OMPA

OMPA, the Offtrails Magazine Publishers Association, was organized by Ken Bulmer and Vin¢ Clarke on June 19, 1954 as the first UK fannish APA. The British Fantasy Amateur Press Association was a proposed fannish APA of the 1940s but that didn't come to anything and the British Amateur Press Association founded in 1890 was a earlier non-fannish APA in which some fans participated. Founding members included Chuck Harris, Joan Carr, Ron Bennett and Archie Mercer. The Official Organ was Off Trails. It was published four times a year: March, June, September and December. OMPA lasted into the late 1970s but 'faded away', as Rob Hansen put it, somewhen during that era. The last known issue of Off-Trails is #87, undated but seemingly late 1977. Many members felt that the effort of putting on OMPAcon '73 (an Eastercon) sapped its energy... though it is maintained by some that OMPA still exists, just that nobody has made minac since 1977.

In the advertising world it would have been called a brainstorming session. It began in the late afternoon of Saturday, June 19th, 1954, and carried on into the cool of a beautiful summer evening. When it had finished, Ken Bulmer and I had roughed out the plans for the first British SF fan publisher’s association.

It’s hard to say what was the catalyst which finally acted on this particular project. The atmosphere was right. British fandom was on its feet in a burst of activity which made this, the year of the SuperManCon, a small Golden Age. Numerous fans were interested in publishing, and the SF professional ’zines were bringing in new faces, throughout the year. I think it was Ken who decided that now was the moment for launching into reality the dream of years, and I think it was myself who, after various

euphonious titles had been tried out for a couple of hours, suggested that echo of a trombone, OMPA. It would, we thought, disperse any stuffiness about the introduction of an association with a real Constitution into the happily anarchic fandom of the time... and, moreover, it ran trippingly off the tongue.

— Vin¢ Clarke, APAthy, 1959; quoted in Rob Hansen, Generation Femizine

OEs

Ron Bennett's Burp #24 (December 1964, and included in OMPA mailing #42) lists 'Ten years of Officialdom', providing a list of editors, presidents and treasurers for all years up to 1963/4.

1954/55 means a term from September 1955 to June 1955. For many years this was the standard term of an OE, as OMPA launched in the autumn. 1970–73 means the full years 1970, 71, 72, and 73.

Contributors and APAzines

• Don Allen -- Loco
• Lyle Amlin -- Psi
• Don Anderson -- Alces/Amer
• Heinrich Arenz -- Another One
• Mike Ashley -- ...And Behold, Cushi Came
• Mal Ashworth -- My First Real Convention, Running, Jumping, and Standing Still Fanzine, Yrautibo, Ascent of Next to Nothing, Dupe
• ATom (see Arthur Thomson, below)
• Lenny Bailes -- Ringwraith
• John Bangsund -- Philosophical Gas
• Steve Barr -- Diablerie
• Greg Benford
• Ron Bennett -- Antwerpse Letterkundige En Wettenschappelijke Gazet, Burp, Harrogate Crudbin Quarterly, They're Off, Through Darkest Belgium
• Eric Bentcliffe -- Waldo, Platform
• John Berry -- Veritas, This Goon for Hire, The Thomson Saga
• Gerald Bishop -- Debb'nshire Crame and Scrumpy
• Burkhard Bluem -- Pantheon
• Graham Boak -- Binary, Cynic, Transplant
• Redd Boggs -- Spirochete
• Lars Bourne -- Skerry
• Walter Breen -- Olla Podrida
• Rich Brown -- Transatlantic Fringe Fan
• John Brunner -- Noise Level, Pogrom, Stopgap
• Daphne Buckmaster -- Esprit
• Ken Bulmer -- Dysteleology, Steam, Aaah!, WAPPPOTED, Ziz
• Pam Bulmer -- Ugh!, Ziz
• Brian Burgess -- Go to Hel, Burgess's Lights
• Bruce Burn -- Sizar, Meet, ParaFANalia, Topee or Not Topee
• Elinor Busby -- Dolphin
• Pete Campbell -- Andromeda
• Terry Carr -- Dark Star, Entropy
• Terry and Miriam Carr -- Defenestration
• Steven C. Carrington -- Mdrgl
• John Champion -- Xanadu
• George Charters -- The Scarr
• Jim Caughran -- A L'Abandon, When a Trufan Dies
• Ken Cheslin -- Envoy, Childs Garden of Olaf, Sally-Port
• Joy Clarke -- Apathy, Lesser Flea, Bran Tub, Comedy of Errors, Copies of Certain Letters..., This Sceptred Isle
• Vin¢ Clarke -- Launching Site, Dysteleology, Zymic, Duplicating without Tears, and Goontact
• Larry Crilly -- Farrago
• Mike Deckinger -- Gloom
• Calvin Demmon -- Chicken Wagon
• Chick Derry -- Annex, Gallery
• Belle Dietz & Frank Dietz -- Ground Zero, Peals
• Belle Dietz -- Complete Story of How Not to Move, Nimbel, Skimmer's Guide
• Bill Donaho -- Viper, ASP, Habakkuk, Blush, Defilade, The Wall
• Howard DeVore -- Ompalog
• Gordon Eklund -- Shadowfax
• Dick Ellington -- FIJAGH, Mailing Comments
• Paul Enever -- How
• Dick Eney -- Keebird, Stupefying Stories, Speculative Review, Phenotype, One/Fourteen, Shelta Thari, Century Note, Bixeltype
• Bill Evans -- Evans-Pavlat Fanzine Index, Cyrille, Remembrance of Things Past
• Don Fitch -- Quartering
• Don Ford -- Pooka
• Harvy Formal -- QS&WU Sunday Supplement
• Colin Freeman -- Mein Omp-F
• Les Gerber -- Romp
• Nan Gerding -- Nantz, Ob
• Roberta Gray -- Vagary
• Jim Groves -- The Wall, Packrat
• Dave Hale -- Plain Psycho, Big Deal
• Barry Hall -- Kactus
• Owen Hannifen -- This Is the Trial
• Chuck Harris -- Meander, Lonconfidential, Harris School of Motoring, Surd, This Goon for Hire, Through Darkest Ireland
• Bill Harry -- Biped
• Art Hayes -- Marsolo
• Beryl Henley (see Beryl Mercer, below)
• Lynn Hickman -- JD-Argassy, Troat, Scurvy, Ob
• John Hitchcock -- Double Whammy, Fang
• Fred Hunter -- Outpost
• Terry Jeeves -- Erg
• Jan Jansen -- Antwerpse Letterkundige En Wettenschappelijke Gazet, Fanjan, Itta
• Ted Johnstone -- New Ashmolean
• Brian Jordan -- Rope of Sand, Kobold
• Arnie Katz -- St. Omp
• Roy Kay -- Idiotic Genius
• Pat Kearney -- Enfocado
• Earl Kemp & Nancy Kemp -- Why Is a Fan?
• Robert Lambeck -- Ompalog
• Dave Langford -- Cloud Chamber
• Fred Lerner --
• Al Lewis -- Ompalog, Ompassable Science Fiction, Space Charge*, Why Not
• Robert Lichtman -- Zounds, Some of the Best from Quandry
• Ethel Lindsay -- Bletherings, Chatterings, The Wall
• Nigel Lindsay -- Bias Binding, Schnerdlites
• Jim Linwood -- Fifty-Second Street, Movie Music, Jetstream, Son of the Fanalytic Eye
• George Locke -- Smoke, Eye Tracks, The Wall
• P. Howard Lyons -- Ibidem
• Stuart MacKenzie -- Ib Tenebo
• Bob Madle -- Fanzine Review
• John Magnus -- Double Whammy
• Andy Main -- Mainiac, Suwayya
• Richard Mann -- Timpanogas
• Ivor Mayne -- Vert
• Archie Mercer -- Antwerpse Letterkundige En Wettenschappelijke Gazet, Amble, Second Saturday After the First..., Archive, Meadows of Fantasy
• Beryl Mercer -- Oz
• Mike Meara & Pat Meara -- Lurk
• Norm Metcalf -- Tasa, CAC, Ul
• Ellis Mills -- Grist, Styx, Ur & Xanadu Review
• Michael Moorcock -- Perindeus
• John Muir -- Red Cake, Two Heads Are Better Than One
• Darroll Pardoe -- Pablo, The Wall
• Rosemary Pardoe -- Seagull
• Joe Patrizio -- Binary
• Fred Patten -- Lefnui
• Bob Pavlat -- Contour, Evans-Pavlat Fanzine Index, Dogie
• Bruce Pelz -- Savoyard
• Ian Peters -- Haggis
• Billy Pettit -- Boole and Babbage
• Derek Pickles -- Galaxy
• David Piper -- Moth
• Ken Potter -- Incantations, Brennschluss, Fix
• John Rackham -- Rackhamart
• Julian C. Raasveld -- Spirit of Fan
• Dorothy Ratigan -- Satan's Child
• George Nims Raybin -- Ground Zero, Animus Curiae, Let George Say It, Nimbel
• Mary Reed -- Crabapple, Rosemary
• Lee Riddle -- Leer
• Dave Rike -- Limbo
• Alan Rispin -- Hungry
• Brian Robinson -- Hell, Inferno
• Alva Rogers -- Bixel, Bixeltype
• Bill Rotsler -- Tapebook
• H. P. Sanderson -- Blunt, Omnibus
• Ray Schaffer -- Djellabah, Apollo Play, Spizzerinctum
• Thomas Schluck -- Tom Chants in the Dark
• Dick Schultz -- Envoy, Sathanas, Brobdingnag, Detroit Iron
• Mark Schulzinger -- Ka
• Marie-Louise Share -- Caprice
• Joan Sharpe -- Joy
• Larry Shaw -- Dimensions
• Norman Shorrock -- Biped, They're Off
• Paul Skelton -- Hell, Inferno
• Ken Slater -- Still Life, Inscrewtibobble, Bilcyn, In Re Yours, Bilfescyning, Funtast, Twin Set
• Fred L. Smith -- Needle
• George Spencer -- Curiosity Shoppe, Griffin
• Phil Spencer & Sherry Spencer -- Eulogy
• Larry Stark -- Double Whammy
• Will Straw -- Rabble-Rouser
• Anne Steul -- FANannIA
• Don Studebaker -- Ludicrous Portraits, Naked Artichoke in War and Peace, Naked Artichoke in the Middle Ages
• Pete Taylor -- Tourniquet
• Arthur Thomson -- Veritas, Ron Bennett Appreciation, AtoZ, Topee or Not Topee
• Tony Thorne -- Medi-Eval, Mediocre
• Bjo Trimble -- Bjottings, Procrastinator, Pipress
• John Trimble -- Procrastinator
• Bob Tucker -- Wild Pumbles
• Harry Turner -- Now & Then
• Dave Vendelmans -- Titot, Itta, Through Darkest Belgium
• Keith Walker
• Mike Wallace -- Imbroglio, Bilfescyning, Fescennine
• Charles Wells -- Hex
• Norman G. Wansborough -- Review (Wansborough), Rune, Play Time
• Peter Weston -- Nexus, Zenith
• Ted White -- Null-F, Zip, Double Whammy
• Tom White -- Golgotha
• Walt Willis -- Woz, WAPPPOTED, Willis Discovers America
• Art Wilson -- Scatalog
• Geoff Wingrove -- Guf, Heavyside, Io, Snooze
• Charlie Winstone -- Yac'sone
• Andy Young -- Vile Deeds at Midnight, Wild Pumbles
• Jean Young -- Vile Deeds at Midnight

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

The Off-Trail Magazine Publisher's Association, formed 19 June 1954 to provide British fen wit an equivalent of FAPA. Ken Bulmer and Vin¢ Clarke organized it, and were first president and first Association Editor (respectively) of the group. "We weren't proud", says Vin¢; "we borrowed wholesale from the rules of FAPA." This isn't quite right, since FAPA's Secretary and Vice-President duties were combined with, respectively, the Association Editor's and President's, and the group was smaller (45 members plus the Keeper of the Printed Books British Copyright repository, carried as "Member #0"]). Founder members included eminent Anglofen like Chuck Harris (first Treasurer), Joan Carr, Ron Bennett, and Archie Mercer. The group grew rapidly; original membership of 25 had to be increased to 29 with the first mailing and later to its present level. Beginning in 1956 it became extensively infiltrated with Americans and some alarm and despondency over possible loss of British character was heard.

Links

• https://fanac.org/fanzines/APA_Mailings/OMPA/
• https://fanac.org/fanzines/References/apathy_ompa_index_clarke_1959-09_ompa_21c.pdf
• Burp #24 online at fanac.org (includes extensive details and statistics for the first ten years of OMPA).

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Publication

1954—1978

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