Locus (magazine)

Locus
Editor Liza Groen Trombi
Frequency Monthly
First issue 1968 (1968-month)
Country United States
Based in Oakland, California
Website www.locusmag.com

Locus, subtitled "The Magazine Of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field", is published monthly in Oakland, California. It reports on the science fiction and fantasy publishing field, including comprehensive listings of all new books published in the genre.[1] It is considered the news organ and trade journal of choice for the English language science fiction community.[2] The magazine also presents the annual Locus Awards.

Locus Online was launched in April 1997, as a semi-autonomous web version of Locus Magazine.[3]

Contents

History

Along with Ed Meskys and Dave Vanderwerf, Charles N. Brown founded Locus in 1968 as a news fanzine to promote the (ultimately successful) bid to host the 1971 World Science Fiction Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally intended to run only until the site-selection vote was taken at St. Louiscon, the 1969 Worldcon in St. Louis, Missouri, Brown decided to continue publishing Locus as a mimeographed general science fiction and fantasy newszine. Locus became the immediate successor to the decades-old monthly newszine Science Fiction Times (formerly Fantasy Times, founded 1941), when SFT ceased publication in 1970. Brown directed Locus as publisher and editor-in-chief for more than 40 years, from 1968 until his death at age 72 in July 2009.

Locus announced that the magazine would continue operations, with executive editor Liza Groen Trombi succeeding Brown as editor-in-chief.[4]

Locus publishes:

  1. News about the science fiction, fantasy, and horror publishing field—stories about publishers, awards, and conferences—including "The Data File", "People & Publishing" (rights sold, books sold, books resold, books delivered, publishing news, promotions; people news and photos about vacations, weddings, and births), and obituaries
  2. Interviews with well-known and up-and-coming writers (and sometimes editors and artists), usually two per issue
  3. Reviews of new and forthcoming books, usually 20–25 per issue, by notable SF critics including Gary K. Wolfe, Faren Miller, Nick Gevers, Jonathan Strahan, Damien Broderick, Russell Letson, and Carolyn Cushman, plus short fiction reviews by Gardner Dozois and Rich Horton.
  4. Reports from around the world about the SF scenes in various countries
  5. Listings of US and UK books and magazines published (monthly), bestsellers (monthly), and forthcoming books (every 3 months)
  6. Convention reports, with many photos
  7. Annual year-in-review coverage, with extensive recommended reading lists and the annual Locus Poll and Survey
  8. Letters and classified ads

Locus has won many Hugo Awards, first the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine and then, when the new category Best Semiprozine was created in 1984, in that category. As of 2008, Locus has won the award for Best Fanzine eight times, and the award for Best Semiprozine 21 times (in the 25 years the award has been given). Authors Arthur C. Clarke, Connie Willis, Robert A. Heinlein, and Terry Pratchett, and The New York Times, have all cited the value of Locus to the field.

Locus Press has published several books, including Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Locus Online: The Website of The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field". Locus Online. http://www.locusmag.com/index.php. Retrieved 4 April 2011. 
  2. ^ "Charles N. Brown: Sci-Fi enthusiast and founder of 'Locus' magazine". The Independent (London): Obituaries. 2 September 2009. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/charles-n-brown-scifi-enthusiast-and-founder-of-locus-magazine-1780253.html. Retrieved 4 April 2011. 
  3. ^ "Locus Online: About the Website". Locus Online. http://www.locusmag.com/Home/AboutLocusOnline.html. Retrieved 4 April 2011. 
  4. ^ "Charles N. Brown, 1937-2009". Locus Online. 13 July 2009. http://www.locusmag.com/News/2009/0. Retrieved 4 April 2011. 

External links