Whereas the changes and rebellions happening in the science-fiction magazines in the United States and Great Britain are part of a natural evolution, there are different trends, influences and intentions elsewhere in the world, including elsewhere in the English-speaking world. I explore the international magazines in more detail in Appendix 1, but it is more pertinent to consider here those from Éire, Canada, Australia, South Africa and even Singapore, all of which were in English.

Éire

It is all too easy for the writers in the Irish Republic (Éire) to be categorized with the Irish in Northern Ireland, which forms part of the United Kingdom. The Northern Irish writers, notably James White, Bob Shaw and Ian McDonald, have always been regarded as part of the British writing scene, though the only significant magazine to be published in Northern Ireland at this time had been Extro, which I discussed in the previous chapter.

Éire's claim to fame is Albedo One, which began in Summer 1993 but its roots go back 17 years. The Irish Science Fiction Association (ISFA) had been founded in Dublin by Richard Gallagher, with its inaugural meeting held on 30 May 1976. Its patrons were Harry Harrison and Anne McCaffrey, both of whom had recently settled in Éire. It was from these gatherings that Harrison promulgated the idea of the First World Science Fiction Writers Conference which was held in Dublin in September 1976, and from out of which came the World SF organization. As its host, the ISFA issued a magazine called Stargate. The first issue, dated October 1976 and released to coincide with the World SF meeting, was a basic typed and duplicated fanzine running to 52 A4 pages. It was full mostly of notes, reviews and commentary, two poems and one story, ‘Discard’ by Kerry Brady. Stargate would survive for eight years and 15 irregular and at times rather ragged issues, though it did improve its appearance from #3 (February 1978) when it became an A5 chapbook with card covers. It was a typical club-based magazine, and not one in which to develop a career, yet a few names did emerge.

The second issue, which did not appear until October 1977, ran to 72 pages, but again carried only one story, ‘Shonnhet and Finstad’ by a writer who had just made his debut elsewhere.