Sorg Wins Space Cowboy Award

Arley Sorg received the fourth annual Space Cowboy Award, given “to someone whose work has helped to enhance and support our ever growing and changing field.” The award is administered by science fiction bookstore Space Cowboy Books, based in Joshua Tree CA. This year’s committee was composed of bookstore owners Jean-Paul L. Garnier & Zara Kand with prior Space Cowboy Award recipients. Previous recipients are Rachel Cordasco (2022), Cora Buhlert ...Read More

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2023 Whiting Award Winners

The 2023 Whiting Award winners have been announced. Authors of genre interest include Ama Codjoe, Marcia Douglas, and Emma Wippermann.

The ten winners, “emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama,” each receive $50,000. The award was created by New York investor and philanthropist Flora Ettlinger Whiting in 1971. Recipients of the award are selected by an anonymous committee appointed by the Foundation.

For more information, including the complete list ...Read More

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2023 Audie Awards Winners

The Audio Publishers Association has announced the 2023 Audie Awards winners, recognizing excellence in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment. Winners of genre interest follow.

Science Fiction
  • WINNER: Intergalactic Exterminators, Inc, Ash Bishop, narrated by Scott Brick and Suzanne Elise Freeman (CamCat Books)
  • Ymir, Rich Larson, narrated by Alan Medcroft (Hachette Audio)
  • How High We Go in the Dark, Sequoia Nagamatsu, narrated by Julia Whelan, Brian Nishii, Keisuke
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Michael Reaves (1950-2023)

Author Michael Reaves, 72, died March 20, 2023 in Los Angeles CA. He had Parkinson’s.

James Michael Reaves was born September 14, 1950 in San Francisco CA. He attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop in 1972, and his first SF story was “The Breath of Dragons” in Clarion 3 (1973). Some early work appeared under the name J. Michael Reaves. Debut novel I, Alien appeared in 1978, ...Read More

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Internet Archive Loses Lawsuit

Judge John Koeltl of New York Federal Court issued a summary judgment on March 24, 2023, finding in favor of the four publishers who sued the Internet Archive. The suit, brought in 2020 by HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, and Wiley, alleged “willful mass copyright infringement” by IA’s “National Emergency Library,” which offered unlimited borrows of over a million ebooks.

The judge wrote: “At bottom, IA’s fair use ...Read More

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2023 Rathbones Folio Winners

The newly expanded Rathbones Folio Prize announced the winners in three categories: Non-Fiction, Fiction, and Poetry; as well as an overall “Book of the Year” winner. Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser (Atlantic/Allen and Unwin) won the Fiction category.

Each category winner receives £2,000 and is a candidate for the overall prize. “First awarded in 2014 (originally known as The Folio Prize), the Rathbones Folio Prize is open to all ...Read More

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Rushdie Receives Hay Festival Medal

Salman Rushdie will receive a Hay Festival Medal for Prose for “exceptional work” as one of four “groundbreaking storytellers” during the Hay Festival event in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, to be held May 25 – June 4, 2023.

Awarded annually since Britain’s Olympic year (2012), and crafted locally by silversmith Christopher Hamilton, the Hay Festival Medals draw inspiration from the original Olympic medal given for poetry.

Previous recipients include Margaret Atwood. For ...Read More

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2023 Dublin Literary Award Shortlist

The six-title shortlist for the Dublin Literary Award has been announced. Authors and titles of genre interest include Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land (Scribner), The Trees by Percival Everett (Graywolf Press; Influx), and Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes (New Directions/Fitzcarraldo).

“Nominations include 29 novels in translation, with works nominated by 84 libraries from 31 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, South America, Australia, and New

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2023 Wayward Wormhole Workshop

The inaugural Wayward Wormhole workshop will run November 1-21, 2023 at Castle de Llaés in Gurb, Spain. The instructors are Tobias Buckell, Ann Leckie, Sarah Pinsker, and Cat Rambo. Applications open April 10, 2023 and the fee is $4,915, which includes “Twenty-two nights shared accommodation in a 10th Century castle (anticipating two students per room), instruction, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, commemorative T-Shirt, and other SWAG, plus one night’s hotel stay
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Eric Brown (1960-2023)

Writer Eric Brown, 62, died March 21, 2023 of sepsis. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2022. Brown was the author of over 50 books, and a longtime SF reviewer for The Guardian.

Brown was born was born May 24, 1960 in Haworth, West Yorkshire. He traveled extensively in Greece and Asia in the ’80s, eventually settling in Berwickshire, Scotland.

Brown’s first work of genre interest was children’s play ...Read More

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2023 British Book Awards Shortlists

The Bookseller has announced the shortlists for the 2023 British Book Awards, including several titles and authors of genre interest.

Fiction

  • Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes (Mantle)
  • Fairy Tale, Stephen King (Hodder & Stoughton)
  • Babel, R.F. Kuang (HarperVoyager)

Pageturner

  • The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak (Viking)

Discover

  • As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow, Zoulfa Katouh (Bloomsbury)

Children’s Fiction

  • Onyeka and the Academy of the
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2023 Imadjinn Awards Finalists

Finalists for the 2023 Imadjinn Awards have been announced.

Best Science Fiction Novel

  • Rimworld – Diplomatic Immunity, J.L. Curtis (self-published)
  • Omitted Pieces, Stephanie Hansen (Fire & Ice)
  • Sunrise Over Shippo, Melissa Olthoff (‎Theogony)
  • Consquences, Nick Steverson (Theogony)

Best Fantasy Novel

  • Sovereign Fourth, Saph Dodd (Jumpmaster)
  • The Raven and The Crow: The Gray Throne, Michael K. Falciani (Three Ravens)
  • The Fate Of The Realm,
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2023 Jack L. Chalker Young Writers’ Contest

The Jack L. Chalker Young Writers’ Contest is open to original science fiction and fantasy submissions by Maryland students “no younger than 14 and no older than 18 years of age.” First, second, and third prizes are $150, $100, and $50, respectively, and the deadline for submissions is March 31, 2023.

The contest is run by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) and “Judges shall be drawn from the membership

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The Inaugural Oxford/Pushkin Fantasy Prize

The Oxford Centre for Fantasy and Pushkin Children’s Books have announced the inaugural Oxford/Pushkin Children’s Fantasy Prize. To be eligible to enter, the author may be published but “in the early stages of their career.” The author of the winning entry will receive £2,000 and a mentorship with an editor at Pushkin Children’s Books. Four runners-up will win further prizes.

Submissions open March 31, 2023 and close May 31, 2023. ...Read More

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Galactic Philadelphia Relaunch

The Galactic Philadelphia Author Read­ing Series relaunched on January 18, 2023 with an event at the Rosenbach Library with authors Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and C.S.E. Cooney.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 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 the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but ...Read More

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2022 National Book Critics Circle Awards

The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) has announced the winners for the 2022 NBCC awards. Authors and titles of genre interest include Bliss Montage by Ling Ma (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) which won in the Fiction category, and Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Tin House) which took the John Leonard Prize. City Lights bookstore in San Francisco was honored with the Toni Morrison Achievement Award for “institutions that

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Colson Whitehead Receives National Medal

Colson Whitehead received a National Humanities Medal, presented by President Biden on March 21, 2023. Whitehead was among 12 honorees for the National Humanities Medals, as well as honorees for National Medals of Arts. “With genre-defying craftsmanship and creativity, Colson Whitehead’s celebrated novels make real the African American journey through our Nation’s continued reckoning with the original sin of slavery and our ongoing march toward a more perfect Union.”

The ...Read More

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2023 International Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlist

The shortlist for the 2023 International Dylan Thomas Prize has been announced. The six-title list includes Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (Atlantic).

The annual Dylan Thomas prize, in partnership with Swansea University, awards £20,000 “to the best published or produced literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under.” This year’s judges are Jon Gower, Rachel Long, Prajwal Parajuly, Di Speirs, and Maggie Shipstead.

The winner

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Platz Named Nebula Awards Toastmaster

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced that performer and designer Cheryl Platz will be toastmaster at the 58th Annual Nebula Awards to be presented May 14, 2023 in Anaheim CA. SFWA President Jeffe Kennedy said, “We are proud to welcome Cheryl Platz as our 2023 Toastmaster. Platz shares our love of game writing and exploring new worlds — from the page to the movie screen and ...Read More

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2023 Analog Award for Emerging Black Voices

Analog has announced the Analog Award for Emerging Black Voices, open to “any writer over 18 years of age who customarily identifies as Black, has not published nor is under contract for a book, and has three or less paid fiction publications.”

Submissions will be read blind. Please remove all identifying information from the document before sending it. The file name should be the title of the story. Submissions should ...Read More

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2023 Yoto Carnegie Medals Shortlists

The shortlists for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing and Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration have been announced. Titles and authors of genre interest follow.

Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing

  • The Light in Everything, Katya Balen, illustrated by Sydney Smith (Bloomsbury)
  • When Shadows Fall, Sita Brahmachari, illustrated by Natalie Sirett (Little Tiger)
  • Medusa, Jessie Burton, illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill (Bloomsbury)
  • The Eternal Return of Clara Hart
...Read More Read more

2023 Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Winner and Shortlist

Alina Pete’s “Telling the Soul of Mars” is the winner of the 2022 Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award. The $1,000 prize is given by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA) to “emerging authors who use science fiction to address issues of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.” Other finalists are “The Good One” by Allanah Hunt, “The Tangle” by Rae Mariz, and “Spirit Medicine” by Gina McGuire.

The judge ...Read More

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Authors’ Club Best First Novel Shortlist

The six-title shortlist for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel award has been announced, and includes When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo (Hamish Hamilton).

The award is open to any debut novel written in English and published in the UK. The £2,500 winner will be announced at a dinner at the National Liberal Club on May 24, 2023.

For more information, visit the Authors’ Club website.

(adsbygoogle = ...Read More

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John Jakes (1932-2023)

Writer John Jakes, 90, died March 11, 2023. While famed for his bestselling historical novels, Jakes was a prolific SF and fantasy author early in his career. He published over 60 books in a variety of genres, but became famous with two historical epics: the eight-volume Kent Family Chronicles histories in the 1970s, and the North and South trilogy in the 1980s, which collectively sold tens of millions of copies. ...Read More

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Ma Wins Story Prize

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) won the Story Prize, “honoring the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction,” presented March 15, 2023. The prize includes $20,000 and an engraved silver bowl.

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Tin House) was one of the finalists, and will receive $5,000.

Director Larry Dark and prize founder Julie Lindsey chose three finalists from 119 collections published in ...Read More

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2023 Jhalak Prize Longlists

When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo (Doubleday/Penguin UK) is on the 2023 Jhalak Prize longlist.

The award “seek to celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers” and “accept entries published in the UK by writers of colour. These include (and not limited to) fiction, non-fiction, short stories, graphic novels, poetry and all other genres.”

The judges for 2023 are Haleh Agar, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, and Monisha Rajesh. The ...Read More

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35th Annual Lambda Awards Finalists

The Lambda Literary Foundation has announced finalists for the 35th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (the “Lammys”), celebrating “the best lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender books.” Nominees of genre interest follow.

LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction

  • The Book Eaters, Sunyi Dean (Tor)
  • The Paradox Hotel, Rob Hart (Ballantine)
  • The Wicked and the Willing,  Lianyu Tan (Shattered Scepter)
  • Into the Riverlands, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
  • The Circus Infinite, Khan Wong
...Read More Read more

2023 Sturgeon Symposium

The Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction has announced the second annual Sturgeon Symposium, to be held September 28-30, 2023 at the University of Kansas in Lawrence KS.

The Symposium is “celebrating the 30th anniversary of Octavia Butler’s groundbreaking novel, The Parable of the Sower. As KU’s choice for the 2023 Common Book program, this novel is a powerful inspiration for our Symposium’s theme, ‘Fantastic Worlds, Fraught ...Read More

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People & Publishing Roundup, March 2023

MILESTONES

GREGORY BENFORD, 82, had a stroke on December 22, 2022. While his condition is serious, he has moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center, and is reportedly recovering well.

 

AWARDS

WALTER MOSLEY, 71, won the 2023 Diamond Dagger Award, presented by the Crime Writers’ Association. The award is the highest honor offered by the group, and ‘‘recognises authors whose crime writing careers have been marked ...Read More

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2023 International Booker Prize Longlist

The 13-title longlist for the 2023 International Booker Prize has been announced, including titles and authors of genre interest:

  • The Gospel According to the New World, Maryse Condé, translated by Richard Philcox (World Editions)
  • Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv, Andrey Kurkov, translated by Reuben Woolley (MacLehose)
  • Whale, Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim (Europa Editions)

The award is given “every year for a single book that is ...Read More

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2022-2023 NESFA Contest Winners

Winners of the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) SF/F short story contest were announced at Boskone 60, held February 17-19 2023. Prizes included certificates of achievement, books from NESFA Press, and free membership to a future Boskone convention.

  • WINNER: “Excuse Me, This is My Apocalypse”, Amy Johnson
  • Runner-up: “The Gambler”, Dianne Lee
  • Finalist: “Mara’s Moon”, Chloe Oriotis
  • Finalist: “To Look Upon the Face of God”, Gideon P. Smith
  • Finalist:
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Horror Spotlight Best Books of 2022

Horror Spotlight, formerly known as Ladies of Horror Fiction, have announced their top choices for horror in 2022:

  • We Are Here to Hurt Each Other, Paula D. Ashe (Nictitating)
  • Chasing Whispers, Eugen Bacon (self-published)
  • Dead Silence, S.A. Barnes (Tor)
  • Cool S, Die Booth (self-published)
  • Hell Hath Only Fury, S.H. Cooper & Oli A. White (self-published)
  • The Sacrifice, Rin Chupeco (Sourcebooks)
  • Such a Pretty Smile
...Read More Read more