Celebrating George MacDonald for BFS Journal #25

New editor of the BFS Journal Dr Kevan Manwaring reflects on his first issue, and his plans for a festive tipple to wet the baby’s head.

When it was confirmed I could become the editor of the BFS Journal, I was cock-a-hoop. I’ve loved all things fantasy-related since I was a child – comics, films, TV shows, novels, role-playing games, art. I created my own fantasy worlds – first as a Dungeon Master in my adolescence, then as a novelist in adulthood. I now get to forge a biannual platform where the myriad iterations of fantasy (and its cousins: horror, weird, and speculative fiction) can be celebrated alongside the wonderfully diverse fantasy community.

My main priority was that the BFS Journal should truly represent this polyphonic spectrum, and so I set about recruiting regular feature writers who would be able to provide expert perspectives on different aspects of Fantastika.

Fortunately, through my day job as Course Leader in the MA in Creative Writing at Arts University Bournemouth, and through the various conventions and conferences I have attended (included, of course, Fantasycon), I had a good network to draw upon.  

And so, like a bardic Nick Fury, I assembled an extraordinary team of fantastic folk: Anna Milon to write about Fandom; Katy Soar about Horror; Lauren McMenemy about Indie Publishing; PS Livingstone about Women in Fantasy; Somto Ihezue about Global Fantasy; and Oliver Hollingdale about Film (in particular, the making of his new Fantasy feature film, Gallowmere). For Graphic Novels I shared a work-in-progress about the artist and poet, William Blake, with the hope that we can showcase other new works in the future. A brand new comic strip is planned, too. As someone with a Fine Art background, I appreciate the visual side of things, and wanted to ensure the Journal was gorgeous to look at as well as being a good read.

Alongside these regular features, which I hope will make BFS members feel welcomed and represented (the next issue will see gaming added, too), I commissioned articles on ‘The Godfather of Fantasy’, George MacDonald, whose 200th anniversary we celebrate this December. I was delighted to receive some fascinating scholarly articles on GMD. These have been complemented with an article on literary fantasy (a genre GMD’s oeuvre sits within), and on syncretist religion in LARP, which echoes the spirituality and mythopoeia of much of his work. These scholarly contributions sit alongside the regular features, offering a range of perspectives and registers. Combined with these I have provided a space for reviews (which anyone can submit), and hope to feature ‘Letters to the Editor’ and reports from conventions and events in future issues.

With the help and advice of Allen Stroud, Peter Sutton, and Stephen Theaker, I prepared the Winter issue. It has been a pleasure seeing it come together. To wet the baby’s head, I’ve organised an online launch event on Tuesday 10 December at 7pm (GMT) – the day of George MacDonald’s 200th anniversary. We’ll raise a wee dram to the big man, to the relaunched issue, and to the wider BFS Community, with contributors discussing their contributions and sharing the odd reading. I hope you can join us.

Grab your ticket to the Winter launch over here.