Writer and artist Diana G. Gallagher, 75, died December 2, 2021 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Gallagher wrote space opera The Alien Dark (1990), but was best known for her tie-in work for properties including Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and Star Trek. She was active in fandom as an artist, winning a Best Fan Artist Hugo in 1989 (as Diana Gallagher Wu). She was ...Read More
Read more
DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention, to be held December 15-19, 2021 in Washington DC, has announced that author Andrea Hairston will join Sheree Renée Thomas as co-host of the 2021 Hugo Awards Ceremony.
Hairston replaces special guest Malka Older, who “had originally been scheduled to co-host, but because her children are too young to be vaccinated, she made the difficult decision to withdraw from in-person events.” Her ...Read More
Read more
UK publisher The Folio Society has announced the sale of its company to its employees for £10 million. The sale gives the employees 100% ownership of the company.
CEO Joanna Reynolds, leading the buyout for employees, says of the sale:
The Folio Leadership Team is very excited about the move to an EOT. It is a progressive, innovative, industry-leading approach that reflects our values and will position the business strongly ...Read More
Read more
Time has selected their 100 must-read books of 2021, selecting titles that “shifted our perspectives, uncovered essential truths and encouraged us forward.” Works of genre interest include:
The BSFA (British Science Fiction Association) longlist nominations are open for works published in 2021. The process includes an “informal crowdsourced suggestion sheet” which is open to anyone, and a nomination form which is open exclusively to BSFA members.
For more information, see the BSFA website.
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep ...Read More
Read more
C.L. Clark has resigned as editor for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) blog, as of November 30, 2021. Clark held the role for just over a year.
Thank you so much for your trust and support in me as the SFWA Blog Editor for the past year. It’s been my absolute pleasure to usher in new essays, guides, and analyses of the industry and I hope ...Read More
Read more
Japanese science fiction website VirtualGorillaPlus (VG+) has announced the winners of its 2021 Kaguya Sci-Fi Contest, judged by Terrie Hashimoto, Kanata Inoue, Katsuya Okumura, and Kaoru Sakasak:
Winners were chosen from 381 entries on the theme of “Colors of the Future.” The grand prize story was translated into ...Read More
Read more
The editors of The New York Times Book Review selected their ten best books of the year, including The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (HarperCollins) and How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue (Random House).
They also listed 100 Notable Books of 2020, including the following titles of genre interest:
AudioFile has announced its list of the best science fiction & fantasy audiobooks for 2021:
For more, see the AudioFile
Shortlists for the 2021 Costa Book Awards, for books “by writers resident in the UK and Ireland,” have been announced. The Stranding by Kate Sawyer (Coronet) is on the four-title Costa First Novel Award shortlist. The High House by Jessie Greengrass (Swift) made the Novel Award shortlist. Anna Goodall’s Maggie Blue and the Dark World (Guppy) and Ross Montgomery’s The Midnight Guardians (Walker) are both finalists in the Children’s Book ...Read More
Read more
Dream Foundry, a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the finalists for its 2021 contests.
Writing Contest
Art Contest
Editor and publisher Jeremy G. Byrne, 57, died November 25, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia after a long illness.
Byrne co-founded Eidolon Publications in 1990 and co-edited all 30 issues of Eidolon: The Journal of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy until its closure in 2000. He was an integral part of publishing Terry Dowling’s The Mars You Have in Me, Storm Constantine’s The Thorn Boy, Robin Pen’s The Secret ...Read More
Read more
NPR’s Books We Love (formerly Book Concierge) has an extensive list of Best Books in an assortment of categories, including It’s All Geek to Me and Young Adult, with hundreds of titles recommended by “NPR staff and trusted critics.” The Sci Fi, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction category includes titles by leading authors like Charlie Jane Anders, Becky Chambers, Fonda Lee, Rivers Solomon, Cadwell Turnbull, Jeff VanderMeer, and many others.
For ...Read More
Read more
George R.R. Martin announced the opening of Sky Railway, the renamed and renovated historic short-haul railroad he purchased, with other investors, in 2020. “Mostly what I have been doing is throwing out ideas and writing checks,” Martin said.
We had two big old diesel locomotives, so right off we decided we would run two trains: the Wolf and the Dragon. And to paint them, and give each its own character ...Read More
Read more
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) has organized a free workshop “geared towards writers of colour” called Need To Know: Knowing Your Power as an Author of Colour. “This workshop is aimed to help you break down the processes of being published so you know where your power lies.” The event is scheduled for January 15, 2022 and will take place virtually. Workshop leaders are Patrice Lawrence ...Read More
Read more
The New York Public Library has announced its lists of the best books of 2021 in various categories, including 100 Best Books for Adults, 50 Best Books for Teens, and 145 Best Books for Kids.
The Adult category includes numerous genre titles, with Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (Tor), Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Ballantine), and Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor (Tordotcom), plus many more. The Teen ...Read More
Read more
The Financial Times has announced the five best SF books of 2021, as selected by James Lovegrove:
For more, see the Financial Times website.
While you are here, please take a moment to support
The 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize has announced its 37-title longlist. The award honors “mid-career authors in fiction,” and the winner receives a $50,000 prize, given by the New Literary Project. Authors of genre interest, along with their most recent titles, include:
Kirkus has announced its list of the eight best science fiction and fantasy books of 2021:
The winners of the 2021 Ditmar Awards for Australian SF were announced November 20, 2021 in an online ceremony.
Best Novel
The Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas has announced the creation of the Ad Astra Center for Science Fiction and the Speculative Imagination, headed by director Chris McKitterick.
The center “brings writers, readers, scholars, educators, and fans of speculative fiction together to study and create work that changes the world.” It will initally offer
interdisciplinary workshops, masterclasses, courses, seminars, and other opportunities, using speculative fiction ...Read More
Read more
The Nommo Awards, honoring the best in African SF, will be presented at Discon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention, to be held December 15-19, 2021 in Washington DC. Sheree Renée Thomas will be master of ceremonies. She says,
The Asociación Española de Fantasía, Ciencia Ficción y Terror (AEFCFT) has announced the Winners for the 2021 Ignotus Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Hugo Awards).
Novela extranjera (Foreign Novel)
The Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour, formerly the Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award, has announced its eight-title shortlist
Indigo has announced its top-10 list of the best books of 2021. Titles and authors of genre interest include:
For more information, including the complete list, see the Indigo website.
While you are here, please
Winners of the National Book Awards (NBA) in the Fiction and Young People’s Literature categories were announced November 17, 2021 in a virtual ceremony.
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott (Dutton) won the Fiction category, and Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (Dutton Books for Young Readers) won the Young People’s Literature category.
Winners for non-fiction, translated literature, and poetry were also announced.
A total of ...Read More
Read more
The Washington Post has published a piece on the best SF, fantasy, and horror of 2021, selected by writers Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Lavie Tidhar. Books mentioned include:
The Board of Directors of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and newly named Grand Master Mercedes Lackey have responded to the issue of earlier comments made by Lackey about writing trans characters. SFWA sent a statement to their membership on November 17, 2021, that reads:
After we announced Mercedes Lackey as SFWA’s next Grand Master on 11/4, stances that Ms. Lackey had taken on writing trans characters ...Read More
Read more
The Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature has announced the 10-title shortlist for the Nyabola Prize. The award recognizes science fiction written in the Kiswahili language by authors age 18-35. The finalists are:
Weird Tales and Blackstone Publishing have announced a major new partnership, with Blackstone planning to publish 50 new books in five years under the banner “Weird Tales Presents.”
Titles will include “original novels and anthologies, compilations, and more, penned by some of the biggest names in horror and dark fiction, while also introducing new voices,” with print, e-book, and audiobook editions planned. Blackstone will also distribute the digital and audio ...Read More
Read more
Amazon has published its yearly array of lists to promote the best books of 2021, with editors’ selections in various categories. Titles and authors of genre interest follow, in ranked order.
Science Fiction and Fantasy
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has announced author Jennifer McMahon as StokerCon2022’s sixth guest of honor, joining previously announced guests Ernest Roscoe Dickerson A.S.C., Gemma Files, Brian Keene, John Edward Lawson, and Sheree Renée Thomas.
StokerCon2022 will be held May 12-15, 2022 in Denver CO
For more see their website.
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on ...Read More
Read more
