to Sept. 21, $45 at the door. Cheques to Little Cat Z in U.S. funds only. Write Foolscap III, c/o Little Cat Z, P.O. Box 2461, Seattle, WA 98111-2461.
http://www.alexicom.net/foolscap/index.htm
NONCON?: (Until some point in the late
1980s or early 1990s, NonCon was a central meeting point for Northwest
fans, even though it was a medium-small convention. Originally conceived
as an Alberta-regional perambulating convention, it was later described
to me as a Western-Canadian regional [perhaps because Vancouver hosted
one NonCon, and Winnipeg attached the NonCon label to one of their Keycons].
Since the early to mid-1990s, NonCons appear to have been held as relaxicons.
Repeated queries last fall failed to elicit news of this year's NonCon;
perhaps it is now small enough that the con is planned only some months,
rather than a whole year in advance.)
Oct. 26-28: Conifur Northwest 2001, at the
Fife Best Western Executive Inn. Guest of Honor: Malcolm Earle (Max the
Black Rabbit). Rates: $25 until July 1, 2001, $30 until October 12, 2001,
$35 at the door. . Contact: Conifur Northwest, 2406 SW 308th Place, Federal
Way, WA 98023, (253) 815-0962 voice, (253) 838-1453 fax, cfnw-info@conifur.org.
Also see URL:
http://www.conifur.org/
October 26-29: InCon 200 at the Spokane Shilo
Hotel., Guest of Honor: Jane Fancher, Artist Guest: Mark Ferrari, Attending
Pros: C.J. Cherryh and John Dalmas. Rates: $15 until May 1, 2001, $20 until
October 1, 2001, $25 at the door, Children 11 and under FREE if accompanied
by an adult. Contact: Incon 2001, PO Box 9112, Spokane, WA 99209-9112.
Also see URL:
http://incon.skywalk.com/.
Nov. 1-4: World Fantasy Convention 27 at
the Delta Centre-Ville in Montreal, Quebec. GoHs: Fred Saberhagen, Joel
Champetier, Charles de Lint. Write 2001 WFC c/o Bruce Farr, P.O. Box 7191,
Chandler, AZ 85246-7191; tel (602) 395-1945; email brucex.farr@intel.com.
Nov. 9-11: Orycon 23 at the Doubletree Columbia River, Portland, OR. GoHs: Melanie Rawn; Laura Anne Gilman; Real Musgrave. Rooms: call (503) 283-2111. Memberships: $25 to April 15, 2001; $35 to July 15, $40 to Oct. 31, $50 thereafter. For more information see www.orycon.org/orycon23/, email david_schaber@hotmail.com, or write to P.O. Box 5703, Portland, OR 97228-5703, U.S.A.
2002
March 21-24: Left Coast Crime 12 at the Doubletree
Hotel Columbia River in Portland, Oregon. Theme: "Slugs and Roses". GoH:
Laurie R. King. FanGoH: Don Herron. TM: G.M. Ford. Memberships $??. URL
http://www.spiritone.com/~jlorentz/leftcoast/.
Write to Left Coast Crime 12, P.O. Box 18033, Portland, OR 97218-0033;
tel. (503) 281-9449; email wrigcros@teleport.com.
2003
Aug. 28 - Sept. 1: Worldcon 61/Torcon 3 at
the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Royal York Hotel and Crowne Plaza
Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. GoHs: George R.R. Martin, Frank Kelly
Freas, Mike Glyer, Spider Robinson; GoHst of Honour, Robert Bloch. Supporting
Membership $US40; Attending Membership $US115. Write P.O. Box 3, Stn. A,
Toronto, ON M5W 1A2. Email info@torcon3.on.ca.
The Aurora Awards - officially, the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards - have been held since 1980, in rotation, by a wide range and number of Canadian SF conventions. Starting in 1980 at Halcon, with an award to A.E. van Vogt for his lifetime contributions to the field, the award has evolved until, today, there are award categories for SF and fantasy works, in English and Frenh, from short story to novel lengths, and also categories for fan activities such as fanpublishing and convention-running.
VCon has hosted the Canvention twice, in 1981 and in 1986. In 1981, VCon 9 gave a posthumous CSFFA for her lifetime contributions to the late Susan Wood, a well-known fan who was just entering a professional editing career at the time of her death. In 1986, VCon 14 hosted multiple and bilingual awards, and recognized a B.C. fan for producing a cross-Canada fan newszine. Since the business meeting at that VCon, the Canvention has alternated between eastern and western Canadian conventions, in most years.
Among other regular Canvention features, VCon 26 will host a CSFFA Business Meeting, the selection of the following year's Canvention, and the 2001 delegate of the Canadian Unity Fan Fund, representing eastern Canadian fandom at this year's Canvention.
For more information, see Dennis Mullin's Aurora Awards page at http://www.sentex.net/~dmullin/aurora/.
The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a prized and juried award, newly announced in 2001. Based on excellence of writing, it will be presented annually to a Canadian writer who has had published a speculative fiction novel or book-length collection of speculative fiction any time during the previous calendar year. Named after the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb, one of the first published authors of contemporary Canadian science fiction, the award consists of: a cash award of $1000 and a medallion which incorporates a specially designed "Sunburst" logo. The finalist will receive his or her award i in fall 2001.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: The work must be literature of the fantastic, which includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism, and surrealism. The work must be a novel or novel length short story collection. The author must be Canadian, that is a Canadian Citizen (native or naturalized; resident in Canada or residing outside Canada) or Landed Immigrant in Canada. Translations into English are considered on an equal footing with works written originally in English. Note, however, that only the first translation of a work is eligible. The work must be substantially text-based and have been published in book form Note: If an eligible book was not considered by the jury in the year in which it was published, it can be considered the following year. However, once a book has been considered, it becomes ineligible for future consideration
THE JURY: The jurors for the 2001 Sunburst Award are John Clute, Candas Jane Dorsey, Phyllis Gotlieb, Monica Hughes and Leon Rooke.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact the committee secretary, Mici
Gold at: Mici@sunburstaward.org
or write to The Sunburst Award, 106 Cocksfield Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
CANADA M3H 3T2. (www.sunburstaward.org)
Prix Boréal
The Boréal awards (bestowed annually
at Boréal, the francophone SFFQ convention) were founded
in 1979, the year they were given at the first Boreal. Since then they
have been held in Montreal, Longueuil, Chicoutimi, Quebec and Ottawa.
Grand Prix de la Science Fiction et du Fantastique Québécois
The Grand Prix de la SFFQ (called the Prix Logidisque until 1990, and
the Prix Logidec until 1993) was founded
in 1984.
Prix Septieme continent
The Prix Septieme continent is a juried award, founded in 1985 by the
editors of Imagine ... magazine.
Prix Solaris
The Prix Solaris was founded in 1981 by the editors of Solaris
magazine.
Links to documentary pages on all the aforementioned French-language
awards may be found by linking to
http://www.integra.fr/XLII/frenchsfawards/.
A few times a year it becomes clear that there is an art to congoing, or at least a few tips that many of us have picked up and now take for granted. At any rate enough con virgins suffer from killer hangovers, anxiety attacks, hypoglycaemia, or no place to sleep, that a collection of tips like this might be useful.
This is not the last word. This is, as it
were, a first draft, dashed off without consulting any references, just
off the top of my head. Will you be willing to add some ideas here for
future editions?
Wash all over, at least once a day.
You're not obliged to wear the same clothes all weekend, even if they are a costume.
Get at least five hours of sleep a day.
Drink plenty of water. You're likely to get dehydrated and not realize it.
Get at least two square meals a day. (I said "square meals", not donuts. And no, relish is not a vegetable!!)
Grazing off the consuite/hospitality refreshments all weekend is Bad Form. Contrary to a widespread impression, the concom is not attempting to feed you full meals for free all weekend.
Take turns talking, when attending panels: try not to interrupt! Try to speak concisely and to the point!
Take your own costumes, makeup, toiletries, etc. - don't count on people to share or lend theirs!
Volunteer some labour to the convention. Contrary to another widespread impression, the concom is not just putting on a variety show for you, and you are not just buying a ticket. What you bought is called a "membership" for good reason; you're a fan, and you're participating in an event made up by the attending fans, and you will get out of the event roughly as much as you put into it.
If you volunteer for security, keep this mantra in mind "Security does not mean pushing people around". It just boils down to checking people's badges at the artshow door, and like that.
If one thing leads to another, as it sometimes does ? did you bring condoms? And did you and your roommates arrange a signal, like a tie or a sock around the door handle, to indicate you don't want to be disturbed?
If you go to the bitch panel (in case you don't know, SF cons often schedule a panel to hear compliments and criticisms), try to comment on something you saw done well, or suggest how some drawback to the con could have been done better. At least, ask if there's some way to improve it.
Expect to get a cold or flu after the con; at least, a mild post-con depression, for a week or so. People often feel a bit of let-down afterwards.
About CUFF (the
Canadian Unity Fan Fund)
Fan funds are organized so that fans from different areas can visit fans from other areas. Since 1987 the Canadian Unity Fan Fund has been coordinated with the Aurora awards, alternating between the eastern and western halves of Canada, so that a deserving fan from one side of the country gets to show his/her face to fans hosting the Canvention on the other side.
For a list of past CUFF winners, link to Web URL
http://www.fentonnet.com/smithway/fan_funds/cufflist.html.
For some past trip reports, link to Web URL
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/~hrothgar/cuff.htm,
or write to Lloyd and Yvonne Penney at 1706 - 24 Eva Road, Etobicoke, ON
M9C 2B2 (penneys@netcom.com). The
incumbent fund administrator is Sherry Neufeld of Saskatoon; the 2001 CUFF
winner by acclamation is Murray Moore of Ontario, who will be attending
VCon 26/ Canvention 21.
The BCSFA Web page:
www3.bc.sympatico.ca/dh2/bcsfa/
The BCSFA listserv:
bcsfa@yahoogroups.com
Some SF newsgroups:
The FANAC repository of things fannish:
Robert Runté's NCF Guide to SF and Fandom:
Dennis Mullin's Aurora Awards page:
www.sentex.net/~dmullin/aurora/
Garth Spencer's "Royal Swiss Navy" page
(formerly a repository of things fannish, now mostly his online fanzines and collection of conrunning stuph)
The Canadian Unity Fan Fund page
www.vcn.bc.ca/~hrothgar/cuff.htm
Don Bassie's "Made in Canada" Web page
http://www.geocities.com/canadian_sf/
The SF Canada page
Chaz Baden's repository of things fannish
Jack Beslanwitch's SF Northwest Resources page