News

Announcements News 

Carnegie Hall Announces Afrofuturism Festival

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Carnegie Hall is putting on a city-wide Afrofuturism festival, scheduled to begin February 2022 in New York City. The official announcement says,

Across New York City, leading cultural organizations present multidisciplinary programming that touches African and African diasporic philosophies, speculative fiction, mythology, comics, quantum physics, cosmology, technology, and more. A diverse range of online offerings also includes film screenings, exhibitions, and talks with some of the leading thinkers and creatives ...Read More

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Announcements Awards News 

Erdrich Wins Pulitzer Prize

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The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Harper) won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in the Fiction category. The award, given for “distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life,” comes with a prize of $15,000.

The judges called the winner a “majestic, polyphonic novel about a community’s efforts to halt the proposed displacement and elimination of several Native American tribes in ...Read More

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Awards News 

2020 Australian Shadows Awards Winners

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Winners for the 2020 Australian Shadows Awards have been announced. The award is given by the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) for “the finest in horror and dark fiction published by an Australasian within the calendar year.”

Novel

  • WINNER: Deception Pass, Matthew Tait (Dark Crib)
  • The Crying Forest, Venero Armanno (IFWG)
  • Flyaway, Kathleen Jennings (Picador)
  • Gutterbreed, Marty Young (Eclectic Trio)

Long Fiction

  • WINNER: “By Touch and
...Read More Read more
News Publishing 

French Editor Accused of Harassment

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Stéphane Marsan, co-founder of major French SF imprint Bragelonne, has been accused of inappropri­ate behavior and sexual harassment by more than 20 people, including authors and former employees. The investigative report was published by French journal Mediapart in April 2021. Marsan wrote an extensive letter in reply, denying any wrongdoing and threat­ening legal action for defamation. Bragelonne was founded in 1995 by Marsan and Alain Névant, and is widely credited ...Read More

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Awards Contests News 

2021 BSFS Poetry Contest Winners

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Winners of the 2021 Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) Poetry Contest have been announced.

  • 1st Place: “It is a Father’s Tale”, Eric Nicholson
  • 2nd Place: “Memories of a Mermaid”, Natascha Graham
  • 3rd Place: “Cygnus”, Ryan E. Holman
  • Honorable Mention: “Milicent Patrick Speaks of Monsters”, Laura Shovan
  • Honorable Mention: “The Catty Hours”, Adele Gardner

The first place winner receives $100, second place receives $75, and third place receives $50, with all

...Read More Read more
Announcements News 

2021 LOHF Writers Grants

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The Ladies of Horror Fiction (LOHF) writers’ organization is accepting applications for its annual grant program now through August 31, 2021. Nine grants of $100 each are available “to all women (cis and trans) and non-binary femmes who have reasonably demonstrated a commitment to writing in the horror genre.” Winners will be announced on September 15, 2021.

For more information, including how to apply or contribute, see the LOHF website. ...Read More

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News Publishing 

HBG Diversity Update

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Hachette Book Group published their annual diversity update, covering 2020. They announced increases in staff diversity at all levels in the company, the largest being a 31% increase among senior managers, including directors and higher (though they’re still almost 80% white). Employees identifying as BIPOC increased seven percent in 2020. Acquisitions saw a bump, too: new authors and illustrators of color made up 29% of book deals, compared to 22% ...Read More

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Announcements News 

Dellamonica, El-Mohtar & Robson Premiere at Ottawa Fringe Festival

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A.M. Dellamonica, Amal El-Mohtar & Kelly Robson have co-written fantasy/horror play Dressed as People, a “Triptych of Uncanny Abduction,” directed by Mary Ellis, performed by Margo MacDonald, and featuring music by SIESKI. The play premieres during the Ottawa Fringe Festival, June 17-27, 2021.

For more information, and to buy tickets to view online, see the Ottawa Fringe Festival website.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus ...Read More

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Awards News 

2021 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award Shortlist

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A few authors of genre interest are on the six-title shortlist for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award:

  • “The July War”, Rabih Alameddine
  • “A Prolonged Kiss”, Jonathan Gibbs
  • “The Irish Wedding”, Elizabeth McCracken

The £30,000 award is given to a single story “of 6,000 words or less” published in the UK or Ireland. Judges for 2021 are Romesh Gunesekera, Andrew Holgate, Yiyun Li, David Mitchell, and Curtis Sittenfeld.

Five

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Announcements Legal News 

Federal Writers’ Project

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Congressional Democrats Ted Lieu (California) and Teresa Leger Fernandez (New Mexico) have introduced a new bill, “The 21st Century Federal Writers’ Project”, which proposes $60 million in funding to non-profit organizations, libraries, news organizations, and writing-related unions to sup­port writers who lost income during the pandemic. The proposed legislation is inspired by the Federal Writers’ Project from 1935, which employed thou­sands of writers during the Great Depression. One goal of ...Read More

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Awards News 

2020 Nebula Awards Winners

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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) announced winners of the 2020 Nebula Awards at the 56th Annual Nebula Banquet during the 2021 SFWA Nebula Conference.

Nalo Hopkinson became the 37th Damon Knight Grand Master, for her contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy. The Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award was presented to Connie Willis. The Kate Willhelm Solstice Award was presented to Ben ...Read More

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News Publishing 

HMH No More

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The sale of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s publishing company, HMH Books & Media, to News Corp (parent company of HarperCollins) is complete… and doesn’t include the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt name, which the original parent company intends to keep for its technology business. HarperCollins says they will phase out use of the name, ending a legacy that began over a century and a half ago when Boston printer Henry Houghton branched out ...Read More

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Announcements News Publishing 

Bloomsbury Acquires Head of Zeus

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Bloomsbury Publishing in the UK has purchased independent publisher Head of Zeus (HoZ) for £8.5 million (just over $12 million), including payments of pre-existing loans. Head of Zeus publishes genre authors including P.C. Cast, Terry Goodkind, Cixin Liu, Ken Liu, Lavie Tidhar, and many others.

Bloomsbury’s official announcement said, “This acquisition will provide a strong addition to Bloomsbury’s thriving Consumer division and support our long term Consumer growth strategy, with ...Read More

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Awards News 

Diop Wins 2021 International Booker Prize

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At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop, translated by Anna Mocschovakis (Pushkin), has won the 2021 International Booker Prize.

The award is given “every year for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.” The £50,000 prize is divided equally among the author and translator. Shortlisted authors and translators each receive £1,000. Judges for 2021 were Aida Edemariam, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Neel ...Read More

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News Publishing 

PodCastle Staff Changes

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PodCastle co-editors Jen Albert and Cherae Clark are stepping down from their positions in order to focus on other career and time commitments. Replacing them will be PodCastle associate editor and copyeditor Eleanor R. Wood, and Voodoonauts cofounder Shingai Njeri Kagunda.

The upcoming stories through the rest of the year will likely be some combination of stories that Jen and Cherae picked out from the submissions periods of 2020, and ...Read More

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News Publishing 

Departure Mirror Closing

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Departure Mirror Quarterly has announced it will cease publication after the Spring 2021 issue. It published three issues of SF/F fiction and poetry billed as “a departure from and a mirror on reality.” Editor-in-chief Arthur Robert Tracy IV cited readership decline, low ad response rate, and day job commitments as factors for the closure.

A big part of our decision to start the magazine was that I kept seeing great ...Read More

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Awards Conventions News 

Nebula Awards Livestream

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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) will livestream the 56th Nebula Awards ceremony on June 5, 2021 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. The ceremony will be available to the public on YouTube and Facebook, and will be hosted by Aydrea Walden. Award presenters include Tobias S. Buckell, Jeffe Kennedy, Mallory O’Meara, Mark Oshiro, Carrie Patel, Adam Savage, Nisi Shawl, and Troy L. Wiggins.

For more information, see ...Read More

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Announcements News 

FIYAH Grants Series

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FIYAH magazine has announced the establishment of four grants “intended to assist Black writers of speculative fiction in defraying costs associated with honing their craft.” Three $1,000 grants will be awarded as part of Juneteenth every year.

The Rest Grant will be given “for activists and organizers with a record of working on behalf of the SFF community, but who are in need of respite or time to recommit to ...Read More

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Awards News 

2021 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction Shortlist

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The shortlist for the 2021 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, given by The Orwell Foundation to novels and short story collections published in the UK which explore major political and social themes through a fictional lens, includes two titles of genre interest.

  • Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam (Bloomsbury)
  • The Death of Vivek Oji, Akwaeke Emezi (Faber)

The judges for 2021 are Bea Carvalho, Mark Ford, Delia Jarrett-Macauley ...Read More

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Awards News 

2021 Nommo Awards Shortlist

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The African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) has announced the shortlist for the 2021 Nommo Awards, given to works “by Africans as defined by the ASFS and Nommo Awards Guidelines.”

Best Novel

  • Soul Searching, Stephen Embleton (Guardbridge)
  • The Death of Vivek Oji, Akwaeke Emezi (Riverhead)
  • Club Ded, Nikhil Singh (Luna)

Best Novella

  • Guardians: The Awakening, David A. Atta (Makere)
  • A Fledgling Abiba, Dilman Dila (Guardbridge)
  • “Ife-Iyoku:
...Read More Read more
Awards News 

2021 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Shortlists

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Shortlisted titles for the 2021 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize have been announced in the Illustrated Books, Younger Readers’, and Older Readers’ categories, including the following of genre interest:

Older Readers’

  • Wranglestone, Darren Charlton (Stripes/Little Tiger)
  • Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet; Hot Key)

Category winners each receive £2,000 and the overall Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year title winner will receive an additional £3,000. Winners will be announced on July ...Read More

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News Publishing 

Gold SF Imprint Taking Submissions

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Gold SF, a new imprint of Goldsmith Press, is calling for submissions. The imprint is “dedicated to discovering and publishing new intersectional femi­nist science fiction, promoting voices that answer to the unprecedented times in which we find ourselves.” They are interested in books dealing with anti-ratio­nalism and the rise of the alt-right; the climate crisis and feminism in the Age of the Anthropocene; global movements of populations and refugees; new ...Read More

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Awards News 

Omega Sci-Fi Awards Winners

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Winners of the Omega Sci-Fi Awards, presented by Sci-Fest LA and the Light Bringer Project, were announced in an online ceremony.

Roswell Award

  • First place: “Imagine Dandelions”, Andrea Goyan
  • Second place: “Biomimicry”, Ven Pillay
  • Third place: “Realtiger”, Susan Wachowski

Tomorrow Prize

  • First place: “Star Sailor”, Gwendolyn Lopez
  • Second place: “Returning Home”, Sofia Orduno
  • Third place: “EP-1M Contamination”, Britney Cruz

“Corn” by Sienna Koizumi won the 2021 Green Feather Award competition,

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Awards News 

2021 Ignotus Finalists

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The Asociación Española de Fantasía, Ciencia Ficción y Terror (AEFCFT) has announced the finalists for the 2021 Ignotus Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Hugo Awards).

Novela extranjera (Foreign Novel)

  • Un poco de odio [A Little Hatred], Joe Abercrombie, translated by Manu Viciano (Alianza)
  • Una órbita cerrada y compartida [A Closed and Common Orbit], Becky Chambers, translated by Alexander Páez & Antonio Rivas (Insólita)
  • Los últimos días [Last Days], Brian
...Read More Read more
Bram Stoker Awards
Awards News 

2020 Stoker Awards Winners

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The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has announced the winners for the 2020 Bram Stoker Awards:

Superior Achievement in a Novel

  • WINNER: The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga)
  • The Deep, Alma Katsu (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
  • Devil’s Creek, Todd Keisling (Silver Shamrock)
  • Malorie, Josh Malerman (Del Rey)
  • Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

  • WINNER: The Fourth Whore, EV
...Read More Read more
News Obituaries 

Don Sakers (1958-2021)

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SF writer and editor Don Sakers, 62, died May 17, 2021 of a heart attack in Maryland. He published many novels and stories beginning in the ’80s, and was a review columnist for Analog starting in 2009. He was also a frequent convention guest.

Sakers was born June 16, 1958 in Yokosuka Japan, though he grew up in the US. He worked as a librarian at the Anne Arundel County ...Read More

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Announcements Awards Milestones News Publishing 

People & Publishing Roundup, May 2021

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MILESTONES

ALICE BELL is now repre­sented by Stevie Finegan of Zeno Agency.

AWARDS

JEAN-CLAUDE MOURLEVAT won the 2021 Astrid Lindgren Me­morial Award, honoring children’s and young adult literature, which includes a prize of five million krona ($572,000).

MICAIAH JOHNSON‘s The Space Between Worlds (Del Rey) won the 2021 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Award for the “best debut novel in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres.” The $1,000 award will ...Read More

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Awards News 

2020 Australian Shadows Awards Finalists

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Finalists for the 2020 Australian Shadows Awards have been announced. The award is given by the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) for “the finest in horror and dark fiction published by an Australasian within the calendar year.”

Novel

  • The Crying Forest, Venero Armanno (IFWG)
  • Flyaway, Kathleen Jennings (Picador)
  • Deception Pass, Matthew Tait (Dark Crib)
  • Gutterbreed, Marty Young (Eclectic Trio)

Short Fiction

  • “Hideous Armature”, Joanne Anderton (Midnight
...Read More Read more
News Obituaries 

Marvin Kaye (1938-2021)

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Writer and editor Marvin Kaye, 83, died May 13, 2021 in hospice care in New York. Kaye was best known as a prolific editor and anthologist, and was also an accomplished fiction writer and playwright.

Marvin Nathan Kaye was born March 10, 1938 in Philadelphia PA. He attended Penn State, graduating with a BA in 1960 and a master’s in English literature and theater in 1962. He worked as a ...Read More

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Conventions News 

SLF Convention Support Grant

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The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) announced the new Convention Support Grant for fantasy, science fiction, and literary conventions with significant speculative literature content. Grants of $500 to $1,000 will be awarded throughout the year, for a total of $10,000. For conventions taking place between June 1 and December 31, 2021, the application period is May 15–June 15, 2021. For conventions taking place between January 1 and May 31, 2022, the ...Read More

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