Niekas
A fanzine published from 1962–98 by Ed Meskys, frequently with others. It won the 1967 Best Fanzine Hugo and was nominated for the Best Fanzine Hugo in 1966, 1967, and 1989. The name come from the Lithuanian (Meskys was of Lithuanian extraction) for "nothing" or "nobody".
Editorial credits are complicated. Felice Rolfe was co-editor with Meskys for many early issues (including the Hugo-winning issues) and in later years Meskys had a host of co-editors, art editors, deputy publishers and nearly every other title, though he usually held the title of "Editor-in-chief". The table below barely scratches the surface of the complicated credits.
Meskys wrote, "I started a separate mailing-comments zine for N'APA, and changed its name to Niekas and started the numbering over again with the June 1962 issue... Since there was no Tolkien fanzine being published I decided to devote Niekas to Tolkien and try to run at least one Tolkien related piece in each issue."
Contributors included Piers Anthony, ATom, John Boardman, Vaughn Bodé, Anthony Boucher, Marion Zimmer Bradley ("Bloodthirsty for Power: Vampirism in Hambly's Those Who Hunt the Night"), Charles N. Brown, Don D'Ammassa, Philip K. Dick ("Naziism and the High Castle"), an ongoing "Glossary of Middle Earth" by Robert Foster, who later published Tolkien's World From A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, Clyde Kilby, Jack Gaughan, Jack Harness, Ben Indick, S. T. Joshi, Tim Kirk, Fred Lerner, Dave Locke, Sam Moskowitz, Andrew J. Offutt, Diana Paxson, Bruce Pelz, Darrell Schweitzer, Bjo Trimble, and Roger Zelazny ("Song of the Ring" [a poem]).
Niekas also published a number of special issues including A Silverlock Companion and...
When Niekas won the 1967 Best Fanzine Hugo, following the custom of the time, NYCon 3 awarded only a single Hugo trophy which wound up with co-editor Felice Rolfe. In 1998, the Ditto 11 organizers got a spare Hugo rocket from Bruce Pelz and created a replica Hugo base and presented Ed Meskys with his own long-overdue Hugo trophy.
| Issue | Date | Pages | Editors | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 1962 | Ed Meskys | Meskys'mailing comments apazine for N'APA. In N'APA 13 | |
| 2 | 1962 | 17 | " | |
| 3 | December 1962 | 12 | " | In N'APA 15 |
| 4 | March 1963 | 32 | " | |
| 5 | June 1963 | 26 | " | |
| 6 | September 1963 | Ed Meskys, Felice Rolfe and Ann Chatland | By this issue it had become a real genzine. in N'APA 18 | |
| 7 | December 1963 | 48 | Meskys & Rolfe | |
| 8 | March 1964 | 33 | Meskys | in N'APA 20 |
| 8.9 | June 1964 | 11 | Meskys, Rolfe, Chatland | in N'APA 21 |
| 9 | September 1964 | 80 | " | in N'APA 22 |
| 9.5 | Fall 1964 | 10 | Meskys & Rolfe | Titled Fractional Nieka |
| 10 | December 1964 | 54 | " | in N'APA 23 |
| 10.5 | January 1965 | 5 | " | in N'APA 23 |
| 11 | March 1965 | 82 | " | in N'APA 24 |
| 12 | June 1965 | 84 | " | in N'APA 25 |
| 13 | September 1965 | 46+ | " | |
| 14 | December 1965 | 76 | " | in N'APA 27 |
| 15 | March 1966 | 68 | Rolfe & Meskys | FAPA 112 |
| 16 | June 1966 | 100 | " | |
| 17 | November 1966 | 90 | Meskys & Rolfe | |
| 18 | Late Spring 1967 | 68 | " | Includes Tolkien interview |
| 19 | December 1968 | " | FAPA 123, Green Dragon #3 was bound in | |
| 20 | Fall 1968 | 110 | Meskys, Rolfe, Charlie Brown, Marsha Brown | FAPA 126 |
| 21 | 1977 | 37 | Sherwood Frazier, Meskys, and Margaret Shepard | |
| 22 | February 1980 | 60 | Meskys, Frazier, Mike Bastraw, and Raphael Folch-Pi | Contributors from Jack Gaughan, Isaac Asimov, and John Brunner (short letter) |
| 23 | August 1980 | 62 | " | |
| August 1980 | A Niekas Sampler (not an issue) | |||
| 24 | November 1980 | 62 | " | |
| 25 | February 1981 | 76 | " | |
| 26 | May 1981 | 64 | Meskys, Frazier, & Bastraw | |
| 27 | August 1981 | 78 | " | |
| 28 | November 1981 | 72 | " | |
| 29 | February 1981 | 74 | " | |
| 30 | May 1982 | 84 | " | |
| 31 | September 1983 | 80 | Meskys | |
| 32 | February 1984 | 106 | " | |
| 33 | 1985 | 68 | " | |
| 34 | 1986 | 58 | " | |
| 35 | 1987 | 60 | " | |
| 36 | 1988 | 64 | " | |
| 37 | August 1988 | 64 | " | |
| 38 | 1989 | 76 | " | Arthurian issue |
| 39 | 1989 | 56 | " | |
| 40 | August 1989 | 56 | Anne J. Braude | Andre Norton issue |
| 41a | January 1990 | 46 | Anthony S. Magistrale and Robert H. Knox | In a half-width format; Obsessions issue |
| 41b | 1990 | 64 | Meskys, Braude, Frazier | In a half-width format; Bradbury issue |
| 42 | 1990 | 76 | Meskys | |
| 43a | 1991 | 104 | Meskys & Fred Lerner | In a half-width format; Sam Moskowitz "After All These Years" |
| 43b | Never published | |||
| 43c | 1991 | 1 | Meskys | A supplement inserted into #43a |
| 44 | March 1994 | 92 | " | Kipling issue |
| 45 | 1998 | 128 | Meskys & Joe R. Christopher | Special Dark Fantasy issue |
| 46 | February 2001 | 68 | Meskys | Strange sports issue |
| 47 | ||||
| 48 |
- Niekas online at fanac.org.
- Niekas at eFanzines.
| Publication | 1962—2001 |
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