Former Clarion director Lister Matheson, 63, died January 19, 2012 of complications from a form of aplastic anemia. Born May 19, 1948 in Glasgow, Scotland, Matheson spent nearly a decade as director of the Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers’ Workshop when it was held at Michigan State University in East Lansing MI. He retired [...]

The 2013 World Fantasy Convention has announced writers Richard Matheson and his son Richard Christian Matheson as the first author guests of honour for the convention, to be held October 31 – November 3, 2013 in Brighton, England. For more information, see the World Fantasy 2013 website.

Acting chair Graham Joyce announced an Extraordinary General Meeting of the British Fantasy Society to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, December 9, 2011 at the Mug House near London Bridge. The meeting will consider a proposal to reorganize the BFS Awards and will elect new officers to the BFS Committee. More information, including [...]

The jurors for the 2011 Shirley Jackson Award have been announced. They are: Laird Barron, Matthew Cheney, Maura McHugh, Kaaron Warren, and Gary K. Wolfe. The Shirley Jackson Award is an award recognizing the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing and are given for the best work of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic in [...]

The long-time home of author J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) in Shepperton, UK, has gone on the market. The asking price for the house is just under £320,000.  Ballard lived in the small, suburban residence for 49 years, and wrote many of his most famous works there, including Crash and Cocaine Nights. According to reporter Rob Sharp, it [...]

Freelance director Josh Costello adapted Cory Doctorow’s novel Little Brother for the stage and is about to start production for a show that will run in January and February 2012 at The Custom Made Theatre Co. in San Francisco CA.  This is the second adaptation of Doctorow’s novel, and it unrelated to the production that [...]

The 2010 Stoker Award winners have been announced. Superior Achievement in a Novel A Dark Matter, Peter Straub (DoubleDay) Horns, Joe Hill (William Morrow) Rot and Ruin, Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster) Dead Love, Linda Watanabe McFerrin (Stone Bridge Press) Apocalypse of the Dead, Joe McKinney (Pinnacle) Dweller, Jeff Strand (Leisure/Dark Regions Press) Superior Achievement [...]

Chicon 7 won their bid to host the 2012 Worldcon in voting held at Aussicon 4. The convention will be held August 30-September 3, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago IL. Mike Resnick will be Author Guest of Honor; Rowena Morrill will be Artist Guest of Honor; Story Musgrave will be Astronaut Guest of [...]

Gaming-related publisher Black Library has announced a new downloadable short fiction magazine, Hammer and Bolter, to launch in October as part of their new e-book publishing initiative. Each issue will sell for £2.50, and the debut issue will feature a previously-unpublished Warhammer story by John Brunner, who died in 1995. Other authors contributing work to [...]

A badly burned body presumed to be that of author Fergus Gwynplaine MacIntyre was found June 25, 2010 in Brooklyn NY. He apparently committed suicide by setting fire to his apartment. Andrew Porter has details. (Update: New York police have confirmed that the body was MacIntyre’s.) His exact age (and many other biographical details) are [...]