Kylie Ding and Grant Watson are this year’s candidates for GUFF, the Get-Up-and-Over Fan Fund. The winner of the race will travel from Autralasia to Europe for Olympus 2012, next year’s Eastercon in London. GUFF is not limited by geography, so anyone may vote. The voting deadline is January 22, 2012.
Following David Howe’s resignation as Chairman of the BFS, Graham Joyce has been appointed acting chair. He has stated that the 2012 Fantasycon will not be held in Corby, as previously announced, and will not be chaired by Howe and Sam Stone. The organisation is searching for a new venue and will announce the location and dates as soon as they are finalised. Joyce will also appoint a committee to overhaul the Awards system and make it more transparent and enfranchise a broader base of readers.
Following allegations concerning the administration of the British Fantasy Awards, David Howe has resigned from his position on the British Fantasy Society despite exoneration of any wrong-doing from the organization. Ramsey Campbell, the President of the organization, notes that Howe had stepped up to procure the awards, but had nothing to do with the nominations or tabulations of results and has thanked Howe for his service, particularly regarding the past year.
Con-Version, a Calgary, Canada science fiction convention, has announced the cancellation of both their 2011 and 2012 conventions with no announced plans for events beyond that time. Con-Version was founded in 1984 and in 1996 hosted the Canvention. The 2005 Con-Version was held in conjunction with Westercon.
Contraception 23, an adults-only convention scheduled to be held in Kansas City the weekend of October 21-23, has been cancelled for this year. The con’s website notes that pre-registrations were low, but the convention is expected to resume next year with Contraception 24: Steampunk.
CanSMOF Inc. has announced two recipients of scholarships to help con-runners attend SMOFCon 29 in Amsterdam this December. Catherine Crockett of Toronto, Ontario and Megan Totusek of Maryville, Missouri will each receive scholarships of $1000 to help them attend.
Albacon, originally scheduled for the weekend of October 21-23, has been cancelled. Albacon 2012 is still scheduled to occur and memberships for this year’s event will either be rolled over or refunded, at the member’s request. The committee is considering a smaller event and possibly a writers workshop for the Thursday and/or Friday before this year’s Albacon was scheduled.
To celebrate the completion of Jo Walton’s series on Hugo Award winners, Tor.com has announced a drawing to give away a membership (either attending or supporting) to Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, scheduled to be held in Chicago from August 30-September 3, 2012.
CanSMOF Inc., the parent organization for Anticipation, has announced it will offer two scholarships to convention runners to help them attend this year’s SMOFCon in Amsterdam. One of the $1,000 scholarships is reserved for a Canadian conrunner with the other available to any applicant. This year’s SMOFCon is scheduled to run from December 2–4.
The nominees for the 2011 Pegasus Awards, presented for excellence in filk, have been announced. All ballots are due by October 17, 2011 and the awards will be presented at Ohio Valley Filk Fest, the weekend of October 21-23.
Best Filk Song
Best Classic Filk Song
Best Performer
Best Writer/Composer
Best Badass Song
Best Romantic Song