The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced the late James Hosek (October 13, 1964 – December 3, 2023) as the winner of the 2024 Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award. The award is presented to “a volunteer of SFWA who best exemplifies the ideal of service to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.”
Deputy Executive Director Terra LeMay says,
It is often the case ...Read More
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What Kind of Mother, Clay McLeod Chapman (Quirk Books 978-1-68369-380-2, $21.99, 304pp, hc) September 2023.
Clay McLeod’s Chapman’s What Kind of Mother is a great horror novel in which creepiness and body horror take a back seat to grief and the horror it pushes people to do. A story that’s as harrowing as it is sad and strange, What Kind of Mother is a superb addition to McLeod’s catalog and ...Read More
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Chengdu Worldcon, the 81st World Science Fiction Convention, took place October 18-22, 2023 at the Chengdu Science Fiction Museum in the Pidu district of Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Guests of honor were Liu Cixin, Sergey Lukianenko (absent), and Robert J. Sawyer, with “promotion ambassadors” Roc Chen, Yang Lei, Gong Linna, and Zhu Tiexiong. One of the joys of having an international convention is seeing the ways different countries embrace and interpret ...Read More
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When I give presentations to aspiring writers – particularly presentations on writing and selling short stories – I’m always careful to emphasize that short stories are no longer the apprenticeship into the novel world that they once were. I know plenty of folks who have sold science fiction and fantasy novels without ever having bothered with shorts.
That said, short fiction did kind of function as a proving and learning ...Read More
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JOHN MICHAEL SCALZI II was born May 10, 1969, and grew up in Southern California, going to school in Claremont. He graduated from the Webb School in 1987 and attended the University of Chicago, where he became editor-in-chief of the Chicago Maroon and graduated with a philosophy degree in 1991. He moved back to California, where he became the film critic and later a columnist for the Fresno Bee. In ...Read More
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Readercon 32 was held July 13-16, 2023, in Quincy MA. Guests of honor were Jeff VanderMeer and Justina Ireland; L.A. Banks was the memorial guest of honor. Total attendance was 613 warm bodies. The focus of Readercon is ‘‘imaginative literature’’ – literary science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their intersections, with ‘‘near-total focus on the written word.’’
The event was held at the Boston Marriott Quincy, returning from the convention’s 2022 ...Read More
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StokerCon, sponsored by the Horror Writers Association (HWA), was held June 15-18, 2023, on the virtual Hopin platform and in person at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square in Pittsburgh PA. Guests of honor were Jewelle Gomez, Owl Goingback, Alma Katsu, Daniel Kraus, Cynthia Pelayo, and Wrath James White, with Kevin Wetmore as Stoker Awards emcee. Elizabeth Massie, Nuzo Onoh, and John Saul received Lifetime Achievement Awards. Co-chair Michael ...Read More
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The 2023 SFWA Nebula Conference was held May 12-14 online and in-person at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort in California, loosely following the tradition of running the event at the same place for two years in a row: the last in-person conference was in Woodland Hills, CA in 2019. There were roughly 200 warm bodies and another 314 registered for online-only access. 2019 saw 465 warm bodies ...Read More
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The Way Home, Peter S. Beagle (Ace 978-0-593-54739-7, $27.00, 224pp, hc) April 2023.
For decades Peter S. Beagle rebuffed suggestions that he write a sequel to his 1968 novel The Last Unicorn, arguing that ‘‘it was a young man’s work, and I am not quite him anymore in so many different ways.’’ When he finally relented in 2005, he came up with an ingenious way to reintroduce some ...Read More
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CONSTANCE ELAINE TRIMMER WILLIS was born December 31, 1945 in Denver CO and has lived in Colorado most of her life. She earned a BA in English and elementary education from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, in 1967, and taught elementary and junior high school from 1967-81. She made her first SF sale to Worlds of Fantasy with “The Secret of Santa Titicaca” (1971), and earned her first Hugo ...Read More
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Norwescon 45 was held April 6-9, 2023 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Seattle Airport in SeaTac WA; the theme was ‘‘Between Two Worlds.’’ Guests of honor were P. Djèlí Clark (writer), Grace P. Fong (artist), and Greg Dubos (science). Uncanny was the spotlight publisher, represented by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas. The weekend included hundreds of hours of programming with scores of panels and readings, plus special ...Read More
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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced Mishell Baker as the winner of the 2023 Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award. The award is presented to “a volunteer of SFWA who best exemplifies the ideal of service to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.”
Baker “has liaised with publishers interested in reprinting works by science fiction and fantasy authors who are no longer with ...Read More
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SFWA has opened registration for the 2023 Nebula Conference and Award Ceremony, to be held May 12–14, 2023, both online and in-person at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort in Anaheim CA.
Registrations may be purchased at this link. Registration for the online portion of the conference is $150.00 and includes access to broadcasts of the weekend’s panels and the subsequent archive, mentorship opportunities, the Nebula Awards ...Read More
Read moreArtist Richard Bober, 79, died December 10, 2022.
Bober was born August 18, 1943 in Elizabeth NJ. By his teens he was fortunate to have the well-known artist Lee E. Gaskins as one of his teachers in public school (1957-1958). Bober won a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in 1961, where (as he put it) he “caused general havoc and aggravation to many professors.” By his own reckoning, he was ...Read More
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For reasons of epidemiological microbiology there were no 2022 Swecon bids, but the minicon Ökon was happening anyway on August 13-14, 2022 and was upgraded to be the 2022 Swecon. Due to (partial) double booking, Ökon 3 had to move to the same site as last year’s Swecon, an old diesel workshop (Dieselverkstan) turned into an event venue just east of Stockholm. Friday had an informal warm-up in the Tolkien ...Read More
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Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention, took place September 1-15, 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago IL. Guests of honor were Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, and Erle Korshak (posthumous), with special guests Eve L. Ewing, Gene Ha, and Eric Wilkerson, plus fan guests of honor Edie Stern & Joe Siclari. There were 3,574 in-person warm bodies and 1,150 virtual members (whose memberships overlap with in-person attendees), ...Read More
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The 42nd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA 43) returned as an in-person event this year, held in sometimes sunny, sometimes overcast, but always muggy Orlando FL on March 16-20, 2022, at the Orlando Airport Marriott Hotel. The theme was “Fantastic Communities”. Nisi Shawl was the guest of honor, and Farah Mendlesohn was guest scholar. Academics, writers, publishers, editors, artists, students, independent scholars, and more gathered for ...Read More
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Analog 1-2/22 Asimov’s 1-2/22
When I took over part of the Locus short fiction reviewing duties after Gardner Dozois’ sad passing in 2018, I figured I’d be sharing this space with Rich Horton for many years to come. But as he announced in January, he has retired from his column and is turning his attention elsewhere – especially to adorable grandchildren! So I find myself starting on this verso page ...Read More
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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has announced Colin Coyle as the winner of the 2021 Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award. The award is presented to “a volunteer of SFWA who best exemplifies the ideal of service to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.”
SFWA President Jeffe Kennedy remarks:
Summarizing all the ways that Colin has served SFWA feels almost impossible. He’s been ...Read More
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The 47th World Fantasy Convention was held as a hybrid event November 4-7, 2021, with the Hôtel Bonaventure in Montréal, Canada hosting the in-person portion. Guests of honor were Nisi Shawl, John Picacio, and André-François Ruaud, with special guests Owl Goingback, Yves Meynard, Brandon O’Brien, and Julie E. Czerneda; Christine Taylor-Butler was toastmaster. Life Achievement Awards winners were Megan Lindholm and Howard Waldrop.
In-person attendance was fraught with the challenges ...Read More
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The second annual FIYAHCON took place online September 16-19, 2021, held via Airmeet and hosted by FIYAH magazine. Guests of honor were Vita Ayala, Malka Older, and Njeri of Onyx Pages. The original event was conceived in the midst of protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the inaugural Ignyte awards were conceived following the 2020 Hugo Awards ceremony. Organizer L.D. Lewis, in her 2020 FIYAHCON retrospective on her website, described ...Read More
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THIS ESTONIAN SUMMER would have been right at home at the Locus office in California: Sunny days under brilliant blue skies with just a slight breeze to keep the heat from becoming stifling. Perfect for the annual outdoor science fiction convention held at Udu Farm in central Estonia. The event wasn’t confirmed until just a few weeks before, but the vaccination program had reached full throttle and infection rates remained ...Read More
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StokerCon, sponsored by the Horror Writers Association (HWA), was held May 20-23, 2021, on the virtual Hopin platform. Guests of honor were Maurice Broaddus, Joe R. Lansdale, Seanan McGuire, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Lisa Morton, and Steve Rasnic Tem. Carol J. Clover, Jewelle Gomez, and Marge Simon received Lifetime Achievement Awards. Co-chair Brian Matthews said, “After a year of COVID-related isolation, we strived to bring people back together, to make them feel ...Read More
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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) will livestream the announcement of the Nebula Awards finalists on March 15, 2021 at 5:30 p.m Pacific Time. The livestream will be available on SFWA’s Facebook and Youtube channels, and will include “readings by SAG-AFTRA narrators, trailers, and sizzle reels for the nominated works.”
Winners will be announced at the 56th Annual Nebula Banquet during the Nebula Awards Weekend, to be ...Read More
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James Gunn was—indeed, still is—one of my heroes. While I didn’t meet him until 2002, when I first went to Lawrence for the Sturgeon Award ceremony, I already admired his writing, both fiction and non-fiction, and had benefited greatly from his expansive, benevolent influence on science fiction as critic, anthologist, conference organizer and educator.
Sitting rapt in Jim’s KU office as he talked about the field he loved, I realized ...Read More
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This January marked the tenth anniversary of my first published novel, God’s War, back in the halcyon days of 2011.
It was a long road to publication.
I finished the book in early 2007, shopped it in late 2007, had it picked up, then cancelled in early 2009 after the crash of 2008. Another publisher eventually bought it for the second time, then that publisher was sold, and the ...Read More
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The inaugural FIYAHCON took place online October 17-18, 2020, held via Zoom and Dacast, and hosted by FIYAH magazine. Guests of honor were Yasser Bahjatt, Cassie Hart, and Rebecca Roanhorse. According to convention director L.D. Lewis, the event was conceived mid-year, in the midst of protests, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the trend of conventions switching to virtual events; it was “formally launched” July 7, 2020, and the Ignyte awards were ...Read More
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Beneath Ceaseless Skies 3/26/20 Clarkesworld 4/20 Tor.com 4/8/20, 4/22/20, 4/28/20
Beneath Ceaseless Skies has had a heck of spring. After a pair of double issues for their biennial science fantasy run, they wrapped up March with a major milestone, issue #300. This is another oversized collection, including two bonus novelettes and a bonus novella. My favorite story of the issue was the first, ”The Hummingbird Temple” by C.C. ...Read More
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The 2020 SFWA Nebula Conference morphed mid-COVID from an in-person conference into an impressive online event, held May 29-31, 2020. There were 808 members from 33 countries, a record, up from 2019’s record-breaking 475 registered members.
Online programming began before the event proper on May 23, with a Mentorship Meeting, pairing experienced congoers with newer attendees, and the Nebula Finalist Reception. Weekend programming focused on industry-relevant topics, such as “Too ...Read More
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Chelsea Louise Polk was born September 28, 1969 in New Westminster, British Columbia. She spent her childhood there and in Surrey BC before moving to Edmonton at age 13 and then to Calgary at 21.
She published a few pieces of short fiction beginning in the early 2000s as Chelsea Polk. Her most recent story is “St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid” at Tor.com (2/5/20). Polk’s debut novel Witchmark (2018) ...Read More
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Phenderson Djèlí Clark is the pen name of Dexter Gabriel, born June 11, 1971 in Queens NY to immigrant parents from Trinidad and Tobago. His family sent him to live in Trinidad with his grandparents when he was a baby, and he returned to the US when he was eight. He lived in Staten Island and Brooklyn until moving to Houston TX when he was 12. He got his BA ...Read More
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The 2019 SFWA Nebula Conference was held May 16-19 at the Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills in sunny California for the first of two years. There were 465 warm bodies of the record-breaking 475 registered members, compared to 356 in 2018. The hotel was comfortable, with spacious mingling areas, a well-appointed bar, and eateries within a few (albeit large) blocks.
Each attendee received a logo-adorned bag stuffed with books. The ...Read More
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