The Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards 2011

It's that time of year again!

This year, we have some new categories, new contenders, and some surprises.

The Atlantean — Outstanding Achievement, Book
(for the purposes of this award, a book is any publication which is perfect-bound and over 50 pages.) Vote either “Approve” or “Disapprove”
ROEHM, BOB and ROB: The Brownwood Connection (REHF Press)

Rob sent me a preview of The Brownwood Connection, and I was going to review it for The Cimmerian: since I got it when the site closed down, I unfortunately forgot all about it.  Suffice to say, I don't see any cause for this not to win this year.

The Valusian — Outstanding Achievement, Anthology
(for the purposes of this award, a book is any publication which is perfect-bound and over 50 pages.)
McHANEY, DENNIS: The Book of the Howard Review (Dennis McHaney)
SWEITZER, DARRELL: The Robert E. Howard Reader (Wildside Press)

Hmm...

The Hyrkanian — Outstanding Achievement, Essay
(Vote for at least three essays, identifying which should win 1st place, 2nd place, or 3rd place. Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year. Short interviews, speeches, book introductions, short reviews and other minor works do not count. Remember, you can split your total number of votes between several essays: 5 first place votes for X and 5 first place votes for Y; ballots are weighted, with first place votes multiplied by three, second place by two, third place by one.)
BARRETT, BARBARA
“Feminism and the Women in Robert E. Howard’s Fiction” (with Amy Kerr – REH Two-Gun Raconteur Blog)
“Robert E. Howard: The Sword Collector and His Poetry” (Black Gate Blog)
BREAKIRON, LEE
“Fandom at a Crossroads: Jonathan Bacon and the Legacy of REH” (The Dark Man, V5N2)
CONNORS, SCOTT
“Weird Tales and the Great Depression” (The Robert E. Howard Reader)
D’AMMASSA, DON
“Howard’s Oriental Stories” (The Robert E. Howard Reader)
EMERY, PHILIP
“Celtic Influences in the Works of Robert E. Howard” (The Dark Man, V5N1)
FINN, MARK
“The Old Time Radio Adventures of Sailor Steve” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #14)
HARDY, DAVID A.
“Gunfighters of the Wild East” (El Borak and Other Desert Adventures)
“The Monster in the Jungle” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #14)
HERMAN, PAUL
“Hunting for Deer but Finding Bigfoot” (REHF Newsletter V4N4)
HOFFMAN, CHARLES
“Return to Xuthal” (The Robert E. Howard Reader)
“‘The Shadow of the Beast’: A Closer Look” (The Dark Man, V5N1)
JOSHI, S. T.
“Barbarism Vs. Civilization” (The Robert E. Howard Reader)
KAHAN, JEFFREY
“‘Marchers of Valhalla,’ Creation, and the Cult of Castration” (The Dark Man, V5N1)
KERR, AMY
“Feminism and the Women in Robert E. Howard’s Fiction” (with Barbara Barrett – REH Two-Gun Raconteur Blog)
LENO, BRIAN
“It Really Wasn’t a Game: El Borak and the Victorian Cold War” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #14)
MURPHY, BRIAN
“Unmasking ‘The Shadow Kingdom’: Kull and Howard as Outsiders” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #14)
PRICE, ROBERT M.
“How Pure a Puritan Was Solomon Kane?” (The Robert E. Howard Reader)
RICHARDSON, DEUCE
“Kahan, Castration and a Seriously Cocked-up Misreading of ‘Marchers of Valhalla’” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #14)
ROMEO, GARY
“Fictionalizing Howard” (The Robert E. Howard Reader)
SANAHUJAS, SIMON
“From Bran Mak Morn to Beyond the Black River: The Evolution of the Picts” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #14)
SASSER, DAMON
“Conan’s Wild, Wild West” (REH Two-Gun Raconteur Blog)
SHANKS, JEFFREY
“Cro-Magnon Atlanteans: Robert E. Howard and the Works of Lewis Spence” (The Cimmerian Blog)
TAYLOR, KEITH
“Don Othna in ‘The King’s Service’” (The Cimmerian Blog)
“Uther Was a Black-Bearded Madman” (The Cimmerian Blog)
WEINBERG, ROBERT
“What He Wrote and How They Said It” (The Robert E. Howard Reader)

Some great stuff there.  I'm really enthused to see my Cimmerian shield-brothers-and-sisters represented, especially Keith: his Donn Othna and Uther series are absolutely spectacular.  All the Two Gun Raconteur selections are solid, and I particularly loved "The Monster in the Jungle."  I can't comment on the others from The Dark Man, The Robert E. Howard Reader or the REHF newsletter, but I don't doubt their quality.

The Aquilonian — Outstanding Achievement, Periodical
(for the purposes of this award, a periodical is any publication which has a stated intention of being a continuous series of items, even if only one issue appeared during the year in question, and even if the periodical’s length would otherwise qualify it as a book)
HALL, MARK: The Dark Man
THE ROBERT E. HOWARD FOUNDATION: The Robert E. Howard Foundation Newsletter
SASSER, DAMON: REH: Two-Gun Raconteur

All fine choices, but of the two I've read, Two-Gun Raconteur is the one I enjoyed the most.

The Stygian — Outstanding Achievement, Website
(Nominees are limited to Internet sites with a main purpose of archiving REH scholarship. Chat groups and e-mail lists do not qualify. To get on the ballot, each website must have updated their content at least once in the past year.)
BARRETT, BURKE, CAVALIER, HOLMES, KERR, SASSER: The REHupa website
COFFMAN, FRANK: The REH-e-APA website
THE ROBERT E. HOWARD FOUNDATION: HowardWorks
SASSER, LENO, LOUINET, ROEHM: REH Two-Gun Raconteur Blog

No Cimmerian on the list anymore... *sniffles*  Really, there's no right answer here, they all deserve it. However, Bill's been doing HowardWorks on his own for years now, and it's the premier resource for Howard in print: that always deserves recognition.

The Cimmerian — Outstanding Achievement, Blog Posts
(Vote for at least three, identifying which should win 1st place, 2nd place, or 3rd place. Nominees have added to the Howardian discussion and/or pool of knowledge in some meaningful way.)
BARRETT, BARBARA (The Cimmerian Blog, REHupa.com, Black Gate, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur Blog)
BURKE, RUSTY (REHupa.com)
CAVALIER, BILL “INDY” (REHupa.com)
CORNELIUS, JIM (The Cimmerian Blog)
HARRON, AL (The Cimmerian Blog, The Blog that Time Forgot)
HOLMES, MORGAN (REHupa.com)
KEEGAN, JIM & RUTH (Jim & Ruth’s Two-Gun Blog)
KERR, AMY (REHupa.com)
LENO, BRIAN (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur Blog)
LOUINET, PATRICE (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur Blog)
MARTINS, MIGUEL (The Cimmerian Blog)
MAYNARD, WILLIAM (The Cimmerian Blog)
MURPHY, BRIAN (Black Gate, The Cimmerian Blog)
RICHARDSON, DEUCE (The Cimmerian Blog)
ROEHM, ROB (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur Blog)
SASSER, DAMON (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur Blog, REHupa.com)
SHANKS, JEFFREY (The Cimmerian Blog)
TAYLOR, KEITH (The Cimmerian Blog)
TROUT, STEVE (The Cimmerian Blog)

My initial response:

My second, more measured response:

I'm really quite surprised to be on the list, especially since this is a new category. I think the Howard blogosphere is very strong, so a new award makes sense: that said, this'll be a tough one to predict, since there are many strong contenders.

The Venarium Award — Emerging Scholar
(Nominees have never won a Foundation Award before, and in the last year displayed the beginnings of what could be a movement into the upper echelon of Howard movers and shakers. You can only be nominated for this award once, in the year you make your first big push into the wider world of Howard publishing and scholarship.)
No nominee

No nominees for the Venarium Award this year, and I'm a bit surprised that Jeff Shanks hasn't been nominated.  I would've thought he'd be a natural choice.  One future possibility could be Michal Wojcik of One Last Sketch, who's written several excellent pieces: I don't know if he'd be eligible, though, and it would depend on whether he'd be more interested in doing more Howard pieces.  Here's hoping the film will entice some bright newcomers to the fold.

The Black River Award — Special Achievement
(The following nominees have produced something special that doesn’t fit into any other category: scholarly presentations, biographical discoveries, etc.)
BARRETT, BARBARA and KERR, AMY: for presenting a paper to the Popular Culture Association’s conference in St. Louis.
BURKE, RUSTY: for noting every change to REH’s typescripts in the “Notes on the Text” section in the Del Rey release El Borak and Other Desert Adventures.
EVERETT, JUSTIN and DIERDRE PETTIPIECE: for organizing the REH panels and presenting a paper at the Popular Culture Association’s conference in St. Louis.
HERMAN, PAUL: for tracking down what is quite possibly Robert E. Howard’s typewriter.
ROEHM, ROB: for unearthing two previously unknown Howard stories from the Yellow Jacket.

Quite impressive list this year, and all richly deserving, though I must admit there's something about Herman's possible discovery. Sort of like Howardom's Ark of the Covenant, or the Holy Grail.  Gives me chills, sort of.

The Rankin Award — Artistic Achievement in the depiction of REH’s life and/or work
(Art must have made its first public published appearance in the previous calendar year.)
BRADSTREET, TIMOTHY: illustrations for El Borak & Other Desert Adventures (Del Rey)
CAVALIER, BILL: REHF Awards plaque; cover illustration for Black Canaan (REHF); illustration of scene from “The Shadow Kingdom” for “Unmasking ‘The Shadow Kingdom’: Kull and Howard as Outsiders” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur 14)
CHALONER, GARY: Robert E Howard’s Breckinridge Elkins, “Mountain Man,” chapters 1-8 (breckinridgeelkins.com)
GIORELLO, TOMÁS: artwork for adaptation of “Iron Shadows in the Moon,” Conan the Cimmerian issues 22-25 (Dark Horse)
KEEGAN, JIM & RUTH: The Adventures of Two-Gun Bob (biographical strip running in most issues of Dark Horse’s REH comics); cover art and interior plates for El Borak & Other Desert Adventures (Del Rey); cover art for The Early Adventures of El Borak (REHFP)
NORMAND, DIDIER: illustration of scene from “Red Nails” for “The Monster in the Jungle: ‘Red Nails’ and the Return of the Repressed” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur  14)
PACE, RICHARD: illustrations for “The Curly Wolf of Sawtooth” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur  14)
PAVLET, TERRY: scenes from “Nekht Semerkeht” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur  14)
PETERS, MICHAEL L.: cover for REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #14; “The Hills of the Dead: A Solomon Kane Portfolio” (REH: Two-Gun Raconteur  14)

Now this is a very interesting new award indeed! The choice of name is also most appropriate.  Man, as if I didn't have enough reasons to get my artistic act in gear...

The Black Circle Award — Lifetime Achievement
(Given only sporadically as warranted, The Black Circle of Howard Fandom constitutes entering a highly select group of luminaries. To appear on this ballot, nominees must have at least twenty documented years in Howard fandom and receive at least 25% of all votes cast in a past year nominating cycle. The resulting nominees are put on the ballot for a winner-take-all vote. In years where no one has earned a place on the ballot, no award is given. Awards given posthumously will go to the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas.) Vote either “Approve” or “Disapprove”
CAVALIER, BILL “INDY”

I propose that when Indy accepts his award (for who in their right noggin would disapprove?) John Williams' Indiana Jones march should play in the background.  Failing that, a kazoo orchestra.

The Black Circle Award — Nominees for next year’s Award
(Use your votes here to nominate people for next year’s Black Circle Award ballot. All nominees who get at least 25% of this nominating vote will appear on the final ballot next year. Once someone gets onto the Black Circle ballot they are removed from the nominating list below, and they remain on the final winner-take-all ballot above from then on, until they either win or stand alone on the ballot and fail a 60% approve vote, in which case they are bumped back down to the nominating ballot for possible reappraisal in future years. Anyone on the below ballot who gets no nominating votes in a given year is removed from the ballot until such time as a Foundation voter casts a write-in vote for them again.)
BLOSSER, FRED
CERASINI, MARC
De CAMP, LYON SPRAGUE (posthumous)
HOFFMAN, CHARLES
LOVING, BILLIE RUTH (posthumous)
McHANEY, DENNIS
SASSER, DAMON
THOMAS, ROY
WAGNER, KARL EDWARD (posthumous)
CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE BLACK CIRCLE
Glenn Lord (2004)
Rusty Burke (2006)
Don Herron (2006)
Novalyne Price Ellis (2007)

This is always a tough one, but I can see a few that definitely deserve recognition.

So, this promises to be another great year.  The Scottish Invaders are consolidating their power as I speak!