Steve Green (journalist)

Steve Green (born 1960, Solihull, England) is a former newspaper reporter (1978–84) turned freelance journalist, who has also written short fiction and poetry. He is an active member of the science fiction press and fan community.

Ann and Steve Green at Jervaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire, October 2005. Photo by Steve Green.

Journalism and other writings

Subsequent to his career as a newspaper reporter (initially on The Walsall Observer, later on The Solihull News), Green has contributed to such magazines as The Dark Side (for which he wrote 51 instalments of the review column "Fanzine Focus"), Interzone (interviewing the comics writer and editor Stan Lee^[1] and the author/screenwriter Peter Atkins^[2]), Fantasia and SFX, as well as being an occasional contributor to the 1990s BBC Radio 5 series The Way Out. He wrote an online column on real ale and the British pub industry for The Sunday Mercury in the late 2000s^[3] and returned to The Dark Side as a movie reviewer in 2015.

With Martin Tudor, he was also the co-editor/publisher of the science fiction journal Critical Wave,^[4] from its launch in October 1987 to its financial heat-death in mid-1996;^[5] a new, online edition was announced in September 2008,^[6][7] with the same editorial team; the first issue of this new series was released in November 2008, but a second has yet to appear.

In addition to having several of his own short stories published, including "Cracking" in The Anthology of Fantasy & the Supernatural,^[8] plus a large number of poems,^[9][10][11] Green appears as a supporting character in both David Langford's comic novel The Leaky Establishment^[12] and Joel Lane's novella The Witnesses Are Gone^[13] (the latter also features his late wife, Ann Green).

During the mid-1990s, Green was a regular columnist for both the Seattle freesheet Mansplat!^[14] and the focal point American fanzine Apparatchik (examples:^[15][16][17]). His Apparatchik column, "Fannish Memory Syndrome", was relaunched in the Hugo Award-nominated US fanzine The Drink Tank^[18] in September 2007.^[19] Selected examples of this writing can be found on his professional blog The Shadow Library.^[20]

In the autumn of 2019, Green co-founded Birmingham Now TV with Des Tong, Gary James and Chrissie Harper. The first episode of the magazine show 'Birmingham Now' was posted online on 25 November 2019.

Related activities

Green joined the Birmingham Science Fiction Group in February 1977^[21] and has held several posts with that organisation, including editor of its monthly newsletter. He also became a member of the British Science Fiction Association, eventually taking over the clubs column ("Life on Mars") for its newsletter Matrix.^[22][23] Later, he collaborated with artist Kevin Clarke on a short-lived comic strip for Matrix, "The Tavern at the End of Time".^[24][25]

He was chair of the British science fiction conventions Novacon 14 (1984),^[26][27] Novacon 37 (2007),^[28] and Novacon 44 (2014); he also ran the "Fan Lounge" at Intervention, the 1997 Eastercon.^[29] Other roles include: Fantasy Amateur Press Association vice-president, 2005–07, and president-elect in 2009 (as the post was dissolved in the same ballot, Green never took office, but was briefly listed in official publications as "president emeritus"); administrator of the Nova Awards for British fanzines, presented annually at Novacon,^[30] 2002–09 (he reassumed the role in late 2010); former administrator of the Delta Film Award, presented annually at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films until 2014.

In November 2008, Green announced himself as a candidate for the TransAtlantic Fan Fund. He won^[31] and subsequently attended the 2009 world sf convention, Anticipation, before travelling across Canada and the United States. He is currently working on a series of articles about his trip^[32][33] and acted as European TAFF administrator for two years, a requirement of the post.^[34][35]

He was a regular guest speaker at the Exeter University convention Microcon, 2008–10, 2012–13 and 2015 (the final year it was held).

Joel Lane's 2009 short story collection The Terrible Changes^[36] is dedicated to Green and to the memory of his late wife, Ann.

He is currently a director of the UK publishing imprint Rose of Eibon.

Personal life

Green married fellow science fiction fan Ann Thomas (born 1961, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales) in December 1983. She died in July 2008, aged 46, following a brief diabetes-related illness.^[37]

References

1. "Locus index for Interzone #59, May 1992". Locusmag.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
2. "Locus index for Interzone #81, March 1994". Locusmag.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
3. "Sunday Mercury real ale column". Blogs.sundaymercury.net. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
4. "Eulogy for the award-winning British sf author Bob Shaw, originally written by Green for Critical Wave in 1996". Minervatech.u-net.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
5. "Ansible #111 (ed. Dave Langford, October 1996): "Sad news, indeed"". News.ansible.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
6. "The Drink Tank #183 (ed. Chris Garcia, October 2008), announcing relaunch of Critical Wave" (PDF). Retrieved 20 October 2011.
7. "Ansible #255 (ed. Dave Langford, October 2008), announcing relaunch of Critical Wave". News.ansible.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
8. "Locus index for The Anthology of Fantasy and the Supernatural (ed. Stephen Jones and David Sutton; Tiger Books, 1994)". Locusmag.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
9. "Locus index to Works #8 (1992)". Locusmag.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
10. "That's Entertainment, edited by Kerrie Pateman (Poetry Now, 1995), ISBN 1-85731-439-5". Fr.bookbutler.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
11. "Dreamers on the Sea of Fate, edited by Steve Sneyd (Sol, 1999), ISBN 0-907376-15-0". Fr.bookbutler.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
12. . Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
13. PS Publishing catalogue entry for The Witnesses Are Gone by Joel Lane
14. http://www.mansplat.com/ Mansplat! website, including partial index
15. ""Fannish Memory Syndrome" column in Apparatchik #65, 8 August 1996". Efanzines.com. 8 August 1996. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
16. ""Fannish Memory Syndrome" column in Apparatchik #66, 29 August 1996". Efanzines.com. 29 August 1996. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
17. "Fannish Memory Syndrome" column in Apparatchik #71, 13 December 1996]^{[dead link]}
18. "Bill Burns' eFanzines index of links to downloadable issues of 'The Drink Tank'". Efanzines.com. 7 July 2005. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
19. http://efanzines.com/DrinkTank/DrinkTank143.pdf^{[bare URL PDF]}
20. Steve_Green (25 July 2007). "The Shadow Library, an online archive of reviews and essays and in his 2009 collection". Shadowlibrary.blogspot.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
21. ""Fannish Memory Syndrome" column in Apparatchik #69 (1996): "I first crossed paths with the Brum Group back in February 1977, when it was just six years old and arguably at the height of its powers; the guest that month was Brian Aldiss, with Chris Priest and Bob Shaw scheduled for March and April, and the group was about to run its sixth Novacon."". Efanzines.com. 1 November 1996. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
22. . Matrix-online.net. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
23. "BSFA index to contributors to its publications". Mjckeh.demon.co.uk. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
24. "Kevin Clarke's online bio, including reference to "The Tavern at the End of Time"". Minervatech.u-net.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
25. Illustration by Kevin Clarke for the Novacon 14 programme book, chosen by SFPod as its "Science Fiction Picture of the Day" on 12 September 2007; features characters from "The Tavern at the End of Time"^{[dead link]}
26. http://news.ansible.co.uk/a36.html Ansible #36 (ed. Dave Langford, December 1983): "The next Novacon [..] with S.Green as chair"
27. "Ansible #41 (ed. Dave Langford, December 1984): "Novacon chair Steve Green"". News.ansible.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
28. "Novacon 37 website – content being archived at Novacon 39 website March 2009 organised that event's film programme on several occasions [http://www.cix.co.uk/~magician/conrunner/PicturesGreen.htm "Talking Pictures" – article by Green on convention film programming, published in Conrunner #5 (1986) and later republished in The Best of Conrunner (1987)". Novacon37.org.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
29. "Report by Dave Langford on the 1997 Eastercon, including references to the Fan Lounge". Ansible.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
30. "Nova Awards update, dated November 2004, published on eFanzines". Pdf.textfiles.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
31. "TAFF press release issued 19 April 2009". Taff.org.uk. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
32. http://efanzines.com/Argentus/Ag09.pdf "TAFF Notes: Prelude", Argentus #9, ed. Steven H Silver, 2009
33. ""LV Confidential", Beam #3, ed. Nic Farey, 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 20 October 2011.
34. "TAFFLine #1, 12 April 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 20 October 2011.
35. "TAFFLine #2, 27 April 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 20 October 2011.
36. Ex Oxcidente Press catalogue entry for Joel Lane's The Terrible Changes 2 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
37. "Booklet produced for Ann Green's funeral, 15 August 2008". Efanzines.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.

External links

• Ghostwords, Steve Green's website
• Cartoon by Dave Hicks, originally published in Have Bag, Will Travel #2 (1996)
• Rose of Eibon website
• Steve Green at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database