We are proud to announce to official nominees for this year’s REH Foundation Awards, honoring the top contributions from the previous year in Howard scholarship and in the promotion of Howard’s life and works. The top three nominees in each category were selected by the Legacy Circle members of the Foundation from an outstanding pool of eligible candidates and their contributions represent the best of the best. (Categories with more than 3 nominees represent a tie in the nomination voting)
All members of the REH Foundation including Regular (FREE) Members will be eligible to vote on these nominees to determine this year’s winners (with the exception of the Black Circle which requires a Premium membership). Voting deadline is May 10th! The winners will be announced at a special ceremony at Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains on June 9.
REH Foundation members click HERE to vote!
Not a member yet? Click HERE to sign up!
The Atlantean — Outstanding Achievement, Book (non-anthology/collection)
(Books may be print or digital, must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and must be substantively devoted to the life and/or work of REH. Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible.)
PATRICK BURGER – On the Precipice of Fascism: The Mythic and the Political in the Works of Robert E. Howard and Ernst Junger (Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Publishing) – Link
The Valusian — Outstanding Achievement, Book (anthology/collection)
(Books may be print or digital, must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and must be substantively devoted to the life and/or work of REH. Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible.)
[No eligible candidates]
The Hyrkanian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Print)
(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short pieces, interviews, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)
MORGAN HOLMES —“The Wild Wild West of Robert E. Howard” – Blood ‘n’ Thunder #48 – Link
KAREN JOAN KOHOUTEK – “The Outsider Scholar: Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, and Scholarly Identity” – The Dark Man 8.1 – Link
RICK LAI —“The Sinister Skelos: Robert E. Howard’s Demonic Wizard” – Blood ‘n’ Thunder #49-50 – Link
JEFFREY SHANKS – “Nameless Tribes and Races of Men: Anthropological World-Building in ‘Men of the Shadows’” – Skelos #1 – Link
The Cimmerian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Online)
(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short blog posts, speeches, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)
BOBBY DERIE – “Robert E. Howard and the Amateur Press (5 Parts)” – On an Underwood No. 5 – Link
DIERK GUENTHER – “Gumshoes, Gats and Gals: Robert E. Howard’s Detective and Crime Stories” – REH: Two Gun Raconteur Blog – Link
PATRICE LOUINET – “’The Wright Hook’ (or, the origin of ‘Spear and Fang’)” – REH: Two Gun Raconteur Blog – Link
The Venarium — Emerging Scholar
(The following candidates have recently begun making significant contributions to Howard scholarship through publications and/or presentations over the past few years. Previous winners are not eligible)
GUENTHER, DIERK – Contributed to TGR blog; presented papers at PCA, ICFA, American Literature Society of Japan National Conference, and Glenn Lord Symposium
DANIEL LOOK – Contributed to TGR blog; presented papers at PCA, ICFA, and Glenn Lord Symposium
TODD VICK – Contributed essays to On an Underwood No. 5; Editor of On an Underwood No. 5 blog; presented paper at PCA and Glenn Lord Symposium
The Stygian—Outstanding Achievement, Website
(Eligible candidates are limited to internet sites with substantive static content and material that is primarily devoted to scholarship on the life and works of Robert E. Howard. Websites must have been updated with new content at least once in the previous calendar year. Non-static social media like Facebook and Twitter would not be eligible.)
HOWARD WORKS (Bill Thom) – Link
ON AN UNDERWOOD NO. 5 (Todd Vick) – Link
REH: TWO-GUN RACONTEUR BLOG (Damon Sasser) – Link
The Aquilonian — Outstanding Achievement, Periodical
THE DARK MAN (Mark Hall) – Link
REH FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER (Damon Sasser) – Link
The Black Lotus – Outstanding Achievement, Multimedia
(Eligible candidates have produced a multimedia or audio/visual work or series of works, such as videos, documentaries, podcasts, animation, etc. related to the life and work of REH)
JOSH ADKINS, LUKE DODD, and JON LARSON – The Cromcast (audio podcast) – Link
BEN FRIBERG – Howard Days Panels (videos) – Link
RANDALL LOBB, MARK HUSSEY, and ISAAC ELLIOT-FISHER – Chasing Conan (video interviews from the Riddle of Steel documentary) Link
The Black River—Special Achievement
(The following eligible candidates have produced or contributed something special that doesn’t fit into any other category: scholarly presentations, biographical discoveries, etc.)
FRANK COFFMAN, DIERK GUENTHER, DANIEL LOOK, JONAS PRIDA, and JEFFREY SHANKS – For participating in an REH paper session and panel at ICFA 2016.
DIERK GUENTHER – For giving a presentation on REH at the Annual National Conference 2016 of the American Literature Society of Japan in Okayama.
PATRICE LOUINET – For serving as adviser on the Conan board game from Monolith.
The Rankin — 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.)
RICHARD BERNAL – Cover art for The Adventures of Breckinridge Elkins, Volume 1 – Link
JIM & RUTH KEEGAN – Artwork for “The Adventures of Two-Gun Bob,” [Various titles] – Link
ADRIAN SMITH – Artwork for Conan boardgame by Monolith (depicting various REH characters) – Link
Black Circle Award – Lifetime Achievement
(Individuals who have made significant and long-lasting contributions to REH scholarship, publishing, or the promotion of Howard’s life and works. Eligible candidates must have been publicly involved in Howard-related activities for a minimum of two decades.)
FRED BLOSSER
BILLIE RUTH LOVING (posthumous)
DONALD A. WOLLHEIM (posthumous)
Fred Blosser is a longtime critic and commentator on the works of Robert E. Howard, beginning in 1970 with an essay in Glenn Lord’s The Howard Collector. For many fans, his essays in the back of Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan were their introduction to non-fiction about Howard and his stories. He has authored numerous articles, reviews, and introductions over the years, including contributions to The Howard Collector, Barbarian Scroll, The Howard Review, The Dark Man, The Man from Cross Plains, Two-Gun Bob, and Anniversary: A Tribute to Glenn Lord. Earlier this year he released a new ebook, Ar-I-E’ch and the Spell of Cthulhu: An Informal Guide to Howard’s Lovecraftian Fiction.
For many years Billie Ruth Loving was the head librarian at the Cross Plains Public Library. She was one of the founding members of Project Pride and in 1986 helped welcome fans to the very first Robert E. Howard Days. With the Cross Plains Library she assisted in purchasing the Howard House, then donated it to Project Pride in order to have a museum for fans visiting Cross Plains. Over the years she served as the unofficial caretaker of the house and museum and was the primary local historian on Howard and his life.
A prominent member of First Fandom in the 1930s and the original Hyborian Legion in the 1950s, Donald A. Wollheim went on to become one of the 20th century’s most important publishers of fantasy and science fiction. In the three decades between Howard’s death and the Conan boom of the 1960s Wollheim was one of the few who kept Two-Gun Bob in print, first in fanzines, then in digests and paperbacks. His REH-related publications include the original publication of the “Hyborian Age” essay in Phantagraph (1936), the LANY Hyborian Age chapbook (1938), The New Hieroglyph (1944), multiple Avon Fantasy Reader digests with REH stories (1947-52), Conan the Conqueror (Ace 1953), and Almuric (Ace 1964).
Current Members of the Black Circle:
Glenn Lord
Rusty Burke
Don Herron
Novalyne Price Ellis
Bill Cavalier
Dennis McHaney
Damon Sasser
Patrice Louinet
Karl Edward Wagner
Roy Thomas
