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The TransAtlantic Fan Fund
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From the TAFF ballot form: The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund was created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular [science fiction] fans familiar to those on both sides of the ocean across the Atlantic. Since that time TAFF has regularly brought North American fans to European conventions and European fans to North American conventions. TAFF exists solely through the support of fandom. The candidates are voted on by interested fans all over the world, and each vote is accompanied by a donation [...] These votes, and the continued generosity of fandom, are what make TAFF possible. (See past and present ballot forms for more.)

     TAFF site Web

TAFF Now

    Current Administrators
  • Europe: Fia Karlsson. Mail to Sofia Karlsson, Lönngatan 44 C, 214 49 Malmö, Sweden. Email EUTAFF (at) gmail.com. Incoming: Sandra Bond.
  • North America: Michael Lowrey. Mail to Michael J. Lowrey, 1847 N 2nd Str., Milwaukee, WI 53212, U.S.A. Email n.a.taff.2020 (at) gmail.com.
  • Email both administrators

TAFF Archive

Announcements & Updates

5 July 2023 Sandra Bond began her TAFF trip by flying to the USA on 4 July, and her travel plans can be found in the administrators' latest official newsletter TAFF est #3. This also includes fundraising information and various thanks to FANAC and other supporters of the fund. (The figure cited for TAFF-benefit paperback sales is for the first half of 2023 only. Total TAFF revenues from these books are now over £560.)

16 June 2023 Further thanks to FANAC for sending $200 to TAFF as a reward for the printed publication of Kevin Smith's 1982 trip report Nothing and Anna Raftery's 2016 trip report Cuttlefish and Cake.

30 May 2023 Many thanks to FANAC for sending $100 to TAFF as a reward for the publication of Sue Mason's Into the Wide Purple Yonder – of which more below.

May 2023 Sue Mason's recently published TAFF report Into the Wide Purple Yonder: A Fan Artist in America can be had for £5 as a PDF or £5 plus postage for the paper version. In the UK, £5 or £8 by Paypal to eutaff [at] gmail.com; in the USA, $6 or $15 by Paypal to taff [at] toad-hall.com; elsewhere, contact the eutaff address "and we'll sort it out".

14 April 2023 The 2023 TAFF race is over, the votes have been counted and the winner is Sandra Bond. Read all about it in the administrators' official newsletter TAFF est #2.

9 April 2023 With the current race very near its end – vote! vote! Vote by 11 April! – TAFF has run into a problem with dollar payments into Mike Lowrey's PayPal account, some of which are being returned for unknown reasons. The administrators will count the votes in any case, hoping to sort out the accompanying payment later. For now, please send any dollar voting fees or donations to EUTAFF (at) gmail.com. The donation buttons on the TAFF site have been changed accordingly.

2 April 2023 Sue Mason has released the delayed report on her 2000 TAFF trip: Into the Wide Purple Yonder: A Fan Artist in America. A PDF version is available for £5.00 from Alison Scott; we're not sure about supplies of the print edition but hope to add a purchase link soon.

24 March 2023 Here's the latest TAFF newsletter, TAFF est #1, reminding you all that the voting on the current race ends on 11 April 2023; there are also interviews with the candidates Sandra Bond (UK) and Mikołaj Kowalewski (Poland), a detailed financial report, and thanks to various supporters.

31 January 2023 Please don't forget to vote in the current TAFF race! Voting continues to 11 April 2023, allowing a final spasm of campaigning at Conversation, the UK Eastercon. Here again are links to the 2023 TAFF ballot [HTML] with platforms; the PDF version; and the online voting form. • Not three (as promised in December) but five older TAFF reports have been added to TAFF's Little Free Ebook Library this year: Bob Madle's A Fake Fan in London (1957 trip), Don Ford's TAFF Baedeker (1960 eastbound), Eric Bentcliffe's Epitaff (1960 westbound), Ron Ellik's The Squirrel's Tale (1962) and Len and June Moffatt's The Moffatt House Abroad (1973). Coming soon: Ron Bennett's Colonial Excursion (1958).

24 December 2022 There are now nine paperbacks for sale in aid of TAFF at https://ae.ansible.uk/?id=taff. The latest addition is Kevin's Smith's long-delayed 1982 report Nothing, previously available only online. We're still adding trip reports of yore to the Free Ebooks page, most recently Walt and Madeleine Willis's TAWF Times Two and Ethel Lindsay's The Lindsay Report. In the pipeline for 2023 are three reports by early US TAFF winners: Bob Madle's A Fake Fan in London, Don Ford's TAFF Baedeker and Ron Ellik's The Squirrel's Tale.

9 December 2022 The 2023 westbound TAFF race is now open for voting, with candidates Sandra Bond (UK) and Mikołaj Kowalewski (Poland). Here are links to the 2023 TAFF ballot [HTML] with platforms; the PDF version; and the online voting form.

4 December 2022 At the close of nominations, the declared candidates for the 2023 westbound TAFF race are Sandra Bond and Mikołaj Kowalewski. See official announcement.

13 October 2022 The TAFF administrators have announced a 2023 westbound race from Europe to North America, whose winner will attend the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC): Pemmi-con in Winnipeg, Canada, 20-23 July 2023. Nominations open today and close on 4 December; voting begins on 9 December and closes on 11 April 2023. Here is the official announcement.

September 2022 More TAFF ebooks have been reissued as trade paperbacks for sale in aid of TAFF: check https://ae.ansible.uk/?id=taff for the latest list.

August 2022 In what may be an attempt to outdo the mighty procrastination of the late Steve Stiles – whose 1968 TAFF trip report appeared in 2007 – Kevin Smith announced this month the online publication of his 1982 report, titled Nothing. Congratulations!

July 2022 Several more free ebooks have been released on this site, with the usual pious hope that readers who enjoy them will donate to TAFF. Here is the current list with the latest titles shown first. Good news for those who prefer print editions: a few of these titles are being reissued as trade paperbacks for sale via Lulu.com, with all proceeds going to TAFF. Print editions so far are Rob Hansen's Bixelstrasse and 1957: The First UK Worldcon, followed by True Rat: The Beast of Leroy Kettle.

6 May 2022 After a week's delay owing to a positive COVID test result shortly before his original flight date, Michael Lowrey has now returned safely to the USA. As a small reward for his sufferings in self-isolation, he was able to attend the London First Thursday pub meeting on 5 May.

26 April 2022 The administrators' TAFFish #2 has more about our new winner Fia Karlsson, a full voting breakdown as also added to All the Past TAFF Races on this site, the list of voters, and copious thanks to all who helped.

20 April 2022 Voting in the 2022 race closed at midnight on Tuesday 19 April (Pacific time, or 8am today in the UK) and the online form is no longer accepting votes. Our efficient administrators issued a first announcement today: 237 valid votes were cast and the winner is Fia Karlsson, who will travel from Sweden to Chicon 8, the 2022 Worldcon. Detailed voting breakdown to follow.

9 April 2022 Michael Lowrey, the 2020 TAFF winner, is at last able to make his trip to Reclamation, the 2022 UK Eastercon; he is also visiting Luxembourg for LuxCon (the 2022 Eurocon) and meeting fans in Denmark, Poland andSweden.

15 December 2021 Voting in the 2022 race opens today: official announcement here. Click the following links for the HTML ballot with platforms and the online voting form.

December 2021 The 2022 westbound TAFF race has been announced, with candidates Anders Holmström (Sweden), Fia Karlsson (Sweden), Mikołaj Kowalewski (Poland) and Julie Faith McMurray (UK) contending to become the European TAFF delegate to Chicon 8, the 2022 ChicagoWorldcon. Voting runs from 15 December 2021 to 18 April 2022.

November 2021 A kind offer from John Hertz as below. It has been confirmed that he will gladly send copies of this report overseas to Europe, Australia etc despite the horrendous postal costs.
Hertz/Moffatt offer

18 October 2021 The TAFF administrators have announced a 2022 westbound race intended to transport a European delegate to the Chicago Worldcon (Chicon 8) in September 2022. Full release here.

October 2021 Anna Raftery's TAFF report: Cuttlefish and Cake is now available for download at a cost of £5.00. All proceeds to TAFF.

September 2021 More thanks for another publication bounty: "Dear FANAC – Many thanks on behalf of TAFF for your generous $500 contribution for the publication of John Coxen's TAFF report, Best. Trip. Ever. Your support of the publication of TAFF trip reports is deeply appreciated. The money itself and how much it helps fund upcoming TAFF trips is immensely useful, and we also value how the bounty helps promote the publication of trip reports, which in turn provide a lasting record and help share the enjoyment and adventures of each trip." (Geri Sullivan, 6 September)

August 2021 "TAFF thanks SCIFI, the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests, Inc., for the group's generous $500 donation supporting the publication of Cuttlefish and Cake, Anna Raftery's TAFF report from her 2016 trip. • Anna's multimedia report was initially developed as a series of Zoom interviews with 2011 TAFF Delegate John Coxon, and is now in the final stages of being published as a PDF. A full announcement and links to follow shortly." (Geri Sullivan, 31 August)

June 2021 More free ebooks: Faan Fiction 1930-2020: an exploration compiled and with critical commentary by Rob Hansen, and The Road to Fame by D.R. Smith.

April 2021 The latest addition to the free ebook library is Creative Random Harris, a huge collection of fanwriting by Chuck (alias Chuch) Harris – one of the founders of TAFF.

January 2021 Rob Hansen's researches into fan history revealed that although no candidates' platforms appear in the 1957 TAFF ballot, profiles of all the candidates were published in Yandro #50 (March 1957) edited by Buck and Juanita Coulson, a special TAFF issue that also has an article by Walt Willis on the fund's early years.

November 2020 John Coxon's 2011 TAFF report, Best. Trip. Ever., is now available in paperback and ebook formats.

October 2020 Many, many more conventions have been postponed or cancelled since March, and the TAFF administrators have reluctantly decided that it's not feasible or sensible to run a 2021 race. Here is the official release.

March 2020 Reaction to the increasing COVID-19 pandemic has already shut down one major convention (Fantastika in Sweden) on Michael Lowrey's TAFF trip itinerary; others may well follow. Sadly it looks as though the trip as planned will have to be cancelled and rescheduled for some less difficult time. TAFF can afford more air tickets if no refunds can be had, but it's a cruel blow to Michael's hopes. See File 770 post.

March 2020 Jeanne Gomoll writes: "As winner of the 1987 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF) Race, I traveled for 3 weeks in England, Scotland and Ireland, visiting with UK science fiction fans and attending the 45th world science fiction convention, Conspiracy 87, in Brighton. This is my much-belated trip report – written and published 33 years after I returned home, reconstructed from audio tapes and photographs. Highlights include tales of my convention experiences, visits with Chuck Harris, Vincent Clarke, Walt Willis, James White, David Langford and Greg and Linda Pickersgill. Printed version (with B&W photos) $15; PDF version (with color photos) $8.99. Page count: 96 pages. All proceeds of this publication will be donated to TAFF." See https://tinyurl.com/JGTAFF.

21 January 2020 Now available: press release with full voting details.

13 January 2020 From the Administrators: The 2020 TAFF race is over! • These are the preliminary results. A final announcement with full voting results with be made shortly, but given the magnitude of the win, we're able to confidently announce the 2020 TAFF delegate today. • 103 votes were cast: 67 in North America, 34 in Europe, and 2 in the rest of the world. Of the votes cast, 11 were for No Preference. Of the remaining 92, 83 votes were cast for Michael "Orange Mike" Lowrey [below], who won this race with a simple majority in the first round of voting. We, the administrators, wish to congratulate Mike on his win! • We would also like to thank everyone who voted, everyone who donated money to TAFF, everyone who shared our announcements, and most of all, Ann Totusek who ran against Mike. Thank you all!

Orange Mike

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