Cambridge University Science Fiction Society

The Cambridge University Science Fiction Society (CUSFS) is a society at the University of Cambridge for discussing science fiction and fantasy literature. It was founded in 1963. Its most notable effects beyond the University are probably in running a "Science Fiction Looney" candidate for parliament in the 1976 Cambridge by-election, starting the trend for joke candidacies under the name, and in creating "The Game", a mental game where the objective is to avoid thinking about the game itself. The society also owns one of the largest dedicated science fiction and fantasy borrowing libraries in the UK, at over five thousand books.
Since 1974, CUSFS has published its magazine TTBA (for the first two years of its existence standing for Title To Be Announced, and since then for a succession of humourous or topical backronyms) containing reviews and short fiction, including work by several writers, who went on to achieve note in the field, including the fiction writers Alison Spedding, Guy T. Marland and Julian Todd, the RPG author Phil Masters and the film reviewer Nick Lowe.
Other past members have included Alexander Guttenplan, who is a former Chairbeing of the society, and the Fantasy author Steph Swainston.
The society's President is Stephen Hawking.

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