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MAG.E 4
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MAG.E 4 (Disk 1 of 2).adf
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1977-12-31
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@4WHAT IS THE BSFA?
=================
@1
What is the BSFA? Oh boy, I can just see myself getting into hot water
over this one! But I'll give it my best shot...
To some members, it's a way of staying in touch with what is happening in the
world of SF. To others, it's a way of staying in touch with fans (there are -
or were - regular gatherings.) Even something as mundane as collating the two
main fanzines - Vector and Matrix, both bi-monthly, can be a social event.
Vector is the critical journal, which features interviews with authors,
articles about the genre (many of which relate to written SF), letters, and a
large number of book reviews. One of the main reasons I joined the BSFA was to
keep in touch with the new titles being published. The reviews are generally
much deeper than those you might read elsewhere, and at times they can come
across as a bit too deep. But the paperback write-ups are generally a good
read, and all the reviewers do their best to give you a true flavour of what
the book is about. But be warned, in my experience a dim view is taken of such
material as TV/film tie-ins and sword and sorcery stuff.
Yes, fantasy is touched upon because of its perceived links with SF, but I get
the feeling some members believe it should be left alone.
Matrix is the club newsletter. There are film and TV reviews in here, info
about forthcoming books, letters, club information, info on comics, media
related titbits, and a host of other items of general interest to the SF fan
(there's also a very fine column about programmes and films on Sky and English
satellite channels, but since I write it I won't mention it here...)
Oh, and infrequently a fanzine called Focus is published. This is aimed at
those who are budding SF writers (quite a large proportion of the association,
I reckon) and contains other amateur writers' experiences, tips from the pros,
the odd (sometimes VERY odd) piece of fiction and pretty much anything else to
do with writing SF.
Well, that's the "hard" side out of the way. The aim of the association is, as
far as I can remember, to promote SF in a positive light through encouraging
reading, writing and discussing of SF. In this it does pretty well.
Membership is £15 a year, and if you're interested write to Alison Cook, 27
Albermarle Drive, Grove, Wantage, Oxon, OX12, 0NB. I think (don't quote me on
this) that an inquiry will get you a sample of one of the mags, but it's been a
while since I joined so this might have changed.
Mark Ogier