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
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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
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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 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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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
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Librarian MISHA STONE of the Seattle Public Library won the Librarian of the Year Award from the Greater Seattle Romance Writers Association. Stone is a Clarion West board member.
Composer JOHN WILLIAMS received the Forry Award for lifetime achievement in the SF field, presented by The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society at their October 9, 2021 meeting.
URSULA VERNON writing as T. KINGFISHER’s “Metal Like Blood in ...Read More
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In July 2021, the National Library of New Zealand (NLNZ) made the controversial announcement that it would donate more than 400,000 books to the Internet Archive “so they can be digitised and preserved, ensuring future access for New Zealanders and global researchers.” The books are those being culled from the library system’s Overseas Published Collections “so we can make room to continue to grow our Māori, Pacific and New Zealand ...Read More
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The 18th Annual Borderlands Press Writers Boot Camp is accepting applications for their February 4-6, 2022 session, to be held in Baltimore MD, with instructors Ginjer Buchanan, Thomas F. Monteleone, F. Paul Wilson, and Douglas E. Winter, plus special instructor Blake Crouch. For details, and to apply see their website.
From the October 2021 issue of Locus.
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Mitzi Angel has been promoted to president of Farrar, Straus, Giroux, effective January 1, 2022. She is the first woman to hold the role, and replaces Jonathan Galassi, who has been promoted. Angel said,
I am proud to be the new president of Farrar, Straus and Giroux and to follow the distinguished years of Jonathan Galassi. I look forward to the company’s ongoing success and its contribution to literature and ...Read More
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Publishers Weekly has announced its list of the best books of 2021, divided into 13 categories, including “50 excellent titles for children and teens.” Their overall Top 10 includes Assembly by Natasha Brown (Little, Brown), Second Place by Rachel Cusk (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford (Flatiron).
The best books in the SF/Fantasy/Horror category are:
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s (SFWA) has opened applications for a new part-time SFWA Nebula Conference Project Manager.
The SFWA Nebula CPM would be responsible for all project management activities associated with the annual SFWA Nebula Conference. In 2022, the organization will be offering a hybrid model of the conference, with both an online component and in-person event. The CPM would be leading the entire 2022 Conference, ...Read More
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Actor Rich Correll has opened Icons of Darkness, a new Hollywood museum filled with $15 million worth of props and costumes from beloved science fiction, fantasy, and horror franchises.
The collection, which represents “over 100 years of Hollywood film history curated and collected over the last 60 years,” includes props from Jurassic Park, a Darth Vader mask, and lots more costumes and memorabilia. The collection is currently on display ...Read More
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The Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust has announced the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, a new award to launch in 2022. The annual $25,000 cash prize will be given to “a single book-length work of imaginative fiction.”
This award is intended to recognize those writers Ursula spoke of in her 2014 National Book Awards speech—realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and ...Read More
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N.K. JEMISIN was named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2021 by Time. See the full list on their website.
NANCY PEARL will receive the 2021 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, to be presented November 17, 2021 at the National Book Awards ceremony in New York. Pearl is the influential librarian who created the ‘‘One Book, One City’’ program.
SUSANNA ...Read More
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The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (SFE) has launched its Fourth Edition. The online edition of the essential reference work was sponsored by Orion/Gollancz from 2011-2021, but is now published by SFE Ltd and Ansible Editions.
Editors John Clute and David Langford say of the move:
With the release of the Fourth Edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, we have a new publisher and a new web server; but ...Read More
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Libraries Connected announced “The 100 Novels that Shaped our New World”, a reading list chosen by over 400 library staff members and users. The list “follows the BBC Novels that Shaped our World library campaign” and features many titles of genre interest, including Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (Bloomsbury), The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton), Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine ...Read More
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The upcoming World Fantasy Convention, to be held November 4-7, 2021 at the Hôtel Bonaventure Montréal in Québec, Canada, has announced several changes.
Guest of Honor Nisi Shawl will not be attending in person, but will take part virtually.
Julie Czerneda has joined as a Special Guest.
The convention will have a significant online component:
Given this being the Age of Covid, we have taken steps to turn World Fantasy ...Read More
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The Nielsen Bestseller Awards have been announced, and include several titles and authors of genre interest. George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake (Jonathan Cape) was a Platinum Bestseller; Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton) was a Gold Bestseller; and The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman (Penguin UK & David Fickling) was a Silver Bestseller. Several titles by Matt Haig ...Read More
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Joanna Prior has been named the new CEO of Pan Macmillan. Current CEO Anthony Forbes Watson will step down in early 2022, but will continue to advise Stefan von Holtzbrinck and the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. Prior has worked as managing director of Penguin General Books in the UK for 12 years, and has been with Penguin for 23 years, rising in the ranks from publicity and marketing. “The decision to ...Read More
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DOMINICA PHETTEPLACE has been chosen for the Bookshop Santa Cruz Writing Residency. She will spend two weeks writing at the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods, working on her novel Robot Country, “a dystopian science fiction novel which imagines robots as the agents of the next wave of American colonization and forced resettlement.” For details see the website.
Writers LAUREN DIXON & DALLAS TAYLOR were married July 31, 2021. ...Read More
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The Readercon board has announced that Readercon will not be held in 2022. Readercon 32 will instead take place July 13–16, 2023 at the Marriott Boston Quincy hotel in Quincy MA.
The announcement says
We just need some time to recharge and get our house in order.
The last two years have been a doozy for everyone. We all need some rest. And Readercon as an organization needs an opportunity ...Read More
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The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has announced the results of the election for its open officers’ positions. Meghan Arcuri was re-elected Vice President. Maxwell Gold was elected Treasurer. Gabino Iglesias, Lisa Kröger, Brian W. Matthews, and Angela Yuriko Smith were elected to the Board of Trustees.
The election team volunteers were Jamal Hodge, Nicole Givens Kurtz, and Angel Leigh McCoy. The election verifiers were Lindy Ryan and Sumiko Saulson. For
Ross E. Lockhart’s publishing company Word Horde is opening The Word Horde Emporium of the Weird & Fantastic, a brick and mortar store in Petaluma, CA. The Emporium will feature “objects that complement the Word Horde philosophy and aesthetic,” including books from various publishers, games, “curiosities, jewelry, stickers, and so much more.” Lockhart said, “I’ve long daydreamed about building my own store, stocking it with my favorite things, and on ...Read More
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The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) is accepting applications for its $1,000 Working Class Writers Grant, “awarded annually to assist working class, blue-collar, poor, and homeless writers who have been historically underrepresented in speculative fiction, due to financial barriers.” Applications are open until September 30, 2021. The winner will be announced November 15, 2021.
For more information, see the SLF website.
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Hatfield House in Philadelphia PA has announced a new exhibit by Afrofuturist group Black Quantum Futurism. The exhibit “Ancestors returning again / this time only to themselves” was created by Rasheeda Phillips and Camae Ayewa, with nods to artists who influenced Afrofuturism, including Octavia E. Butler and Sun Ra. It includes the debut of video and sound installation Write No History:
Write No History features found and archival footage ...Read More
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Time has named author N.K. Jemisin as one of the 100 most influential people of 2021 in the “Artists” category. Jemisin is the award-winning author of The City We Became, the Broken Earth trilogy, the Inheritance Trilogy, and more.
For the full list and more details, see the Time article.
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely ...Read More
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The Horror Writers Association (HWA) announced the recipients of its 2021 scholarships and diversity grants.
Eugen M. Bacon, Jonathan Kincade, Tonya Liburd, Somto Ihezue Onyedikachi, and Juan Manuel Pérez are winners of the $500 Diversity Grants, given to “underrepresented, diverse people who have an interest in the horror writing genre, including, but not limited to writers, editors, reviewers, and library workers.”
Shannon DeAnne Lawrence won the $2,500 Horror Writers Association ...Read More
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The Ladies of Horror Fiction (LOHF) have announced the winners of their annual Writers Grant:
Each will receive $100. The grants are “inclusive to all women who have reasonably demonstrated a commitment
