''Hyphen'' was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

science fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" was ...

, published from 1952-1965 by

Walt Willis Walter Alexander Willis (1919–1999) was a well-known Irish science fiction fan, resident in Belfast. Work Willis was awarded a 1958 Hugo Award as "Outstanding Actifan" (active fan), which replaced the Best Fanzine category that year. He was nom ...

in collaboration with James White,

Bob Shaw Robert Shaw (31 December 1931 – 11 February 1996) was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story "Light of Other Days" ...

and various others (Chuck Harris, Vincent Clarke, Arthur Thomson, Ian McAuley and Madeleine Willis). Over that period, they published 36 issues (one including a separate 'Literary Supplement'). In addition, a 37th issue was created by the Willises in 1987 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Irish

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

. ''Hyphen'' was nominated for the

Hugo Award for Best Fanzine The Hugo Award for Best Fanzine is given each year for non professionally edited magazines, or "fanzines", related to science fiction or fantasy which has published four or more issues with at least one issue appearing in the previous calendar y ...

in 1957 and 1959; and for the 1954

Retro-Hugo The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

(In 1958 editor Willis was awarded 1958 Hugo Award as 'Outstanding Actifan' ctive fan which replaced the Best Fanzine category that year.) ''Hyphen'' was considered one of the pivotal fanzines of its era for its humour and wit contributed by writers such as Willis and illustrators such as Thomson (aka 'ATom').

Science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fan, critic and author

Damon Knight Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind th ...

wrote in a letter of comment on issue #10: "The reason ''Hyphen'' is so good, I take it, apart from the accidental assemblage of half a dozen geniuses in Britain, and the reason so many serious and constructive fanzines are so ghastly dull, is that the former is an original contribution, and the latter are self-consciously second-hand. I would like you to ponder this thought though, if it hasn't already occurred to you: it's exactly the fun-loving fanzines like ''Hyphen'', Bradbury's ''

Futuria Fantasia ''Futuria Fantasia'' was an American science fiction fanzine created by Ray Bradbury in 1938, when he was 18 years old. Though only four issues of the fanzine were published, its list of contributors included Hannes Bok, Forrest J. Ackerman, Henr ...

'', and ''Snide'' (not a plug—the mag's 2nd and final issue was published 14 years ago) which have profoundly influenced science fiction."

References

External links

''Hyphen'' bibliography, with links to online archive
Defunct magazines published in Ireland Hugo Award-winning works Magazines established in 1952 Magazines disestablished in 1965 Science fiction fanzines Irish science fiction Speculative fiction magazines published in Ireland Magazines published in Northern Ireland {{Sf-fanzine-stub