Gillon Field
(???? – March 1974)
Gillon Field was a fan from Halesowen, south-west of Birmingham, UK, briefly active in the 1970s. She was a member of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group and is best known as the creator and first administrator of the Nova Awards, presented annually at Novacon between 1973 and 2014.
Field had attended Novacon 2 in 1972[1] and had been a member of OMPAcon '73, the 1973 Eastercon. She had a letter published in Zimri #4½ (1973) where her name is given as 'Miss Gillon Fields'. Comments from editor Lisa Conesa suggest Field was relatively new to fandom at the time[2].
Checkpoint #39 (June 1973) announced that:
THE BRITISH FANZINE AWARD is calling itself 'The Nova' (Melbourne mobsters take note) and will be presented annually at the Brum Group's Novacon; the award is non-democratic, being presented by a panel of judges. Members of Novacon III ... may, however, nominate fanzines for consideration – send them to: Gillon Field, 109 Windsor Rd, Halesowen, Worcs.
Field is usually cited as the founder/creator of the Nova Award[3] but there may be a case for considering Hazel Reynolds as a joint creator[4]. Field and Reynolds selected the judging panel in 1973 and Checkpoint #27 (November 1974) makes it clear that Field had selected the 1974 panel before her death. Reynolds succeeded her as administrator.
Her death was reported in Checkpoint #46 (April 1974):
I've just heard at The Globe that Gillon Field, an active member of the Birmingham Group and organizer of the Nova Award, died last month (March)'
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- ↑ In her letter in Zimri #4½ she recalled meeting Brian Aldiss there.
- ↑ And while it's only an indicator, Field's name does not appear on the membership lists for Eastercon 22 in 1971, Chessmancon in 1972 or Novacon 1.
- ↑ e.g. Novacon 17 progress report 1:'The NOVA is an award for fanzines produced by Science Fiction Fandom in the British Isles, created in 1973 by the late Gillon Field...'.
- ↑ In Cynic #6, Jim Linwood said that Reynolds wrote to him inviting him to be a judge, and in Cynic #7 Reynolds described the award as 'our little brainchild' and talked of how she encouraged people to nominate fanzines in its first year.
| Person | ????—1974 |
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