John Bullard is a good guy doing Crom's work over at the Robert E. Howard Foundation (REHF). The other day, John sent me the list of REHF award recipients for 2020 and 2021, which were announced at Howard Days in Cross Plains a week ago. I should note that Corona-chan canceled last year’s Howard Days, so the 2020 awards were handed out this year. Check 'em out below. I'll post my comments below that.

Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards BOD Final Results For 2020 & 2021
2020 REHF Awards
The Atlantean — Outstanding Achievement, Book (non-anthology/collection)
(Books may be print or digital, must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and must be substantively devoted to the life and/or work of REH. Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible.)
Bobby Derie. Weird Talers: Essays on Robert E. Howard and Others (Hippocampus Press)
The Valusian — Outstanding Achievement, Book (anthology/collection)
(Books may be print or digital, must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and must be substantively devoted to the life and/or work of REH. Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible.)
Wheatley, Mark (ed.). Songs of Giants: the Poetry of Pulp (Insight Studios)
The Hyrkanian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Print)
(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short pieces, interviews, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)
Nicole Emmelhainz-Carney. "By This Pen I Rule: Robert E. Howard as Gatekeeper in the Development of Weird Fiction" (The Dark Man Vol.10, issue 1)
The Cimmerian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Online)
(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short blog posts, speeches, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)(Tie)
Tie Bob Byrne. editor of the “Hither Came Conan” series on BlackGate.com: https://www.blackgate.com/2018/12/26/hither-came-conan-the-new-weekly-robert-e-howard-series-at-black-gate/
Tie David C. Smith. "Robert E. Howard as a Writer of Consequence"
https://dmrbooks.com/test-blog/2019/1/22/robert-e-howard-as-a-writer-of-consequence
The Venarium — Emerging Scholar - (Candidates will have recently begun making significant contributions to Howard scholarship through publications and/or presentations over the past few years. Previous winners are not eligible.)
Jason Ray Carney
The Stygian—Outstanding Achievement, Website or Periodical
(Eligible candidates are limited to print or digital magazines, journals, blogs, or internet sites with substantive material that is primarily devoted to scholarship on the life and works of Robert E. Howard. Websites must have been updated with new content at least once in the previous calendar year. Print periodicals must have had an issue published in the previous calendar year. Non-static social media like Facebook and Twitter would not be eligible.)
The Dark Man: Journal of Robert E. Howard and Pulp Studies (Editors: Jaron Carney and Nicole Emmelhainz) - https://https://www.thedarkmanjournal.org/
The Black Lotus – Outstanding Achievement, Multimedia
(Eligible candidates have produced a multimedia or audio/visual work or series of works, such as videos, documentaries, podcasts, animation, etc. related to the life and work of REH)
Ben Friberg - Howard Days 2019 Videos - https://www.youtube.com/user/warriorphotog36/videos
The Rankin — Artistic achievement in the depiction of REH’s life and/or work
(Art must have made its first public published appearance in the previous calendar year.)
Etienne Le Roux, artist for Conan Le Cimmerien – La Citadelle Ecarlate (Glenat 2019)
The Crom Award – Special Award given by the Board of Directors
Dierk Gunther and Patrice Louinet for receiving Ph.D.s with theses on Robert E. Howard at Hiroshima University and the Sorbonne, respectively.
Black Circle Award – Lifetime Achievement - (Individuals who have made significant and long-lasting contributions to REH scholarship, publishing, or the promotion of Howard’s life and works. Eligible candidates must have been publicly involved in Howard-related activities for a minimum of two decades. Sixty percent of the vote is required for induction into the Black Circle)
2020 Paul Herman
2021 REHF Awards
Awards
The Atlantean — Outstanding Achievement, Book (non-anthology/collection)
(Books may be print or digital, must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and must be substantively devoted to the life and/or work of REH. Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible.)
Brian Murphy. Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery (Pulp Hero Press)
The Valusian — Outstanding Achievement, Book (anthology/collection)
(Books may be print or digital, must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and must be substantively devoted to the life and/or work of REH. Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible.)
Ted Abrams & Elizabeth Nee (editors). The Rattle of Bones (Clover Press)
The Hyrkanian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Print)
(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short pieces, interviews, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)
Karen Joan Kohoutek. “More Than Meets the Eye: The Women Protagonists of the Conan Stories” (The Dark Man 11.1)
The Cimmerian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Online)
(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short blog posts, speeches, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)
John Bullard. “Beyond the Black River”: Is It Really “Beyond the Brazos River”? (Adventures Fantastic. 3 Part Serial) Beginning with: https://adventuresfantastic.com/beyond-the-black-river-is-it-really-beyond-the-brazos-river-part-1/
The Venarium — Emerging Scholar - (Candidates will have recently begun making significant contributions to Howard scholarship through publications and/or presentations over the past few years. Previous winners are not eligible.)
John Bullard
The Stygian—Outstanding Achievement, Website or Periodical
(Eligible candidates are limited to print or digital magazines, journals, blogs, or internet sites with substantive material that is primarily devoted to scholarship on the life and works of Robert E. Howard. Websites must have been updated with new content at least once in the previous calendar year. Print periodicals must have had an issue published in the previous calendar year. Non-static social media like Facebook and Twitter would not be eligible.)
REH World (Editor: Stale Gismervik) - https://reh.world
The Black Lotus – Outstanding Achievement, Multimedia
(Eligible candidates have produced a multimedia or audio/visual work or series of works, such as videos, documentaries, podcasts, animation, etc. related to the life and work of REH)
Ben Friberg. “Tour of Robert E Howard Home”, -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XdLE1cj34c
The Rankin — Artistic achievement in the depiction of REH’s life and/or work
(Art must have made its first public published appearance in the previous calendar year.)
E. M. Gist, cover artist for Conan the Barbarian #13-17 (Marvel, 2020)
The Crom Award – Era Lee Hanke
Black Circle Award – Lifetime Achievement - (Individuals who have made significant and long-lasting contributions to REH scholarship, publishing, or the promotion of Howard’s life and works. Eligible candidates must have been publicly involved in Howard-related activities for a minimum of two decades. Sixty percent of the vote is required for induction into the Black Circle)
2021 Arlene Stephenson
The Foundation congratulates the winners and nominees.

Quite a list! Congratulations are in order for all the winners.

I feel a bit of a personal connection to the Foundation awards, since I was in the hotel bar of the 2006 World Fantasy Convention down in Austin when the creation of the Robert E. Howard Foundation by Paradox--now Cabinet--was announced. Rusty Burke and Patrice Louinet filled me in on some of the planned projects--the 'Collected Letters' and the 'Collected Poetry' volumes really caught my attention--coming in the next few years.

I see right there near the top for 2020 that we had a tie for the Cimmerian award, the one that goes to 'Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Online)'. Half the award went to Bob Byrne for his 'Hither Came Conan' series of essays at Black Gate. I happened to be one of the essayists on that fine project, along with a lot of other talented people.

The other half of the award went to David C. Smith's 'Robert E. Howard As a Writer of Consequence'. That essay appeared right here on the DMR Books Blog as part of the now-legendary 2019 Guest Bloggerama. Mr. Smith also contributed to 'Hither Came Conan'.

Though we didn't tout it much here at the DMR Blog at the time--Dave Ritzlin and myself being humble and retiring dudes by nature--the DMR Books Blog won the 2019 Cimmerian award for my three-part series on REH and Stephen Fabian. Thus, the DMR Books Blog won the REHF's Cimmerian award two years running...or one and half years, depending how one figures such things.

What do we see at the very top of the 2021 awards? Brian Murphy's Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery, which took the blood-stained laurels for 'Outstanding Achievement, Book (non-anthology/collection)'. Brian and I go back to 2009 at the Cimmerian blog and he's been a valued contributor here at the DMR Books Blog since the first Bloggerama. Even if I didn't have some slight input, late in the game, on Flame and Crimson, I'd still be proud as hell of Brian winning this. Right on, bud.

The Valusian award for 'Outstanding Achievement, Book (anthology/collection)' went to The Rattle of Bones from Clover Press. I hope my blog post in praise of the collection, especially for Gabriel Rodriguez's art, alerted and/or persuaded some of the REHF voters. A worthy book. Hopefully, this award will nudge them toward doing another collection of REH yarns.

The recipient of the 2021 Cimmerian award is none other than John Bullard. John wrote an essay for Keith West's fine blog, Adventures Fantastic, titled " 'Beyond the Black River": Is It Really "Beyond the Brazos River"? which looked at the influence of Texan history on BtBR. In addition, Bullard won the Venarium award, which goes to a Howardian scholar who has 'recently begun making significant contributions to Howard scholarship through publications and/or presentations over the past few years'. Congratulations to John!

It is very cool that Arlene Stephenson got the Black Circle award this year. Not only is she a worthy woman of good Kansan stock, but she has been a mainstay behind the scenes—along with the rest of Project Pride—making things happen for Howard Days each and every year. On a personal level, I met her within an hour of getting to Cross Plains in 2006 and she has always been nothing but gracious and friendly toward me.

The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard: 1923-1929, Volume One in the wild at Howard Days 2021. Photo courtesy of John Bullard. — *The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard: 1923-1929, Volume One* in the wild at Howard Days 2021. Photo courtesy of John Bullard.

Besides sending me the list above, John Bullard also filled me in on the latest Foundation news. Here's what he had to say:

" Amazingly enough, the printer did get the 2nd edition [of the first volume of] of The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard out in time for Howard Days. It should soon be up on the Foundation site for ordering."

Right on. Anyone who even hopes to have an insight regarding what REH actually thought and felt--as opposed to extrapolating something from one Conan story read at the age of thirteen--really needs to own the 'Collected Letters' volumes.

In closing, I have to say it's gratifying to see the recognition bestowed upon the DMR Books Blog by the REHF. This blog only became a fully-operational weaponized platform for exotic adventure of all kinds back in 2018. Content having to do with Robert E. Howard has always been a mainstay of the blog--a steady drumbeat of posts with the tag 'Robert E. Howard' have been published here over the last several years--but this blog isn't dedicated to any one author. To have the Foundation give DMR the nod for two out of three years is very cool. We certainly plan on publishing more blog entries on the Man from Cross Plains in the future. Perhaps more than previously.