More than 150 literary agents have signed an open letter to the leadership of HarperCollins, in support of the HarperCollins Union strike. They have vowed not to submit work until the strike is resolved. It reads:
We, the undersigned literary agents, are writing to express our support for the HCP Union, now on strike since November 10. We and our clients have benefited greatly from the passion and expertise of ...Read More
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The New York Public Library has announced its lists of the best books of 2022 in various categories, including 75 Best Books for Adults, 50 Best Books for Teens, and 135 Best Books for Kids. There are also lists of the top 10 for each category.
The Adult category includes genre titles, such as The Change by Kirsten Miller (Morrow) and Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom), with T. Kingfisher’s Nettle ...Read More
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Ulrika O’Brien is the winner of the 2022 Rotsler Award for “long-time wonder-working with graphic art in amateur publications of the science fiction community.” The award was announced during Loscon 48, held November 25-27, 2022 at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel in Los Angeles CA.
The award is sponsored by the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests (SCIFI), and includes an honorarium of $300. The Rotsler judges this year ...Read More
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The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has named Robin McKinley the 39th recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.
SFWA President Jeffe Kennedy said,
I read McKinley’s Deerskin in my late-twenties and it turned my world upside-down…. From there I went on to read everything McKinley has written. With every story, each book, she haunts, delights, and enlightens me. Naming an author who’s been such ...Read More
Read moreAuthor and illustrator Marcus Sedgwick, 54, died unexpectedly in France on November 17, 2022. He wrote more than 40 books, most for children and teens, including many of genre interest.
Born April 8, 1968 in Preston, Kent, England, Sedgwick worked as a bookseller and for a small children’s publisher before becoming a full-time writer.
He wrote several series, including the Dead Days sequence, the Cudweed trilogy, the Raven Mysteries, and ...Read More
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The proposed merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has unraveled. On November 22, 2022, S&S parent Paramount Global filed with the SEC and confirmed they were terminating the agreement. Paramount is entitled to a termination fee of $200 million.
PRH parent company Berteslmann issued a press release that says, “Bertelsmann will advance the growth of its global book publishing business without the previously planned merger of Penguin ...Read More
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Dream Foundry, a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the finalists for its 2022 contests.
Writing Contest
Art Contest
Writing
The Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle WA is looking for new facilities:
Clarion West has a long history of partnering with universities and organizations in the Seattle area to house the Six-Week Workshop. As we’ve honed in on what our students need for their workshop experience and focused on affordability, equity, and accessibility, the number of potential partners has narrowed. Even before the pandemic, we couldn’t secure a long-term ...Read More
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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, The Dark Side, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, and many more, with hundreds of titles recommended by “NPR staff and trusted critics.” The Sci Fi, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction category includes titles by authors like Sarah Gailey, Alexis Henderson, Marlon James, Shehan Karunatilaka, T. Kingfisher, R.F. ...Read More
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Esquire has announced a 22-title list of the best Horror books of 2022.
Their top five titles are:
For the full list of titles, see the Esquire post.
While you are here, ...Read More
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The Dragon Awards have announced a reduction in award categories from 15 to 11 for 2023. The “Media Tie-In” and “Military Fantasy/Sci-Fi” categories will be removed, and other categories will be combined: “Comic Book” and “Graphic Novel” will become “Best Comic Book or Graphic Novel,” “PC/Console” and “Mobile Game” will be “Best Digital Game”, and “Board Game” and “Miniatures/Role-playing/CCG Game” will become “Best Tabletop Game.” “Best Illustrative Book Cover” is ...Read More
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Audible has announced “The 12 Best Sci-Fi Listens of 2022”:
The Washington Post has released its list of the best science fiction and fantasy novels of 2022, as chosen by Charlie Jane Anders.
Editor Scott H. Andrews announced in an editorial that Beneath Ceaseless Skies (BCS) “recuses the magazine from further nominations or finalist appearances for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.”
There are many other indie zines, run by dedicated staff and publishing great and important stories, whose work in our opinion deserves a Best Semiprozine finalist and the boost in reach and support it can provide. We want to see them ...Read More
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SF writer Greg Bear, 71, died November 19, 2022, after complications from heart surgery. He suffered a number of strokes during the procedure, and after a week in which it became clear he would not recover, he was taken off life support in accordance with his advance directive. Bear was the celebrated author of over 50 novels and almost as many works of short fiction, and was a pillar in ...Read More
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Greg Bear died November 19, 2022, after complications from a heart surgery. Doctors discovered he had suffered a number of strokes during the procedure, and a week after the surgery, in accordance to his directive, he was taken off life support.
Bear was the author of over 50 novels and almost as many works of short fiction, for which he won two Hugo Awards and five Nebula Awards and many ...Read More
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The winners of the National Book Awards (NBA) in the Fiction, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature categories were announced at the 73rd National Book Awards Ceremony, held November 16, 2023 in New York.
Author and artist Art Spiegelman received the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, presented by Neil Gaiman.
Winners of genre interest include All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (Razorbil) in the Young ...Read More
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Amazon has published its yearly array of lists to promote the best books of 2022, with editors’ selections in various categories. Titles and authors of genre interest follow, in ranked order.
Science Fiction and Fantasy
The Clarion Workshop in San Diego CA has announced the instructors for its 2023 session: Andy Duncan, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Tochi Onyebuchi, Anjali Sachdeva, and Rae Carson & Charles Coleman Finlay. Jac Jemc is faculty director.
The workshop will be held June 25, 2023 – August 5, 2023. Applications for the workshop open on December 1, 2022.
The Clarion West Summer Workshop previously announced its instructors and dates.
While you ...Read More
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JEFF VANDERMEER’s literary interests are now represented by Joe Veltre of the Gersh Agency, who was already his film and TV agent. VanderMeer has also joined the Gersh Speakers Bureau as a client. Alex Kohner of Yorn Levine provides additional representation as VanderMeer’s entertainment attorney.
DEREK KÜNSKEN is stepping down as programming co-chair of Can*Con, Ottawa’s literary SF/F conference, after 11 years working on the conference. Co-chair MARIE
Publishers Unnamed Press and Rare Bird have jointly opened North Figueroa Bookshop, an independent bookstore in Highland Park, Los Angeles.
The bookstore opened November 9, 2022 and aims to “connect the independent publishing community with readers, booksellers, authors, and book lovers.”
For more information, see their website.
©Locus Magazine. Copyrighted material may not be republished without permission of LSFF.
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus ...Read More
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Governor Douglas Ducey has declared November 30th Speculative Poetry Day in the state of Arizona.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) spearheaded the effort, and seeks to “highlight the vibrant legacy and extraordinary achievement of speculative poets,” as well as “introduce communities to the delights and benefits of reading and writing speculative poetry.”
For more information, see the SFPA post.
While you are here, please take a moment ...Read More
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The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) has announced the winners of the annual Rhysling Awards for SF, fantasy, and horror poetry in the long poem category.
Honorable mentions include “Medusa Gets a
Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra CA is hosting a retrospective exhibition on the work of Wayne Barlowe from November 19 – December 3, 2022.
The show will feature “various reproductions from some of Wayne’s notable book projects and film work” and “a curated selection of original drawings and paintings,” available for purchase. The opening reception will be held November 19. Admission to the reception and the exhibit is free.
A world-renowned ...Read More
Read moreFrench SF writer and professor Anne Fakhouri, 48, died November 9, 2022 following a long illness.
Fakhouri was born March 3, 1974 in Paris. She earned her master’s at the Sorbonne, where she studied tales of King Arthur, and became a professor of literature, teaching in Paris and Rennes, where she lived in her final years.
Her debut YA novel, Le Clairvoyage, appeared in 2008 from L’Atalante, followed by ...Read More
Read moreSue Strong Hassler, 84, died November 9, 2022 of complications from back surgery and COVID. She spent her last days in a memory care unit in Hudson OH. She co-authored Arthur Machen & Montgomery Evans: Letters of a Literary Friendship, 1923-1947 (1994) with her husband, the editor and critic Donald M. Hassler.
Virginia Sue Strong was born July 16, 1938 in Hobard OK and attended West Texas A&M State University. ...Read More
Read moreFan and writer Martin Morse Wooster, 64, died November 12, 2022 in Williamsburg VA, the victim of a hit-and-run. He was attending an ale convention and was struck while walking back to his hotel from the event. He was a regular Locus correspondent, sending us news, letters, and corrections for decades, and will be greatly missed.
Wooster was a founding member of the Potomac River Science Fiction Society (PRSFS). He ...Read More
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Entangled Publishing announced a new romantic fantasy and science fiction imprint, Red Tower Books. Red Tower “will champion feminist and empowered perspectives in the fantasy and science fiction space, while also enfolding in what Entangled Publishing does best…romance.”
Red Tower has planned seven titles for 2023. Their press release lists The Last One by Rachel Howzell Hall, The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde, Bloodguard by Cecy Robson, ...Read More
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Can*Con 2022 was held October 14-16 at the Sheraton Hotel in Ottawa, Canada. There were 276 registered memberships; 194 members were in attendance, and 54 attended virtually. Guests of Honour were E.D.E. Bell, Nathan Caro Fréchette, and Suyi Davies Okungbowa, plus virtual guests C.L. Clark and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.
In-person programming featured 84 panelists at over 60 sessions, discussing science, writing, literature, and more, such as ‘‘Disease and Medicine: How ...Read More
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Following their earlier statements, the HarperCollins Union began their strike today, forming an in-person picket line as well as posting to social media. The strike was originally scheduled for November 7, but was delayed until after Election Day. This is the second strike action this year: the union held a one-day strike on July 20, 2022. This time the union plans to picket until they secure a new contract.
Calls ...Read More
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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) Mentorship Committee has announced that the SFWA Career Mentorship Program is now taking applications for mentors and mentees for three-month-long mentorships set to run January 10 – April 10, 2023.
This all-volunteer service is provided free of charge. We aim to connect emerging writers with each other and established professionals for community, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities. This endeavor is focused on ...Read More
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