Robert Holdstock

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(August 2, 1948 – November 29, 2009)

Robert 'Rob' Paul Holdstock was an UK fan and writer active from the late 1960s.

Professionally, he was best known for his works of fantasy literature, predominantly in the subgenre of mythic fiction. His first published short story appeared in New Worlds #184 (November 1968), the 'Special All New Writers Issue' also featuring Graham Charnock, and was followed by others in professional and fan venue venues, the latter including Vector, Sfinx and Zimri. He became a full-time writer with the publication of the first novel under his own name, Eye Among the Blind (1976). More than 30 books followed, some under pennames. Mythago Wood in 1984 won both the BSFA Award and the World Fantasy Award.

Fannishly, Roy Kettle recalled encountering Holdstock in 1967 over a mistaken delivery. Both bought sf magazines from a dealer in Singapore[1] and a batch intended for Holdstock was delivered to Kettle by mistake although it did include Holdstock's name and address: 

One of the best decisions of my life was resisting the temptation to keep those magazines and instead send them to Rob. We made contact, him at Bangor University and me at Warwick.[2]

In London he became part of the group known as Ratfandom. Checkpoint #10 (October 1971) reported that a 'London co-operative' of Rats including Holdstock, Malcolm Edwards, John Nielsen Hall and Greg Pickersgill had formed 'VUG Publications' to produce a number of fanzines. The venture was ultimately unsuccessful [3] but one of the promised titles, Holdstock's Macrocosm, did appear later that year.

Three issues of Macrocosm were published between December 1971 and the Summer 1972 and featured several of Holdstock's own short stories as well as others by John Brosnan, Lisa Conesa and Andrew Stephenson.

Holdstock placed fifth in the 1972–3 Checkpoint Poll, reported in Checkpoint #36 (April 1973), with editor Peter Roberts saying: 

Notorious small-time professional, Rob is possibly the only sf writer (as opposed to fannish) in the top five, though he has written a considerable amount of fairly fannish material, particularly in Zimri. He edits a fine magazine of amateur fiction (and there aren't many that I'd call 'fine') named Macrocosm and has published a number of short stories in recent British fanzines.

Other fanzine appearances in the 1970s included Fouler #5, Blunt #1, Stop Breaking Down #1 and #4 – where his 'His 'Eight Days A Week' placed second in the 'best article' category of the 1976–7 Checkpoint Poll – Inca #7, Zimri #2 and #3 and Wrinkled Shrew #6, 7# ('It's Hell Being a Contemporary of Andrew M. Stephenson') and #8. Reviews appeared in Foundation and Vector. A planned collaborative fanzine called Buddy to be co-edited with Pickersgill came to nothing as, according to Pickersgill, they had an 'entirely disparate ideas of what constituted a good fanzine'[4]. John Brosnan's Big Scab #2 was billed as 'The Special Robert P. Holdstock Issue' contained 'a couple of hilarious and unflattering pieces about Holdstock'[5]. His last fanzine was a contribution to the first and only mailing of the Fannish Elite Amateur Publishing Association in 1979.

He was the secretary to the committee of Seacon 75, the 1975 Eastercon, and attended the inaugural conference of World SF: An Organization of SF Professionals in Dublin in September 1976. At Novacon 6 later that year where D. West used the Astral Pole to initiate members of the The Astral Leauge, Holdstock's attempt saw him break the pole. He was guest of honour at Novacon 14 in 1984 when, as reported in Ansible #41 (December 1984): 

having often told the committee that as GoH he wished to be fawned on by bevies of naked dancing girls, they took him approximately at his word and hired a 'kissogram' greeting – only for a rumoured Hidden Hand to pay the extra £60 for a 'strippogram'.

Holdstock had been a BSFA member since 1967 and took over their 'Orbiter' writers group in 1972. In 1979 he initially expressed an interest in reviving their fiction magazine Tangent but instead he and Chris Evans launched the BSFA's writers' magazine Focus. He and Evans edited its first four issues before handing over to other editors in 1982.

In 2012, the British Fantasy Society changed their August Derleth Award for Best Novel into the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel, and established the Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel in his honour. Its first winner was Among Others by Jo Walton.

Links

Fanzines and Apazines:

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

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  1. ↑ Presumably Ron Bennett.
  2. ↑ 'A Tribute' by Roy Kettle at robertholdstock.com.
  3. ↑ according to Rob Hansen (Then, page 227), 'the duplicator that Pickersgill and Holdstock had bought for the collective ... unfortunately defied all efforts to get it to work' although in personal correspondence in September 2024 Pickersgill said, 'it was fairly soon discovered that it was the stencils – more precisely the typewriter they were cut on – that was the problem. The duper was fine, and gave many years service turning out fanzines for a variety of British fans'.
  4. ↑ Then, page 294.
  5. ↑ Then, page 306.
Person Website 1948—2009
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