JAAM 26 – Tim Jones

Five More Good Things: Website, Video, Book, Blog, and Fanzine

Posted on April 15, 2009

It’s only a week since I did my most recent post of congratulations and good news, and there are already more good things to report.

Several of them have some relationship to JAAM, the annual literary magazine based in Wellington. I guest-edited Issue 26 of JAAM in 2008, and since it appeared, I have enjoyed seeing various writers who featured in the issue – as well as some who didn’t – achieve greater prominence. I was also pleased that the issue sold well enough to be reprinted – copies are still available in at least some of the bookshops which stock JAAM.

The Website: The first notable achievement belongs to JAAM itself. In the past, information about JAAM could be found at various places online, and the information wasn’t always consistent from site to site. Now, JAAM publisher Helen Rickerby has created a comprehensive JAAM website, where you can find out about past, present and planned future issues.

The Video: The aforementioned Helen Rickerby is a woman of many talents, among them poet, publisher and blogger. Now she’s a video poet as well. Check out the video she made to accompany her poem Calling You Home – and her explanation of how she made it.

The Book: Michele Powles, whose story “A Body of Land” appeared in JAAM 26, has a new novel out which has been getting good reviews: Weathered Bones. It has Wellington, weather, lighthouses and ghosts. It sounds like my sort of book.

The Blog: Ross Brighton has a blog focusing on experimental poetry and language poetry. Those aren’t things I know much about, so I intend to keep an eye on Ross’s blog and learn.

The Fanzine: After high school, my next ventures into writing and publishing were as the editor of a science fiction fanzine, TIMBRE. (You can find a couple of pieces from TIMBRE in the Articles section of my website.) I’m now somewhat out of touch with SF fandom and fanzines, but I have recently been enjoying a great example of the form, issue 10 of Steam Engine Time, edited by Janine Stinson and Bruce Gillespie.

Bruce has made it his life’s mission to produce what are called fanzines, but are really literary magazines focusing on science fiction, with detailed, well-informed articles about science fiction writers, science fiction books, and the history of science fiction and science fiction fandom. The eFanzines.com site is a good place to begin to find out about great sf fanzines edited by Bruce, and by many others.

Don’t let the word “fanzine” put you off; it’s just a word. Go in with an open mind and prepare to find treasure.

SFFANZ Press Release: Finalists for the 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards Announced – Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Authors Nominated

Posted on March 22, 2009

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand is pleased to announce its list of finalists for the 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards celebrating consumer choice and excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror. Eligible works are from the 2008 calendar year.

Christchurch author Helen Lowe, author of “Thornspell”, is one of the finalists in the category of “Young Adult Novel”. Other finalists in this category are Ella West for “Anywhere But Here”, Fleur Beale for “Juno of Taris”, Margaret Mahy for “The Magician of Hoad” and Glynne MacLean for “The Spiral Chrysalis”.

Young Adult works feature very strongly on this year’s nominations. Helen Lowe and Ella West have also been nominated in the category of “Best New Talent”, while Glynne MacLean has also been nominated in the Novella category for “The Time Stealers”.

Auckland writer Nalini Singh, author of “Mine to Possess” and “Hostage to Pleasure” has been nominated for both works in the category of Best Novel. Hamilton author Russell Kirkpatrick has also been nominated in this category for his work “Dark Heart”, the second book of the Husk trilogy. Both authors will be attending Conscription as New Zealand Literary Guests of Honour.

For more information about Conscription — including how to obtain tickets to attend — please visit http://www.conscription.co.nz/ConScription/index.htm.

Voting for the SJV Awards will take place at Conscription, the 30th New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention, which will be held in Auckland, New Zealand over Queen’s Birthday Weekend, 29 May – 1 June 2009. Conscription is taking place at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Mangere. Winners will be announced after the Conscription banquet on the Sunday night of the convention.

A full list of finalists by category can be seen at http://sffanz.sf.org.nz/sjv/sjvNominations-2009.shtml. Other categories include “Best Short Story” and “Best Collected Work”, with Tim Jones having two works in this latter category.

Tim adds:

If you check out the link to the list of finalists, you’ll find several people with connections to this blog. One of them is me: I’ve been nominated both for my short story collection Transported, which you can buy online from Fishpond and New Zealand Books Abroad, and as the editor of JAAM 26, from which Darian Smith’s fantasy story “Banshee” has also been nominated. Lyn McConchie and Helen Lowe also had work in JAAM 26.

Helen Lowe has been nominated both for her excellent novel Thornspell, which I read this past week, and as Best New Talent – and talented she surely is.

Pat Whitaker is another multiple nominee. I met Pat a few weeks ago and was very impressed by the energy and commitment he puts into his writing. And Regina Patton, nominated for her short story “The Derby”, is a recent guest blogger right here.

It’s nice to see other old friends and new nominated as well, among them Sally McLennan, Yvonne Harrison, Dan McCarthy and Maree Pavletich (the latter two for Services to Fandom – either would be a worthy winner). The best of luck to all the nominees!

For Your Consideration: The Sir Julius Vogel Awards 2009

Posted on December 20, 2008

As I mentioned earlier this month, nominations are now open for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards 2009, New Zealand’s equivalent of the Hugo Awards. They recognise excellence in a number of fields related to science fiction, fantasy and horror. The 2009 Awards are for works published in 2008.

Nominations close on 28 February 2009. You can find details of the categories and how to nominate on the SFFANZ site, and also lists of works eligible to be nominated (these lists are not comprehensive, and can be added to as further works are nominated).

Anyone can nominate works for the awards, although voting is restricted to members of SFFANZ and/or the 2009 National Science Fiction Convention, Conscription.

So who are the contenders? I’m not well qualified to talk about the fan or media categories, but I can think of a few possible contenders for Best Novel, Best Collected Work and Best Short Story. I should emphasise here that what follows is my opinion – it’s up to the organising committee to decide what works qualify in which categories.

Best Novel

There are a very healthy number of contenders listed on the SFFANZ site.

My personal favourite is Helen Lowe’s Thornspell. Other contenders include two SF novels published by writers better known for work in other genres: The Jigsaw Chronicles by Kevin Ireland, and Chinese Opera by Ian Wedde. And one mustn’t forget Jack Ross’s EMO!

Best Collected Work

On the SFFANZ list, Transported is the only short story collection listed for 2008 – a worrying state of affairs, as there needs to be competition in each category! I intend to nominate JAAM 26, since it contains quite a few eligible short stories, as suggested below.

Best Short Story

There are lots of candidates here! Here is my list – again, not an official list – of stories from JAAM 26 and Transported which I think are eligible. I have only listed the stories from JAAM 26 which seem to me to fit within the relevant genres. The list from Transported is quite short, as stories have to be first published in 2008 to be eligible, and many stories in Transported are reprints.

JAAM 26

Tracie McBride, Last Chance to See [sf]
Renee Liang, Voodoo [fantasy/horror]
Esther Deans, Breathing in Another Language [fantasy/magic realism]
Ciaran Fox, In the End Our Apathy Will Desert Us [sf]
Darian Smith, Banshee [fantasy]
Helen Lowe, Ithaca [alternate history/mythology]
Michael Botur, Historic Breakfasts [alternate history]
Lyn McConchie, Just a Poor Old Lady [horror]

If you think your story should be on this list, please let me know and I’ll add it.

Transported

The New Neighbours [sf]
The Wadestown Shore [sf]
Filling the Isles [sf]
Measureless to Man [alternate history]
The Seeing [sf]
Going Under [sf]
Cold Storage [sf/horror]

Happy nominating!

Updated: JAAM 26 is printed / Otago Daily Times review of Transported

Posted on October 21, 2008

Two bits of news: first, issue 26 of JAAM magazine, which I guest-edited, has now been printed. Sorry for the delay, folks! Contributors’ copies will be sent out during the next week or so. I may be biased, but I think it’s full of great stories and excellent poetry, some by writers already well-known, some by writers you will be hearing a lot more of in coming years.

It’s an excellent idea to subscribe to JAAM, but you can also pick up copies of the magazine at the following bookshops, which have standing orders (list kindly supplied by Helen Rickerby):

* Parsons Bookshop in Auckland (26 Wellesley Street East)
* Time Out Bookshop, Auckland (432 Mt Eden Road)
* Unity Books, Auckland (19 High Street)
* University Bookshop, Auckland
* Women’s Bookshop, Auckland (105 Ponsonby Road)
* Unity Books, Wellington (57 Willis Street)
* Victoria University Bookshop, Wellington
* University Book Shop Canterbury, Christchurch
* University Book Shop Otago (378 Great King Street)

Here’s the cover, based around a painting by Reihana Robinson:

I love that painting!

In JAAM 26:

Poems by Amy Brown, Anna Rugis, Anne Harre, Barbara Strang, Barry Southam, David Gregory, Davide Trame, Dean Ballinger, Elizabeth Smither, Emma Barnes, Eric Dodson, Fionnaigh McKenzie, Garry Forrester, Harvey Molloy, Helen Heath, Helen Lowe, Iain Britton, Janis Freegard, Jennifer Compton, Jenny Powell, Jessica Le Bas, Jo Thorpe, John O’Connor, Keith Lyons, Keith Westwater, Kerry Popplewell, L E Scott, Laurice Gilbert, Mark Pirie, Mary Cresswell, Miriam Barr, Rhian Gallagher, Robert James Berry, Robert McLean, Robin Fry, Sue Reidy, Sugu Pillay, Theresa Fa’aumu and Trevor Reeves.
Short stories by Beryl Fletcher, Ciaran Fox, Darian Smith, Eden Carter Wood, Esther Deans, Helen Lowe, Jeanne Bernhardt, Lyn McConchie, Michael Botur, Michele Powles, Renee Liang, Suzanne Hardy and Tracie McBride.
An essay by L E Scott.

The second bit of news is that Mike Crowl’s review of Transported has now appeared in the Otago Daily Times. Thanks, Mike!

JAAM 26 update

Posted on September 8, 2008

For anyone, contributor or otherwise, who’s been wondering, the production of issue 26 of JAAM magazine, which I guest-edited, is coming along nicely: I have just finished checking the final proofs of the issue, and once corrections have been made and the cover finalised, then it will be printing time. So there’s not too much longer to wait before JAAM 26 is available.

One of the poets with work in JAAM 26 is Harvey Molloy, and you are invited to the launch of his poetry collection Moonshot on Wednesday 24 September in Wellington.