Tag: BSFA

BSFA London Meeting – January 25th: CHRISTOPHER PRIEST interviewed by Paul Kincaid

On Wednesday 25th January 2012 from around 7pm:

Christopher Priest (Author and critic)
will be interviewed by Paul Kincaid (Critic and author)

Location:
Cellar Bar, The Melton Mowbray Public House
18 Holborn, London EC1N 2LE
Map here

(Note that this is now the new permanent home for the London meetings.)

Nearest Tube: Chancery Lane (Central line)

All welcome! (No entry fee or tickets. Non-members welcome.)
Interview will commence at 7pm, but the room is open from 6pm (and fans will very likely be in the ground floor bar from 5pm).
There will be a raffle (£1 for five tickets), with a selection of sf novels as prizes.

FUTURE EVENTS:

22nd February 2012* – Liz Williams interviewed by Ian Whates
28th March 2012 – BSFA Awards Meeting
25th April 2012 – Sharyn November interviewed by Farah Mendlesohn

* Note that this is a month with five Wednesdays. The meeting will be on the fourth, not the last, Wednesday of the month.

The BSFA Apologises

The BSFA would like to apologise for a tweet made by one of its committee members on Friday 2nd September. As has been stressed from outset, we do not endorse either the choice of wording or the sentiments expressed in the offending tweet.

The BSFA committee is composed of a group of volunteers, all of whom are passionate about science fiction, all of whom are individuals with their own distinct views. In this regrettable instance a very personal viewpoint was expressed by one such using a personal account, but one still seen as closely linked to the organisation.

This should not have happened and steps have been taken to ensure that it does not happen again. A letter of apology was also sent to Mr Moffat, the victim of the malicious tweet, the same day. Mr Moffat has responded very graciously, assuring us that he understands the circumstances and has taken no offence with the BSFA.

Nonetheless, the BSFA do wish to apologise sincerely to all those who were offended on Mr Moffat’s behalf.

September BSFA London Meeting: Jo Fletcher Interview – 28th September 2011 – Free entry

 On Wednesday 28th September 2011 from around 7pm:

JO FLETCHER (Editor of Jo Fletcher Books) will be interviewed by Tom Hunter (Arthur C. Clarke Award Administrator).

Venue:

Upstairs Room
The Antelope Tavern
22, Eaton Terrace
Belgravia
London
SW1W 8EZ

Nearest Tube: Sloane Square (District/Circle)
Map:here.
All welcome! (No entry fee or tickets. Non-members welcome.)
Interview will commence at 7.00 pm, but the room is open from 6.00 (and fans in the downstairs bar from 5).
There will be a raffle (£1 for five tickets), with a selection of sf novels as prizes.

FUTURE EVENTS:

26th October 2011 – TANITH LEE interviewed by Nadia Van Der Westhuizen

23rd November 2011* – STEPHEN BAXTER interviewed by Paul Cornell

(No meeting in December.)

25th January 2012 – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST interviewd by Paul Kincaid

* Note that this is a month with five Wednesdays. The meeting will be on the fourth, not the last, Wednesday of the month.

Robert Holdstock Booklet followup

Last night, there was a roundtable discussion at the British Library in honour of Robert Holdstock, entitled “Heartwood: Telling the Matter of Britain”. It featured Stephen Baxter, Lisa Tuttle, Donald E Morse, Paul Kincaid (filling in for Brian Aldiss), and was chaired by Graham Sleight.

At it, Graham mentioned that the BSFA produced a booklet in memory of Holdstock earlier this year. Further, Stephen Baxter, BSFA President (among other things), read an excerpt or two from the booklet, from an interview which Paul Kincaid did with Rob.

Into the Woods: Robert Holdstock Remembered 

  • An Answer? – An Introduction by Paul Kincaid
  • Trone’s Wood – A Poem by Robert Holdstock
  • The Memory of Stories – Robert Holdstock interviewed by Paul Kincaid
  • Robert Holdstock: A Roundtable Discussion – With Niall Harrison, Stephen Baxter, Paul Kincaid, David Schwartz, and Liz Williams

If you were not a BSFA member at the time of that mailing and are interested in getting a hold of it, we still have some copies left!   Contact Martin McGrath  – martin@martinmcgrath.net.

August BSFA London Meeting: Kim Lakin-Smith Interview – 24th August 2011 – Free entry

On Wednesday 24th August 2011 from around 7pm:

KIM LAKIN-SMITH (science fiction and dark fantasy author - Tourniquet and Cyber Circus) will be interviewed by Paul Skevington (reviewer for SFCrowsnest and twice Arthur C. Clarke Award Judge).

Note that this is a month with five Wednesdays. The meeting will be on the fourth, not the last, Wednesday of the month.

Venue:

Upstairs Room
The Antelope Tavern
22, Eaton Terrace
Belgravia
London
SW1W 8EZ

Nearest Tube: Sloane Square (District/Circle)
Map:here.
All welcome! (No entry fee or tickets. Non-members welcome.)
Interview will commence at 7.00 pm, but the room is open from 6.00 (and fans in the downstairs bar from 5).
There will be a raffle (£1 for five tickets), with a selection of sf novels as prizes.

FUTURE EVENTS:

28th September 2011 – JO FLETCHER interviewed by Tom Hunter

26th October 2011 – TANITH LEE interviewed by Nadia Van Der Westhuizen

23rd November 2011* –  STEPHEN BAXTER interviewed by Paul Cornell

* Note that this is a month with five Wednesdays. The meeting will be on the fourth, not the last, Wednesday of the month.

July BSFA London Meeting: Sophia McDougall Interview – 27th July 2011 – Free entry

 On Wednesday 27th July 2011 from around 7pm:

SOPHIA McDOUGALL (author of the Romanitas trilogy) will be interviewed by Roz Kaveney (popular culture critic and author).

Venue:

Upstairs Room
The Antelope Tavern
22, Eaton Terrace
Belgravia
London
SW1W 8EZ

Nearest Tube: Sloane Square (District/Circle)
Map:here.
All welcome! (No entry fee or tickets. Non-members welcome.)
Interview will commence at 7.00 pm, but the room is open from 6.00 (and fans in the downstairs bar from 5).
There will be a raffle (£1 for five tickets), with a selection of sf novels as prizes.

FUTURE EVENTS:

24th August 2011* – KIM LAKIN-SMITH interviewed by Paul Skevington

28th September 2011 – JO FLETCHER interviewed by Tom Hunter

26th October 2011 – TANITH LEE interviewed by Nadia Van Der Westhuizen

* Note that this is a month with five Wednesdays. The meeting will be on the fourth, not the last, Wednesday of the month.

 

June BSFA London Meeting: Gillian Polack Interview – 30th June 2011 – Free entry

On Thursday 30th June 2011 from around 7pm:

GILLIAN POLACK (Australian writer of speculative fiction, editor and historian) will be interviewed by Maureen Kincaid Speller (Critic and reviewer).

Note that this meeting is on the fifth Thursday of the month.  There is no BSFA London Meeting on Wednesday 22nd June.

Venue:

Upstairs Room
The Antelope Tavern
22, Eaton Terrace
Belgravia
London
SW1W 8EZ

Nearest Tube: Sloane Square (District/Circle)
Map:here.
All welcome! (No entry fee or tickets. Non-members welcome.)
Interview will commence at 7.00 pm, but the room is open from 6.00 (and fans in the downstairs bar from 5).
There will be a raffle (£1 for five tickets), with a selection of sf novels as prizes.

FUTURE EVENTS:

27th July 2011 – SOPHIA MCDOUGALL interviewed by Roz Kaveney

24th August 2011* – KIM LAKIN-SMITH interviewed by Paul Skevington

28th September 2011 – JO FLETCHER: interviewer TBC

* Note that this is a month with five Wednesdays. The meeting will be on the fourth, not the last, Wednesday of the month.

BSFA/SFF Mini-Convention and AGMs

The Science Fiction Foundation and the British Science Fiction Association will hold their joint Mini-Convention and Annual General Meetings on Saturday, 4th June 2011. This event is FREE to attend.

The SFF’s guest is Mike Ashley. He has written many books including most recently Out of This World, the book accompanying the current British Library Exhibition. Other notable works include Gateways to Forever (Liverpool University Press, 2007) and The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction (Robinson Publishing, 2002). He was awarded the Pilgrim Award in 2002 by the Science Fiction Research Association for his lifetime achievement in science fiction research.

The BSFA’s Guest is Tricia Sullivan. Tricia’s novel Lightborn was shortlisted for both the 2011 Clarke Award and the 2010 BSFA Award, and among many other nominations and awards she won the Clarke Award in 1999 with Dreaming in Smoke. We will be discussing her book Maul here on Torque Control later this month.

9:30am – Doors open
10:00 – Welcome
10:05 – Women writers, science fiction and Britain in 2011- panel, with Niall Harrison, Tricia Sullivan, Pat Cadigan, Shana Worthen (moderator)
11:00 – Mike Ashley – interview with Edward James
12:00 noon – BSFA AGM
1:30pm – SFF AGM
2:00 -Tricia Sullivan – interview with Tom Hunter
3:00 -The State of SF publishing – panel, with Mike Ashley, Simon Spanton, Jenni Hill, and Ian Whates (moderator)
4:00 – Conclusion

Location: The Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, on Piccadilly, in London W1J 0BQ. Between Piccadilly Circus and Green Park Underground stations. (Note that the relevant section of the Victoria line will NOT be running that day.)

There are no facilities for serving food at the venue. The gathering place for those not wishing to attend all the individual events of the day is the King’s Head, 10 Stafford Street, London, W1S 4RX, phone 020 7493 0337