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2009 Dwarf Stars Winners Announced
First place this year goes to Geoffrey A. Landis' "Fireflies," published in the June 2008 issue of Asimov's SF. Second place is "the leaf whisperer," by Elizabeth Barrette, from Doorways Magazine #5 (2008). Taking third place is Jane Yolen's "Goodbye Billy Goat Gruff," which was also published in Asimov's SF in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue.
Learn more about the Dwarf Stars Award on our Dwarf Stars page, or see a list of all of this year's nominees. You may also purchase a copy of the 2009 Dwarf Stars anthology, published by Gromagon Press for the SFPA, or those from previous years. The Dwarf Stars Award was first given in 2006.
SFPA Introduces New Official Moderated Member Forum
Although several online communities and groups exist for discussions of speculative poetry, the poetry marketplace and the SFPA itself, none of these groups is moderated with specific rules and guidelines in place. The new forum is not meant to replace any of these other message boards and groups. It is an additional place for SFPA discussion that the officers and web team hope will prove useful, informative and safe for members who seek a flame-free area for discussion.
Romanko and SFPA webmistress Robin Mayhall have administrative rights in the new forum, and three members have volunteered to be moderators: Amal El-Mohtar, Marcie Tentchoff and Paula Berman. These moderators will monitor the forum for violations of established, clear-cut rules and guidelines and will take action if needed -- and only when needed. All of the team members agree that they hope to have little reason to use the moderator "powers" provided by the message board software.
All SFPA members are encouraged to check out the forum and post at will. Any questions about the forum can be posted in the forum itself. The moderators are taking notes and developing a FAQ as well as tweaking the forum guidelines with the intention of publishing an updated set of rules, if needed, in approximately three months.
A screen shot of the main index of the new SFPA Forum. (click to see it larger)
2009 Dwarf Stars Award Nominees Announced
The Dwarf Stars Award and Anthology were established in 2006. The 2006 Anthology was edited by Deborah P Kolodji, and the 2007 and 2008 editions were produced by Kolodji and Stephen M. Wilson. Copies of all three previous years' anthologies are still available for order.
Be on the lookout for more information on the SFPA Forum and in Star*Line about the upcoming 2009 anthology and voting procedures.
Writer-Editor Janet Fox Dies at 68
The following is the text of the Locus Online obituary:
Writer and editor Janet Fox, 68, died October 21, 2009, at home in Osage City, Kan., after a long struggle with cancer. Fox began publishing short fiction in the 1970s and published scores of stories and poems in magazines including Twilight Zone, Weird Tales, Cemetery Dance and others, as well as numerous anthologies. Under house name Alex McDonough she wrote five books in the Scorpio novel series for Ace, from 1990 to 1993. She edited monthly market 'zine Scavenger's Newsletter from 1984 to 2003 and was secretary/treasurer of the Small Press Writers and Artists Organization.A.R. Morlan has been named Fox's literary executor and can be contacted c/o Locus.
See the January issue of Locus for a complete obituary.
Webmistress' note: If anyone has photos of Fox they would care to share, please scan them and e-mail to me with any information you can provide for a caption. Thanks!
Karen Romanko Appointed Vice-President of SFPA
Kolodji wrote, "The SFPA Constitution allows the President to appoint as many "assistants" as necessary to get the job done and I've decided to take advantage of this, to increase the overall efficiency of the organization."
Karen A. Romanko served as SFPA Website Director from 2003 to 2007. Working with Erin Donahoe Kelley and Mike Allen, she helped to establish SFPA's official website at sfpoetry.com. She continued development of the website with Liz Bennefeld, instituting many of the features we have today, such as the annual Halloween Poetry Reading, the Speculative Poetry News page, and the Star*Line Editor's picks. Karen also served as Coordinator for the first online Poetry Contest.
In the writing realm, Karen has seen over 100 of her poems and short stories published in venues such as Strange Horizons, Aberrant Dreams, Ideomancer, and Lone Star Stories. When she switches literary hats, she edits and publishes speculative fiction and poetry anthologies under the Raven Electrick Ink imprint, such as the recently released Cinema Spec: Tales of Hollywood and Fantasy. She is a member of Broad Universe and The Horror Writers Association.
"Please join me in thanking Karen for her willingness to take on this task," Kolodji wrote.
Worra Joins Literary Center Board
Minnesota-based speculative poetry writer and SFPA member Bryan Thao Worra has joined the Board of Directors of the Loft Literary Center. The Loft Literary Center is the nation's largest independent literary center, established to support the artistic development of writers and the writing community, and to build an audience for literature.
Born in Laos in 1973, Thao Worra holds an NEA Fellowship in Literature for poetry. He is the author of the books of speculative poetry On The Other Side Of The Eye and the forthcoming BARROW (October, 2009, Sam's Dot Publishing.) Thao Worra was recognized earlier this year with an Asian Pacific Leadership Award in the arts by the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans.
The Loft Literary Center is located at 1011 Washington Avenue South in Minneapolis. You can visit them online at www.loft.org.
Poetry Programming Popular at Diversicon 17
Poetry events included a reading by Sandra, a reading by the Lady Poetesses from Hell (Terry A. Garey, me, Rebecca Marjesdatter, John Rezmerski, and KC O'Malley), and a midnight panel and reading on Poe's poetry by Bryan Thao Worra, Sandra, Rebecca Marjesdatter, John Rezmerski, and Cynthia Booth -- this is Poe's bicentennial year.
Webmistress's Note: Check out a couple of representative photos below (click to see each one at full size). These were taken with permission from Diversicon's Facebook page, where you can see about 60 more. You can also find out more about Diversicon on its website.
First photo, left to right: John Rezmerski, Cassandra O'Malley, Ruth Berman, Terry A. Garey, and Rebecca Marjesdatter during the LADY POETESSES FROM HELL reading.
Second photo: SFPA Member/poet/writer/publisher Tyree Campbell of Sam's Dot Publishing.
Third photo, left to right: John Rezmerski, Phyllis Ann Karr, Eric Heideman, Mike Levy, and Mark Rich: midnight POE reading.
Boston wins Bram Stoker Award
Florida-based SFPA Poets Represent at OASIS Con
"Our panel was 'Poetry Answers Art,'" Marge says. "We represent the SFPA poets of Florida."
Check out two photos below from the con and look for more information in the next issue of Star*Line.
Top photo, left to right: Chris Ambrose (M), Bruce Boston, Marge Simon, Elissa Malcohn, Mal Deeley.
Second photo, left to right: Chris Ambrose (M), Bruce Boston, Marge Simon, Elissa Malcohn, John Tumlin (standing), Mal Deeley.
Photos by Arlene Ambrose.
SFPA Amazon Bookstore Established
This wonderful new resource provides another way for SFPA members to find and purchase science fiction and speculative poetry. It will also serve as a source of revenue for the association, as a small percentage of each book purchased will be rebated to SFPA.
Karen has already identified and added a number of speculative poetry anthologies to the bookstore page. If you are a member and have a book available on Amazon.com that was published in the last two years, please e-mail the webmaster, and we will add your title as soon as possible!
Many thanks to Karen for creating this new offering for SFPA.
Eaton Science Fiction Conference Features SFPA Reading
2009 Eaton Conference SFPA Poetry Reading Participants:
(back) Kendall Evans, Samantha Henderson, W. Gregory Stewart, Deborah P Kolodji, Denise Dumars
(front) Karen A. Romanko, Sheila Finch, Gwido Zlatkes, Howard Hendrix
(not shown) Ann Frenkel, Sherri Benoun, Alyssa Tobar, Ching-In Chen
SFPA Members Boston and Crawford on 2008 Bram Stoker Award Final Ballot
2008 Dwarf Stars Contest Winners Announced
The 2008 Dwarf Stars winner is "Place Mat by Moebius" by Greg Beatty, originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction.
Greg Beatty lives with his wife in Bellingham, Wash., where he tries unsuccessfully to stay dry. He writes everything from children's books to essays about his cooking debacles. Greg recently published his first poetry chapbook, Phrases of the Moon. It is available from Spec House of Poetry.
Second place went to Sonya Taaffe for her poem "Muse," originally published in Strange Horizons.
Taaffe has a confirmed addiction to myth, folklore and dead languages. Her short fiction and poetry can be found collected in Postcards from the Province of Hyphens and Singing Innocence and Experience (Prime Books). She holds master's degrees in Classics from Brandeis and Yale. Her livejournal is Myth Happens.
Westminister, Colo.-based poet Ann K. Schwader won third prize for her haibun, "Dancing to Van Gogh," which first appeared in Mythic Delirium.
A haibun is a poetry form that combines short prose with haiku. Schwader's poetry has received several honorable mentions in Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and she is an active member of SFWA, HWA and SFPA. Her author's Web site is www.geocities.com/HPL4ever/, and her blog is Yaddith Times.
Copies of the 2008 Dwarf Stars Anthology are still available from the SFPA for $5.00 plus shipping. Please visit our Dwarf Stars page for more information. Check out the complete anthology contents or look back to 2007.
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