James Patterson has posted an apology for comments he recently made in a Times interview:
I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism. I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers. Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heard — in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere.
The Times article, titled “James Patterson: white male writers ...Read More
Read more
Author Faith Hunter has posted an apology regarding her behavior at JordanCon 2022, held Apr 22-24, 2022 in Atlanta GA, where she was Guest of Honor. Hunter wrote,
First, I want to say that I’m very sorry to the people I offended and hurt at JordanCon 2022. I have a black hole in my memory for that night, but what little I recalled was indeed unacceptable. When one of the ...Read More
Read more
ELSA SJUNNESON is now represented by Larissa Melo Pienkowski at Jill Grinberg Literary.
RR HAYWOOD is now represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
JOSHUA COHEN’s The Netanyahus (New York Review) won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in the Fiction category, given for ‘‘distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life,’’ with its $15,000 prize.
ROBERT J. ...Read More
Read more
United Talent Agency announced the acquisition of UK literary agency Curtis Brown Group. A UTA statement says Curtis Brown is “the first prominent UK literary and talent representation group to join with a major global talent agency.”
For UTA, the deal significantly expands its global footprint in one of the world’s most important and thriving creative markets. Under the terms of the deal London-based Curtis Brown Group, founded in 1899, ...Read More
Read more
The Costa Book Awards are ending:
After 50 years of celebrating some of the most enjoyable books written by hugely talented authors from across the UK and Ireland, Costa Coffee has taken the difficult decision to end the Costa Book Awards.
The prizes presented in February 2022, for works from 2021, are the last that will be given. The Awards were known as the Whitbread Book Awards from their founding ...Read More
Read more
Bella Pagan has been promoted to publisher at Tor UK. Pagan joined Pan Macmillan in 2011 after five years as a commissioning editor at Orbit UK, and was promoted to editorial director at Pan Macmillan Fiction in 2016, later becoming publishing director. In this new role Pagan will report to Pan Macmillan publisher Lucy Hale.
Georgia Summers has been promoted to editor from assistant editor, and continues to report to ...Read More
Read morePopular Russian SF author Dmitry Glukhovsky has been added to a wanted list by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, according to multiple news organizations. Russian outlet Pravda said, “The writer is charged with committing a crime under Article 280.3 (‘Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation’) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.” The law carries sentences up to ...Read More
Read more
Several people of genre interest were recognized in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
The 1,133 honourees include Quentin Blake, Salmon Rushdie, and Marina Warner, who each received the High Award Companion of Honour distinction. Ian Rankin received the Knights Bachelor distinction. while Joanne Harris and Michael Foreman received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire distinction for services to literature. James Daunt, head of Waterstones in the ...Read More
Read more
Walter Jon Williams, founder of the Taos Toolbox workshop, announced on Facebook that this year’s event is relocating from Taos NM to Albuquerque NM due to fires in the area:
So quite a number of plans have gang agley in the last days, so I’ve been putting out fires—nearly literal fires.
Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy, starts this weekend, and has been held
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is launching a Mental Health Initiative, a “coordinated roll-out of events, resources, and activities intended to promote positive mental health, foster the concept of hope, and challenge the stigma of mental illness in the horror genre.”
The initiative will launch in June 2022. Plans include “a dedicated webpage for resources on the HWA website, publication of Of Horror and Hope, a downloadable anthology of ...Read More
Read more
The Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee has opened Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration, an exhibition exploring “a thoughtful appraisal of how artists from the early 20th century to the present have brought to life myths, fairy tales, and modern epics like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.”
Artists showcased include Bob Eggleton, Kinuko Y. Craft, Victo Ngai, Charles Vess, and Michael Whelan, among ...Read More
Read more
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has announced that the submission window for HWA scholarships, grants, and endowments are open from June 1, 2022 to August 1, 2022. You do not need to be a member of the organization to apply.
Available programs include The Horror Writers Association Scholarship, The Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship, Diversity Grants, The Dark Poetry Scholarship, The Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for Non-fiction, The Dennis Etchison Young ...Read More
Read more
The 2021 Aurealis Awards winners, recognizing the best in Australian speculative fiction, has been announced.
Best Science Fiction Novel
As previously reported, Mercedes Lackey was removed from this year’s Nebula Conference following a comment on a panel. She posted an apology on her Tumblr:
I wish to Apologize
On a panel at the 2022 Nebulas, I had the chance to celebrate authors who wrote positive gay characters long before me.
Chip Delany is obviously a major player in that game. Because there are two Samuel Delanys – there’s one ...Read More
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
