Ansible Fan Poll

The Ansible Fan Poll, formally billed as the Checkpoint/Ansible Fan Poll, was a fan poll of UK fanzine activity conducted by Dave Langford through the newszine Ansible. It was a continuation of the Checkpoint Fan Poll which was in turn a successor to the polls taken by Ron Bennett in Skyrack in the 1950s and 1960s.

Each poll covered the period from Easter to Easter. All fans were eligible to vote although the ballots were distributed with Ansible and most were UK fans. It continued until 1982/1983. Langford said, 'Some discussion of this poll appeared in Ansible #25. It was skipped owing to general voter apathy in 1984, as perhaps foreshadowed by editorial Angst in Ansible #39 and recorded in Ansible #40. The poll finally died in 1985'. Ansible #43 (May/June 1985) said: 'The Ansible Poll is hereby laid to rest in an unmarked grave, an idea (judging from response) whose time is clearly past.'

• Checkpoint/Ansible Fan Poll at checkpoint.ansible.uk with links to ballots and results, the latter including extensive commentary.

Best British Fanzine

Place	Fanzine	Editor(s)
1979/1980
1	Twll-Ddu	Dave Langford
2	Deadloss	Chris Priest
3	Drilkjis	Dave Langford and Kevin Smith
=4	Dot	Kevin Smith
=4	Seamonsters	Simone Walsh
6	One Off	David Bridges
7	Paranoid	Ian and Janice Maule
8	By British	Ian Maule and Joseph Nicholas
9	Ocelot	Simon Ounsley and Graham James
10	Nabu	Ian Maule
'Twenty-seven titles, plus "No Award", were nominated. Five points were awarded for a first-place vote, four for a second and so on: this system was also used for the fanwriter and fanartist categories. Ansible was not eligible.'
1980/1981
1	Twll-Ddu	Dave Langford
2	Second-Hand Wave	Alan Ferguson and Trevor Briggs
3	New River Blues	Abi Frost and Roz Kaveney
4	No Award
=5	Nabu	Ian and Janice Maule
=5	Ocelot	Simon Ounsley and Graham James
7	Arena	Geoff Rippington
=8	Amanita	Cyril Simsa
=8	Matrix	Graham James for the BSFA
10	Napalm in the Morning	Joseph Nicholas
'29 titles plus "No Award" nominated; 5 points for 1st-place vote, 4 for 2nd, etc. (this system also used for writer & artist); Ansible ineligible'.
1981/1982
1	Tappen	Malcolm Edwards
2	Still It Moves	Simon Ounsley
3	Twenty-Third	Jimmy Robertson
4	Epsilon	Rob Hansen
5	Drilkjis	Dave Langford and Kevin Smith
6	Start Breaking Up	Chris Atkinson and Linda Pickersgill
7	Indian Scout	Cretinfandom (Sandy Brown, Bill Carlin and Jimmy Robertson)
8	New River Blues	Abi Frost and Roz Kaveney
9	Crystal Ship	John D. Owen
10	Dot	Kevin Smith
'35 titles nominated, plus "No Award" and Twll-Ddu (ineligible through nonappearance). 5 points for 1st-place vote, 4 for 2nd, etc; Ansible ineligible; ... I'm unreliable on numbers of issues published since my fanzines are still packed in boxes.'
1982/1983
1	Tappen	Malcolm Edwards
2	Still It Moves	Simon Ounsley
3	Epsilon	Rob Hansen
4	Indian Scout	Cretinfandom (Sandy Brown, Bill Carlin and Jimmy Robertson)
5	Twll-Ddu	Dave Langford
6	Out of the Blue	Ian Williams and Harry Bell
=7	Drunkard's Talk	Malcolm Edwards
=7	Microwave	Terry Hill
=7	Wallbanger	Eve Harvey
=10	This Never Happens	Lilian Edwards and Christina Lake
'37 titles (and an apa) nominated. 5 points given for a 1st-place vote, 4 for 2nd, etc; Ansible ineligible'.

Best British Fanzine Single Issue

Place	Fanzine	Editor
1979/1980
1	TAFF-Ddu	Jim Barker & Dave Langford
=2	By British	Ian Maule & Joseph Nicholas
=2	Deadloss #2	Chris Priest
=2	Drilkjis #5	Kev Smith and Dave Langford
=2	For a Few Fanzines More	John Collick
=2	One Off #8	David Bridges
7	Seamonsters 4	Simone Walsh
'Nine fanzines were nominated ... there is no points system: one vote counts as one vote and that's that.'
1980/1981
=1	Nabu #10	Ian and Janice Maule
=1	Twll-Ddu #19	Dave Langford
=3	Ocelot #4	Graham James and Simon Ounsley
=3	No Award
=3	Starfan	Rob Hansen
=3	The Tinned Milk of Human Kindness #1	Michael Ashley
=3	Twll-Ddu #18	Dave Langford
8	One Dead Hedgehog	Jim Barker
'28 items nominated plus "No Award" ... an issue of Second-Hand Wave would probably have been placed had I not had to disallow unqualified votes for 'SHW 42' ... since all four eligible issues have that number. Sorry!'
1981/1982
1	Start Breaking Up	Chris Atkinson and Linda Pickersgill
2	Indian Scout	Cretinfandom (Sandy Brown, Bill Carlin and Jimmy Robertson)
3	Tappen #2	Malcolm Edwards
=4	Still It Moves #1	Simon Ounsley
=4	Still It Moves #2	Simon Ounsley
=4	Drilkjis #6	Dave Langford and Kevin Smith
'30 items (3 ineligible, having appeared in the previous year) nominated, plus "No Award".'
1982/1983
1	Tappen #5	Malcolm Edwards
2	Felicity	Jimmy Robertson
3	The Zine That Has No Name #3	Paul Skelton
4	Tiger Tea #1	Linda Pickersgill
=5	Indian Scout 1983 Annual	Red Army Choir
=5	Still It Moves #3	Simon Ounsley
'36 issues of 29 different Britzines nominated, plus one ineligible US zine (1 vote only).'

Best British Fanzine Article or Column

Place	Article	Writer	Fanzine
1979/1980
1	'Charlie Was A Good Old Boy'	Bryn Fortey	Seamonsters #4
=2	'Second Thermidor (Level 1)	Abi Frost	New River Blues #2
=2	'Fall of the Mouse of Usher'	Dave Langford	TAFF-Ddu
=2	'Coming From Behind: A Short History of British Fanzines in the Seventies'	Joseph Nicholas	By British
=2	'Ah, Sweet Arrogance'	D. West	One Off #8
1980/1981
=1	'How to Write Like Joseph Nicholas'	Kevin Smith	Dot #9
=1	'Transatlantic Hearing Aid I'	Dave Langford	Twll-Ddu #19
=3	No Award
=3	'Symbolism & the 10:10 from the Hearthrug'	Chris Priest	Nabu #10
=3	'Captive with a Glass Hand'	Jim Barker	One Dead Hedgehog
=3	'The End of the Dream'	Joseph Nicholas	Napalm in the Morning #3
=3	'Life on Mars'	Simon Ounsley	Matrix
=3	'Vive la Revolucion'	Chris Evans	Nabu #10
'32 items nominated plus "No Award". ... NB: Votes for D. West's 'Ah, Sweet Arrogance' and my 'Mouse of Usher' were disallowed since these articles were eligible (and placed) in the previous poll.'
1981/1982
1	'Life with the Loonies I'	Chris Atkinson	Tappen
2	'The Transatlantic Hearing Aid'	Dave Langford	Nabu #11
=3	'You Must Be Mad'	Alan Ferguson	Still It Moves #2
=3	'Confessions of a Collector'	Simon Ounsley	Still It Moves #1
=3	'Towards a Critical Standard' series	Kevin Smith	Vector
=3	'What Do They Do With The Money?'	Kevin Smith	Drilkjis #6
'38 items plus "No Award".'
1982/1983
1	'Performance'	D. West	Tappen #5
2	'Desert Island Lavatories'	Nick Lowe	Chocolates of Lust #2
=3	'Desperate Fun'	Linda Pickersgill	Out of the Blue #4
=3	'How Women Get Pregnant'	Linda Pickersgill	Out of the Blue #5
=3	'Return to Red River'	Bill Carlin	Indian Scout
=3	'When Fandoms Collide'	Bob Shaw	The Zine That Has No Name
=3	[Untitled house-move horror stories]	Dave Langford	Cloud Chamber #13 and 17
'58 items nominated. ... Incidentally, Linda Pickersgill collected 10 votes spread over 4 separate articles.'

Best British Fan Writer

Place	Writer
1979/1980
1	Dave Langford
2	D. West
3	Kevin Smith
4	Chris Priest
=5	David Bridges
=5	Bob Shaw
7	Joseph Nicholas
8	Alan Dorey
9	Simone Walsh
'Eighteen fans were nominated; all details of scoring etc as for Best British Fanzine, above.'
1980/1981
1	Dave Langford
2	No Award
3	Joseph Nicholas
4	Chris Priest
5	Kevin Smith
6	Michael Ashley
=7	David Bridges
=7	John Clute
=7	Roz Kaveney
'31 nominations plus "No Award".'
1981/1982
1	Chris Atkinson
2	Dave Langford
3	Jimmy Robertson
4	Simon Ounsley
5	Kevin Smith
6	Chris Evans
7	Chris Priest
=8	Abi Frost
=8	Joseph Nicholas
'37 nominations recorded'.
1982/1983
1	Dave Langford
2	D. West
3	Linda Pickersgill
4	Chris Atkinson
5	Jimmy Robertson
6	Simon Ounsley
7	Malcolm Edwards
8	Paul Skelton
9	Alan Ferguson
10	Rob Hansen
'43 fans were nominated.'

Best British Fan Artist

Place	Artist
1979/1980
1	Jim Barker
2	Harry Bell
3	Rob Hansen
4	D. West
5	John Collick
'Thirteen fans, plus "No Award", were nominated; such is the lack of UK fanartists that only five got more than five points.'
1980/1981
1	Pete Lyon
2	Jim Barker
3	D. West
4	John Collick
5	Rob Hansen
6	Harry Bell
7	Alan Hunter
8	Arthur Thomson
'16 nominations plus "No Award".'
1981/1982
1	Pete Lyon
2	Rob Hansen
3	Jim Barker
4	D. West
5	Harry Bell
6	Martin Helsdon
7	John Collick
8	John McFarlane
9	Steve Lines
10	Ian Byers
'19 nominations plus "No Award".'
1982/1983
1	Pete Lyon
2	Rob Hansen
3	Harry Bell
4	D. West
5	Jim Barker
6	Arthur Thomson
7	Margaret Welbank
8	Anne Warren
9	John McFarlane
10	Shep Kirkbride
'31 British residents nominated, plus 3 ineligible Americans (all scored <6pts), plus "No Award" (Ditto). I'm too cautious to comment here on Art...'

Best British Fanzine Cover

Place	Fanzine	Artist
1979/1980
1	Inca #1	D. West
=2	TAFF-Ddu	Jim Barker
=2	Drilkjis #5	Rob Hansen
=2	Drilkjis #4	D. West
5	Out of the Blue #1	Harry Bell
'Ten covers were nominated, from nine different fanzine titles.'
1980/1981
1	Matrix #34	Pete Lyon
=2	Vector #101	John MacFarlane
=2	No Award
=2	Matrix #32	D. West
=5	Second-Hand Wave (pre-Xmas 1980)	Pete Lyon
=5	Twll-Ddu #18	Taral
=7	Scottishe #0	Arthur Thomson
=7	Nabu #10	Phil James
=7	Second-Hand Wave (Easter 1981)	Pete Lyon
=7	Ocelot #4	D. West
'27 items nominated plus "No Award". ... maybe I should have disallowed that foreigner Taral, but there again maybe not.'
1981/1982
1	Indian Scout	John Macfarlane
=2	Stop Breaking Down #7	Harry Bell
=2	Forth (Hamster Pie)	Pete Lyon
=4	Out of the Blue #3	Harry Bell
=4	Epsilon #8	Rob Hansen
=4	Tappen #2	Rob Hansen
=4	Wallbanger #5	Rob Hansen
=4	Supernova #4	Pete Lyon
'41 items plus "No Award". ... NB: if the Hansen triptych of the first 3 Tappen covers is counted as one item, it places =1st. Overall Rob's work received 20 votes (and Pete Lyon's 14), in this category, illustrating the dangers of self-competition.'
1982/1983
=1	Tappen #5,	Pete Lyon
=1	Indian Scout	John McFarlane
3	Felicity	John McFarlane
=4	Second-Hand Wave (Autumn 1982)	Pete Lyon
=4	The Chocolates of Lust #2	Margaret Welbank
=4	Epsilon #13	Harry Bell and Rob Hansen
'32 covers from 26 different fanzines were nominated, plus a single vote for "Hold Over Funds"'. ... Here P. Lyon got 23 votes spread over 7 covers'.

Worst Thing

Place	Thing
1980/1981
1	Ken Mann
2	Bob (Glasgow) Shaw
=3	The Albacon Report
=3	The Aftermath of Albacon
=3	Joseph Nicholas
=3	Greg Pickersgill
'63 nominations, but not "No Award".
1981/1982
1	Paul Turner
2	Keith Walker's Brighton Rock
3	Graham James
4	Chuck Connor
=5	Eve Harvey at Channelcon
=5	The Postal Rates
=5	Ian Watson
'as always the most difficult to count, with 53 nominations (plus "Hold Over Funds") and a welter of overlapping hates. Two of my favourites with only one vote apiece were "The US attempt to get Nicholas – foreigners shooting at our fox" and "The campaign of slander and innuendo against really super people like Chuck Connor and Paul Turner" ... Again, regrouping would alter things hugely: 10 votes went to various aspects of Matrix (Most Controversial Fanzine!), 9 to various aspects of Channelcon (eg. the beer), 5 to the Watson family, etc.'
1982/1983
1	Bob (Glasgow) Shaw 'on numerous counts'
2	John Brunner
3	Keith Walker's fanzines
=4	Rob Hansen 'for unprintably sexist reasons – shame on a certain caddish voting bloc in Leeds'
=4	Shallow End
=4	Our Wonderful Tory Government
=4	The Victory of the Brighton 1984 Eastercon Bid
'no less than 68 items nominated. ... After the extravagant pro and con reactions to "Performance" I thought it might figure here as well as in "Best Article": not so unless we conflate the categories (1 vote apiece) 'Performance' and 'The D. West Cult'. Cult?'

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Award

1979—1983

This is an award page. If you know something about it, such as who awarded it, who the winners were, what the criteria were, and when it was awarded, please add it! See Standards for Awards.