awards

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Mieville and the bleak Arthur C Clarke finalists, and other writerly news

embassytown by china mieville

The finalists of the Arthur C Clarke award for best science fiction novel published in the UK last year include China Mieville for Embassytown, the fifth time he’s been nominated and what could be he his fourth win.

The interesting comment from the chair of the judging panel, Andrew M Butler, quoted in the Guardian, for those worried about over-genrification:

“It’s got something for everyone: alien contact, post-apocalyptic disaster, near future cyberpunkish police procedural,” he said, adding that the variety demonstrates the health of the SF scene. “It’s exciting because you can’t fit it in a box.”

Others in the running are Charlie Stross, Booker longlisted Jane Rogers, Drew Magary, Sherri S Tepper and Greg Bear.

Says Butler about the dystopian line-up,

“We’re in a dark place at the moment and SF writers are responding to that. These are not books to turn to for escape – they’re not afraid to confront the dark side of life.”

The award is announced in May.

  • Canberra’s Nicole Murphy, author of the Secret Ones, has launched an interesting project in which she mentors a writer to develop a 2,000-word spec fic story each month, publishes the finished story on the project’s website and, eventually, makes 12 available as an anthology. The chosen submission each month scores $100 and a cut of the anthology royalties.
  • Also taking submissions in April is UK publisher Angry Robot, who have an open door for classic fantasy and YA SF&F.
  • Stephanie Smith has stepped down from her role at HarperCollins Voyager, where as editor and publisher she has overseen the growth of Australia’s fantasy industry, Bookseller+Publisher reports. She’s quite the icon on the local scene and will be missed. Her replacement is respected editor Deonie Fiford, starting on April 2. OMG that’s Monday! Where has the year gone? Voyager’s farewell message is here.
  • The Gold Coast Literati event in May has announced its line-up, including spec fic authors Stephen M Irwin, Marianne de Pierres, Trent Jamieson, Louise Cusack, Kylie Chan and Rowena Cory Daniells, as well as talented comics creator Queenie Chan, crime writer Katherine Howell and many more. It looks like most of the bases have been covered, from YA to poetry to non-fiction. It’s held the same weekend as Melbourne’s Emerging Writers Festival kicks off. See the calendar for more literary events.
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    Aurealis Awards finalists announced

    The Aurealis Awards are the premiere award for Aussie speculative fiction. They will be awarded in Sydney on May 12 — tickets for the glam ceremony are on sale. Last year’s ceremony absolutely rocked, a wonderful coming together of all spectra of the spec fic community. Here are the finalists, announced tonight — congratulations all*:

    FANTASY NOVEL
    The Undivided by Jennifer Fallon (HarperVoyager)
    Ember and Ash by Pamela Freeman (Hachette)
    Stormlord’s Exile by Glenda Larke (HarperVoyager)
    Debris by Jo Anderton (Angry Robot)
    The Shattered City by Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperVoyager)

    FANTASY SHORT STORY
    ‘Fruit of the Pipal Tree’ by Thoraiya Dyer (After the Rain, FableCroft Publishing)
    ‘The Proving of Smollett Standforth’ by Margo Lanagan (Ghosts by Gaslight, HarperVoyager)
    ‘Into the Clouds on High’ by Margo Lanagan (Yellowcake, Allen & Unwin)
    ‘Reading Coffee’ by Anthony Panegyres (Overland #204)
    ‘The Dark Night of Anton Weiss’ by DC White (More Scary Kisses, Ticonderoga Publications)

    SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
    Machine Man by Max Barry (Scribe Publications)
    Children of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy (HarperVoyager)
    The Waterboys by Peter Docker (Fremantle Press)
    Black Glass by Meg Mundell (Scribe Publications)
    The Courier’s New Bicycle by Kim Westwood (HarperVoyager)

    SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY
    ‘Flowers in the Shadow of the Garden’ by Joanne Anderton (Hope, Kayelle Press)
    ‘Desert Madonna’ by Robert Hood (Anywhere but Earth, Couer de Lion)
    ‘SIBO’ by Penelope Love (Anywhere but Earth, Couer de Lion)
    ‘Dead Low’ by Cat Sparks (Midnight Echo #6)
    ‘Rains of la Strange’ by Robert N Stephenson (Anywhere but Earth, Couer de Lion)

    HORROR NOVEL
    NO SHORTLIST OR WINNING NOVEL – TWO HONOURABLE MENTIONS AWARDED TO:
    The Broken Ones by Stephen M Irwin (Hachette)
    The Business of Death by Trent Jamieson (Hachette)

    HORROR SHORT STORY
    ‘And the Dead Shall Outnumber the Living’ by Deborah Biancotti (Ishtar, Gilgamesh Press)
    ‘The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt’ by Paul Haines (The Last Days of Kali Yuga, Brimstone Press)
    ‘The Short Go: a Future in Eight Seconds’ by Lisa L Hannett (Bluegrass Symphony, Ticonderoga Publications)
    ‘Mulberry Boys’ by Margo Lanagan (Blood and Other Cravings, Tor)
    ‘The Coffin Maker’s Daughter’ by Angela Slatter (A Book of Horrors, Quercus)

    YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
    Shift by Em Bailey (Hardie Grant Egmont)
    Secrets of Carrick: Tantony by Ananda Braxton-Smith (black dog books)
    The Shattering by Karen Healey (Allen & Unwin)
    Black Glass by Meg Mundell (Scribe Publications)
    Only Ever Always by Penni Russon (Allen & Unwin)

    YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY
    ‘Nation of the Night’ by Sue Isle (Nightsiders, Twelfth Planet Press)
    ‘Finishing School’ by Kathleen Jennings (Steampunk! An anthology of fantastically rich and strange stories, Candlewick Press)
    ‘Seventy-Two Derwents’ by Cate Kennedy (The Wicked Wood – Tales from the Tower Volume 2, Allen and Unwin)
    ‘One Window’ by Martine Murray (The Wilful Eye: Tales from the Tower Volume 1, Allen and Unwin)
    ‘The Patrician’ by Tansy Rayner Roberts (Love and Romanpunk, Twelfth Planet Press)

    CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through words)
    The Outcasts by John Flanagan (Random House Australia)
    The Paradise Trap by Catherine Jinks (Allen & Unwin)
    ‘It Began with a Tingle’ by Thalia Kalkapsakis (Headspinners, Allen & Unwin)
    The Coming of the Whirlpool by Andrew McGahan (Allen & Unwin)
    City of Lies by Lian Tanner (Allen & Unwin)

    CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through pictures)
    The Ghost of Annabel Spoon by Aaron Blabey (author and illustrator) (Penguin/ Viking Books)
    Sounds Spooky by Christopher Cheng (author) and Sarah Davis (illustrator) (Random House Australia)
    The Last Viking by Norman Jorgensen (author) and James Foley (illustrator) (Fremantle Press)
    The Deep: Here be Dragons by Tom Taylor (author) and James Brouwer (illustrator) (Gestault Publishing)
    Vampyre by Margaret Wild (author) and Andrew Yeo (illustrator) (Walker Books)

    ILLUSTRATED BOOK/GRAPHIC NOVEL
    Hidden by Mirranda Burton (author and illustrator ) (Black Pepper)
    Torn by Andrew Constant (author) and Joh James (illustrator ), additional illustrators Nicola Scott, Emily Smith (Gestalt Publishing)
    Salsa Invertebraxa by Mozchops (author and illustrator) (Pecksniff Press)
    The Eldritch Kid: Whiskey and Hate by Christian Read (author) and Michael Maier (illustrator) (Gestalt Publishing)
    The Deep: Here be Dragons by Tom Taylor (author) and James Brouwer (illustrator) (Gestault Publishing)

    ANTHOLOGY
    Ghosts by Gaslight edited by Jack Dann and Nick Gevers (HarperVoyager)
    Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2010 edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)
    Ishtar edited by Amanda Pillar and KV Taylor (Gilgamesh Press)
    The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 5 edited by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade Books)
    Life on Mars edited by Jonathan Strahan (Viking)

    COLLECTION
    Bad Power by Deborah Biancotti (Twelfth Planet Press)
    Last Days of Kali Yuga by Paul Haines (Brimstone Press)
    Bluegrass Symphony by Lisa L Hannett (Ticonderoga Publications)
    Nightsiders by Sue Isle (Twelfth Planet Press)
    Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts (Twelfth Planet Press)

    * I was a judge in this year’s awards so no commentary from me, and nothing here should be seen as anything other than my personal opinion.

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    Ditmar Award nominations open

    The Aussie spec fic fan-voted Ditmar Awards are now open for nominations, using a handy online form, post or email — see the rules page for details about who and how. There’s also a massive list of eligible works that is admittedly not totally comprehensive but is a fine place to start for memory jogging! The awards will be presented at Continuum in Melbourne in June. Electronic nominations close on April 15.

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    Writerly news

    Catching up after time away and largely off-line at Adelaide Writers Week, and there’s good news:

    when we have wings by claire corbettBarbara Jefferis Award shortlist: Claire Corbett’s SF novel When We Have Wings (which I am STILL to read, damnit) is on the shortlist of the Barbara Jefferis Award. Sean the Bookonaut, who I met for the first time in Adelaide, recently interviewed Claire: listen here.

    Mythic Resonance: editor Stephen Thompson — how long has it been since he compiled the Vision writers group’s Glimpses anthology? — has a new anthology, Mythic Resonance, which, as the name suggests, riffs off myths. Excerpts are available at the Specusphere.

    Thirteen O’Clock: a new aggregator of dark fiction news has hit the interwebs. The blog also posted an excellent piece on the difference between horror and dark fantasy recently.

    Narrelle Harris reveals Showtime: The Melbourne author of The Opposite of Life is the latest in Twelfth Planet Press’s Twelve Planets series, offering ghosts, vampires and zombies in a four-story collection that includes an appearance of some old friends.

    Aurealis #48 in the ether: Aurealis #48, with stories by Rick Kennett and Greg Mellor, is available from Smashwords.

    Ticonderoga living large in 2013: the WA press already has an exciting schedule for 2013, including several collections by both veteran and tyro writers and the continuing Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror.

    And Chris Meade on Queensland’s writing future: the if:book pioneer reflects on his experience in Queensland and considers how my home state might leverage itself in the global literary landscape with ‘big sky writing‘. It’s also worth checking out if:book Australia’s 24 Hour Book Project for a hands-on view of how technology is changing the publishing industry.

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    Aussies in Bram Stoker Awards running

    Congratulations to the Aussies who have crossed the sea to make the final ballot for the Bram Stoker horror awards (five I’m aware of made the long list):

    Kaaron Warren for her short story ‘All You Do Is Breathe’ in Blood and Other Cravings.

    Jack Dann as editor (with Nick Gevers) for Ghosts by Gaslight.

    Rocky Wood for his non-fiction Stephen King: A Literary Companion. Note that Rocky’s Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished
    has been updated with a Q&A from the King himself, with profits to go Rocky’s ALS Fund. Available as pre-order only from Overlook Connection Press.

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    Brisbane Writers Festival dates announced

    The calendar of literary events has been updated, including the dates for Brisbane Writers Festival (Sep 5-9), the Sunshine Coast’s Reality Bites in June (recently seeking submissions for attendees) and the Aurealis Awards ceremony in Sydney in May. Additions and corrections to the calendar are welcome.

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    Aurealis Awards tickets on sale, Chronos nominations open

    aurealis awards logoJust in case you hadn’t noticed, tickets for this year’s Aurealis Awards ceremony are now on sale. The ceremony will be held at the Independent Theatre in North Sydney on Saturday May 12. Last year’s awards, organised by the same organisation, SpecFaction NSW, and held in the same venue, were enormous fun. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with friends from across the country, rub shoulders with some damn fine writers, maybe meet some editors, agents and publishers … The staff at the nearby Rydges, which became the default ‘con hotel’, were wonderfully accommodating when it came to the post-awards ceremony. They might have a few more bar staff rostered on this year. Heh.

    WHILE we’re on awards, the Chronos Awards are calling for nominations. The awards recognise excellence in speculative fiction arising from Victorian residents. A fairly comprehensive list of eligible works is available, and welcomes additions. I take my hat off to the person/s who assembled this list! (I note that Paul Haines’s The Last Days of Kali Yuga and his short story from that collection, ‘The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt’, is absent, and I’ve let the organisers know that my listed story ‘Mending the Fences’ isn’t in fact eligible — it’s publication has been delayed till next month.) Nominations are due by March 18 and will be voted on by members of Continuum 8, the national science fiction convention being held in Melbourne in June.

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    Aussies on long list for the Stoker Awards

    An awesome showing of Australian talent on the preliminary ballot for the Bram Stoker Awards, recognising excellence in horror publishing. Fingers crossed they progress to become nominees!

    Kaaron Warren for her short story ‘All You Do Is Breathe’ in Blood and Other Cravings.

    Jack Dann as editor (with Nick Gevers) for Ghosts by Gaslight.

    Paul Haines for his collection, The Last Days of Kali Yuga.

    Rocky Wood for his non-fiction Stephen King: A Literary Companion.

    Kyla Ward for her poetry collection, The Land of Bad Dreams.

    Apologies for anyone I’ve missed!

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    Hurrah for Golden Globes winner Homeland … and Luther!

    Homeland has been the compelling viewing at our place, so it’s grand to see Claire Danes pick up a Golden Globe for best actress and the show score one for best drama.

    Based on an Israeli series — imagine the extra emotional baggage this storyline would have over there — it tells the story of a CIA analyst (Danes) tipped off about a US POW turned by Al-Qaeda. There follows a game of superb cat and mouse as the returned POW is feted as a hero while Carrie, fighting some nasty demons of her own, tries to unravel the alleged plot. Such murky waters, flowing superbly, with plenty of eddies and rapids as the camera reveals several sides of the unfolding story — inside the CIA, the soldier’s eight years of imprisonment, his family’s reaction to suddenly having him return after having been declared dead.

    Homeland is not a Stars n Stripes show, but rather shares a more British sensibility in its approach to national moral issues and the way to conclude a spy drama. Gripping stuff, superbly acted across the board, and a big tick mark for its representation of the soldier’s wife — played by Firefly and V remake star Morena Baccarin, Jessica is far from window dressing.

    A second season has been approved.

    Stars of two other shows that have occupied our spare time were also acknowledged at the Globes (commentated entertainingly at ABC online): Jessica Lange for American Horror Story, which I’ve praised before, and Idris Elba for Luther. Luther is a superb British crime show with Elba playing the eponymous cop right on the edge — he’s starred in superb vampire UK series Ultraviolet and brilliant US crime series The Wire, amongst many other things; a chameleon of accents and wielder of a striking screen presence.

    New series of both are in the works.


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    Good stuff while my back was turned

    We’re back, and a wee bit tired as the clock has turned over the 36-hour mark since we got up some morning recently in my beloved New Orleans, and here’s some of the stuff that’s been happening in my absence that’s too good not to share:

    Anywhere But Earth, launching today in Sydney, is all systems go at the online store

    Brisbane’s awesome Sarah Calderwood is interviewed on ABC Radio about her debut solo album! The song she sings in the studio is stunning.

    Beat magazine makes it official: The Tea Party have tested the reunion waters and found it warm enough to take another splash — cool!

    Kyla Ward has launched her solo poetry collection, The Land of Bad Dreams, with aplomb — see the vids! (Okay, this actually happened before we left, but we couldn’t be in Sydney for it, and it looks like it was a hoot of a night.)

    Oh, too: Macabre, an excellent overview of Aussie horror fiction, and Surviving the End, in which I have a story, are both available — the first as e-book showing there’s still some life left in the sadly collapsed Brimstone Press, the latter as a pre-order. Check out more happenings in Aussie horror publishing at From the Pit.

    Looking ahead: for those in Melbourne, wicked Brissie band Tycho Brahe support Psyche at the Espy on November 12 — that’s this Saturday. Sad, I was, to miss their Halloween gig back in Bris.

    And this time, my back wasn’t turned, because I was at World Fantasy Convention to see Alisa Krasnostein receive her press’s achievement trophy. A superb effort!

    I am a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This item is the personal opinion of the writer, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.