From the Newsroom

All news stories, except those on the front page.

Awards
Madame Askew and The Grand Arbiter presented the awards in an online ceremony on Friday night. Other honorees included costumer Tony Ballard-Smoot, maker Charles E. Mason II, cosplay group Airship Ashanti, and Steampunk Lady Scientists Danaus & Sidonne.
Event Preview
The steampunk calendar is heating up this weekend with CONpossible in Atlanta and MegaCon in Orlando. Meanwhile, Whitby Steampunk Weekend will return to North Yorkshire, and the Cog and Compass fest will take place in New Zealand.
Steampunk Community
Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter will present their Third Annual Tippy Golden Teacup Awards on Friday, Jan. 31, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Pacific time. It will stream live from their virtual tea parlour on Zoom. They’ll be joined by guest presenter Eve Riot.
Event Preview
Once again, San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom will be transformed into a neo-vintage wonderland as The Edwardian Ball returns on Friday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 1.
Books
A novel by Ef Deal and short stories by Robin Pond and Valerie B. Williams took top honors in the steampunk categories of the Critters Annual Readers Poll presented by the Critters Workshop.
Television
Deadline reported that The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, the acclaimed 2022 novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, is being developed for television by producer Debra Moore Muñoz.
Event Preview
The musical duo will join the “Steampunk Guru” and others as the Jewelry City Steampunk Festival returns to Attleboro, Massachusetts, on Jan. 25.
Crowdfunding
This week’s crowdfunding roundup includes a new steampunk comic book series from a former Marvel editor, plus a set of 3D printable terrain models for tabletop games.
Observances
When do we celebrate International Steampunk Day? What about Nikola Tesla Day or World Octopus Day? These, and other special days, are now in the calendar.
Site info
The Steampunk Explorer has two new homes in the Fediverse. Our Mastodon account now has a new location—and a new handle—and we’ve begun posting images on a photo-sharing app called Pixelfed that’s similar to Instagram.
Crowdfunding
Following a lull around the holidays, two publishers of steampunk comics are back on Kickstarter with new projects, while author Jessica Lucci is funding a forthcoming steampunk novella set in the 18th century.
Music
The video accompanies a track from their new album Songs From The End Of The Pier. It’s their third music video, but the first to be released since the album came out in November.
Site info
The Steampunk Explorer now includes expanded directories of major events, including sci-fi and pop culture conventions in addition to steampunk events. These are separate from (but linked to) our calendar listings.
Site info
When The Steampunk Explorer re-launched on Dec. 30, our calendar listed just 191 events taking place in 2025. But we got busy over the weekend and it now has more than 600 listings.
Books & Movies
In the U.S., January 1 wasn’t just New Year’s Day. It was also Public Domain Day, when creative works from 1929 and sound recordings from 1924 entered the public domain. This year’s batch is a good one.
Music
Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq., the “uke-toting, tweed-clad troubadour” from Bedford, U.K., is out with his fourth album, Carry On While The World Burns. As with his previous releases, the album delivers catchy, old-timey tunes with humorous takes on culture, politics, and the challenges of everyday life.
Books
It’s been a busy year for U.K. author Paul Eccentric, as publisher Caffeine Nights released three books in his steampunk series The Periwinkle Perspective.
Crowdfunding
Studio Foglio, the artists behind the popular Girl Genius gaslamp fantasy comics, launched a Kickstarter campaign for a set of costume medals depicting characters from the series. Four are available: Empress of All Cats, Emperor of All Cats, Aetheric Machinist First Class, and Official Animal of the Party.
Music
Lee Presson and the Nails have retired from live performances, but Presson is still bringing the swing band together for music videos. His latest is “Friend Like Me,” a cover of a song from the 1992 Disney movie Aladdin.
Books
The series follows Britain’s Royal Aviation Corps as it battles the forces of the Prussian Empire in an alternate history version of World War II.
Music
Her latest collection of cover songs is “extra sultry and vibey,” she writes, “including many of the tunes previously released in the EPs Music to Snuggle Your Old Lady To and Music to Pine For Your Old Lady To.”
Event Preview
The Mad Hatter Holiday Festival will return to Vallejo, California, on Saturday, Dec. 7 with art cars, music, costume contests, craft vendors, and more. The centerpiece is a parade through the city’s downtown.
Music
Neovenator, a band of self-described “steampunk oddballs” from the U.K., have been performing since 2021. Now they’re out with their first full-length album, Songs from the End of the Pier.
Music
In his latest adventure, the chap hop artist goes in search of Geoffrey, his terrible yet beloved orangutan butler. The album continues a storyline from his 2021 album Nemesis. It’s available now on Bandcamp.
Event Preview
The year’s last big weekend for steampunk events is approaching, especially in the U.S. with TeslaCon, Steampunk November, the Vermont Steampunk Expo, and three gatherings in California, plus Steampunk the Thames in New Zealand.