The first annual Heinlein Award will be presented at Torcon3, the 2003 World Science Fiction Convention.

Yoji Kondo (Eric Kotani) provides this background about the award:

With the blessing of Ginny Heinlein, the Heinlein Award was established in 2002. The Board of Advisors are responsible for issuing the Award, periodically but not necessarily annually, to recognize outstanding works in science fiction and non-fiction that inspire the human exploration of space. The Heinlein Society is providing welcome support, both financially and logistically. The Baltimore Science Fiction Society has also been rendering valuable assistance, such as setting up a non-profit bank account for the Award (for the deposits of donations), finding the artist (Arlin Robins) to create the sterling silver medal, designing the Award certificate, etc. The Board of Advisors presently consist of: Greg Bear, Joe Haldeman, Yoji Kondo (chairman), Elizabeth Moon, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Spider Robinson, Stanley Schmidt, Herb Gilliland, and John Hill. The last two Advisors, whose names may not be familiar to science fiction fans, are professors of English at the U.S. Naval Academy, Heinlein's Alma Mater, which has graciously agreed to serve as the home port for this Award. Charles Sheffield was a founding member of this Award; much to our sorrow, he passed away in November 2002 before the first Award was announced in 2003.

The first award dinner will take place Friday August 29, with cocktails and reception beginning at 6 pm, and dinner and the award presentation to follow. Tickets are $75 in advance or $100 at the door. For more information, and to register for the dinner, visit www.heinleinsociety.org.

27 August 2003 : Mars Day

The Planetary Society will celebrate Mars Day, August 27, 2003 -- "the day Mars will be closer to Earth than it has been in more than 50,000 years" -- with celebrations around the world, including an 83rd birthday celebration for Ray Bradbury, whose birthday, August 22, is the same week. The Society is collecting birthday wishes for Bradbury, which it will present to him as an enormous card. Details of how to participate, and a list of hundreds of Mars Watch events scheduled around the world, are at http://planetary.org/marswatch2003/marsday.html.

15 July 2003 : Stephen King's The Dark Tower American Gunslinger Contest

Penguin Group (USA) Inc. and Simon & Schuster, Inc. are accepting videotape submissions from fans of the Dark Tower series for a chance to meet Stephen King in person and win signed copies of the Dark Tower series novels. Entrants are invited to shoot a 3-minute movie based on one of the approved selections from one of the Dark Tower novels. The Grand Prize winner gets to meet Stephen King himself. For contest details, and the approved selections, see http://www.penguin.com/darktower/contest.html.

Mon 12 May 2003 : The Bone Chandelier

Ellen Kushner writes...

You are cordially invited to a reading (& singing) of our Work-In-Process, a musical theatre piece called:

THE BONE CHANDELIER
*a Ruritanian/Jacobean Revenge Tragedy*
Book by Ellen Kushner
Music by Ben Moore
Lyrics by Ben Moore & Ellen Kushner
Dramaturgy by Sara Berg & Delia Sherman

Monday, May 12th, 6:00 pm
Broadway Theatre Institute (BTI)
210 West 50th Street, 2nd floor
NYC
The public is welcome. Suggested donation $5

From the authors of Swordspoint and The Fall of the Kings comes a gender-bending story of love and revenge in a mysterious middle-European country, filled with glittering waltzes, flashing swords, passionate arias, and people who are not what they appear....

This will not be a staged performance: Some of NYC's finest singer/actors will be sitting in chairs in a large rehearsal space with a well-tuned piano, giving the very first public reading of all of Act 1 and as much of Act 2 as we can get written by then.

We would love to have you at this premiere, and would value your input & insight on the work we've done so far.

*FOR A GRISLY PHOTO OF THE ACTUAL BONE CHANDELIER in the Sedlec Ossuary near Prague that inspired our play, go to: http://www.igougo.com/photogallery/display_featurephoto.html?ID=15005

This event is part of the Titans Theatre Company spring season, "Grand Illusions," running through May 11th. Please support them by going to see one of their terrific shows this weekend!

http://titanstheatre.org/

Wed-Thu 14-15 May 2003 : ICA SF Event

May 14th - 15th
Children of the Revolution: New British Science Fiction:

There is talk of a renaissance in British SF. On the eve of the Arthur C Clarke Award, the ICA holds two talks about this continually underrated and increasingly exciting genre. Both talks will be introduced by M. John Harrison, author of  Light (shortlisted for this year's award); Jon Courtenay Grimwood, author of Pashazade, and Effendi; and China Miéville, author of King Rat and Perdido Street Station.

May 14th, 7pm
Fresh Blood

There's no doubt that British SF is undergoing a thrilling renaissance. But why is it suddenly so good? Who are the new talents in the field, and who are the stalwarts they're joining? And what is driving this efflorescence of creativity? Speakers include Paul McAuley, author of Fairyland, and a judge at this year's Clarke; Muriel Gray, broadcaster, and author of Furnace and The Ancient; Andrew McKie critic for The Telegraph and Gwyneth Jones, last year's Clarke winner for Bold as Love.

Nash Room
£8/£7/£6

May 15th, 7pm
Generic Modification: Is Genre The New Mainstream?

For decades, science fiction has been attempting to escape the constraints of genre, and occasional masterpieces have done just that.  But now the discipline as a whole is stretching its legs, flexing its muscles and setting up camp in the literary mainstream. Is modern SF's compulsive criss-crossing of genres the kick in the pants contemporary fiction needs? Or is there still further to go? The award-winning literary writer, Toby Litt, one of Granta's 20 Best Young Novelists; John O'Connell, journalist and Time Out reviewer; Muriel Gray and Justina Robson, author of Mappa Mundi and one of our hottest new SF writers talk it over.

Theatre
£8/£7/£6

May 14th, 8.30pm
Nigel Kneale: My Son, Quatermass

Manx-born author and screenwriter Nigel Kneale was one of the most compelling and influential SF writers to come out of England in the 1950's. His beloved series The Quatermass Experiment (1953) took the British television industry by storm, introduced a mature brand of SF to a mass audience, and simultaneously scared the wits out of a generation. Tonight, Kneale introduces a rare screening of episodes 1-3 of Quatermass and the Pit, first broadcast to tremendous acclaim in 1958. He will be in conversation with the distinguished SF and horror writer Kim Newman. Episodes 4-6 will be screened the following evening.

Cinema 2
£8/£7/£6

Special offer: tickets to each event are £5 for people buying as part of this SF promotion - just mention the special deal.

ICA: 020 7930 3647
The Mall
London SW1Y 5AH