Fantasycon 2021 is delighted to

announce Guest of Honour:

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Marcus Gipps

After ten years as a bookseller, Marcus Gipps joined Gollancz as an editor in 2011, commissioned his first two authors within three months, snapped up Saladin Ahmed’s award-winning debut novel, and embarked on some innovative publishing. This included a first in publishing history: acquiring the publishing rights (to the computer game Elite) through Kickstarter; and a personal project, republishing Quentin Blake’s much-loved and then out of print Uncle stories. He has become one of the most recogniseable faces in SF and Fantasy publishing in the United Kingdom. In part, this is because of his commitment to taking part in the events and activities being run by different organisations, associations and societies.

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Marcus was identified as a 2012 Bookseller Rising star and began to divide his time between working on classic SFF – including the complete update and republication of Michael Moorcock’s body of work – and publishing original novels. He stepped up to become Editorial Director of the SFF Gateway, the world’s largest digital SFF collection, in 2017, and again to become Publishing Director of Gollancz in 2020. He counts Andrzej Sapkowski (whose work is the basis of Netflix’s The Witcher series), Joe Hill (whose work is the basis of Netflix’s Locke and Key series), Stephen Baxter, Mary Gentle, Adam Roberts, Emma Newman, and his 2021/22 debuts Susannah Wise, Lucy Kissick and Rebecca Zahibi, among his authors. He published this year’s Goldsmith Prize winner, THE SUNKEN LAND BEGINS TO RISE AGAIN, by M. John Harrison.

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He now also curates the SF Masterwork list, with recent additions from Gwyneth Jones, Paul McAuley and John Wyndham.

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A conversation with Marcus is always frank, honest and respectful. He is knowledgeable and courteous, supporting his writers whenever possible.  He is a person with ideas and tries to make things happen.  He listens, remembers, and is generous with his time. His experiences as a bookseller, an editor and publisher are many and his advice is always informed and valuable.

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You can learn more by following @marcusgipps on Twitter.

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Fantasycon 2021 is delighted to welcome Marcus Gipps as our guest of honour.

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