The Memes of Production: A cultural studies weblog

The 2010 Nebula Awards for science fiction and fantasy published in 2009 were announced at a ceremony in Florida yesterday.

Unlike the Hugo Awards, which are popular awards voted on by registrants at Worldcon, the Nebulas are peers awards, and nominations and votes are limited to active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Novel
The Windup Girl – Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books, Sept. 2009)

Novella
The Women of Nell Gwynne’s – Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, June 2009)

Novelette
“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast,”
Eugie Foster (Interzone, Feb. 2009)

Short Story
“Spar,” Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct. 2009)

Ray Bradbury Award
District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug. 2009)

Andre Norton Award (for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making,
Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, June 2009)

Additional Honors
During the ceremonies, Joe Haldeman was honored as the next Damon Knight Grand Master, while Neal Barrett, Jr., was honored as Author Emeritus. Vonda N. McIntyre and Keith Stokes were honored with SFWA Service Awards while the SFWA Solstice Award, bestowed upon individuals who have made a significant impact on the science fiction or fantasy landscape, was presented to Tom Doherty, Terri Windling and the late Donald A. Wollheim.

The epic that is the nominations for the 2010 Hugo Awards has been announced. Sixteen categories ranging from Best Novel to Best Editor, and including two drama categories (long form and short form) and the John W Campbell Award for the Best New Writer.

Winners will be announced at AussieCon 4 in September. Results, as always, will be here.

Best Novel
Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor)
The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)
Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)
Wake, Robert J. Sawyer (Ace; Penguin; Gollancz; Analog)
The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)

Best Novella
“Act One”, Nancy Kress (Asimov’s 3/09)
The God Engines, John Scalzi (Subterranean)
“Palimpsest”, Charles Stross (Wireless)
Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon)
“Vishnu at the Cat Circus”, Ian McDonald (Cyberabad Days)
The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker (Subterranean)

Best Novelette
“Eros, Philia, Agape”, Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 3/09)
The Island”, Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)
“It Takes Two”, Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
“One of Our Bastards is Missing”, Paul Cornell (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three)
“Overtime”, Charles Stross (Tor.com 12/09)
“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast”, Eugie Foster (Interzone 2/09)

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Oops, nearly missed Ada Lovelace Day, but it’s still the 24th in some parts of the world, so I guess I’m OK.

Like last year’s post, I’m interpreting the rules of the event rather liberally. My subject was not a scientist nor a technologist, although she did hold a PhD in experimental psychology. And for much of her public career, many people didn’t even realise she was a woman.

Alice Sheldon is, of course, better known as science fiction novelist and short story writer, James Tiptree Jr.

Sheldon was a graphic artist and journalist before joining the US army in 1942 where she worked in photo intelligence, and after the war worked with the CIA for three years, apparently working under cover in the Near East for a time.

In 1956 Sheldon enrolled in a BA at American University, worked for a time as a graduate tutor before graduating with a PhD from George Washington University in 1967. After that she started writing science fiction under the pseudonym James Tiptree Jr. She claimed that she took the name deliberately to hide her gender:

“A male name seemed like good camouflage. I had the feeling that a man would slip by less observed. I’ve had too many experiences in my life of being the first woman in some damned occupation.” (Profile, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, April 1983, via Wikipedia)

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The Nebula Awards shortlist was released overnight. The winners will be announced on May 15.

Unlike the Hugo Awards, which are popular awards voted on by registrants at Worldcon, the Nebulas are peers awards, and nominations and votes are limited to active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

There are six categories, Short Story, Novelette, Novella, and Novel, as we as the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Continuing reading this article for the full list of nominees.

The winners of the 2009 Aurealis Awards for Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror were announced at the thirteenth annual ceremony at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane on Saturday 24 January 2010.

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL: Andrew McGahan, Wonders of a Godless World, Allen & Unwin

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY: Peter M. Ball, ‘Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens’, Apex Magazine May 2009

BEST FANTASY NOVEL: Trudi Canavan, Magician’s Apprentice, Orbit

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY (Tie): Christopher Green, ‘Father’s Kill’, Beneath Ceaseless Skies #24; Ian McHugh, ‘Once a Month, On a Sunday’, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd

BEST HORROR NOVEL: Honey Brown, Red Queen, Penguin Australia

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY (Tie): Paul Haines, ‘Wives’, X6, Coeur de Lion Publishing; Paul Haines, ‘Slice of Life – A Spot of Liver’, Slice of Life, The Mayne Press

BEST ANTHOLOGY: Jonathan Strahan (editor), Eclipse 3, Night Shade Books

BEST COLLECTION: Greg Egan, Oceanic, Gollancz

BEST ILLUSTATED BOOK/GRAPHIC NOVEL: Nathan Jurevicius, Scarygirl, Allen & Unwin

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL: Scott Westerfeld, Leviathan Trilogy: Book One, Penguin

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY: Cat Sparks, ‘Seventeen’, Masques, CSFG

BEST CHILDREN’S (8-12 YEARS) NOVEL: Gabrielle Wang, A Ghost in My Suitcase, Puffin Books

BEST CHILDREN’S (8-12 YEARS) SHORT FICTION/ILLUSTRATED WORK/PICTURE BOOK: Pamela Freeman (author), Kim Gamble (illustrator), Victor’s Challenge, Walker Books Australia

Here are the results of the 2009 Hugo Awards, according to the Hugo’s Twitter feed. The nominees can be found here.

Best Fan Writer goes to Cheryl Morgan
Best Fan Artist goes to Frank Wu
Best Fanzine goes to Electric Velocipede
Best Semiprozine goes to Weird Tales
Best Related Book goes to Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded, John Scalzi
Dramatic Presentation: Long Form goes to Wall-E
Dramatic Presentation: Short Form goes to Dr Horrible’s Singalong Blog, Joss Whedon
Best Editor: Long Form goes to David G Hartwell
Best Editor: Short Form goes to Ellen Datlow
Our brand new category, Best Graphic Story, presented by Neil Gaiman, goes to Girl Genius, Kaja and Phil Foglio
Best Professional Artist goes to Donato Giancola
Best Short Story goes to “Exhalation”, Ted Chiang
Best Novelette goes to “Shoggoths in Bloom”, Elizabeth Bear
Best Novella goes to “The Erdmann Nexus”, Nancy Kress
And finally, Best Novel goes to The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

The Nebula Awards were announced in LA today, with the major award going to Ursula Le Guin, her fourth Nebula, after Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Dispossessed (1974), and Tehanu (1990).

The Nebula shortlists are selected from nominations from members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, who also vote for the winning entries. The full list of winners is:

Best Novel: Powers – Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt)

Best Novella: “The Spacetime Pool” – Catherine Asaro (Analog, Mar08)

Best Novelette: “Pride and Prometheus” – John Kessel (F&SF, Jan08)

Best Short Story: “Trophy Wives” – Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Fellowship Fantastic, ed. Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes

Best Script: WALL-E Screenplay – Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter (Walt Disney June 2008)

Andre Norton Award (for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy): Flora’s Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room) – Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt)

Honorees
M.J. Engh — Author Emerita (for contributions to the field)
Harry Harrison — Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master (for lifetime achievement)
Joss Whedon — Ray Bradbury Award (for excellence in screenwriting)

Solstice Awards (for authors who have had a significant impact on the science fiction or fantasy landscape)
A. J. Budrys, Marty Greenberg, and Kate Wilhelm

Oops, I’m a month late with this, but the 2009 Hugo Award nominees have been posted. The novel shortlist is a strong field, with entries from Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, and Charlie Stross. Here is the shortlist:

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK)
• Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
• Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)

Other nominees here.

Interesting to note that Stephen Moffat picks up his fourth nomination in four years for a Doctor Who episode, this time for the “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” double. This follows wins in 2006 for “The Empty Child”, in 2007 for “Girl in the Fireplace”, and 2008 for “Blink”.

Winners will be announced at the World Science Fiction Convention in Montréal in August.

Four days to go until the 2005 Hugo Awards are decided at the 2006 Worldcon in LA. There some tough competition, but I’m still tipping Accelerando by Charles Stross.

You’ll hear the results here first (if I remember to check them). Otherwise, go to the Worldcon site.

Go Charlie!

I’m going to try and do more quick posts leading readers to interesting tidbits elsewhere. After all, that’s what blogging is all about.

To begin, here’s a great comments thread on this post about problems in utopian or post-utopian SF, leading to a particularly interesting and lengthy discussion of Adam Robert’s SF work.