Maureen Kincaid Speller

Maureen Kincaid Speller (1980s). From the collection of Vin¢ Clarke, courtesy of Rob Hansen.

(March 23, 1959 – September 18, 2022)

Maureen Kincaid Speller, previously known as Maureen Speller and earlier as Maureen Porter, was an SF book reviewer, writer, editor, and librarian. In the twenty-first century she was best known as a critic and earlier as a fanwriter and fanzine publisher, notably in APAs, who also served in numerous convention committees. For many years she played a leading role in the BSFA.

In her first editorial for the Association's newsletter Matrix (#65, August/September 1986) she wrote that her introduction to SFF came when she read The Lord of the Rings at age 13 and that led her to writers such as E. R. Eddison, Evangeline Walton and William Morris. At age 19 (so c. 1978) she went looking for others who shared her literary tastes and found OUSFG.

She edited Matrix until #85 in December 1989 and later was part of the team that edited the Associations critical journal Vector from #169 in 1992 to #187 in 1996. She also served as the Association's co-ordinator from April 1989 to February 1991 and again from June 1993 to May 1999

She was a member of several APAs: Acnestis (founder and OE), BWA, CHEFF, The Everlasting Club, Frank's APA and its successor Pieces of Eight, The Organisation, Pictish, Prophecy, The Secret Garden, ANZAPA, TurboAPA, and TWP.

At Conspiracy '87 she edited the newsletter Plot as well as acting as fan guest liaison. She also had committee roles at Mexicon 2, 3 and 4 and at Novacon 29 and 30.

She was a judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1989-90 and again in 1993-4, for the Otherwise Award in 2004 and for the Rotsler Award in 2004–6.

Fellow fan Paul Kincaid was her partner from 1986 until her death (they married in 1993). She worked for WritersServices as a freelance editor.

She was first known in fandom as Maureen Porter. She changed her name to Maureen Speller in 1991 and to Maureen Kincaid Speller in 1993.

Links:

• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
• SF Awards Database entry: Maureen Kincaid Speller

Fanzines and Apazines:

• Bottled Lightning
• Bumper Snuffkin
• Matrix (1986-9)
• Snufkin's Bum
• Snufkin Goes West
• Steam Engine Time (with Paul Kincaid and Bruce Gillespie)
• Taffkin's Bum
• Vector (1992-6)

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1996 -- Evolution
• 1998 -- 1998 TAFF Race winner, Nova Award for Best Fan Writer
• 1999 -- Best Fan Writer Hugo Award finalist
• 2013 -- BSFA Award non-fiction finalist for 'The Shortlist Project'
• 2016 -- Best Semiprozine Hugo Award finalist with others for Strange Horizons
• 2019 -- Best Semiprozine Hugo Award finalist with others for Strange Horizons
• 2021 -- Best Semiprozine Hugo Award finalist with others for Strange Horizons
• 2022 -- Karl Edward Wagner Award
• 2023 -- BSFA Award non-fiction finalist for 'The Critic and the Clue: Tracking Alan Garner’s Treacle Walker'

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Person

1959—2022

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