The African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) has announced the shortlist for the 2022 Nommo Awards, given to works “by Africans as defined by the ASFS and Nommo Awards Guidelines.”
Best Novel
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has announced Petra Mayer, Arley Sorg, and Troy L. Wiggins as recipients of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award “for distinguished contributions to the science fiction and fantasy community.”
The Solstice Award, created in 2008 and given at the discretion of the SFWA president with the majority approval of the Board of Directors, is for individuals, living or dead, who have had ...Read More
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The British Fantasy Society (BFS) is looking for judges for the British Fantasy Awards. “For each category, 3-5 jurors read/watch/examine every entry on the final shortlist (4-6 titles) & then agree between themselves on the final winner.”
The BFA constitution calls for “at least one non-member of the Society” to be on the jury. Interested individuals may apply through the webform, which is scheduled to close May 29, 2022.
For ...Read More
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Horror author JOHN SKIPP, 64, has announced his retirement from writing and publishing fiction; his final title is collection Don’t Push the Button (Clash Books). Going forward he will focus on music and film. He has two new albums, The Antidote to Fear and Cry Me a Rainbow, out via his own Fungasm Records label. He also wrote, produced, directed, and scored short film Doppelbanger, which premiered ...Read More
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The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has announced the winners for the 2021 Bram Stoker Awards.
Superior Achievement in a Novel
Superior Achievement in a
Susie Haynes of Fantast Three has announced her retirement from bookselling, and will end operations in mid-summer. She specialized in importing and distributing magazines to the UK, and was for a long time the British subscription agent for Locus.
Haynes set up Fantast Three in 2008 following the death of her father Ken Slater, the well-known fan and bookseller since the 1940s, who ran Operation Fantast & Fantast (Medway) Ltd. ...Read More
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Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has announced the results of its election for open Board of Directors positions.
Vice President:
Chief Financial Officer:
Directors-at-Large (through 2024)
They will join continuing Board members José Pablo Iriarte, Jeffe Kennedy (president), Remy Nakamura, Adam Rakunas (secretary), and Christine Taylor-Butler. Monica Valentinelli will continue as director-at-large for another two years. Nathan Lowell (CFO),
Science Museum in London and UK publisher Hodder & Stoughton have announced the inaugural Science Fiction Debuts Writing Prize. To qualify, “writers must be unpublished and not represented by a literary agent, and residents of the United Kingdom.” The author of the winning entry will receive £4,000, a six-month mentorship with Hodderscape editorial director Molly Powell, introduction to three literary agents, and a full critique. The runner-up will receive £2,000 ...Read More
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The Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction has announced the first Annual Sturgeon Symposium, to be held September 29-30, 2022 at the University of Kansas in Lawrence KS.
The Symposium “which will feature the presentation of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best science fiction short story and a reading from this year’s winner. This hybrid in-person/online symposium will also feature panels, presentations, and roundtable discussions that highlight ...Read More
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Nigerian author and creative writing professor Suyi Davies Okungbowa has announced The Literary Laddership for Emerging African Authors, which “aims to support, elevate and connect emerging fiction authors of Black and/or African descent, based primarily on the African continent and writing in English.”
Fellows “will be offered a funded ($500 each) three-month digital residency, membership in a private community of practice, and continuous support through the publishing ecosystem.”
The current ...Read More
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The previously reported #DisneyMustPay movement has written an open letter to Disney, signed by “The #DisneyMustPay Task Force, Neil Gaiman, Tess Gerritsen, Lee Goldberg, Mary Robinette Kowal, Chuck Wendig.”
The letter states:
You’ve paid some authors what you owed them. But there are other creators that you don’t want to talk about. And, because you did not take our advice, new creators are coming forward who are owed money, too. ...Read More
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The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA) has announced that Tananarive Due will be Guest of Honor and and Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay will be the Guest Scholar for the 2022 online conference, scheduled October 7-9. “The Global Fantastic” is the theme. Submissions for paper proposals open June 1. IAFA invites proposals “responding to, but not limited to” themes and topics including Afrofuturism, Indigenous futurisms, theories of the fantastic ...Read More
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According to The Bookseller, Eleanor Teasdale has been promoted to publisher and Gemma Creffield has been promoted to commissioning editor at Angry Robot. Teasdale was previously commissioning editor, and Creffield was managing editor, both joining Angry Robot in 2019.
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 ...Read More
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The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (JFA) announced appointments for its new editorial collective. Mailyn Abreu Toribio is Reviews Editor-in-Chief, Cat Ashton is Project Editor-in-Chief, Novella Brooks de Vita is Acquisitions Editor-in-Chief, and Jude Wright is Managing Editor-in-Chief. The restructuring of JFA staff was announced last year, along with an open call for applications. The collective “will be taking over the duties of previous Editor Brian Attebery, for ...Read More
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Hachette Book Group has announced their latest plan for employees to return to the New York offices on April 25, 2022. Offices elsewhere have return dates in April and May. They will begin a six-month pilot, following ‘‘a hybrid model, with all fully vaccinated office-based staff members required to work from the office two days per week.’’
Macmillan is launching a ‘‘hybrid/remote-friendly’’ pilot on April 4, to run through October: ...Read More
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JOANNE HARRIS was re-elected as the chair of the Society of Authors board. She ran unopposed for her second two-year term.
CELIA NERI is now represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS has been awarded a star on the Palm Springs Walk of the Stars, which was founded in 1992 and runs through the commercial district of Palm Springs CA. Burroughs lived in Palm Springs ...Read More
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The CoFUTURES prize is open to submissions in three categories: The Creation Prize for speculative fiction in any media, The Vision Prize for non-fiction works and studies of speculative fiction, and The Inception Prize for doctoral dissertations “in futurisms, futures, and speculative media.” The winner in each category will receive $500. Submission deadline is November 1, 2022.
CoFUTURES is “an international research group working on contemporary Global Futurisms headquartered in ...Read More
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Following their 50 Best Fantasy Books list, Esquire has announced a 50-title list of the best Sci-Fi books of all time.
Though we assessed single installments as representatives of their series, we limited the list to one book per author. We also emphasized books that brought something new and innovative to the genre; to borrow a great sci-fi turn of phrase, books that “boldly go where no one has gone ...Read More
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Authors Jennifer Croft, Brandon Hobson, Ladee Hubbard, and Alexandra Kleeman are among the 2022 Guggenheim Fellows, announced by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Fellowships were awarded to 180 recipients across 51 fields of study “on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise.”
The Foundation was started in 1925 and has awarded grants totaling nearly $400 million. Fellowships are through two annual competitions: one for citizens and permanent residents ...Read More
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All Stories is open to applications for its free mentorship program for young adult and children’s writers from underrepresented groups: “a person of colour, disabled, neurodiverse, LGBTQ+, working class or socio-economically marginalised.” The mentorship includes nine months of one-on-one mentoring, a year’s membership to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), and introductions to agents. Ten mentorships are available, and they will run from October 2022 to June ...Read More
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Emily Mah is taking over as interim editorial director at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, replacing Kevin Wabaunsee.
Wabaunsee stated:
It has been an honor and a privilege to work with SFWA’s dedicated team of staff and volunteers over the past two years. I’m proud to have worked under two inspiring SFWA presidents, Mary Robinette Kowal and Jeffe Kennedy, and just as proud to leave the work of ...Read More
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UK bookstore chain Waterstones has announced a new £5,000 debut fiction prize “open to all debut fiction, including genre fiction such as crime, sci-fi and fantasy as well as fiction in translation.”
Bea Carvalho, head fiction buyer at Waterstones, says:
It is with immense joy that we announce the launch of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. Our booksellers are consistent champions of emerging talent, often propelling debuts to bestseller status ...Read More
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The European Science Fiction Society (ESFS) has released the following statement regarding the war in Ukraine:
War is against the very values on which the ESFS was founded. 50 years ago the ESFS was created during the Cold War to promote understanding between people of different racial, political and religious grounds.
We have received a number of suggestions for actions the society should take in relation to the Russia-Ukraine war. ...Read More
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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has voted on five revisions to the membership eligibility qualifications.
The Board of Directors stated:
As previously announced, the new membership eligibility requirements, across all membership categories (e.g., prose, game writing, comics, etc.), are intended to set Associate membership eligibility at $100 earned professionally and Full membership at $1000 earned professionally over a career, attested by sworn affidavit.
Additionally, with this change, ...Read More
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Kij Johnson is joining the Ad Astra Center for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination as associate director. Created in November 2021 at the University of Kansas, the Center “brings writers, readers, scholars, educators, and fans of speculative fiction together to study and create work that changes the world.” The Center is headed by director Chris McKitterick.
For more information, see the official Ad Astra Center website.
While you are ...Read More
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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America released a statement in support of the people of Ukraine:
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America stand with the people of Ukraine, all creators, and SFF fans around the world who oppose and abhor the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The organization wholly condemns this invasion and oppression which has tragically taken so much from the tireless and brave ...Read More
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Esquire has announced a 50-title list of the best fantasy books of all time.
For this list, we concentrated on novels that are primarily fantasy, which is why you won’t see genre-straddlers like Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time or Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun.
To keep this lineup manageable, we only included books originally published as a bound book on paper — which ruled out ...Read More
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We posted previously about the PEN International statement in opposition to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Other organizations have also added their voices to the chorus of opposition to the war.
The Horror Writers Association says:
The HWA condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We stand for democracy. We stand for truth. We stand for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. We support the people of Ukraine, including authors, ...Read More
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Zadie Smith will receive the 2022 PEN/Audible America Literary Service Award on May 23, 2022 during a gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York NY. The award is presented to authors “whose work embodies PEN America’s mission to oppose repression in any form and to champion the best of humanity.”
Previous winners include Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, and Toni Morrison. For more information, see the PEN ...Read More
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BRONTE-MARIE WESSON is now represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency. She is an Australian bookseller and influencer.
SUZAN PALUMBO is now represented by Michael Curry of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
IORI KUSANO is now represented by Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Author COLM TÓIBÍN has been named the new Laureate for Irish Fiction by the Arts Council of Ireland, a position which seeks to ...Read More
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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America is changing its name to The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. The Board of Directors says,
Last November, the SFWA Board of Directors voted to file a new name for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., to do business as: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.
Once the filing is complete, which we expect to be in ...Read More
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Bard College has reconsidered their plan to end support for Conjunctions:
Bard College announced this week that the fall 2022 issue of Conjunctions would be the journal’s last under the Bard imprint. Having heard the immediate, widespread, and heartfelt reaction from readers, writers, and editors alike, the College is revisiting its decision with the intention of continuing its support for the journal.
Bard sincerely regrets both the decision and process ...Read More
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