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| Abbreviation | BSFA |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Science Fiction Association (SFA) |
| Formation | 1958 |
| Legal status | Private company limited by guarantee |
| Purpose | An organisation of readers, authors, booksellers & publishers for the appreciation and promotion of science fiction in every form. |
| Location | |
Chair | Allen Stroud |
| Website | bsfa.co.uk |
The British Science Fiction Association Limited is an organisation founded in 1958 by a group of British academics, science fiction fans, authors, publishers and booksellers in order to promote the writing, criticism, and study of science fiction in every form. The first President of the BSFA was Brian Aldiss. Pat Cadigan became president in August 2020, and Tade Thompson became the Vice President in June 2021.
The BSFA Awards are presented annually by the British Science Fiction Association, based on a vote of BSFA members and members of the British national SF convention (Eastercon). The BSFA also nominates two out of five of each year's judging panel for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.
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Transcription
I'm Alexandra Westbrook, I'm a junior at MIT, and I'm currently the Lady High Embezzler of the MIT Science Fiction Society, and that is our Treasurer position. We aim to have 100% of all speculative fiction written in English—however, in reality we probably have around 90%. Speculative fiction includes science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and forms associated with these. All together we have 65,000 books, and this is not including magazines, media, and fan zines. We're looking to see if we can get more space, because as you can see from a lot of the books put in front of other books, we are out of space. Favorites, um... there's so many awesome books. Jhereg is a short light fantasy novel by Steven Brust; it has a lot of popularity with the people around here. It's about an assassin and his pet jhereg; the jhereg is on the cover. Another one of our favorites is The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. It's about a con man basically; set in a fantasy series. Charles Stross is a computer scientist turned science fiction writer, and the Atrocity Archives is a book of his about a computer scientist turned Lovecraftian magician. The society was originally formed in 1949, with just a few students, and all they had was a crate of books. But, today in 2012, we have 300 members and 30 librarians. So, this is the original library at MIT. Our original collection lived in it; it was stored in students' dorm rooms and moved around from dorm room to dorm room until we actually got a physical library to store our books in. It currently exists as a time capsule only to be opened at the appropriate age. Our gavel block, the thing we bang the gavel on in front, is a solid piece of titanium, and it was found in MITSFS and used for that for a while and some professor took it to Congress and used it to show off, 'hey this is what the Russians are making their submarines out of,' and then brought it back. MITSFS meeting called to order, Friday, April 20, 2012, at 66.6 kiloseconds SST. P. Weaver, President/Skinner, presiding, Lemur, OnSec, recording; Lemur will now read last week's minutes [Lemur reads minutes]. We run meetings and our meetings are more like, science fiction fans come together and talk about geeky stuff. Business doesn't take care of there, business happens in a smoke-filled room other times. All for? All against? Chickens? Motion passes 9-0-2 plus Spain. [bangs gavel] And the meeting is adjourned at 68.4 kiloseconds SST. We have a complete obsession with bananas. There's a banana shark and a banana mole, and a banana egg above you, and there's a banana colored couch. The circulating banana. You can check it out if you want. It was covered in armor, to protect it. Every once in a while we grab a bunch of nerf weapons and attack HRSFA—or they attack us— which is the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association. So, Psi Phi is actually the sorority associated with the MIT Science Fiction Society. We're not an official sorority, but every once in a while we'll show up to the Greek Griller, and confuse lots of people. Especially because they originally look at us and they're like, "Psi phi...? Ohhh."
History
The BSFA was the fourth attempt to set up a national organisation of science fiction fans in Britain. The first attempt, the Science Fiction Association (SFA), was set up in 1937 by fans who attended the first British science fiction convention in Leeds in May of that year, and was "devoted to the stimulation of interest in science fiction and scientific progress". It was disbanded on the outbreak of World War II barely two years later.
The second attempt was called the British Fantasy Society (no connection with the later organisation of the same name), and was established in June 1942 by many of the people behind the SFA with the objective of giving members better access to science fiction through its extensive library. The British Fantasy Society did not last long and was wound-up in November 1946.
The third attempt was in 1948, when Captain Ken Slater proposed the founding of a new national fan organisation. From this, the Science Fantasy Society was born. Slater was later posted to the army in Germany and the remaining committee members did not share his "flaming enthusiasm" for the organisation; in September 1951 the SFS was declared to be "a glorious flop".
By the late 1950s, British science fiction fandom was in serious decline. The annual Eastercon had become a purely social event with a rapidly diminishing attendance (150 in 1954, 115 in 1955, 80 in 1956, fewer than 50 in 1958). Spurred by this, the 1958 Eastercon held in Kettering held a discussion on the whole future of British fandom. It was agreed that both British fanzines and science fiction conventions had become inward-looking and had moved so far away from science fiction that they were not attractive to newcomers. It was decided that the way forward was a new national organisation devoted to the serious study of science fiction that would also carry material in its publication about fandom. After considerable debate on the name ("science fiction" was considered a stigma in dealing with the Press), the BSFA was formed, and by its first anniversary it had over 100 members.
Publications
The BSFA is responsible for four publications:
- Vector – the critical journal of the BSFA, launched in 1958. Published two to three times a year.
- Focus – the BSFA's writers magazine, launched in 1979. Published twice a year.
- The BSFA Review – a digital only magazine, launched in late 2017. Published approximately four times a year.
- Fission – a digital only fiction anthology, launched in 2021. Published once a year.
Previous publications include:
- Tangent – a fiction magazine, published in 1965 and 1977–1978.
- Paperback Inferno (initially Paperback Parlour) – a review magazine which ceased publication in 1992 with issue 97.[1]
- Matrix – a news magazine which ceased publication in 2007, with issue 186.
- The Quantum – a newsletter which succeeded Matrix and lasted for six issues, ceasing publication in 2012.
References
- ^ Kevin R. Smith (2020). Paperback Inferno Index. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- Weston, Peter: "Behind the Scenes: Origins", Vector #250, November/December 2006.
External links
- The BSFA
- Vector: The Critical Journal of the BSFA
- Index of BSFA magazines Archived 2007-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
- The Roots, Birth and Early Days of the BSFA by Rob Hansen Archived 2004-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
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This page was last edited on 17 March 2024, at 02:49