It was in September 2017 that the seed for CYMERA: Scotland’s Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Writing was sown.

Festival enthusiast Ann Landmann and Noel Chidwick, mastermind behind award-winning sci-fi magazine Shoreline of Infinity, were having a cup of tea and lamenting the lack of genre authors in book festivals programmes. So why not set up our own book festival?, they asked each other.

Thus the idea for creating a festival for Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror writing was born. It just happened that Ann needed a topic for her dissertation for her MA Arts, Festival and Cultural Management (as her lecturer said, make sure you do it on something useful). Armed with this excellent excuse to talk to people about the idea, Ann went out into the world to meet authors, publishers, agents, festival programmers, readers and convention/book festival attendees, collecting ideas and feedback. The end product was a hundred page business plan (see picture of Ann on the day of her submission – she passed, thanks for asking), and the conviction that this

… is the best news I've heard all day.

Audience Survey response

CYMERA: Scotland’s Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Writing now has charity status, a board of trustees, and a fantastic team of volunteers that are helping to make the festival happen.

Cymera Festival (SC048809 )

Registered Office: 35 Woolmet Crescent, Danderhall, Midlothian, EH22 1NL