Dogpatch Press

Thank you for helping Dogpatch Press to win the Ursa Major Award for Best Magazine of 2017!

 

Ever have a hard time knowing where to start with furry media? Does the horizon get lost in the digital sands?

Look no further than the Ursa Major Awards.  That’s the Furry equivalent of science fiction fandom’s Hugo Awards, mystery fandom’s Anthony Awards, or horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Awards. The Hugos also have the Nebulas to  complement them – and Furry has the Coyotl Awards for literature, as voted by the Furry Writers’ Guild. That’s not all – furry literature will also soon have the first Leo Awards, to be announced at AC 2018. (What’s the difference? The Leos are fandom-specific and voted on by a panel of judges.) The Ursa and Coyotl winners were both announced this month, so they’re all listed below to encourage you to check out some cool stuff you might not have seen.

URSA MAJOR NEWS

The winners for 2017 were announced at a presentation ceremony at the Furry Down-Under 2018 convention in Surfer’s Paradise, Queensland, Australia, on Saturday May 5.  FurDu posted a video of the ceremony including a slide show created by Ed Otter:

There was a lot of talk about it here before they were announced. Fred Patten saw growth in activities like fursuiting competing for attention with fan media, while maybe the awards could use a boost for reach after lower voting this year than in the past. A lack of staffing and funding led to appeals for help, while Anthrocon began offering matching donation to support writers. For 2019, the Awards will be presented at AnthrOhio.

• Furry founder Fred Patten saw more partying, less fandom in 2018 with the Ursa Major Awards.
• Ursa Major Awards get matching donations from Anthrocon, help wanted from other cons.
• The Ursa Major Awards are a fandom institution, but can we fund them?

Here’s a few things that stood out about the winners:

I am actively amazed that Bojack Horseman did not get nominated. Critics have been going bananas for it — and, from what I’ve seen, they really did have one heck of a season. – Rod O’Riley (Awards co founder)

The nonfiction category had a strong list. Congrats to Joe Strike for winning for Furry Nation, the first published history of fandom. And the Best Dramatic Series or Short category had a mainstream production made by furries (it’s a story behind the scenes I can’t tell!)

Dogpatch Press won Best Magazine with a voting score of 450 in comparison to Flayrah’s 301, according to Dronon. It shouldn’t be that hard to muster up a few hundred votes with all the furries in the world needing news. If I had a few extra paws to type with, I’d even help post guest articles over there.

Winners are on the Ursa Majors site: http://www.ursamajorawards.org/UMA_2017.htm 

Best Motion Picture

Live-action or animated feature-length movies.

• WON: Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (Directed by James Gunn; May 5)
• My Little Pony: The Movie (Directed by Jayson Thiessen; October 6)
• Rock Dog (Directed by Ash Brannon; February 24)
• Ferdinand (Directed by Carlos Saldanha; December 15)
• War for the Planet of the Apes (Directed by Matt Reeves; July 14)

Best Dramatic Series or Short Work

TV series or one-shots, advertisements or short videos.

• WON: Duck Tales [2017 reboot] (Directed by John Aoshima, Dana Terrace; Season 1, August 12 to December 2)
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Directed by Jim Miller, Tim Stuby, Denny Lu, Mike Myhre; Season 7, episodes 1 to 26)
• OK KO! Let’s Be Heroes (Directed by Hwang Ki-hoo, Chang-woo Shin, Sunjae Lee, Byungjae Oh, Eunyung Byun, Sunhung Kim; S. 1, Ep. 1–42)
• Here’s the Plan (Directed by Fernanda Frick; April 27)
• Mascot Fur Life (Directed by Jens Wernstedt; December 23)
• Doodle Toons (Directed by Jack C; Pilot episode to “Deleted Scene: Fast Food Follies”)
• Kouka and Bibi (by Dan Variano; January 8)

Best Novel

Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.

• WON: The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas (Corvus Publishing; May 9)
• Always Gray in Winter, by Mark J. Engels (Thurston Howl Publications; August 10)
• Otters in Space III: Octopus Ascending, by Mary E. Lowd (FurPlanet Productions; June 30)
• Kismet, by Watts Martin (Argyll Productions, FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
• Black Friday, by Jan Stryvant (CreateSpace; September 8)

Best Short Fiction

Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short written works.

• WON: “Lieutenant Kruger and the Mistress Jade Trophy Game”, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (in The Cross Time Cafe; October 5)
• “Behesht”, by Dwale (in ROAR volume 8; June 30)
• “Beyond the Great Divide”, by S.H. Mansouri (in Cirsova Heroic Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine #5; Spring 2017)
• “The Moon Like an Unhatched Egg”, by Mary E. Lowd (in Symbol of a Nation; June 30)
• “Rickety V”, by Rechan (in Intimate Little Secrets; March 24)

Best Non-Fiction Work

Includes art books, documentaries, opinion pieces, and news articles.

• WON: Furry Nation, by Joe Strike (Cleis Press; October 10 – Flayrah review)
• Furries Among Us 2; More Essays On Furries By Furries, edited by Thurston Howl (Thurston Howl Productions; August 18)
• Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015, by Fred Patten (McFarland & Co.; January 3 – Flayrah reviews: Joe Strike, Huskyteer)
• 3 Ursa Major-ly Painful Victories, by Rooview (on YouTube; April 23)
• The Shocking Furry Fandom Conversation. Yes, Really! (on YouTube, featuring Stefan Molyneux; October 16)

Best Other Literary Work

Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, and serialized online stories.

• WON: Dogs of War, edited by Fred Patten (anthology; FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
• ROAR volume 8, edited by Mary E. Lowd (anthology; Bad Dog Books; June 30)
• Arcana: A Tarot Anthology, edited by Intimate Little Secrets, by Rechan (collection; FurPlanet Productions; March 24)
• Symbol of a Nation, edited by Fred Patten (anthology; Goal Publications; June 30)

Best Graphic Story

Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.

• WON: DreamKeepers, by David & Liz Lillie (Internet; January 2 [#340] to December 18 [#385])
• Lackadaisy, by Tracy J. Butler (Internet; Lackadaisy Gimmickry to Lackadaisy Deliria)
• TwoKinds, by Tom Fischbach (Internet; January 5 to December 28)
• A&H Club, by Rick Griffin (Internet; January 7 to November 25)
• Endtown, by Aaron Neathery (Internet; January 2 to December 25)

Best Comic Strip

Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.

• WON: Housepets!, by Rick Griffin (Internet; January 2 to December 29)
• DreamKeepers Prelude, by David & Liz Lillie (Internet; January 6 [#350] to December 28 [#393])
• Freefall, by Mark Stanley (Internet; January 2 to December 29)
• Carry On, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (Internet; January 1 to December 29)
• Doc Rat, by Jenner (Internet; January 4 to December 29)

Best Magazine

Edited collections of creative and/or informational works by various people, professional or amateur, published in print or online in written, pictorial or audio-visual form.

• WON: Dogpatch Press, ed. by Patch Packrat (Internet; January 5 to December 25)
• Flayrah, edited by GreenReaper, Sonious, and Dronon (Internet; January 1 to December 30)
• InFurNation, ed. by Rod O’Riley (Internet; January 1 to December 31)
• FurryFandom.es, edited by Mike Retriever (Internet; February 19 to October 9)
• Typewriter Emergencies: A Journal of Furry Lit, edited by Weasel (Weasel Press; May)

Best Published Illustration

Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee-table portfolios.

• WON: David Lillie, cover for The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas (Corvus Publishing; May 9)
• Bone, cover for Always Gray in Winter by Mark J. Engels (Thurston Howl Publications; August 10)
• Teagan Gavet, cover for Dogs of War, edited by Fred Patten (FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
• Teagan Gavet, cover for ROAR vol. 8, edited by Mary E. Lowd (Bad Dog Books; June 30)
• Baron Engel, Prepare to Engage the Enemy, cover for A Different Perspective by Bernard Doove (June 8)
• Idess, cover for Otters in Space III: Octopus Ascending, by Mary E. Lowd (FurPlanet Productions,; June 30)
• Ashley Foy, “Valentine’s Gifts” (February 14)

Best Game

Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.

• WON: Night in the Woods (Developer: Infinite Fall, Publisher: Finji; February 21)
• Cuphead (Developer and Publisher: StudioMDHR Entertainment; September 29)
• Star Fox 2 (Developer: Nintendo and Argonaut Games, Publisher: Nintendo; September 29)
• Sonic Mania (Developer: PagodaWest Games and Headcannon, Publisher: Sega; August 15)
• Yooka-Laylee (Developers: Playtonic Games; April 11)

Best Website

Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works. Includes galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.

• WON: Inkbunny (furry art community)
• e621.net (art, discussions, etc.)
• WikiFur (furry fandom encyclopedia)
• Furry Writers’ Guild (Supporting, informing, elevating, and promoting quality anthropomorphic fiction and its creators)
• The Cross Time Cafe (forum for comic discussions, including many on the Recommended List)

The Cóyotl Awards for excellence in anthropomorphic literature are voted on by members of the Furry Writers’ Guild. On May 25, the 2017 winners were announced at Furlandia 2018 in Portland, Oregon.

Best Novel

• WON: Kismet by Watts Martin (Argyll Productions, FurPlanet Productions)
• Always Gray in Winter by Mark J. Engels (Thurston Howl Publications)
• reWritten by Jako Malan (Goal Publications)
• The Tower and the Fox (Calatians Book 1) by Tim Susman (Argyll Productions)

Best Novella

• WON: Dragon Fried Cheese (Dragon Tax Saga Book 3) by Madison Keller (Hundeliebe Publishing)
• The Earth Tigers (Star Spiders Book 1) by Frances Pauli
• Jazz at the End of the Night by Weasel
• The Pride of Parahumans by Joel Kreissman (Thurston Howl Publications)
• Sinful Behavior by Rukis

Best Short Story

• WON: Behesht by Dwale (in ROAR volume 8)
• Clicking by Ianus J. Wolf (in Bleak Horizons)
• Hollow by Chris “Sparf” Williams (in Bleak Horizons)
• The Moon Fox by Amy Fontaine (in Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores)
• The Ouroboros Plate by Slip Wolf (in Bleak Horizons)
• Personal History by Tim Susman (in ROAR volume 8)
• Richard Cory by Tristan Black Wolf (in Seven Deadly Sins: Furry Confessions)

Best Anthology

• WON: Arcana: A Tarot Anthology edited by Madison Scott-Clary (Thurston Howl Publications)
• Bleak Horizons edited by Tarl “Voice” Hoch (FurPlanet Productions)
• Symbol of a Nation edited by Fred Patten (Goal Publications)

If you’re looking for something good to read or watch, why not try out one of these right now? And let the creator know you just bought checked out their work (and mention this article.) Thanks to everyone who votes and makes furry the fandom that makes it’s own media, and congratulations to all the winners!

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, or get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward.  They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact.