Featuring the Regulars, plus Special Feature writers, discussing their contributions and celebrating the Godfather of Fantasy, George MacDonald, on his 200th birthday with readings and a wee dram. Come and raise a glass with us.

Outrageous seasonal knitwear optional. Hosted by the BFS Journal editor, Dr Kevan Manwaring.

Event Schedule

Introduction and First Toast (7pm-7:10pm)

BFS Journal editor, Kevan Manwaring introduces the evening and the Winter issue and invites everyone to wet the baby’s head with a toast to the relaunched Journal. He then introduces the Regular Feature writers.

Regular Features (7:10-7.50pm)

A discussion amongst our Regular Feature writers about their contributions. We ask them ‘What makes for a flourishing BFS community?’ with contributions from participants in the chat. Brief readings will be shared if time.

Comfort Break (7:50-8:00pm)

Second Toast (8:00-8.10pm)

Your host Kevan Manwaring introduces the Godfather of Fantasy and invites everyone to raise a glass to George MacDonald on his 200^th anniversary. He then introduces the Special Feature writers.

Special Features: George MacDonald’s 200^th Anniversary (8:10-8:50pm)

Special Feature writers, Avery-Claire Galloway, Joyce McPherson, Aoife Hilton, and Amanda Coleman White discuss George MacDonald and literary fantasy. We ask them ‘Why is George MacDonald important today?’ We will also ask the panel to share a brief reading to give all a flavour of GMD.

Third Toast (8:50-9:00pm)
The slightly sozzled host thanks all the guests, everyone who has contributed to the journal and its relaunch, and offers the final toast – Season’s Greetings to the BFS community!

Finish (9pm)

Regular Feature Guests

Oliver Hollingdale is an award-winning filmmaker from West Sussex. With a passion for storytelling and a background in fantasy filmmaking, Oliver has been crafting imaginative narratives for years. His latest project, Gallowmere, showcases his dedication to bringing mythical realms to life. Follow the journey of Gallowmere look for updates on upcoming screenings.

Somto Ihezue is a Nigerian–Igbo writer. He was awarded the 2021 African Youth Network Movement Fiction Prize. A Nommo Award-nominee and finalist for the 2022 Afritondo Prize, his works have appeared in Tordotcom, Fireside Magazine, POETRY Magazine, Cossmass Infinities, Flash Fiction Online, Africa In Dialogue, and others. Somto is an alumnus of Milford SF Writers ’22, Voodoonauts ’22, and attended Clarion West ’24. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association(SFWA), The British Science Fiction Association(BSFA), and The British Fantasy Society(BFS). He is an associate editor with Android Press, Apex Magazine and Cast of Wonders. Follow Somto on Twitter.

PS Livingstone writes epic contemporary fantasy. She is a Page Turner Award finalist and the author of Awakening, as well as numerous short stories. Suiting her reputation as a renowned grammar fiend, Pamela works as a ghostwriter and editor. As someone who can’t say no, she is also an Area Head for Glasgow 2024 and Online Event Co-ordinator for the BFS. She is a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle, Society of Authors, and the Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders. Pamela lives in Glasgow with her partner and three cats, and can often be found in her allotment, usually covered in mud. You can find all Pamela’s socials on Linktree. Or find out more on her website.

Dr Kevan Manwaring (Host) is a writer and scholar of Fantasy. He is the Course Leader in the MA Creative writing and Senior Lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth. A BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers 2022 finalist, his research focuses on Fantasy, ecology and ecofiction. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is the author of The Long Woman, Writing Ecofiction, Desiring Dragons, and editor of Heavy Weather: tempestuous tales of stranger climes (The British Library) as well as collections of folk tales for The History Press. An academic consultant for BBC 4’s The Secret Life of Books and contributor to Free Thinking (BBC Radio 3), he blogs as the Bardic Academic.

Lauren McMenemy wears many hats: Editor-in-Chief at Trembling With Fear for Horror Tree; marketing for the British Fantasy Society; Writing the Occult curator. Her own fiction lives in the dark fantasy, gothic, and occult and folk horror worlds, where she explores her passions for mental health, folklore, and the paranormal. Using her 30 years as a professional writer across journalism, marketing, and communications, Lauren also works as a coach/mentor to SFFH writers. You’ll find her haunting south London, where she lives with her Doctor Who-obsessed husband, the ghost of their aged black house rabbit, and the entity that lives in the walls.

Dr Anna Milon is a role-player and researcher of fantastika, folklore and modern paganism. Involved in the UK LARP scene for over a decade, Anna wrote on spiritual experiences in LARP for her PhD. She cleaves to large-scale fantasy LARPs, the closest she can get to visiting Middle-earth. Among fellow role-players she’s known for either playing demure and mindful squires or demented heretics, with hardly anything in between. Anna conveniently lives in deepest darkest Buckinghamshire with her daughter, husband and two orange cats.

Dr Katy Soar is Senior Lecturer in Classical Archaeology at Winchester University. In addition to Circles of Stone: Weird Tales of Pagan Sites and Ancient Rites (British Library Tales of the Weird, 2023) and Strange Relics (Handheld Press, 2022) Katy has written on folk horror in the Routledge Companion to Folk Horror, Hellebore Zine and the Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain.

Stephen Theaker’s reviews, interviews and articles have appeared in Interzone, Black Static, Prism, Dark Horizons and the BFS Journal. His story ‘The Reader-Queens of Tranck’ appeared in the BFS anthology Emerging Horizons, edited by Allen Ashley. He has written many novels, none of them well-regarded. The full range of his enthusiastic literary endeavours may be viewed on his ISFDB summary bibliography.

Special Feature Guests

Avery-Claire Galloway is a senior undergraduate student at Georgia College and State University earning her BA in English with a Creative Writing concentration. Her research interests include The Inklings, early fantasy literature, Victorian children’s literature, Christian allegory, and modern mythopoetic stories that reinvent antient truths for new audiences. She works on the staff of her college literary journal, The Peacock’s Feet, as head fiction editor and will be pursuing her Master’s degree after graduating next spring with the hope of doing research abroad.

Aoife Hilton is a writer and editor based in Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia. She graduated from the University of Queensland’s Master of Writing, Editing and Publishing program in 2023. Her debut poetry zine I’ll Never Get Over Any Of Them, printed by Mid-Latitude Publishing, was acquired by the State Library of Queensland in 2024. Her journalistic work can be found on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s news website.

Dr Joyce McPherson teaches English at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Covenant College (Georgia, USA) and specialises in children’s literature. Her research on MacDonald has been presented at conferences in Iasi (Romania), Wheaton, and Oxford and published in Linguaculture and The Glass. She has also written chapters for Containing Childhood: Space and Identity in Children’s Literature and Vision, Contestation and Deception: Interrogating Gender and the Supernatural in Victorian Shorter Fiction. She recently published a biography for children: Spiritual Sight: The Story of George MacDonald.

Amanda Coleman White is currently completing her PhD from the University of Gloucestershire, where she combines Celtic myth and the works of Victorian fantasist George MacDonald. More broadly, her research interests encompass many aspects of mythology, particularly those from Northern Europe. As a writer she has been a multiple-time featured artist with Ink Sweat and Tears, a ‘Best of the Net’ Finalist through The Selkie, and is published in a variety of other literary journals, including Wee Sparrow Press and Channel magazine. Amanda holds a master’s in English literature from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Please note: You should receive a confirmation email when you buy your ticket, plus a second email with the Zoom link to join. If you don’t, please contact Pam via email: onlineevents@britishfantasysociety.org