The Free Library of Philadelphia has chosen Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (Scribner) as the 2019 selection for its annual “One Book, One Philadelphia” citywide book club program. Ward will attend a kickoff event on January 16, 2019 at Parkway Central Library in Philadelphia PA to begin eight weeks of programs “based on the themes” from her novel, including “book discussions, panels, film screenings, collaging and mixed media workshops, ...Read More

The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced the instructors for its online Winter 2019 classes: Barbara Ashford will teach “Getting the Big Picture: The Key to Revising Your Novel” from January 2 – February 13, 2019; Lucy A. Snyder will teach “Riveting Descriptions: Bringing Your Story to Life in the Reader’s Mind” from January 3-31, 2019; and Scott H. Andrews will teach “Emotional Truth: Making Character Emotions Real, Powerful, and Immediate ...Read More

Spectrum 26 is open for submissions until January 24, 2019. The annual art collection serves as a “regular showcase for the best fantasy, science fiction, horror, and otherwise uncategorizable artwork created each year” and “as an invaluable resource for art directors, art buyers, and artists from all walks and sensibilities.” Judges this year are Kei Acedera, Wesley Burt, Bobby Chiu, Edward Kinsella III, and Colin & Kristine Poole. Chosen entrants ...Read More

Colson Whitehead was named the state author of New York in an announcement by Governor Andrew Cuomo on August 15, 2018. Whitehead is the 12th author so honored. The title is given every two years to celebrate reading, writing, and the arts. Whitehead will receive the New York State Edith Wharton Citation of Merit for Fiction Writers at an official inauguration ceremony to be held September 28, 2018 at the ...Read More

Applications are open for the 2018 Tiptree Fellowships until October 31, 2018. Each year, the Tiptree Motherboard awards $500 each to two creators who “are doing work that is changing the way we think about gender through speculative narrative.”

For more information, or to apply, see the official website.

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Mercedes Lackey was briefly hospitalized in early August while attending Gen Con in Indiana after she became dizzy and began hallucinating. While she at first feared she was having a stroke, she later realized she was a having a reaction to furniture, carpet, paint, and other materials outgassing in a newly renovated hotel room. She was out of the hospital in time to do her scheduled signing, and is recovering ...Read More

A new organization, Asia SF Association, has been established, with Cixin Liu as president. The organization has members from China, Egypt, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and other countries. The group first met at APSFCon, held May 18-19, 2018 in Beijing, China, and held a general meeting online in July 2018 to announce the president and board members. In addition to Liu, Latssep of Science Fiction World ...Read More

Frank Frazetta’s 1972 painting “Escape from Venus”, used as the cover for the eponymous Edgar Rice Burroughs volume in 1974, sold for $660,000 at auction in August 2018, the third-highest price yet for a Frazetta painting auctioned in the US – “Death Dealer 6” (1990) sold for $1.79 million this past May.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring ...Read More

George R.R. Martin appeared on stage in conversation with artist John Picacio on August 14, 2018 at the historic Fox Theatre in Redwood City CA. The event was hosted by SF in SF, with proceeds from ticket sales benefitting the Locus Science Fiction Foundation. An audience of nearly 600 (including various genre luminaries in town for Worldcon) gathered for a wide-ranging discussion that stretched over more than two hours (with ...Read More

Space and Time has announced that it will close after 52 years of continuous publication. They plan to produce two more issues, one before the end of 2018 and one in 2019. Editor-in-chief Hildy Silverman says:

The expenses associated with printing and shipping issues have outpaced income by a ridiculous margin — quite simply, S&T no longer has enough subscribers to remain viable. And, as I have a day job ...Read More

The Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, The MIT Press, and MIT Media Lab have launched a new interactive project called Frankenbook. Joey Eschrich, program manager for the Center for Science and Imagination, explains:

Frankenbook is a collective reading experience of the original 1818 text of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein. The project is hosted by Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination, The MIT ...Read More

A memorial service for the late Gardner Dozois was held at the Friends Center in downtown Philadelphia on July 7, 2018, with attendees including Ginjer Buchanan, Michael Capobianca, Neil Clarke, Jack Dann, John Douglas, Ellen Datlow, Claire Eddy, Scott Edelman, Gregory Frost, Joe & Gay Haldeman, Peter Heck, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, Kay McAuley, Shawna McCarthy, Michael Swanwick, Gordon Van Gelder, Janeen Webb, Sheila Williams, and others. Ellen Datlow ...Read More

The Public Broadcasting Service is holding “The Great American Read,” encouraging members of the public to vote from a list of 100 “most-loved” books and series, as selected through a demographically representative nationwide survey in the US. Voting is open through October 18, 2018, and you can vote more than once. PBS is airing eight-episode series The Great American Read, with the winner to be announced in the finale episode. ...Read More

Literary Arts has posted the video of their tribute event for Ursula K. Le Guin featuring “Margaret Atwood (by video), Molly Gloss, Walidah Imarisha, Jonathan Lethem, Kelly Link, China Miéville, and Daniel José Older.” The event took place on June 13, 2018 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland OR. For more information, and to view the video, see the Literary Arts tribute page.

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NPR‘s summer reader poll 2018 is open to nominations of horror novels, collections, series, and short stories. Readers can nominate up to five titles through an online form. A top 100 list will be curated by Tananrive Due, Ruthanna Emrys, Grady Hendrix, and Stephen Graham Jones and announced later in the year.

For more information, see the NPR website.

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

The Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) announced the 2017 inductees to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame: comic book writer and publisher Stan Lee, author J.K. Rowling, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, and The Legend of Zelda video game series. The inductees will be included in the SF&F Hall of Fame display later this year.

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 and ...Read More

Junot Díaz has “asked to relinquish” his position as chairman of the Pulitzer Prize board (though he remains a board member) after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and verbal abuse. The board is “conducting an independent review of allegations of misconduct.” The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Díaz teaches creative writing, is looking “into concerns shared on social media regarding Professor Díaz…. Both accusers and the accused have rights and ...Read More