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June 1998

New Amazing Ready

The new resurrected Amazing Stories will appear on July 28th with about 75,000 copies distributed through Curtis, who will also supply direct distributors such as Ingram and IPD. Wizards of the Coast will handle the direct distribution to gaming outlets. The magazine features a mixture of tie-in fiction (with Star Trek cover) and regular SF stories. The first issue contains:

Fiction:

  • ''Sense of Wonder'' by James Alan Gardner, illustrated by Michael Morgenstern
  • ''The Complete Guide to Chlerion'' by Neal Barrett, Jr., illustrated by Barry Jackson
  • ''Last Words'' (Star Trek fiction) by A.C. Crispin, illustrated by Mark Maxwell
  • ''On the Scent of Trouble'' (Star Trek fiction) by John Gregory Betancourt, illustrated by Bob Eggleton
  • ''Pheromitey Glad'' by Michael Libling, illustrated by Marc Gabbana
  • ''Gooses'' (novel excerpt) by Orson Scott Card, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi
  • ''The Mark of Zorro'' (Sam Gunn novelette) by Ben Bova, illustrated by John K. Snyder
  • ''Pasquatz'' by Malcolm Beckett, illustrated by Jeff Miracola

    Departments

  • Dispatches (letter column)
  • The Observatory (commentary) by Bruce Sterling, illustrated by John Craig
  • Scientifiction (media tie-in books) by Brian M. Thomsen
  • Electro Games (computer games) by Allen Varney
  • Silver Screen (movie reviews) by James Lowder
  • Time Machine (photograph of Hugo Gernsback & Lee DeForrest)

    (Fri 19 Jun 98)


    Ditmar Awards

    The 1998 Australian National SF Achievement Awards, or Ditmars, were announced last week at Thylacon II in Tasmania.

    Long Fiction
    The White Abacus, Damien Broderick (Avon Books)

    Short Fiction
    ''Niagara Falling'', Janeen Webb & Jack Dann (Black Mist and Other Japanese Futures, DAW)

    Dramatic Presentation
    Spellbinder 2 (9 Network)

    Artwork/Artist
    Nick Stathopoulos

    Fanzine
    Eidolon

    Fan Writer
    Leanne Frahm

    William Atheling Award
    ''Austalia: Australian Contemporary Fantasy'', Sean McMullen & Steven Paulsen (The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, Orbit)

    (Thu 11 Jun 98)


    Rhysling Winners

    The Science Fiction Poetry Association has announced the winners of the 1996 and 1997 Rhysling Awards. The award is given to the best long and short genre poem published in the previous year. Both the 1996 and 1997 winners were announced this year because the SFPA skipped 1996 due to unforeseeable circumstances.

    1996 Short Poem
    W. Gregory Stewart, "Day Omega" (Asimov's Oct/Nov 1996)

    1996 Long Poem
    Terry Garey, "Spotting UFOs While Canning Tomatoes" (Serve It Forth -- Cooking with Anne McCaffrey, Warner Books)

    1997 Short Poem
    John Grey, "Explaining Frankenstein To His Mother" (Star*Line 20.3, May/Jun 1997)

    1997 Long Poem
    Laurel Winter, "why goldfish shouldn't use power tools" (Asimov's Dec 1997)

    (Thu 11 Jun 98)


    Saturn Awards

    Among winners of the 24th annual Saturn Awards, announced yesterday in Los Angeles: Men in Black, best science-fiction film; Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, best fantasy film; The Devil's Advocate, best horror film; and L. A. Confidential, best action adventure/thriller.

    (Thu 11 Jun 98)


    New F&SF Website

    The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction has a new website up at http://www.fsfmag.com. The site includes the Table of Contents of the current issue; a list of available back issues; samples of the magazine's various departments (science columns, book reviews, film reviews, editor's recommendations, and the magazine's new ''Curiosities'' page), including some previews from forthcoming issues; writer's guidelines; a subscription form; and links.

    (Wed 10 Jun 98)


    Sturgeon Award Finalists

    Finalists were announced June 4th for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for Best Short Science Fiction of the Year by James Gunn, director of the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. Winners of both the Sturgeon Award, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the Best SF Novel of the Year, will be announced at a dinner at the University of Kansas on July 10th. Four inductions into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame will also be made at that time; see story below. The Award dinner will be followed by the two-day Campbell Conference, which this year will discuss the science-fiction novel.

    The finalists were selected from a large number of nominations by a group of writers, editors, and reviewers organized by Christopher McKitterick and David Truesdale. This year Sturgeon's son Robin helped choose the top twelve. The winner and two runners up will be chosen from the finalist list by a committee composed of James Gunn, Kij Johnson, and Frederik Pohl.

    Alan Brennert, "Echoes" (F&SF May 97)
    Michael F. Flynn, "House of Dreams" (Asimov's Oct-Nov 97)
    James Patrick Kelly, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (Asimov's Jun 97)
    Mary Soon Lee, "Universal Grammar" (F&SF Apr 97)
    Paul Levinson, "Loose Ends" (Analog May 97)
    Paul Park, "Get a Grip" (F&SF Dec 97)
    Mike Resnick, "The 43 Antarean Dynasties" (Asimov's Dec 97)
    William Sanders, "The Undiscovered" (Asimov's Mar 97)
    James Sarafin & Mary Rosenblum, "One Good Juror" (Asimov's Feb 97)
    Brian Stableford, "Coming to Grips With the Great Plague" (Omni On-line Dec 97)
    Allen Steele, "Where Angels Fear to Tread" (Asimov's Oct-Nov 97)
    Walter Jon Williams, "Lethe" (Asimov's Sep 97)

    (Sat 6 Jun 98)


    Lambda Literary Award Winners

    Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel's anthology Bending the Landscape: Fantasy (White Wolf) won this year's Lambda Literary Award in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category. Other nominees in the category were William Mann's Grave Passions (Masquerade), Perry Brass's Harvest (Belhue), Harry M. Benshoff's Monsters in the Closet (Manchester University), and Lawrence Schimel's The Drag Queen of Elfland (Circlet).

    Lawrence Schimel won in the Transgender category for a book called PoMoSexuals, edited by Carol Queen, in a tie with The Last Time I Wore a Dress by Daphne Scholinski with Jane Adams.

    (Sat 6 Jun 98)


    Joe Clifford Faust Website

    Joe Clifford Faust announces the birth of "Handling It", his official website. He describes it as "Low in self-aggrandizing puffery... no dangerous preservatives or carcinogens... high in news, information and witty asides."

    (Sat 6 Jun 98)


    Prairie Fire Contest Winners

    Prairie Fire: A Canadian Magazine of New Writing published in Winnipeg, Manitoba, announced winners of its 1998 Science Fiction Writing Contest, held in honor of A. E. Van Vogt, Manitoba's first SF writer, and judged by Canadian writer Robert J. Sawyer.

    First Prize of $350:
    "The Strip Mall Selects for Evolution" by Jan Lars Jensen of Chilliwack, B.C.

    Second Prize of $250:
    "Symphony" by Doug Smith of Unionville, Ontario

    Third Prize of $150:
    "Marking Time on the Far Side of Forever" by Darren Latta of Kingston, Ontario

    Honorable Mention:
    "Suicide for Beginners" by Michael Brockington of Vancouver, B.C.
    The three prize-winning stories will appear in the Summer 1998 issue of Prairie Fire. A total of 184 manuscripts were submitted. Judging was done blindly (no bylines on manuscripts). The prize money and judge's fee were donated by ConAdian, the 1994 Worldcon, which was held in Winnipeg.

    (Mon 8 Jun 98)


    SF&F Hall of Fame Inductees

    Frederik Pohl and Hal Clement will be the 1998 inductees into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, it was announced May 23rd. In addition, Robert A. Heinlein and C. L. Moore will be inducted posthumously.

    The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society and the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas.

    The induction will take place in conjunction with the Campbell Conference and the presentation of the John W. Campbell and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards at the University of Kansas Alumni Center on July 10, 1998. Pohl will attend; Clement is not expected to attend due to a previous commitment. Members of the Hall of Fame are selected by the Board of Directors: Robin Wayne Bailey, James Gunn, Joe Haldeman, Larry Hopkins, Allison Stein, Keith W. Stokes and Ben Thomas-Morgan.

    (Mon 8 Jun 98)


    Mythopoeic Awards Nominations

    The Mythopoeic Society has announced nominations for the 1997 Mythopoeic Awards. Winners will be announced at the banquet of the annual Mythopoeic Conference, Mythcon, to be held July 15-20th at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. This year's conference is the C. S. Lewis Centenary Conference.

    Adult Literature
    The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, A. S. Byatt (Random House)
    Giant Bones, Peter S. Beagle (Roc)
    The Gift, Patrick O'Leary (Tor)
    Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman (Avon)
    Trader, Charles de Lint (Tor)

    Children's Literature
    The Boggart and the Monster, Susan Cooper (McElderry)
    A Dark Horn Blowing, Dahlov Ipcar (Harcourt Brace)
    Rose Daughter, Robin McKinley (Greenwillow)
    The Young Merlin trilogy: Passager, Hobby, and Merlin, Jane Yolen (Harcourt Brace 1996, 1996, 1997)

    Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies
    C. S. Lewis Index: Rumours from the Sculptor's Shop, Janine Goffar (La Sierra University Press, 1995)
    C. S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide, Walter Hooper (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996)
    Charles Williams: A Celebration, Brian Horne (Gracewing, 1995)
    Finding the Landlord: A Guidebook to C. S. Lewis's The Pilgrim's Regress, Kathryn Lindskoog (Cornerstone Press, 1995)
    A Question of Time: J. R. R. Tolkien's Road to "Faërie", Verlyn Flieger (Kent State University Press)

    Scholarship Award for Myth and Fantasy Studies
    The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, John Clute & John Grant (St. Martin's)
    Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination, Richard Mathews (Twayne)
    Lord Dunsany: Master of the Anglo-Irish Imagination, S. T. Joshi (Greenwood Press, 1995)
    The Supernatural and English Fiction, Glen Cavaliero (Oxford University Press, 1995)

    The Mythopoeic Awards have been made since 1971 (except for a four-year hiatus in the late '70s) by the Mythopoeic Society, a nonprofit educational organization of readers, scholars, and fans of the 'Inklings' -- J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams.

    Of this year's nominees, Robin McKinley and Jane Yolen have each been nominated five times before; Yolen has won twice, for Cards of Grief (1985) and Briar Rose (1993). Peter J. Schakel has been nominated, and won, three times (the record for Mythopoeic wins), all in the Scholarship/Inklings category. Other previous winners on this year's ballot are Peter S. Beagle (The Folk of the Air, 1986), Glen Cavaliero (Charles Williams, Poet of Theology, 1986), Kathryn Lindskoog (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christian, 1974), and Walter Hooper (nonspecific Scholarship/Inkling Award, 1972). The complete list of winners is here.

    The Scholarship Awards are open to nonfiction books published within the past three years. The books by Cavaliero, Hooper, Joshi, and Horne also appeared on last year's ballot.

    Past fiction winners include Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest (1975), John Crowley's Little, Big (1982), Orson Scott Card's Seventh Son (1988), and Eleanor Arnason's A Woman of the Iron People (1992). Last year's winner was Terri Windling's The Wood Wife.

    (Wed 20 May)


    HOMer Awards

    The CompuServe Science Fiction and Fantasy Forums named the Eighth Annual HOMer Awards on May 16th:

    Novel
    Broken Blade, Ann Marston (HarperPrism)

    Novella
    No Award (no qualified finalists)

    Novelette
    No Award (none qualified finalists)

    Short Story
    "The Symmetry of Duty", Louise Rowder (Alternate Tyrants, Tor)

    Dramatic Presentation
    Contact (Warner Bros.)

    (Sat 6 Jun 98)


    1998 Italia Awards

    This year's Italia Awards, the most representative awards in the Italian science fiction field, were announced Italcon 24, the national convention in Courmayeur, Italy, from April 30th to May 3rd. Winners were chosen by a jury of fans and members of WORLD SF ITALIA.

    Novel
    I cavalieri dell'Aquila Bianca, Angela P. Fassio (Editrice Nord)

    International Novel
    L'altro Universo, Iain M. Banks (Editrice Nord)
    Original Title: Excession

    Short Story
    ''L'enigma del teschio'', M.Tassi e P. Tosini (in "Sotto il segno di HPL", Yorick)

    Essay
    ''Le vie dell'immaginario'', Gianfranco De Turris (Biblioteca Riva del Garda)

    Short Essay
    ''45 anni di fantascienza in Italia'', Gianfranco De Turris ("Urania", Mondadori)

    Book Collection
    Cosmo Oro (Editrice Nord)

    Magazine
    Urania (Mondadori)

    Artist
    Luca Michelucci

    Editor
    Piergiorgio Nicolazzini

    Translator
    Vittorio Curtoni

    Show
    ''Gli eroi e le eroine alati'', Giuliano Giachino, Edoardo Volpi and others

    Graphic Novel
    Nathan Never, Medda-Serra-Vigna (Bonelli)

    Fanzine
    Yorick

    Fan Short Story
    ''Il cattura-sogni'', Roberto Fuiano (Yorick)

    Fan Short Essay
    ''Eroi a confronto: Conan e il Paladino Orlando'', Enrico Rulli (Yorick)
    Links: http://www.fantascienza.com/worldsf, Official Home Page of World SF Association; http://www.fantascienza.com/worldsf/italia/, Official Home Page of World SF Italia; http://www.fantascienza.com/italcon/premi/albo.html#1998, Complete List of the Italia Awards 1972-1998.

    (Sat 6 Jun 98)


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