Fanzines

More zines in the mail!

Tightbeam 357 Tightbeam357

June 2024
What is Tightbeam? We are the N3F literary fanzine, not the novel and anthology fanzine, but the fanzine that tries to cover all tastes in fandom, such as anime, comics, cosplay, films, novels, biographies, poetry, music, short stories, food, …

Also received, an update from Bill Burns

New today at https://efanzines.com are:

  • Garth Spencer’s The Obdurate Eye #40
  • Octothorpe #111 a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line
  • Christopher J. Garcia’s Claims Department #73
  • Opuntia #574, edited by Dale Speirs — Bill
MonSFFA Website

Nasa ‘Earthrise’ astronaut dies at 90 in plane crash

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw99wj5e5q8o

Nasa ‘Earthrise’ astronaut dies at 90 in plane crash

By Max Matza, BBC News
Getty Images Anders in his spacesuitGetty Images

Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, who snapped one of the most famous photographs taken in outer space, has died in a plane crash at the age of 90.

Officials say a small aircraft he was flying crashed into the sea off Washington state.

Anders’ son Greg confirmed that his father’s body was recovered on Friday afternoon.

“The family is devastated. He was a great pilot. He will be missed,” a statement from the family reads.

Anders – who was a lunar module pilot on the Apollo 8 mission – took the iconic Earthrise photograph, one of the most memorable and inspirational images of Earth from space.

Taken on Christmas Eve during the 1968 mission, the first crewed space flight to leave Earth and reach the Moon, the picture shows the planet rising above the horizon from the barren lunar surface.

Anders later described it as his most significant contribution to the space programme.

Nasa Earth peaking out behind the Moon in iconic photoNasa

The image is widely credited with motivating the global environmental movement and leading to the creation of Earth Day, an annual event to promote activism and awareness of caring for the planet.

Speaking of the moment, Anders said: “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing that we discovered was the Earth.”

READ MORE: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw99wj5e5q8o

 

Astronomy News

CME to arrive here June 10th

Space Weather News for June 8, 2024
https://spaceweather.com
https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com

HARD RADIATION STORM: A powerful explosion on the sun today peppered Earth and nearby spacecraft with “hard” protons. The radiation storm fogged satellite cameras for hours. Following close behind, a CME is heading for Earth, and its arrival on June 10th could spark G2-class geomagnetic storms. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Solar flare alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts to receive instant text messages when strong solar flares are underway

Above: Today’s M9.7-class solar flare recorded by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory
MonSFFA Website

CLUB FIELD TRIP TO BIODOME IS THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 8!

The club will embark upon its 2024 field trip this Saturday afternoon, June 8! We will be visiting the Montreal Biodôme, an exhibition encapsulating five distinct ecosystems of the Americas, including Canada’s Laurentian Maple Forest, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Coastal Labrador. Join us as we view the many plants and animals of these natural environments!

As this is an outside-of-meeting excursion, online participants please note that our usual ZOOM-chat will not be possible. No ZOOM component will be incorporated into this event. We are looking at putting together a photo album of our visit to post on the club’s Website at a later date, for the benefit of our out-of-town members and other ZOOMers.

MonSFFen are asked to meet-up in the Biodôme’s main-entrance lobby between noon and 12:30PM—don’t be late!—with the intention of entering the exhibition together at 1:00PM, or possibly 1:30PM—the number of people allowed in at one time is controlled, so we aim to enter as a group during the same time block.

Tickets are $17.50/adult (price for Montreal-island and -area residents); discounts are available for students, seniors, and children. Each club member is responsible for their own transportation to and from the Biodôme, and for their own admission charge.

The Biodôme (4777 avenue Pierre-De Coubertin) is located at the base of the Olympic Stadium in the city’s East End (Metro Viau). Paid parking is available for anyone driving in; parking lot is located close by at 3000 rue Viau. Street parking in the area is also an option, but of course is subject to availability.

Visit the “Espace pour la vie” Website, Biodôme section, for more information: www.espacepourlavie.ca

**************************************

On June 6, 1944, Canadian forces were among the Allied armies that stormed the beaches of Normandy (France) in an ultimately successful bid to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe and defeat Adolph Hitler’s Germany.

Many did not return.

Others bore the battle scars, both physical and psychological, of that  day for the rest of their lives. Only a few remain with us, still, 80 years on.

We salute them all.

“Lest We Forget”

 

Fanzines

Zines to share + article on Quebec SF

  • Lots of zines came in while I was away.  I also received a couple of interesting links to click. This one was sent to me from Heath, editor of de Profundis.
Hannah Allen-Shim takes us on a tour of Quebec’s science fiction and fantasy scene, from its beginnings in the 1970s to its expansion and diversification in recent years.
February 5, 2024

https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/collection/familiar-and-unknown-worlds-quebec-science-fiction-fantasy/

  • I received this message from Ahrvid in Sweden:

Hi! Yes, I’m from Sweden. Sure you can post my zine whereever you want. I try to cover som interesting history material in every issue. I gsther you’re from Canada? In #120 I wrote about the Swedish-Canadian sf fan Nils Helmer Frome who did one of the earliest Canadian fanzines, perhaps the very first, and corresponded with HPLovecraft. It can be found here: https://fanac.org/fanzines/Intermission/Intermission120.pdf Best, –Ahrvid — ahrvid@hotmail.com//Follow @SFJournalen tweets for sf news//2024 firar Fantastiknovelltävlingen kvartseklet! https://www.freelists.org/post/skriva


Added today at https://efanzines.com are:

Octothorpe #109 a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty

Pete Young’s Every Place I Read Your Goddamn Fanzine #4 and #5

Leybl Botwinik’s CyberCozen – May 2024

Christopher J. Garcia’s Claims Department #70

Opuntia #572, edited by Dale Speirs

—
Bill

Eight new issues in the last six days!

Now at https://efanzines.com:

Henry Grynnsten’s Wild Ideas #47

Leigh Edmonds’ Ornithopter Mk.III

John Purcell’s new fanzine, Intermezzo #1

Pete Young’s Every Place I Read Your Goddamn Fanzine #7 & #8

Christopher J. Garcia’s Exhibition Hall #30

Christopher J. Garcia’s Claims Department #71

Christopher J. Garcia’s The Drink Tank #457

—
Bill

 

Astronomy News

The mysterious pairs of planets we still can’t explain

The mysterious pairs of planets we still can’t explain

By Jonathan O’Callaghan
Nasa/Esa/CSA/Mark McCaughrean/Sam Pearson The Orion Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (Credit: Nasa/Esa/CSA/Mark McCaughrean/Sam Pearson)
Nasa/Esa/CSA/Mark McCaughrean/Sam Pearson (Credit: Nasa/Esa/CSA/Mark McCaughrean/Sam Pearson)

We thought we broadly understood how planets and stars form. But the discovery of dozens of pairs of young planets in a nearby nebula threatens to turn that on its head.

They are worlds that simply defy explanation. Drifting through the Orion Nebula – an enormous cloud of dust and gas relatively close by in our galaxy – are what appears to be dozens of Jupiter-sized planets that don’t conform to the conventional understanding of how planetary systems form. Rather than being bound to a star like the Earth is in our own Solar System, these planets are free-floating through space in pairs. Astronomers who spotted them with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could only scratch their heads in awe at the discovery.

“These things shouldn’t exist,” says Simon Portegies Zwart, an astrophysicist at Leiden University in the Netherlands. “They go against everything we have learned about star and planet formation.”

In the subsequent months, efforts have been made to try and explain what’s going on. These planets, called Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or Jumbos, still cannot be fully explained. But we are getting closer to an answer – with crucial observations on the horizon that may solve the mystery once and for all.

READ MORE

Books

Locus Forthcoming Books: JUNE

Locus Forthcoming Books: JUNE 2024 

  • CHAZ BRENCHLEY • Rowany De Vere • NewCon Press UK, Jun 2024 (tp, hc, eb)
  • TOBIAS S. BUCKELL & DAVID KLE¬CHA • The Runes of Engagements • Tachyon Publications, Jun 2024 (tp, eb)
  • M.R. CAREY • Echo of Worlds • Orbit US/Redhook, Jun 2024 (tp, eb)
  • VAJRA CHANDRASEKERA • Rakesfall • Tordotcom, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • LINDSAY ELLIS • Apostles of Mercy • Titan Books UK, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • LINDSAY ELLIS • Apostles of Mercy • St. Martin’s, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • JOANNE HARRIS • The Moonlight Market • Orion UK/Gollancz, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • KEVIN HEARNE • The Hermit Next Door • Subterranean Press, Jun 2024 (na, hc, eb)
  • ALLAN KASTER, ED. • The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 8 • AudioText/Infinivox, Jun 2024 (an, tp, eb)
  • MERCEDES LACKEY & LARRY DIXON • Gryphon’s Valor • Titan Books UK, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • MERCEDES LACKEY & LARRY DIXON • Gryphon’s Valor • Astra House/DAW, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • SHARON LEE & STEVE MILLER • Ribbon Dance • Baen, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • YOON HA LEE • Moonstorm • Rebellion/Solaris UK, Jun 2024 (ya, tp, eb)
  • YOON HA LEE • Moonstorm • Penguin Random House/Delacorte, Jun 2024 (ya, hc, eb)
  • PREMEE MOHAMED • We Speak Through the Mountain • ECW Press, Jun 2024 (na, tp, eb)
  • TIM PRATT • The Knife and the Serpent • Angry Robot UK, Jun 2024 (tp, eb)
  • LILITH SAINTCROW • The Fall of Waterstone • Orbit UK, Jun 2024 (tp, eb)
  • LILITH SAINTCROW • The Fall of Waterstone • Orbit US, Jun 2024 (tp, eb)
  • JODI TAYLOR • Killing Time • Headline UK, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY • Alien Clay • Orbit US/Redhook, Jun 2024 (1st US, hc, eb)
  • ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY • Service Model • Tordotcom, Jun 2024 (hc, eb)
  • PAUL TREMBLAY • Horror Movie • Titan Books UK, Jun 2024 (c, hc, eb)
  • PAUL TREMBLAY • Horror Movie • HarperCollins/Morrow, Jun 2024 (c, hc, eb)
Awards, CSFFA / Aurora Award / Hall of Fame

Aurora Awards and other news from CSFFA

In this newsletter:

 

  1. 2024 Prix Aurora Awards Finalists
  2. Update on the Aurora Award Voters Package
  3. CSFFA Hall of Fame Update
  4. 2024 Professional Development Grant Recipient
  5. Personnel Changes on CSFFA’s Board of Directors

2024 Prix Aurora Award Finalists

This ballot is for works originally done in 2023 by Canadians.  The Aurora Awards are nominated by members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.  The top five nominated works were selected.  Additional works were included where there was a tie for fifth place.  An online awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, August 11th, 2024, at 5pm EDT, with hosts Mark Leslie Lefebvre and Liz Anderson.

Best Novel

Bad Cree, Jessica Johns, HarperCollins Canada
The Marigold, Andrew F. Sullivan, ECW Press
Moon of the Turning Leaves, Waubgeshig Rice, Random House Canada
Silver Nitrate, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Del Rey
The Valkyrie, Kate Heartfield, HarperVoyager

Best Young Adult Novel

The Crystal Key: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 2, Douglas Smith, Spiral Path Books
Flower and Thorn, Rati Mehrotra, Wednesday Books
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Cherie Dimaline, Tundra Books
The Grimmer, Naben Ruthnum, ECW Press
The Stars of Mount Quixx, S.M. Beiko, ECW Press

Best Novelette/Novella

Green Fuse Burning, Tiffany Morris, Stelliform Press
I AM AI, Ai Jiang, Shortwave Media
“The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World”, Nalo Hopkinson,
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, Random House
Pluralities, Avi Silver, Atthis Arts
Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee, Tordotcom

Best Short Story

“At Every Door A Ghost”, Premee Mohamed, Communications Breakdown, MIT Press
“The Dust Bowl Café”, Justin Dill, Augur Magazine, Issue 6.1
“If I Should Fall Behind”, Douglas Smith, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Sept/Oct Issue
“Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont”, P.A. Cornell, Fantasy Magazine, Issue 96
“Sink Your Sorrows to the Sea”, Chandra Fisher, Saltwater Sorrows, Tyche Books

Best Graphic Novel/Comic

Atana and the Firebird, Vivian Zhou, HarperCollins
A Call to Cthulhu, Norm Konyu, Titan Nova
Carson of Venus, Ronn Sutton (artist), Martin Powell (writer), and Maggie Lopez (colourist), webcomic
Cosmic Detective, Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt, art by David Rubin, Image Comics
It Never Rains, Kari Maaren, webcomic
The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao, with lettering by Kyla Aiko, Clarion Books
Wychwood, Ally Rom Colthoff, webcomic

Best Poem/Song

“As a, I want to, so I can”, Kelley Tai, Heartlines Spec, Issue 2, Spring/Summer 2023
“Awakening”, Tiffany Morris, Nightmare Magazine, Issue 134
“Lying Flat”, Lynne Sargent, Strange Horizons, Issue 9 October 2023
“predictive text”, Dominik Parisien, Augur, Issue 6.1
“Scarecrow”, David Shultz, Polar Starlight, Issue 9
“A Siren’s Call, A Banshee’s Wail, A Grandmother’s Dream”, Ai Jiang, Uncanny Magazine, Issue Fifty Four

Best Related Work

GAME ON!,  Stephen Kotowych & Tony Pi, editors, Zombies Need Brains LLC
No One Will Come Back for Us and Other Stories, Premee Mohamed, Undertow Publications
On Spec Magazine, Diane L. Walton, Managing Editor, The Copper Pig Writers’ Society
Skin Thief: Stories, Suzan Palumbo, Neon Hemlock Press
Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume One, Stephen Kotowych, editor, Ansible Press

Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration

Augur Magazine, Issue 6.1, cover art, Lorna Antoniazzi
Endless Library � Fantasy, interior art, Marcco Marin,
Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume One, Ansible Press
Green Fuse Burning, cover art, Chief Lady Bird, Stelliform Press
The Machines That Make Us, cover art, Brent Nichols, Tyche Books
The Passion of Ivan Rodriguez, cover art, Kayla Kowalyk, Tyche Books
Tales & Feathers Magazine, Issue 1, cover art, Jade Zhang

Best Fan Writing and Publication

Maria’s Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Short Fiction Roundup, Maria Haskins
Polar Borealis Magazine, Issues: 24, 25, 26, and 27, edited by R. Graeme Cameron
Polar Starlight Magazine, Issues: 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, edited by Rhea E. Rose
The Travelling TARDIS, Jennifer Desmarais, JenEric Designs
Young People Read Old SFF, edited by James Davis Nicoll, online

Best Fan Related Work

ephemera Reading Series, KT Bryski and Jen R. Albert, co-chairs, online
Scintillation 4, Jo Walton and René Walling, co-chairs, Montreal
Sip & Read / Sip & Social @ Librairie Saga Bookstore, Mathieu Lauzon-Dicso, bookstore owner
When Words Collide, Randy McCharles, chair, Calgary
The Worldshapers Podcast, Edward Willett, online

Note: Can*Con recused themselves from this year’s ballot even though they had enough nominations.

Voters Package Update

 

The ballot has been announced and we want to send our heartfelt congratulations to each and every nominee. It is an exciting time and now it is your turn to read and immerse yourself in some great work.

The Voter’s Package has a lot of moving parts that take some time to get all gathered into one place and put into the wonderful package we all look forward to. We are in the home stretch to get it out to you so you have as much time as possible to read. You will be able to get the package the week of May 20th. Watch the newsletters, our website and social media for availability.

Remember you are voting for the best of the best so give time and consideration to the material so kindly provided by the publishers, authors, and creators. That way you can make informed choices about what really speaks to you. Read. Enjoy. Vote. If you have any questions or are having problems with the download just drop us at line on our website.

Happy reading!

[]

CSFFA Hall of Fame Update

The 2024 CSFFA Hall of Fame inductees have been selected.

We wish to thank the jury for their work:
Ryah Deines; Gordon Johansen; Rebecca Lovatt; Michelle Sagara; and David Clink, chair.

We will officially announce the inductees later this summer.

We would like to take this moment to thank all of the nominees.
Those who were not selected will remain nominees for future years.

CSFFA members are encouraged to nominate Canadian SFFH creators. The nomination form can be found here. The Hall of Fame honours Canadian creators who have made a significant 20+ year impact in the speculative fields (SFFH). For more information on eligibility, see here.

2024* CSFFA Professional Development Grant Recipient

We launched our Professional Development Grant to further the growth of new writers or new to the genre to the wonderful world of science fiction and fantasy. We’re thrilled to announce the recipient for our first 2024 PD Grant period: Paola Ferrante.

Paola Ferrante is a woman writer living with depression. Her speculative short fiction collection, Her Body Among Animals (Book*hug 2023), received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, made the 2023 CBC Books fall reading list, and was eligible for a CSFFA Prix Aurora Award. Paola will use the grant for a book coach and editorial feedback to continue developing and completing revisions of her first novel, Completables.
(*we conduct two rounds of applications per year, and if you fit the eligibility bill, you are encouraged to apply in our next round by the Aug. 31st deadline).

Personnel Changes on CSFFA’s Board of Directors

Goodbye Clint, Goodbye Jeanette, Welcome Aymen

Clint Budd has retired as a CSFFA director. CSFFA as it is today is the result of years of his leadership as President of the Board. Clint stepped down as President in October, 2019. Until April 2023 Clint also annually organized the CSFFA Hall of Fame jury.

Clint is a CSFFA Hall of Fame nominee: read more about Clint here.

Jeanette Dover joined CSFFA’s Board of Directors as Treasurer in the summer of 2019. CSFFA had the benefit of Jeanette’s time for nearly five years. Jeanette also worked with board member Shannon Allen: Shannon administers CSFFA’s Professional Development Grant.

During the April 2024 Board meeting your Board voted to appoint Aymen Saidane as CSFFA’s new Treasurer.

Aymen’s bio (members will see it as part of the 2024 AGM documents): “Succeeded Jeanette Dover in April. Operations Manager at ECW Press and instructor of Publishing Finance at Humber College. Dreams of living on the moon in retirement.”

Montreal Science Fiction and Fantasy Association