~ Three Report Progress HELICON The 1993 Hastercon and Eurocon 8-12 April 1993, Hotel de France, Jersey Progress Report 3 - September 1992 Contents eee Committee and Credits 2, Editorial 3 World SF 4 Moving Pictures 5 Your First Con... 6 Sg The Programme 8 The Masquerade 9 The Art Ww 10 Con-Go! 10 Eurocon Award Rules 11 Travel Information le General Information 13 Membership List 14 The Committee Tim lingworth (Chairman) Chris Cooper Kob Meades (Treasurer) Martin Easterbrook Steve Davies (Secretary) John Richards Kathy Westhead Eddie Cochrane Mike Westhead Mark Young Martin Hoare European Liaison: Bridget Wilkinson Overseas Agents Larry van de Putte Thomas Recktenwald ae Burns Kotter 5 Lindenstr. 11 23 Kensington Court 1186WH Amstelveen Saarlouis-Roden Hempstead Netherlands W-6630 NY 11550 Germany USA Credits: This PR was produced by the Helicon Publications Sub-committee: Giulia de Cesare, Eddie Cochrane, Chirts Cooper, Sean Ellis, Jolin Richards and Mark Young, Thanks also to Sylvia Starshinefor the cover artwork, Jolin Harold, for the article on the Art Show, and Harry Harrison for his article on World SF. PRS was typeset using Ventura Publisher2.0 anda HP Laserjet LIP with Pacific Page Postscript card. Copyright © Helicon September 1992 2 Helicon-The 1993 Bastercon and Eurocon Oh No - Not Another PR! The above words ran through our travelling but, fear not, the travel minds whenfaced with producing booking forms will be sent to you, Helicon PR3. We wondered if we together with the hotel booking would weeverfill it, but within half forms, around about November time. an hour our thoughts had changedto what could we leave out, given the Membership of Helicon is growing limited space available! steadily. We apologise for having to reduce the font size of the Oneof the major developments that membership list but we could not we mustinclude in this PR is that afford any more space for it! As a World SF, the international Eurocon we are especially interested Organisation of science fiction in details of the geographical poes has decided (with the distribution of the membershipsofar. €en encouragement of the Helicon To this end, we haveprintedthelist in committee) to hold its 1993 meeting at country order. Helicon. This will mean thata number of writers, editors and other well- And finally, Con-go! the quiz to end known SF professionals will be all quizzes is triumphantly marchin attending the convention. We are on. Did yougetall the answers to the grateful to Harry Harrison for eee in PR2? Well whether you pigs us withthe article on World id or not, we challenge you, yet F in this PR. again, to scour you memory and your book shelves for those elusive Weare pleasedto be able to give you numerals. more details of the programme we have planned, although, as ever in these situations,all programmeitems are subject to change overthe nextsix months. However, we hopethebrief EASTERCON descriptions of some of the items and streams will whet your appetite. We f ‘i have also included a cou le of articles i on the Masquerade, Art ghow and our fn [ual | { Visual Images stream. | For members who are new to conventions we have included an € article QQ € 5 =p 8 that = will give you some idea of S whatyou canexpect at Helicon. A lot of members are understandably keen to get information on travel to Bids for the 1995 British National Jersey. We have included a few details Science Fiction Convention are of thi options open to you for now being sought. It would be helpful if details of The Helicon programmestarts proposed conventions could be the evening ofThursday 8th and forwardedto the convention address continues until Monday 12th before the start of Helicon so that we April 1993. can cater for presentations, bid parties, etc. Helicon-The 1993 Eastercon and Eurocon World SF by Harry Harrison I have been an Esperantist for almost The next meeting was organised by 50 years. I believe in one world with Sam J. Lundwall in Sweden - also a one world language. I have been a neutral country. Even more science fiction reader and writer foran nationalities were represented this even greater amountof time, sol take time. Since then, meetings have been great pleasure in the recognition that held in Italy, England, Russia, science fiction is a world literature. | Yugoslavia, Hungary and Canada. take even greater pleasure in having World SF had been appropriately helped this fact to be recognised by named. being there when World SF was born. Because of the widespread It all began with the SF Writers membership along with currency and Conference in Dublin. travel restrictions, the central officers For many years I had enjoyed of World SF have been hard-pressed correspondence with SF writers in to keep the organisation going. They many countries. I had met some of abganise the international meetings, them - but none from the Eastern Bloc. publish a bulletin and a membership Since Ireland is a neutral country and directory, and some members have nota member of NATO,I thought that even edited anthologies to keep a meeting there might get writers World SF financially afloat. The from these countries who had never thanks of the entire membership go travelled to the West before. With the out to these officers including Sam J. official backing of the Irish Arts Lundwall, Frederik Pohl, Brian W. Council, ] organised a Conference and Aldiss, Gianfranco Viviani and the invitations wentout. Malcolm Edwards. The meeting was held in September World SF began asa straight-forward writers’ conference, and has since 1976 and was most successful. Not grown into an organisation that only writers, but editors, translators stretches right around the globe. The and artists - all associated professionally with Science Fiction - 1991 meeting in China showed both the size and importance of World SF. showed up. There were no Russians at this first conference, but writers If there is asingleidea that exemplifies from other Communist countries did World SF, it is the fact that we can attend. When I held a second communicate freely acrossbarriers of conference a few years later, country and language. Wedo not talk representatives from even more about freedom - we exercise it. Not countries attended, including the only do writers from every country chairmanof the Soviet Writers Union cometo our international meetings- along with the Secretary of the Science but wealso go to them. Our presence Fiction Branch of the Union. in these countries, as representatives from many lands, is witness to the At this meeting it was decided to form universality of science fiction. an organisation to take over what had been, up until then, a one-man This is not empty political rhetoric but operation. The name "World SF" was a simple description of fact. If you are chosen and I waselected President. professionally involved in any way National chairmen were elected from with SF, come along to our meetings representatives then present. at Helicon and see for yourself. 4 Helicon-The 1993 Eastercon and Eurocon MovingPictures Oneof the items run at WINCON II Over the past few months Peter and wasan illustrated panel ‘Visual Tricks Andy have been contacting - Literary Styles’. The original production companies for clips to purposeof this item was to compare illustrate particular techniques and the critical approachto film prevalent recruiting expat witnesses, includin in fandom withthat appliedto books. the man who actually built the The contention wasthatfilms tended Thunderbirds. Their work has to suffer from a lack of appreciation of the techniques employed and was therefore regarded as an inherently inferior medium. What was going to be done was to identify Teecy devices and then show the film equivalent- linking, for example, the use of the sound track to purple prose. Before too long, however, it became clear that this was somewhat premature and that there was no point playing games with film techniques if the audience did not know whatwasbeing talked about. The nature of the item wastherefore changed from a subtle dig at the literary establishment to an introduction to cinematic "tricks of the trade". sometimes been difficult - for example, Peter’s attempts to get The panel comprised Peter Wright, a Paramountto actually read his letter former_professional photographer, requesting permission to use film Steve Green, film critic for various clips, and stop sending him form magazines, Andy Morris, one of letters thanking him forhis interest in fandom’s chief projectionists and Star Trek. However, they have Andy Croft, WINCON’s technical persevered and are still coming up chief who has worked behind the with ideas. Their plan to make film a scenes with just about every theatre with the South Hants Science Fiction group in Portsmouth. Group and use that to show the The item was well received but in a various stages of production caused fifty minute slot there wasreally no corsHevace consternation amongst waythat the subject could be explored the less photogenic members of that properly. Helicon intends to rectif body. (Unplotigentc? Shurely not!) this situation by allowing Andy Croft Wehopethatthis stream will attract and Peter Wright to return to their ean with even passing interest a subject in a series of in-depth items. in film and other visual media. The These will cover lighting, model films shownat Helicon will be chosen work, computer animation,travellin to illuminate the topics raised by these matte (everyone’s favourite uncle discussions and in line with our and that most underrated tool of the themes:- Borders and Barriers, and movie maker’s trade, the actor. Recreationin the Future. Helicon-The 1993 Eastercon and Eurocon Your First Con... by Giulia de Cesare If your thoughts are anything like You now have a drink, fliers from mine at my first con, they’re going publishers, local bookshopsorfuture somethinglike this: "I’ve goneto lot conventions, a programme book and a of trouble and a lot of expense and a short guide referred to as the taken a lot of ribbing from my family "Read-Me".