University of South Florida Scholar Commons Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications 8-1-1990 SFRA ewN sletter 179 Science Fiction Research Association Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/scifistud_pub Part of the Fiction Commons Scholar Commons Citation Science Fiction Research Association, "SFRA eN wsletter 179 " (1990). Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications. Paper 124. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/scifistud_pub/124 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ISFRA Newsletter I July/August 1990, No. 179 In This Issue: President's Message (Hull) 3 Pioneer Announcement (Williams) ~ 5 Pioneer Presentation (fatsumi) 6 Pioneer Acceptance (Hollinger) 8 Pilgrim Presentation (Cummins) 11 Pilgrim Acceptance (fymn) 13 Nominating Committee Report (Hardesty) 16 Current Works in Progress 17 Studies for New Literary Genre Series Sought (Barron) 18 The Shape of Films to Come (Krulik) 18 Recent and Forthcoming Books (Barron) 22 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes (Mead) 24 Business Meeting Minutes (Mead) 27 Miscellany (Barron) 29 Directory Update (Mead) 30 Call for Papers (Slusser) 33 Feedback 34 Campbell & Sturgeon Awards (Gunn) 35 Editorial (Harfst) 36 REVIEWS: Non-Fiction: Ellison, Harlan Ellison's Watching (Klossner) 37 Engle, Rod Serling: The Dreams and Nightmares of Life in the Twilight Zone (Klossner) 38 Huntington, Rationalizing Genius (Mellott) 39 laValley, Invasion ofthe BodySnatchers (Klossner) .41 Weinberg, Dziemianowirtz, and Greenberg, Rivals of Weird Tales (Heller) .42 Fiction: Asprin, M. Y. T.H. Inc.jPhule's Company (Mende) .43 Blair, A Landscape ofDarkness (Parkin-Speer) .44 Mason, Arachne (Marx) .45 Young Adult: Huff, Gate ofDarkness, Circle ofLight (Becker) .46 Knaff, Manhattan (Attebery) .47 McGowen, The Ma ician's'Challen e Collett .47 SFRANewsh .Ily/August 1990 The SFRA Newsletter Published ten times a yearforthe Science Fiction Research Association by Alan New~o~er, Hypatia Press, Eugene, Oregon. Copyright @ 1990 by the SFRA. Editorial correspondence: Betsy Harfst, Editor, SFRA Newsletter, 2357 E. Caly~so, Mesa,. ~ 85204. Send changes of address and/or inquiries concerning sUbscriptions to the Treasurer, listed below. SFRA EXECUTIVE Joe De Bolt (1979-80) James Gunn (1981-82) COMMITTEE Patricia S. Warrick (1983-84) Donald M. Hassler (1985-86) President Elizabeth Anne Hull Past Editors of the News- Liberal Arts Division letter William Rainey Harper College Fred Lerner (1971-74) Palatine, Illinois 60067 Beverly Friend (1974-78) Roald Tweet (1978-81) Vice-President Elizabeth Anne Hull (1981- Neil Barron 84) 1149 Lime Place Richard W. Miller (1984-87) Vista, California 92083 Robert A. Collins (1987-89) Secretary Pilgrim Award Winners David G. Mead J. O. Bailey (1970) English Department Marjorie Hope Nicolson Corpus Christi State University (1971 ) Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 Julius Kagarlitski (1972) Jack Williamson (1973) Treasurer I. F. Clarke (1974) Thomas J. Remington Damon Knight (1975) English Department James Gunn (1976) University of Northern Iowa Thomas D. Clareson (1977) Cedar Falls, Iowa 50614 Brian W. Aldiss (1978) Darko Suvin (1979) Immediate Past President Peter Nichols (1980) William H. Hardesty Sam Moskowitz (1981) English Department Neil Barron (1982) Miami University H. Bruce Franklin (1983) Oxford, Ohio 45056 Everett Bleiler (1984) Samuel R. Delany (1985) Pioneer Award George Slusser (1986) Veronica Hollinger (1990) Gary K. Wolfe (1987) Joanna Russ (1988) Past Presidents of SFRA Ursula K. LeGuin (1989) Thomas D. Clareson (1970-76) Marshall Tymn (1990) Arthur O. Lewis, Jr. (1977-78) 2 SFRA Newsletter, No. 179, july/August 1990 President's Message THE TIME CAPSULE THING It's happened again. Today I received the May and June Issues of the newsletter In a single envelope. And there were my own words staring at me from the dark dawn of pre-history; In my President's Message for May I was discussing Julius Kagarlitskl's lecture tourthis spring, but between the writing and the reading news camethat Kagarlitski has had a heartattack and bypass surgery before he left the United States. It is not a fate I would have wished for our Pilgrim winner. However, last I heard he was recovering well and will be back in Moscow, should any members want to write him there. As I write this In mid-July, expecting it to be delivered in late August, I wonder what other unexpected developments will occur by then. I'm not the only one to do so. At the SFRA meeting in Long Beach, at the Campbell Awards Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, and at Chimera, a new "sercon" convention in Schaumburg, Illinois, this past weekend, we discussed (among many other things, of course) the implications of the endless rapid shifts in global politics that we hear about in every day's news. It remains to be seen what impact these changes will have on the writers of sf, but it seems certain that those on the cutting edge will not be writing the same fiction they might have written in the 1980's. I can't help feeling somehow personally responsible for some of this. I seem to have a particular knack for making plans to visit a country or area of the world which will become unstable before I getthere. We had justdecided to spend our winter break in lovely Grenada before President Reagan sent In the U.S. Marines. In the case of our 48-hour visit to Thailand while we were going around the world in 1985, that country famous for its bloodless coups had a one-daycoupd'etat--in which five peopledied--and we left undermartial law. And this past winter we chose to visit Latin America just when President Bush invaded Panama. Perhaps we can spread our influence to another continent. Reading Mike Resnick's Paradise this spring rekindled my long-standing desire to visit East Africa while it's still possible to view vast numbers of wild animals in their natural habitats. So I shouldn't be surprised at recent events in Kenya, which make our travel plans look pretty shaky. But maybe serendipity will take us somewhere even more interesting; who knows? Next stop, anyway, will be The Hague, for the World SF meeting in con­ junction with the worldcon. Each year World SF gives awards (called the Karels, after Karel Capek) for excellence in the translation of science fiction. I am always interested in receiving nominations from SFRA members for the Karels. Americans have won very few of them, mostly because we do so little 3 SFRA Newsletter, No. 179, July/August 1990 translation. I would very much appreciate It if any SFRA memebers could let me have recommendations of a worthy translator; you need not be a Wortd SF member to make a suggestion. For that matter, the translator need not be an American, either. Speaking oftravel, at the Campbell conference, Jim Gunn was full of stories about his just-completed trip to the Far East: Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan. From Singapore he brought greetings from Klrpal Singh, whom many SFRA members will remember. (And who promises to renew his membership in SFRA.) And Jim reports that there is a surprising interest in sf among those with whom he met in TaipeI. From stili another corner of the globe I've received the Brazilian edition of Orson Scott Card'sEnder's Game from Aleph Publicadoes ofSao Paulo. Since I don't read Portuguese, if any memberdoes and would like the book I'll be glad to pass It along. Elsewhere In this issue you can read the minutes of the Executive Commit­ tee and Business meetings In Long Beach, as well as the Treasurer's financial report. Now It's time to think of 1991. As of this writing, we have two offers for hosting the annual meeting nextyear. Both have been asked tosubmit awritten bid for the consideration of the Executive Committee. A decision will be reached as quickly as feasible, and I hope to make a definite announcement on the 1991 site selection in the next newsletter. A final request: we need people qualified and willing to serve on the Pilgrim and Pioneer Committees. I will be making the appointments by October, if at all possible, so the committees can organize and function smoothly. If you are interested in serving on either ofthese committees orwish to nominate another member, please drop me a note with any relevant supporting information. --Elizabeth Anne Hull 4 SFRA Newsletter, No. 179, July/August 1990 1990 Pioneer Announcement 1990 PIONEER AWARD STANDARDS Takayukl Tatsuml, Russell Letson, and I are delighted to have this opportu­ nityto give thefirst Pioneer Award to a fine piece ofSF criticism. In preparation for the award we read as widely as possible both In genre pUblications like Foundation, Science Fiction Studies, and The New York Review of Science Fiction and in non-genre publications like PMLA and The American Transcen­ dental Quarterly, and also looked at several pieces nominated by individuals. What we were looking for was an article with a reasonably broad subject that embodied the high standards of scholarshipwhich-we hope--are the goal of SFRA. We therefore eliminated from consideration a number of excellent articles which seemed too narrowly focused (on a single author, for example), which had relevance to only a small area within the genre, or which were reprints. What oursearch brought outwas the high qualityofcriticism in thefield and the difficulty in settling on just one article. We are therefore publishing a "short list" of recommended articles in addition to the winner. It is interesting to note that it includes articles by no less than three former Pilgrim winners! 1990 PIONEER AWARD Veronica Hollinger.