Once upon a time I lived in different places than I do today . . . |
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For a start my virtual and multi-shelved accommodation was a shop called Dinsdale’s wherein you might find—cos I certainly did—a myriad Ballantine paperbacks . . .
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. . . some anthologies and others single-author collections, all of them thanks to the stewardship of Jack and Colin.We’re talking here about 1962 or so.
And then, in Lewis’s department store in the centre of Leeds, lots and lots of Pan Books titles and this is where I fell in love with Erle Stanley Gardner and Perry Mason, and Richard S. Prather and Shell Scott, and, of course, John D. MacDonald and Travis McGee . . . and many many more.
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But perhaps the most voluminous treasures were to be found in Leeds Market’s Stringer’s (half price on return) and Guest’s greeting cards shop (run by a delightful woman called Alice whose array of teeth appeared hit and miss in bruised gums. This was where I began, continued and adored my collection of Forry Ackerman’s FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND where I purchased regular copies of the myriad comicbooks (DC, MARVEL, DELL, HARVEY, ARCHIE ) and so on.
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I mentioned Stringers and I must also mention a nameless shop on Burley Road on the way from Leeds Grammar School to Leeds Town Centre where I would drop off the bus and stare lovingly at the array of Badger paperbacks about which we’ll talk some more another time
More, too, about Stringers which was where I bought towers of Ziff-Davis pulps, and WEIRD TALES and all manner of other titles with perhaps the most fascinating being . . . trumpet fanfare . . . digests. And there, in Stringers, were shelves pretty full to brimming with ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, GALAXY, IF, THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, SCIENCE FANTASY (no prizes for guessing the contents of those babies)` and the primary subject of this week’s ramble . . . NEW WORLDS, always at odds with other so-called digests.
I could ramble much more but I think I should call it a day if for no other reason than to leave something to chat about when we reconvene in the schoolyard.
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Just space to mention my great chum Michael Moorcock . . .
. . . with whom I have spent many happy conversations discussing JOHN BULL and SATURDAY EVENING POST, and who enjoys similar interests and who did not hesitate an instant—in one of those conversations—when I asked if Mike might consider allowing me to take up the NEW WORLDS baton when I asked.
And consider it he did . . .
And so did noted SF historian Mike Ashley when I asked if he might pen a special introduction. So let me hand you over for the launch of this NEW New Worlds and the opening passages from the aforementioned piece.
Take it away Mike!
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SCIENCE FICTION’S PHOENIX—THE MANY LIVES OF NEW WORLDS
Mike Ashley
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It might be stretching credulity to link New Worlds magazine with the Antarctic expedition of Captain Scott, but it’s a more exciting starting point than the Nuneaton Chapter of the Science Fiction League.
But Nuneaton it has to be, the Long Shoot road to be precise, where Dennis Jacques lived. In June 1935, Jacques, along with fellow fan Maurice K. Hanson, who then lived in Leicester, had been granted their own chapter of Hugo Gernsback’s Science Fiction League. They began to organize meetings and, in March 1936, produced the first issue of Britain’s first science-fiction fanzine, Novae Terrae. Hence the loose connection with Scott of the Antarctic. His ship, the Terra Nova, meaning “New Land”, was known to all school children in Britain—Hanson was seventeen and Jacques eighteen. They don’t mention Scott or the ship anywhere in their magazine, but they didn’t need to. The image of Scott and his heroic team and the ship that had taken them to a remote and alien continent was symbolic of all science fiction. They pluralized the name as Novae Terrae and translated that in the first issue as New Worlds. From the second issue New Worlds ran alongside Novae Terrae on the title page so, regardless of its Latin name, New Worlds was born.
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Jacques and Hanson managed to publish a number almost every month, cranking it out on an old duplicator, producing twenty-nine issues by January 1939. They ran the occasional “storyette” but it was not known for its fiction but for its news, opinion and occasional humour. Many of the fans who would later establish a writing career appeared here, including John F. Burke, Arthur C. Clarke, David McIlwain (better known as Charles Eric Maine), William F. Temple, Sam Youd (better known as John Christopher) and, not least, E.J. Carnell (known as Ted or John), who for a while served as an associate editor. The magazine became the official organ of the newly formed Science Fiction Association and played a large part in the organization of the first British Science Fiction Conference in Leeds in January 1937.
During the summer of 1937 Maurice Hanson moved from Leicester to London and took Novae Terrae with him. He was soon in league with Arthur C. Clarke and William F. Temple, at the notorious “Flat” in Gray’s Inn Road and between them they produced Novae Terrae. By 1939, though, the work had become onerous for Hanson but rather than fold the magazine, Ted Carnell took it over and renamed it New Worlds from March 1939, reverting to Number 1. This was its second incarnation.
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1939 was not the most encouraging year for attempting new ventures. After three monthly issues and some rivalry between New Worlds and John Burke’s The Satellite for their roles with the Science Fiction Association, New Worlds paused before issuing a bumper fourth issue dated Autumn 1939. These four issues were lively because of the involvement of Clarke and Temple, and the magazine even ran material by Ray Bradbury, Sam Moskowitz, Robert Lowndes and Donald A. Wollheim, so it was more than a British affair.
With war declared on September 3rd many fans were called up over the next few months and there were other priorities than publishing a fanzine—paper would soon be in short supply. New Worlds thus entered its first dormancy—though not without a glimmer of hope.
In January 1940 the writer William J. Passingham alerted Carnell to the possibility that the firm The World Says might be interested in publishing a science-fiction magazine. There were meetings, plans, possibilities, and almost a mock first issue before it was revealed the company was fraudulent and it was forced into liquidation. Other publishers showed interest but with paper rationing restricting the launch of new publications the first professional New Worlds was still-born.
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After the War, thanks to Frank Edward Arnold, who had also appeared in Novae Terrae, Carnell was introduced to another writer, Stephen Frances—the original Hank Janson—who ran Pendulum Publications. Thanks to Frances, New Worlds at last appeared as a professional magazine in July 1946—its third incarnation. Unfortunately it lasted only three issues before Pendulum went bankrupt. Those issues are not ones to shout about though they did run fiction by Arthur C. Clarke, John Beynon Harris (John Wyndham) and John Aiken—brother of Joan and son of Conrad Aiken. The first issue sold poorly but sales for the second issue improved. Carnell suspected it was the cover, which depicted a spaceship, whereas the first had shown a nuclear explosion. The first issue was rebound with the second cover and apparently sold out. Perhaps we can call that a semi-reincarnation, but after a much delayed third issue in October 1947 New Worlds entered its second dormancy.
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In the heroic spirit of Captain Scott, Carnell, along with several writers and fans, took matters into their own hands. Carnell was convinced that New Worlds would sell and believed he could publish it with a new company. He had the support of Walter Gillings, Ken Chapman and Eric Williams, and with Vince Clarke acting as catalyst, help from Frank Cooper, who had invested his war-service gratuity into a bookshop. Cooper drew up a company prospectus and was soon floating shares. Nova Publications started business in early 1949 with John Beynon Harris as President. New Worlds reappeared with its fourth issue (and fourth incarnation) in June 1949. There were a few hesitant quarterly issues before it became bi-monthly in 1952. These years showed a steady progression as British writers clustered around a regular market. It was here that the original version of Arthur C. Clarke’s “Guardian Angel” appeared (Winter 1950), the seed for Childhood’s End, along with the debuts of E. C. Tubb and James White, and UK appearances by A. Bertram Chandler, John Christopher and J. T. McIntosh. It also acquired a companion magazine, Science Fantasy.
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You can read Mike's introduction in full in our launch issue (this summer) along with contributions from a stellar line-up including:
- Alan Moore, “The Improbably Complex High-Energy State” (12,280 words)
- Lavie Tidhar, “The Waiting Place” (9,500 words)
- Robert Edric, “On the Hillside” (5,683 words)
- Michael Swanwick, “The White Leopard” (3,900 words)
- Paul Park, “In the House of Unpleasant Voices” (5,100 words)
- Margo Lanagan, “Tell-Tale Tit” (2,750 words)
- James Lovegrove, “Three Conversations with G.O.D.” (3,928 words)
- Ian R. MacLeod, “Stuff” (10,450 words)
- Peter Crowther, “A Multiplicity of Phaedra Lament” (6,080 words)
- Gwyneth Jones, “The Ploughshare and the Storm” (3,470 words)
- M.T. Hill, “The Gridge” (6,300 words)
- John Grant, “Dodging Dementia” (6,900 words)
- Steve Aylett, “Sedition Kitsch Part 1” (1,300 words)
- Ken MacLeod, “Cold Revolution Blues” (8,720 words)
- Ian Watson, “Hot Gates” (3,350 words)
- Michael Moorcock, “The Wokingham Agreement” (11,775 words)
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And, before you go . . .
I just couldn't resist getting out all my old editions and fanning them out in the hallway. And here’s me all giddy with the very first edition, signed and bound especially by its editor, John Carnell.
So there you go, you warriors . . . New Worlds await with the first issue coming your way this summer. Keep watching these pages for order details.
In the meantime, stay cool, look after each other and happy reading.
Love and hugs from the greensward.
Pete
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