Ansible

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Arthur "ATom" Thomson's logo for Ansible #49, published April 1987.
File:Ansible 13 (1980).jpg
Cover of Ansible #13, published November 1980 (logo by Taral).

Ansible is an award-winning British fanzine published by author and fanwriter Dave Langford, taking its title from a communications device featured in Ursula K LeGuin's 1966 science fiction novel Rocannon's World. Langford is quoted as having likened it to the British satirical magazine Private Eye.

The first series (50 issues) ran from August 1979 (distributed at the third UK world sf convention) until August/September 1987 (coinciding with the fourth UK world sf convention); it was relaunched in October 1991 (resuming the original numbering) and currently appears monthly, often on the first day of the month (issue #266 was published in September 2009). Although a limited quantity of hardcopies are distributed, most readers use the online version.

Contributing writers included Jim Barker, Pamela Boal, Sandy Brown, Leigh Edmonds (The Notional), Chris Evans, Abi Frost, Steev Higgins, Bob Jewett, Roz Kaveney, Joseph Nicholas, Christopher Priest, Bob Shaw (Get Fokt), Kevin Smith, Ian Watson, and D. West.

Contributing artists have included Chris Atkinson, Jim Barker, Simon Bostock, Malcolm Edwards, Ken Fletcher, Brad W. Foster, Alexis Gilliland, Rob Hansen (Chuch), Jon Langford, Pete Lyon, Stu Shiffman, Dan Steffan (Boonfark), ATom (The ATom Anthology), Taral Wayne (DNQ),and D. West, among others.

It has won the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine on more than one occasion.

External links