Across the Fandomension SF News, August 2026

From "Across the Fandomension" website, last updated July 19, 2026

NOTE: I am always looking for corrections, additions and updates; if you spot errors and omissions below, please contact me at [email protected] so that I can update this page. – G.S.

Andrew Nisbet III (Feb 2, 1949 — Jul 4, 2026)
Andrew Nisbet III, an active member of Portland, Oregon fandom, has passed on. He was 77.
Andrew led the Empire (game) Association for well over 50 years. He also enjoyed role-playing games with essentially the same core group of friends for decades and was one of their valued game masters right up until his passing. He also volunteered to help on the organizing committees of local and regional science fiction conventions such as Con, OryCon, and Westercon and served on the board of Oregon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (OSFCI).
My own knowledge of Andrew Nisbet is limited to his chairmanship of Orycon. In one program book he wrote a reasoned argument for congoers to be participating members of conventions, to volunteer and support the operations, rather than merely buying tickets. I greatly appreciated his hitting the nail on the head.
He is survived by his wife, musician Cecilia Eng, as well as his sister Gwyneth Nisbet Hawk, brother Kevin W. Nisbet, and his nephews, nieces, and grandnieces and grandnephews. A Celebration of Life is planned for Tuesday February 2, 2027.

VCON 44: Pick Your Punk — Living Through the 21st Century
VCON 44 will take place on Saturday, November 14, 2026, from 10 AM to 6 PM at BCIT Burnaby (British Columbia Institute of Technology – Burnaby campus). NOTE: This will be a focused one-day VCON rather than a full three-day hotel convention, but it marks the official return of the VCON name and the next step in rebuilding WCSFA’s historic speculative fiction convention. This year’s theme, Pick Your Punk, invites us to explore cyberpunk, solarpunk, steampunk, dieselpunk, hopepunk, biopunk, and other speculative visions of the future, the past, and the worlds we build along the way. We will have much more information to share over the coming weeks about programming, guests, tickets, volunteers, vendors, and how you can help shape VCON’s return.
For now, watch for updates at https://vcon.ca/ You can also follow WCSFA on Discord, Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.
(WCSFA newsletter, July 10, 2026)

2026 CSFFA Hall of Fame Inductees
The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association Board is proud to announce the 2026 CSFFA Hall of Fame inductees, Kelley Armstrong, James Alan Gardner, and Mike Glicksohn.
(CSFFA Newsletter, May 2026)

World Fantasy Convention Unable to Find Host for 2027
"The World Fantasy Convention has chosen to remain outside the United States for 2027 and 2028, but no viable bid has emerged for 2027. Instead, a deal has been struck with Fantasycon (first spotted by Locus), the annual convention of the British Fantasy Society and host of the 2025 WFC, for its 2027 event to include 'some aspects of World Fantasy Convention including the World Fantasy Awards.'
"To clear up some of the confusion that has ensued from this news, Fantasycon 2027 co-chair Karen Fishwick sent a long statement to File 770 clarifying the difference between Fantasycon and the World Fantasy Convention, and explaining the unfortunate circumstances which led to Fantasycon 2027 being scheduled against Eurocon …"
(SMOFNews, July 1, 2026)

Changes
Subterranean Press will close down permanently in late 2027 or early 2028. [L]
Profile Books is taking over Rebellion Publishing's genre imprint Solaris: ebooks from 1 July, physical books from 1 September, with some Solaris staff also transferring. [L]
(Ansible, July 2026)
(Note: the English-language genre imprint Solaris must not be confused with the French-language SF revue Solaris, or the SF, fantasy and horror Prix Solaris. -GS)

Fraudulent emails re Surrey International Writers' Conference (SiWC)
"We've been made aware that someone is impersonating SIWC staff by using a fraudulent email address to contact authors and invite them to present at SiWC. We are not currently sending out any presenter invitations, and we never ask authors to pay money to present at SiWC. If you receive such communication, please report it as spam/fraud and do not respond. If you're not sure about the legitimacy of an email that purports to be from a member of the SIWC team, you can reach out to us at info [at] SiWC [dot] ca to verify."
(Donna Farley, Surrey International Writers' Conference (SiWC))

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