Oz News
(I will update this page when there is news to tell. Any news older than a year is dropped at the next update. If you have news to report, please e-mail me.)
(For more Oz news, check out The Daily Ozmopolitan. For the latest Oz not-quite-news, see the Rumor Control section of this page.)
August 7, 2021: The 2021 Oz Club Awards
This evening, during its second annual To Oz? To Oz! virtual convention, the International Wizard of Oz Club announced the winners of its annual awards.
- The Fred Otto Prize for Fiction went to J. L. Bell for "Button-Bright and the Professor", with the runner-up prize going to Scott Blanke for "The Royal Joust of Oz".
- The Warren C. Hollister Prize for Non-Fiction was not awarded, as there were no entries.
- The Rob Roy MacVeigh Prize for Art went to "Polychrome" by David Valentin, with Sofia Vazquez coming in second with "Langwidere".
- And the Club's highest honor, the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, presented to those who have made contributions above and beyond to Oz, the Club, or its goals. The winner for 2021 is Lynn Beltz, former Club vice-president and a general ambassador for Oz and the Club at Oz events all over the country.
July 17, 2021: The Winkie Award
OzCon International presented its annual award, the Winkie Award, to Marc Lewis, recognizing his many contributions to the convention in the 1980s and '90s. He performed in and coordinated many shows, presented many panels and other events, and acted as auctioneer. But perhaps his biggest contribution is also the most appropriate for this year: He and the Oz Club's Executive Secretary, Fred Meyer, in 1992 conspired to create a new award for the then-named Winkie Convention, the only one of the three major conventions of the day that didn't have one. They gave that first award to Peter Hanff. So it's appropriate that the thirtieth Winkie Award goes to one of its creators. Congratulations, Marc, this is long overdue!
(Photo courtesy Peter Hanff.)
May 17, 2021: Oziana 2021: The Fiftieth Anniversary Issue
The fiftieth issue of Oziana, the annual literary journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, is being mailed out today. Editor Marcus Mébès offered the issue free to anyone who asked for it online, and these are the issues going out now. But never fear, if you never heard about the free issue offer, it is also for sale at this link.
In this issue:
- The front cover, "Strolling Down Memory Lane" by Alejandro Garcia, depicts a number of characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the styles of several different iconic Oz illustrators.
- The inside front cover reproduces the letter from Harvey Plotnick, then-President of the Henry Regnery Company, successors to Oz publishers Reilly and Lee, from the first issue of Oziana in 1971 that gave permission for the Club to use characters and locations from the Oz books.
- Carrying on from the previous issue, "The Wizards of Silver and Gold in Oz: Part 2" by Nathan M. DeHoff and Joe Bongiorno resolves the cliffhanger ending from part 1 and wraps the whole tale up.
- "The Butter Lamb of Oz" by Nathan M. DeHoff, illustrated by David Valentin, shows the results of what happens when Jinjur must paint a portrait.
- "A Week with Mr. Baum" by Laura DeNooyer, illustrated by Spinner Martin, tells the story of a lonely girl who makes a special friend at the Macatawa resort on Lake Michigan in the early days of the twentieth century.
- "Heartless" by Templeton Moss, illustrated by Darrell Colt Spradlyn, looks at the romance between Nick Chopper and Nimmee Amee.
- Christmas, Toys, and Oz" by Nathan M. DeHoff, illustrated by Mitchell Mayle, sees several Ozian and Thompsonian sea captains embark on a Christmas adventure.
- In a tribute to the late Chris Dulabone, "Buckethead in Oz" by Nathan M. DeHoff sees the title character come to Oz for good.
- In a departure for Oziana, Dulabone is also remembered by friends and family in the magazine's first non-fiction feature.
- Robert A. Baum remembers the trunk kept by his Grandmother Edna in "The Trunk in the Attic".
- The back cover, by David Valentin, depicts a scene, in color, from this issue's story "The Butter Lamb of Oz".
