Once again it’s time to nominate someone special for the Good Furry Awards. What’s that you ask? Started in 2019 by Grubbs Grizzly (host of the Ask Papabear web site), the Good Furry Awards are presented annually to recognize folks all over who represent the spirit of the furry fandom. People like Dogbomb, Ash Coyote, Cassidey Civet, and more — all nominated and voted on by furry fans like you. So now it’s your turn! Nominations are open all the way ’till September of 2024, then voting starts shortly after — and the winner is announced in mid-October. This year, for the first time the awards are diversifying, the better to celebrate furries who aren’t necessarily media celebrities (yet!). Now there’s a Good Egg Award (for furries helping others), an Image Award (for folks promoting and educating about the Furry Fandom) and the Furtastic Award (for just plain helpful folks!). Find out about all this and more at the official Good Furry Awards page — and check out the WikiFur article to see the furs who’ve been nominated and honored before!
Furry Fandom
Around the World, Around the World
Joe Strike is back with his second book exploring the world of Furry Fandom — after the award-winning Furry Nation, this one is appropriately called Furry Planet. “Furs are the creative subculture of people who identify with animals. You can find them at furry conventions, furfests, around the world—tens of thousands of people donning their most elaborate fursuit. In costume, at conventions, with friends or alone, furries unleash the animal within, letting their inner beasts roar and their inner cats purr, aware of the power—and joy—to be found in bringing forward one’s animal side and encouraging others to do the same. In Furry Planet, long-time furry Joe Strike dives deep into this compelling subculture to share its appeal and rewards. Strike and a wealth of interviewees trace the history of the subculture and its various iterations today, in the process covering conventions, media, art, storytelling, community resources, costume creation, and advice for newcomers, and addressing stigmas and misconceptions head on.” Look for it coming soon from Apollo Publishers.
Midwest Wyvern
Among the many amazing artist we met at Midwest FurFest was Lindsey Burcar — who is actually from that part of the continent herself. “Lindsey Burcar is a self-taught freelance illustrator working from her home in Milwaukee, WI. Inspired by all things fantasy and nature, beast and creature, her travels and exploration of the natural world are a pivotal part of her life and art.” If you visit her official web site you can find links to her Inprnt shop, featuring some very high-quality prints of her art — as well as her Etsy shop, where you’ll find not only prints but pins, stickers, and other artistic goodies she has for sale.
Learn About Real Animals — While You’re Playing One
Dr. Wildlife is the professional name of a conservation biologist based in Canada. “I’m Dr. Wildlife, a zoologist who focuses on conservation through education by working in the zoo and aquarium field. A lifelong animal conservationist, I have helped with projects around the world from rehabilitating injured seabirds in South Africa to tracking tigers in central India. My involvement in the zoological community has so far spanned 13 years and has included such positions as Keeper Aide at the Memphis Zoo to Migratory Bird Researcher at the Smithsonian.” Definitely the real deal. What’s interesting is, we met them at their table at Midwest FurFest — showing off their fur-suit! Yes, a dedicated scientist and a dedicated furry fan. If you visit their web site you can find out more about their wildlife lectures, both on-line and live in classrooms.
Dreaming of a Furry Life
Jess E. Owen is an author who has written several fantasy novels for young readers. Her series The Summer King Chronicles features a whole new world of gryphon and wolf characters. But now, writing under the name of Jessica Kara, she is taking on a whole new kind of fantasy with her new young adult novel, A Furry Faux Paw. The story goes like this: “Online, MauveCat (a cool, confident, glittering pixie cat) has friends and a whole supportive furry community that appreciates her art. At home, Maeve Stephens has to tiptoe around her hoarder mother’s mood and mess. When her life is at its hardest, Maeve can always slip into Mauve, her fursona, and be ‘the happy one’, the bubbliest, friendliest artist in her community ― it’s even how she made her best friend, Jade. With graduation around the corner, Maeve is ready to put her lonely school days behind her and move on with her life. And while her father hasn’t been home since the divorce, he does offer her a dream come true: an all-expenses paid trip to the regional furry convention. Furlympia will have everything Maeve’s been missing ― friends, art mentors, and other furries! So when her mother forbids her from going, Maeve decides to sneak out on her own.” And what happens then? Find out when A Furry Faux Paw comes out in hardcover this May.
Writers Speak on How To Write
Prolific author and Ursa Major Award winner Mary E. Lowd has a new non-fiction project out, with the help of Ian Madison Keller. The title pretty much speaks for itself: Furry Fiction Is Everywhere — A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Anthropomorphic Characters. “Have you ever read a book or novel and wondered why they even bothered to make certain character(s) in the book something other than human? Want to avoid that in your own work? There are some simple steps you can take to make your anthropomorphic (or furry) characters stand out on the page. This guide will walk you through step-by-step how to build a believable furry species, world, and characters.” It includes worksheets for helping to create your own characters and story situations. And it’s available in September from Rainbow Dog Books.
The Ursa Major Awards for 2020
Welcome in the May! And welcome the 2021 Ursa Major Awards for the best in anthropomorphic media from 2020. While there was so much crazy (and let’s face it, sad) going on that year, somehow creative people managed to bring us some fine “talking animal” entertainment — and we love them for it. So here, as nominated and voted on exclusively by you, the Fans, are the winners for the Best in Anthropomorphics from the year 2020:
Best Costume (Fursuit): Zigc the Khajiit, created by Inerri Creatures
Best Web Site: Furaffinity.net
Best Game: Animal Crossing — New Horizons, created by Nintendo
Best Published Illustration: “Cheers” by Lofi
Best Magazine: Pocari Roo (video series)
Best Comic Strip: Housepets! by Rick Griffin
Best Graphic Story: Beastars (Volumes 4 – 8) by Paru Itagaki
Best Non-Fiction: The Fandom — A Furry Documentary, directed by Ash Kreis and Eric Risher
Best Other Literary Work: Difursity — Stories by Furries of Color, edited by Weasel
Best Short Fiction: What Makes A Witch, by Linnea Capps
Best Novel: The City That Barks and Roars, by J.T. Bird
Best Dramatic Short Work: Zoophobia — Bad Luck Jack, directed by Vivienne Medrano
Best Dramatic Series: Beastars (The English Dub), directed by Shinichi Matsumi
Best Motion Picture: Wolfwalkers, directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart
Needless to say, congratulations to everyone — the winners, and all the other nominees. To find out more about the Ursa Major Awards, or if you’d like to volunteer, visit the official web site. And start thinking about what sort of Furry Stuff you like from 2021! The Ursa Major Awards will return next year!
Fred Patten Lives On… In Writing
We got this direct from the late Fred Patten’s sister Sherry Patten: McFarland Publishers will soon be releasing one of Fred’s last books, Furry Tales: A Review of Essential Anthropomorphic Fiction (which features a forward from none other than Kyell Gold). From now through June 30th, McFarland is offering a 25% discount on books ordered on line — including not-yet-published books like this one! The book itself is set to be released this summer, according to McFarland. Visit the publisher’s web site to find out more.
An Unquenchable Urge To Learn
The artist and creator known as Tsebresos has been making the rounds at furry fandom conventions for some time now — but this year at Biggest Little Fur Con, we finally picked up her card! Seems like she’s been busy not only creating lots of artwork, but lots of fur-suits too — not to mention extra parts for the latter. Over at her web site she has extensive galleries showing off her work, as well as links to her Etsy store where you can find her art on t-shirts, prints, and so on.