Our Committee & Volunteers

President: Juliet Mushens

Sits on BFS Committee

Juliet Mushens is the President of the British Fantasy Society where she acts as an ambassador amongst the genre community. In her day job she runs literary agency Mushens Entertainment, where she represents a host of bestselling authors across the genres, ranging from Richard Osman and Jessie Burton to Hannah Kaner, Jen Williams and Taran Matharu.

Chair: Shona Kinsella

Sits on BFS Committee

Shona Kinsella is the author of epic fantasy, The Vessel of KalaDene series, dark Scottish fantasy Petra MacDonald and the Queen of the Fae and British Fantasy Award shortlisted industrial fantasy The Flame and the Flood as well as the non-fiction Outlander and the Real Jacobites: Scotland’s Fight for Freedom.

She was editor of the British Fantasy Society’s fiction publication BFS Horizons for four years and has been Chair of the British Fantasy Society since September 2021.

Shona is an avid reader with a love for language and is most often to be found with her nose in a book. She has worked in varied industries, from acting to the civil service, and has a degree in law from the University of Strathclyde.

Secretary: David Green

Sits on BFS Committee

David Green is a neurodiverse writer of the epic and the urban, the fantastical and the mysterious.

With his character-driven dark fantasy series Empire Of Ruin, or urban fantasy noir HELL IN HAVEN, David takes readers on emotional, action-packed thrill rides.

Hailing from the north-west of England, David now lives in County Galway on the west coast of Ireland with his wife and train-obsessed son.

When not writing, David can be found wondering why he chooses to live in places where it constantly rains.

Deputy Chair: Sian O’Hara

Sits on BFS Committee

Siân O’Hara has long been an avid reader of SFF (thanks to her mother, and then a chance encounter in her school library). With other worlds only ever a daydream away, Sian started writing as a way to get her thoughts and feelings out of her head and onto paper. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, or Twitter. 

PR, Marketing & Online Content: Lauren McMenemy

Sits on BFS Committee

Lauren McMenemy wears many hats: Editor-in-Chief at Trembling With Fear for horrortree.com; PR and marketing for the British Fantasy Society; founder of the Society of Ink Slingers; curator of the Writing the Occult virtual events. With 25+ years as a professional writer across journalism, marketing, and communications, Lauren also works as a coach to writers looking to achieve goals, get accountability, or get support with their marketing efforts. You’ll find her around various events stepping up as a host, interviewer, moderator and general cheerleader. She writes gothic and folk horror stories for her own amusement, and is currently working on a novel set in the world of the Victorian occult. You’ll find Lauren 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.

(Photo by Nicolas Laborie)

Outreach & Inclusion: Marve Michael Anson

Sits on BFS Committee

Marve has been writing for over a decade and has self-published a thriller, HIS DARK REFLECTION, to critical acclaim. She was shortlisted for the Future Worlds Prize in 2023, winning mentorship from a top UK editor. Her debut fantasy novel, FIRSTBORN OF THE SUN, is the first in a trilogy being published by Penguin Michael Joseph in October 2025. This novel was also shortlisted for the 2022 Jericho Writers Friday Night Live Competition and the 2022 Kit De Waal Bursary, was longlisted for the 2023 REVPIT competition, and won the 2023 Jericho Writers’ Self Edit Course Bursary. 

In addition, Marve is a filmmaker who wrote and produced an award-winning short film in 2016 and is a recipient of the 2017 AFRIFF Film School Scholarship Program. She works as a technology consultant during the day and a storyteller at night. She is the Outreach and Inclusion Co-ordinator for British Fantasy Society, a member of the Society of Authors and the World Science Fiction Society. She is a mentor for Black Girl Writers.

When she’s not weaving fantastical tales, you can find her exploring life as a serial hobbyist, delving into everything from obsessing over myths and histories, collecting books and passionately assembling her own personal library to indulging in an unapologetic obsession with all things Christmas. She is represented by Ciara Finan and Flo Sandelson at Curtis Brown Literary Agency (UK) and United Talent Agency (USA).

Online Reviews Editor: Adrian Fletcher

Sits on BFS Committee

Adrian grew up in Warrington in the North-West of England. He read The Chronicles of Narnia as a child and has loved fantasy ever since. He moved away for University and work (in IT, far less interesting than talking, allegorical Lions). It wasn’t until after Covid that Adrian discovered the wonders of the BFS and a space for people who share a love of great stories. He’s hoping to share that as much as he can as Reviews Editor.

Archivist and Stockholder: Karen Fishwick

Sits on BFS Committee

Karen has a professional background in volunteer management and community projects having worked in this area for over 15 years.

She is currently writing education modules for Mindful Business Services.

She has been running the logistics side of events with HWS for a number of years, including UK Fantasycon and an annual computer games convention.

Karen is the Chair of World Fantasy Convention 2025.

She has volunteered with a number of World Fantasy Conventions and is currently volunteering with WFC 23, Eastercon 23 and Eastercon 24.

She loves to read genre books, does a little proof reading and writes an occasional review.

Karen is a disabled woman who is passionate about access and supporting marginalised voices.

Webmaster: E.M. Faulds

Sits on BFS Committee

E.M. Faulds is an Australian who now calls Scotland home.

She has published short stories in Shoreline of Infinity and Strange Horizons magazine, and Under the Moon: Collected Speculative Fiction won the British Fantasy Award 2023 for Best Collection.

Find her websites and social links at https://linktr.ee/bethkesh

Webhost: John Stabler

Information coming soon.

BFS Horizons Editor: Pete Sutton

Sits on BFS Committee

Pete W Sutton is a writer and editor.

His two short story collections – A Tiding of Magpies and The Museum for Forgetting – were shortlisted for Best Collection in the British Fantasy Awards in 2017 & 2022 respectively. His novel – Seven Deadly Swords – was published by Grimbold Books.

He has edited several short story anthologies and is the editor for the British Fantasy Society Horizons fiction magazine.

(Picture by TomShot Photography)

BFS Journal Editor: Dr Kevan Manwaring

Sits on BFS Committee

A lifetime lover of Fantasy, wanderer between worlds, and wordsmith, Dr Kevan Manwaring is the MA Creative Writing course leader at Arts University Bournemouth. He is the author of The Windsmith Elegy series (Awen), Desiring Dragons: creativity, imagination, and the writer’s quest (Compass Books), Writing Ecofiction: navigating the challenges of environmental narrative (Palgrave Macmillan), and editor of Heavy Weather: tempestuous tales of stranger climes (British Library), Ballad Tales: traditional British ballads retold (The History Press), and other anthologies. He has contributed articles to The Bottle Imp, English Review, Revenant and Gothic Nature. He was an academic consultant for BBC 4’s The Secret Life of Books, and is a panellist on BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking. He is also a member of the Climate Fiction Writers League. He is currently working on a book for Routledge exploring environmental aspects of Fantasy. https://thebardicacademic.wordpress.com/

Poetry Editor: Ian Hunter

Sits on BFS Committee

Poetry editor, Ian Hunter, has been a member of the British Fantasy Society since 1988 when he joined as a very small child. He is a children’s author, short story writer, editor and poet, and his work has appeared in places like “New Writing Scotland”, “Unsung Stories”, “Dreich”, “Shoreline of Infinity”, “Occult Detective Monthly”, “Visual Verse”, “Dreams and Nightmares”, “Star*Line”, and many other magazines and anthologies in the UK, USA and Canada. He is also a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers Circle, and the Horror Writers Association. He has twice been a writer-in residence and was a director of the Scottish writer’s collective, Read Raw, and still looks after Read Raw Press. He reviews for the BFS, Shoreline of Infinity, and the website Concatenation, where his reports about Fantasycon also appear. He is the proud owner of 1000 trees in Korup rain forest in Cameroon, and has adopted a polar bear called Svetlana who writes regularly and says she is looking forward to eating – no – meeting Jessie, Ian’s black labrador. 

British Fantasy Awards Administrator: Paul Yates

Originating from North Kent, but now resident in Switzerland with his wife and partner in crime, Chloë, Paul is an engineering expert in Avionics and Aerospace. With a strong interest in art, especially Art Concret and Minimalism, he is also a composer and appreciator of Electronic music. He’s a Marvel and Star Wars fan on the side, and thinks C.A. Yates is one of the best writers around (it’s in the contract!).

Short Story Competition Lead Judge: Steven Poore

Sits on BFS Committee

Steven Poore is a published and award-nominated Epic Fantasist, based in the dark hills of Sheffield. He administers the annual Short Story Competition from a scarlet throne in a magnificent Book Cellar, where even the cat fears to tread.

Art Competition Lead Judge: Jenni Coutts

Sits on BFS Committee

Jenni Coutts is an award winning artist, illustrator, speculative fiction writer, and NHS doctor who has spent the last decade based in Glasgow, Scotland. She is the current Art Editor for BFS Horizons magazine, and is the art show lead for the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton in 2025. 

Originally from Leeds, she won the British Fantasy Award for best artist in 2022 and was nominated for the same again in 2023. She has had artwork featured in both UK and international publications. She was shortlisted for the Scottish New Writers Award in 2019.

Online Events Officer: PS Livingstone

Sits on BFS Committee

PS Livingstone writes epic contemporary fantasy with lots of romance. 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.

Pamela lives in Glasgow with her partner and three cats, and can often be found in her allotment, usually covered in mud.

London Events: Alexandra Beaumont

Alexandra Beaumont is a British fantasy novelist with a passion for folklore, playing musical instruments and exploring the wilds of the UK.

With a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing, specializing in gothic literature, Alexandra’s lyrical books weave together myth, magic and intrigue. Her captivating stories transport readers to enchanting worlds filled with unforgettable characters and spellbinding adventures.

Yorkshire & Humber Events: Katie Bruce

Katie Bruce is a writer and Virtual Assistant to authors, based in Yorkshire. Her writing is mostly fantasy based and often features the wonderful moors and hills that decorate her home county. Her Virtual Assistant work with Katie’s Author Assistance includes all the non-writing work that goes alongside being an author, leaving you time to do the important writing part. Outside of all that, Katie can usually be found baking up tasty treats – which she then shares around at FantasyCon, so keep an eye out for red hair and a tote bag full of treats.

Information coming soon.

Information coming soon.

Information coming soon.