Category: awards

The Decade That Women Won

By Cheryl Morgan.

When the history of science fiction fandom in the 2010s is written, the key event to be discussed will doubtless be the Puppy War. That a group of right-wing fans should attempt to take over the Hugo Awards is perhaps not surprising. The 2010s are, after all, the decade in which it was conclusively proved that democratic systems are vulnerable to attack by malicious actors. That the attack failed is perhaps a testament to the strength of community sentiment within the SF&F community. But what is really surprising is what happened afterwards.

For the last three years of the decade, every single written fiction-related award in the Hugos was won by a woman.

Continue reading “The Decade That Women Won” →

The Astounding Award

With admirable swiftness, what was the John C. Campbell Award for Best New Writer has been re-named The Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

Named for Campbell, whose writing and role as editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog Science Fiction and Fact) made him hugely influential in laying the groundwork for both the Golden Age of Science Fiction and beyond, the award has over the years recognized such nominees as George R.R. Martin, Bruce Sterling, Carl Sagan, and Lois McMaster Bujold, as well as award winners like Ted Chiang, Nalo Hopkinson, and John Scalzi.

However, Campbell’s provocative editorials and opinions on race, slavery, and other matters often reflected positions that went beyond just the mores of his time and are today at odds with modern values, including those held by the award’s many nominees, winners, and supporters.

The full statement can be found here. Jeannette Ng’s acceptance speech, which sparked the change, can be found here. It began something like this: Continue reading “The Astounding Award” →

2018 BSFA Awards Shortlist

Best Novel

  • Dave Hutchinson – Europe at Dawn (Solaris)
  • Yoon Ha Lee – Revenant Gun (Solaris)
  • Emma Newman – Before Mars (Ace Books)
  • Gareth L Powell – Embers of War (Titan Books)
  • Tade Thompson – Rosewater (Orbit)

Best Shorter Fiction

  • Nina Allan – ‘The Gift of Angels: an Introduction’ (Clarkesworld)
  • Malcolm Devlin – ‘The Purpose of the Dodo is to be Extinct’ (Interzone #275)
  • Hal Duncan – The Land of Somewhere Safe (NewCon Press)
  • Ian McDonald – Time Was (Tor.com)
  • Martha Wells – Exit Strategy (Tor.com)
  • Liz Williams – Phosphorus (NewCon Press)
  • Marian Womack – Kingfisher (Lost Objects, Luna Press)

Best Non-Fiction

  • Nina Allan – Time Pieces column 2018 articles (Interzone)
  • Ruth EJ Booth – Noise and Sparks column 2018 articles (Shoreline of Infinity)
  • Liz Bourke – Sleeps With Monsters column 2018 articles (Tor.com)
  • Aliette de Bodard – ‘On motherhood and erasure: people-shaped holes, hollow characters and the illusion of impossible adventures’ (Intellectus Speculativus blog)
  • Adam Roberts – Publishing the Science Fiction Canon: The Case of Scientific Romance (Cambridge University Press)

Best Artwork

  • Ben Baldwin – wraparound cover for Strange Tales slipcase set (NewCon Press)
  • Joey Hi-Fi – cover for Paris Adrift by EJ Swift (Solaris)
  • Sarah Anne Langton – cover for Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon Publications)
  • Sing Yun Lee and Morris Wild – artwork for Sublime Cognition conference (London Science Fiction Research Community)
  • Likhain – In the Vanishers’ Palace: Dragon I and II (Inprnt)
  • Bede Rogerson – cover for Concrete Faery by Elizabeth Priest (Luna Press)
  • Del Samatar – artwork for Monster Portraits by Sofia and Del Samatar (Rose Metal Press)
  • Charlotte Stroomer – cover for Rosewater by Tade Thompson (Orbit)

Congratulations to all those shortlisted. More information about the awards is available on the BSFA website. Please direct any queries to the Awards Administrator Clare Boothby.

BSFA members will later receive a souvenir booklet with extracts from many of the shortlisted works. If you would like to vote in the awards, you can do so by becoming a member of the BSFA and/or Ytterbiumcon, the 2019 Eastercon.

Vector’s Best of 2018 in SFF

This year, Vector have decided to take our annual SFF round-up online. It’s all here on the website under the tag 2018 Round-Up: reflections and highlights from Nina Allan, Cheryl Morgan, So Mayer, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Nick Lowe, Alison Baker, Tony Jones, Gary Couzens, Dev Agarwal, Andrew Wallace and Molly Cobb on the year gone by.

Speaking of 2018, it’s also BSFA Awards time: we’ve recently announced a splendid longlist of SFF novels, short fiction, non-fiction, artwork, voted on by BSFA members. Voting is now open for the shortlist.

 

BSFA Awards Longlist

On 5 January the BSFA announced our longlist for the BSFA Awards, voted for by BSFA members. Congratulations to all those who have been nominated. It seems like a really strong and rich list this year.

If you’re a BSFA member, you can now vote on what should wind up on the final ballot (you can also vote by emailing Awards Administrator Clare Boothby … which is the better option if you’ve just recently joined). This round is open till the end of January.

There’s more information from Clare on the BSFA main site; you can also join the BSFA and/or join Eastercon 2019 (Ytterbium) for the final voting and awards ceremony.

Continue reading “BSFA Awards Longlist” →

WSFA Small Press Award

The WSFA Small Press Award is now open to submissions of short SFF works published in the small press in 2018. Eligibility guidelines.

And, while we’re talking awards, the first round of BSFA Awards voting closed at midnight 31 December. The longlist will be announced tonight.

UPDATE: Here it is! Fabulous pickings. The second round of voting (for the shortlist) is now open to BSFA Members. If you’d like to join, you may do so here.

SFF Non-Fiction and Art in 2018

Nominations are now open for the BSFA Awards longlist. If you’re a member, you may nominate up to four works in each of four categories: Novel, Short Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Artwork. If you’re not yet a member, consider joining the BSFA.

Earlier we shared some suggested reading in short fiction and novels. Below is a list of crowdsourced recommendations (in no particular order) for the categories of non-fiction and artwork. You can also still explore (and add to) the suggestions sheet.

Continue reading “SFF Non-Fiction and Art in 2018” →

SFF Short Fiction in 2018

It’s nomination time once more! The BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction is open to any shorter work of science fiction or fantasy (40,000 words or under) first published in 2018.

These days, alongside the formal nominations, we also crowdsource a list of suggested reading. Anyone may suggest SFF works they think are worth checking out, and we use these suggestions to create (in no particular order) the list below. You can also still explore the Google sheet.

Formal nominations for the awards are also now open. To nominate and vote you must be a BSFA member (join here). If you’ve recently joined and don’t yet have a membership number, don’t worry! You’re still eligible to nominate and to vote.

So what was the most exciting short SFF in 2018? Let’s find out …

Continue reading “SFF Short Fiction in 2018” →