''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

fields. It also publishes comprehensive listings of all new books published in the genres (excluding self-published). The magazine also presents the annual

Locus Awards The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the p ...

. ''

Locus Online ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields ...

'' was launched in April 1997, as a semi-autonomous web version of ''Locus Magazine''.

History

Charles N. Brown, Ed Meskys, and Dave Vanderwerf founded ''Locus'' in 1968 as a news fanzine to promote the (ultimately successful) bid to host the 1971 World Science Fiction Convention in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts. Originally intended to run only until the site-selection vote was taken at St. Louiscon, the 1969

Worldcon Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, durin ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Brown decided to continue publishing ''Locus'' as a

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the proc ...

ed general science fiction and fantasy newszine. ''Locus'' succeeded the monthly newszine ''Science Fiction Times'' (formerly ''Fantasy Times'', founded 1941), when ''SFT'' ceased publication in 1970. Brown directed ''Locus'' as publisher and editor-in-chief for more than 40 years, from 1968 until his death at age 72 in July 2009. ''Locus'' announced that the magazine would continue operations, with then executive editor Liza Groen Trombi succeeding Brown as editor-in-chief in 2009. The magazine is now owned by the Locus Science Fiction Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation. ''Locus'' publishes: * News about the science fiction, fantasy, and horror publishing field—stories about publishers, awards, and conferences—including "The Data File", "People & Publishing" (rights sold, books sold, books resold, books delivered, publishing news, promotions; people news and photos about vacations, weddings, and births), and obituaries * Interviews with well-known and up-and-coming writers (and sometimes editors and artists), usually two per issue * Reviews of new and forthcoming books, usually 20–25 per issue, by notable SF critics including Gary K. Wolfe, Faren Miller,

Nick Gevers Nick Gevers (born 1965) is a South African science fiction editor and critic, whose work has appeared in ''The Washington Post Book World'', '' Interzone'', Scifi.com, SF Site, ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' and ''Nova Express''. H ...

Jonathan Strahan Jonathan Strahan (born 1964, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a ...

, Adrienne Martini, Russell Letson, Gwenda Bond, Stefan Dziemanowicz, Carolyn Cushman, Karen Burnham, and Richard Lupoff plus short fiction reviews by

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of '' Asimov's Science Fictio ...

and Rich Horton * A bimonthly commentary column by

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog '' Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of ...

* Reports from around the world about the SF scenes in various countries * Listings of US and UK books and magazines published (monthly), bestsellers (monthly), and forthcoming books (every three months) * Convention reports, with many photos * Annual year-in-review coverage, with extensive recommended reading lists and the annual Locus Poll and Survey * Letters and

classified ad Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

''Locus Online''

''Locus Online'' (founded 1997) is the online component of ''Locus Magazine''. It publishes news briefs related to the science fiction, fantasy and horror publishing world, along with original reviews and feature articles, and excerpts of articles that appeared in the print edition. Information for Locus Online is compiled and edited by Mark R. Kelly. In 2002, Locus Online won the first Hugo Award for Best Web Site. It was nominated again in 2005. In January 2016, longtime short-fiction reviewer

Lois Tilton Lois Tilton is a science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and horror writer. She won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in the short form category for her story "Pericles the Tyrant" in 2006. In 2005, her story, "The Gladiator's War" w ...

announced her resignation. She wrote, "Without consulting or informing me, they had begun deleting material they considered negative from my reviews. To me, this is censorship and completely unacceptable." It was later clarified by ''Locus'' that the edits were not intended to be made to work already published, but rather going forward, to future reviews. None of her past columns were changed, she was paid for the unpublished work, and the relationship ended amicably.

Locus Awards

Awarded annually since 1971, the

are voted on by the readership of ''Locus'' magazine. Developed initially as a reading list for the

Hugo Awards 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 ...

, they have since come to be considered a prestigious prize in science fiction, fantasy and horror literature.

Science Fiction Awards Database

Known previously as the Locus Index to SF Awards, the

Science Fiction Awards Database The (SFADB) is an index of science fiction, fantasy, and horror awards compiled by Mark R. Kelly and published by the Locus Science Fiction Foundation. Known formerly as the Locus Index to SF Awards, it has been cited as an invaluable science ...

(SFADB) is an index of science fiction, fantasy and horror awards compiled by Mark R. Kelly. It is often more up-to-date than the awards' own websites (according to ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...

''), and has received praise from editors and authors of SF.

Recognition

''Locus'' has won many Hugo Awards, first 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 ...

, and then in 1984 when the new category "Best Semiprozine" was established. , ''Locus'' won the award for "Best Fanzine" eight times and for "Best Semiprozine" 22 times during the category's first 29 years. In 2012 "Best Semiprozine" was redefined to exclude all small, independent genre magazines as "professional publications" if they had either "(1) provided at least a quarter the income of any one person or, (2) was owned or published by any entity which provided at least a quarter the income of any of its staff and/or owner."; this included ''Locus''. There is no longer a "Professional Magazine" Hugo Award; that original category was replaced in 1973 by the current "Best Editor."

References

External links

Locus Magazine (official website)

Science Fiction Awards Database
{{CurrentAmericanSFMagazines Monthly magazines published in the United States Speculative fiction magazines published in the United States Hugo Award-winning works Magazines established in 1968 Magazines published in California Mass media in Oakland, California Online magazines published in the United States Science fiction magazines published in the United States Speculative fiction websites Entertainment trade magazines Listings magazines