Birmingham Science Fiction Group

Last updated March 14, 2019

The Birmingham Science Fiction Group (BSFG), also known as the "Brum Group", held its first meeting on 25 June 1971. It runs regular meetings in Birmingham, England, where SF fans can meet one another and professionals in the field in a friendly environment, and has organised the annual SF convention Novacon since 1972.

Birmingham City in the English Midlands, 2nd highest population of UK cities

Birmingham is the second-most populous city in the United Kingdom, after London, and the most populous city in the English Midlands. With an estimated population of 1,137,100 as of 2017, Birmingham is the cultural, social, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands. It is the main centre of the West Midlands conurbation, which is the third most populated urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population in 2011 of 2,440,986. The wider Birmingham metropolitan area is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a population of over 3.7 million. Birmingham is frequently referred to as the United Kingdom's "second city".

Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization.

Novacon is an annual science fiction convention, usually held each November in the English Midlands. Launched in 1971, it has been hosted by the Birmingham Science Fiction Group since 1972.

History

There were at least two previous versions of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group prior to the launch of the current incarnation in 1971 (many of those involved had been members of the 1960s fan scene, described in Peter Weston's hardback memoir With Stars in My Eyes).

Peter Weston was a British science fiction fan from Birmingham, UK.

Initially, it shared Britain's second city with the Aston Science Fiction Group, which hosted the first Novacon that same year; by 1972, the Brum Group had become the dominant SF gathering in the region and took over Novacon from that year onwards. In contrast to many of its contemporaries, the BSFG had a formal constitution (copied in part from a local branch of the Young Conservatives) and held formal meetings each month, usually with a guest speaker. As well as issuing a monthly newsletter, the Brum Group also published one edition of its own fanzine in 1977, Meta, co-edited by Noel Chidwick, Steve Green and Paul R Harris.

Steve Green is a former newspaper reporter (1978–84) turned freelance journalist, who has also written short fiction and poetry. He is an active member of the science fiction press and fan community.

In January 1983, Peter Weston won the election for BSFG chair on a platform of re-engaging the Group with wider British fandom; parties were hosted at conventions and an amateur press association set up (APA-B, later known as The Organisation). The last of those projects detached within 18 months, but the BSFG still runs Novacon and has organised three one-off mini-conventions (the 10th Anniversary Con in 1981, Fifteencon in 1986 and Twentycon in 1991; the last was viewed as a financial disaster and the thirtieth anniversary was marked with a small post-meeting party). In the early 1980s, the BSFG was also involved with a media event, Filmcon, but eventually withdrew its support due to concerns over the organisation; Filmcon was cancelled.

An amateur press association (APA) is a group of people who produce individual pages or magazines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group.

Notable members and officers

Honorary presidents Brian Aldiss, the late Harry Harrison & the late Bob Shaw
Steve Green
David A. Hardy
Co-founder Rog Peyton
Martin Tudor
Co-founder Peter Weston

Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE was an English writer and anthologies editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for occasional pseudonyms during the mid-1960s.

Harry Max Harrison was an American science fiction author, known for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973). Harrison was the co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.

Bob Shaw a science fiction author and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit

Robert "Bob" Shaw was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story "Light of Other Days" was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.

Related Research Articles

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David Rowland Langford is a British author, editor and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter Ansible.

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Roger "Rog" Peyton is an English science fiction fan, bookseller, editor and publisher from Birmingham.

The Ditmar Award has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction and science fiction fandom. The award is similar to the Hugo Award but on a national rather than international scale.

Jeanne Gomoll is an American artist, writer, editor, and science fiction fan, who was recognized as one of the guests of honor at the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, having been a guest of honor at numerous previous science fiction conventions. She has been nominated multiple times for awards in artist and fanzine categories, and for service to the genre of science fiction, particularly feminist science fiction.

References

1. Then #4 by Rob Hansen, 1988: "Of more significance to fandom was that a fortnight later, on Friday 25 June [1971], the newly-reborn Birmingham SF Group held its inaugural meeting in the George Room of Birmingham's Imperial Hotel. [..] From the outset, the BSFG was intended to be more sercon than most groups with formal meetings and guest speakers. [..] The constitution of the new model BSFG was based on that of the Young Conservatives by Peter Weston and it was to this, many years later, that he attributed the group's endurance."
2. Conrunner #4, 1986, editorial by Ian Sorensen: "I don't feel qualified to speak on the subject of the good old Novacons of yore but I do think that the current level of disorganisation [..] and the lack of direction is going to rebound on the Brum group who keep it going for the sake of the cash it generates: one year it will simply make a whopping great loss."
3. Apparatchik #69, 1996, column by Steve Green: "I first crossed paths with the Brum Group back in February 1977, when it was just six years old and arguably at the height of its powers [..] the grim truth remains that it'll be a miracle if the UK's most famous SF group survives into the next century in its present form."
4. AstroArt, David Hardy's official website: "David has been a member of the (Birmingham SF Group) since 1973, and has held the position of chairman four times (three years consecutively), Secretary, Publicity Officer, and Newsletter Editor (also four years). (..) As Artist Guest of Honour at Novacon (the Brum Group's annual SF convention) in 2000, David even took time to produce a 'Rolf Harris-style' painting in front of the audience."
5. Ansible #134, September 1998: "Martin Tudor fled the horrors of 7½ years editing the Brum Group newsletter; a new incumbent is sought...."
6. Checkpoint #21, 1972, review by editor Peter Roberts: "Edited by Peter Weston, [..] Speculation is Britain's best known fanzine, five times a Hugo nominee and considered as the foremost magazine of serious SF criticism in the world."

External links

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