British Fantasy Society
Encyclopedia
British Science Fiction Association
The British Science Fiction Association was founded in 1958 by a group of British science fiction fans, authors, publishers and booksellers, in order to encourage science fiction in every form. It is an open membership organisation costing £26 per year for UK residents and £18 for the unwaged. The...
. The society is dedicated to promoting the best in the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and horror genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s.
In 2000, the BFS won the Special Award: Non-Professional at the World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
s. The society also has its own awards, the annual British Fantasy Award
British Fantasy Award
The British Fantasy Awards are administered annually by the British Fantasy Society and were first awarded in 1971. The membership of the BFS vote to determine recommendations, short-lists and winners of the awards...
s, created in 1971 at the suggestion of its president, the author Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell
John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...
. It held its first Fantasycon
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
in 1975.
The current British Fantasy Society has no direct connection with the earlier science fiction group using the same name from 1942 to 1946.
Publications
The BFS currently publishes three magazines. Prism, published four times a year, features news, reviews and columns. Dark Horizons, published twice a year, features fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and has enjoyed the patronage of many established authors, artists, critics and journalists. New Horizons, issued twice a year from 2008, publishes fiction and articles, but not poetry.The society continues to produce a remarkable series of publications, including numbered chapbook
Chapbook
A chapbook is a pocket-sized booklet. The term chap-book was formalized by bibliophiles of the 19th century, as a variety of ephemera , popular or folk literature. It includes many kinds of printed material such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales,...
s of works by William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction and science fiction. Early in his writing career he dedicated effort to poetry, although few of his...
, Michael Moorcock
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
, Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell
John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...
, Peter Tremayne, August Derleth
August Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
, and M. R. James
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James, OM, MA, , who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College . He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are regarded as among the best in the genre...
. Magazines previously published include Winter Chills (later re-named Chills), edited by Peter Coleborn, and Mystique: Tales Of Wonder, edited by Mike Chinn
Mike Chinn
Mike Chinn is a horror, fantasy and comics writer from Birmingham, England.Chinn has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story....
. Both these magazines were independent publications, but linked to the BFS, and in the case of Mystique, absorbed into Dark Horizons after a few issues. Paperback titles include Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
: Mythmaker for the Millennium by Suzanne J. Barbieri, and Annabel Says, a modern ghost story by Simon Clark
Simon Clark
Simon Clark is a horror novel writer from Doncaster, England. One of his most notable works is the novel The Night of the Triffids.Clark has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel, World Fantasy Award for Best Novella and British Fantasy Award...
and Stephen Laws
Stephen Laws
Sir Stephen Charles Laws, KCB, QC, is a British lawyer and Civil Servant who has served since 2006 as the First Parliamentary Counsel.As head of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, Laws is responsible for the drafting of all the government legislation which is laid before Parliament...
. In 2007 it published HP Lovecraft in Britain: a Monograph, written by Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones (author)
Stephen Jones is an editor of horror anthologies, and the author of several book-length studies of horror and fantasy films as well as an account of Lovecraft's early British publications....
and illustrated by Les Edwards
Les Edwards
Les Edwards is a British illustrator known for his work in the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres, and has provided numerous illustrations for book jackets, posters, magazines, record covers and games during his career...
.
Dark Horizons
Dark Horizons, the journal of the British Fantasy Society, has been published since 1971. Its contents and subject matter have varied, according to the tastes of the editors and the contents of the other magazines being published by the BFS at the same time, but generally include some combination of fantasy, science-fiction and horror-related fiction, articles, poetry and artwork.Its editors have included:
- Rosemary Pardoe, issues 1-4, 1971–72
- Adrian Cole, issues ?-6, 1973-?
- Adrian Cole and David A Sutton, issues 7-?
- Stephen JonesStephen Jones (author)Stephen Jones is an editor of horror anthologies, and the author of several book-length studies of horror and fantasy films as well as an account of Lovecraft's early British publications....
- Mike ChinnMike ChinnMike Chinn is a horror, fantasy and comics writer from Birmingham, England.Chinn has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story....
and John Merritt, issues 19–22, 1979–1981 - David A Sutton, issues 23–29, 1981-?
- David J. HoweDavid J. HoweDavid J. Howe is a British writer, journalist, publisher, and media historian.-Biography:David Howe was born in 1961 and established himself as an authoritative media historian through writing articles for fanzines and other publications...
- Peter Coleborn, Mike ChinnMike ChinnMike Chinn is a horror, fantasy and comics writer from Birmingham, England.Chinn has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story....
and Phil Williams, issue 37, 1998 - Peter Coleborn and Mike ChinnMike ChinnMike Chinn is a horror, fantasy and comics writer from Birmingham, England.Chinn has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story....
, issue 38, 1999 - Debbie Bennett, issues 39–46, 2001–2004
- Marie O'Regan, issue 47, 2005
- Marie O'Regan and Jenny Barber, issues 48-49, 2005–2006
- Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards, issues 50–52, 2006–2008
- Stephen Theaker, issues 53–57, 2008–2010
Members
Another notable member of the British Fantasy Society is the author Stephen GallagherStephen Gallagher
Stephen Gallagher is an English writer.He has written several novels and television scripts, including for the BBC television series Doctor Who — for which he wrote two serials, Warriors' Gate and Terminus — as well as for the series Rosemary & Thyme and Bugs, for two seasons of...
.