Please note that the March 2019 London meeting will be on Wednesday the 20th, not the 27th.
We will be discussing the forthcoming BSFA Awards. Participants are invited. Please get in touch if you would like to take part.
Nominations for the 2018 BSFA Awards are now open! Visit the nominations page for details of how to take part.
This year we’re making a change to the BSFA Award rules for Best Novel. To bring it into line with all the other awards, we are dropping the publication location requirement for novels. Previously novels were only eligible if they were published for the first time in the UK or Ireland (or solely in e-book format). From this year, novels are eligible in the year of their first publication, regardless of where they were published.
Because occasionally a book can still be hard to find in the UK when it’s only been published elsewhere, novels may also be eligible in the year of their first UK/Ireland publication, at the awards administrator’s discretion.
We’re making this change for several reasons, but in general terms we’re doing it to keep awards eligibility in line with the books that British fans are reading and talking about. Publishing availability has changed dramatically since the rule was written. Books published only in the US are now much more widely available in the UK, which means some books never get a formal UK publication even though they’re really easy to get hold of in the UK. Publishing models are also changing, and it’s getting harder and harder to tell what “counts” as UK publication.
And of course it isn’t the big names who are affected by this, which means that as a side-effect we’re narrowing our focus unnecessarily and ruling out some really great books, often by British authors or authors living and working in Britain. That’s the main motivation behind this change; we want to keep the novel award as relevant and interesting as the novels we’re all reading.
As the nights draw in, it’s time to cast your mind back and help us decide on the best works published in 2017. Nominations for your favourite SF or fantasy novels, short stories, artworks, and non-fiction are open until 31st December 2017. The voting form and the small print are here: https://www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards/nominate-for-the-bsfa-awards/ or you can email your nominations (4 per category) to awards@bsfa.co.uk
You must be a member of the BSFA in order to take part in award nominations and voting. You can join or renew here: https://www.bsfa.co.uk/join-the-bsfa/ , or email the Membership Secretary to check your status (membership@bsfa.co.uk).
Traditionally, we have a celebratory BSFA Awards Booklet appearing every year just before Eastercon (Mancunicon this year), but alas this year’s publication is not likely to reach your postbox ‘til week commencing 20th March, so in an effort to encourage all members of the BSFA (and Mancunicon attendees) to vote in the Awards, we’d like to encourage you to read as much of these as you can online…
We would also encourage you to vote online if possible, and the voting form can be found here: https://www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-2015-awards-voting-form/
A reminder of all short-listed nominees, and where to find them:
Best Novel
Mother of Eden by Chris Beckett (Corvus):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mother-Eden-Dark-Book-ebook/dp/B00V2JSTW4/The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (Gollancz):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Shattered-Wings-Aliette-Bodard/dp/1473212553/Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson (Solaris):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Europe-Midnight-Fractured-Sequence-Book-ebook/dp/B015G5LCNC/Luna by Ian McDonald (Gollancz):
www.amazon.co.uk/Luna-New-Moon-Ian-McDonald/dp/1473202248/Glorious Angels by Justina Robson (Gollancz):
www.amazon.co.uk/Glorious-Angels-Justina-Robson-ebook/dp/B00NT7YOK8/
Best Short Story
“Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight” by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 100):
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/debodard_01_15/“Witches of Lychford” by Paul Cornell (Tor.com):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witches-Lychford-Paul-Cornell-ebook/dp/B00WDVSN5I
excerpt: http://www.tor.com/2015/07/29/excerpts-witches-of-lychford-paul-cornell/“No Rez” by Jeff Noon (Interzone 260):
http://ttapress.com/1888/no-rez-by-jeff-noon/“Binti” by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Binti-Nnedi-Okorafor-ebook/dp/B00Y7RWXHU/
excerpt: http://www.tor.com/2015/08/17/excerpts-binti-nnedi-okorafor/“Ride the Blue Horse” by Gareth L. Powell (online Matter magazine):
https://medium.com/matter/ride-the-blue-horse-7c617871ed54#.10879i1fm** the full text of all of the above stories will appear in the BSFA Awards Booklet **
Best Non-Fiction
“Time Pieces: Doctor Change or Doctor Die” by Nina Allan (Interzone 261):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Interzone-Nov-Dec-Science-Fiction-Magazine-ebook/dp/B01861SOCA/Letters to Tiptree by Alisa Krasnostein and Alexandra Pierce (Twelfth Planet Press):
www.amazon.co.uk/Letters-Tiptree-Alexandra-Pierce-ebook/dp/B014WF9Z86/“What Price Your Critical Agency” by Jonathan McCalmont (Ruthless Culture blog):
http://ruthlessculture.com/2015/07/08/what-price-your-critical-agency/Rave and Let Die: The SF and Fantasy of 2014 by Adam Roberts (Steel Quill Books):
http://ruthlessculture.com/2015/07/08/what-price-your-critical-agency/“From Annihilation to Acceptance: A Writer’s Surreal Journey” by Jeff Vandermeer (The Atlantic, January 2015):
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/01/from-annihilation-to-acceptance-a-writers-surreal-journey/384884/** there are extended excerpts from Letters to Tiptree and Rave and Let Die in the BSFA Awards Booklet, alongside the full text of all of the articles mentioned above **
Best Artwork
Jim Burns for the cover of Pelquin’s Comet (Newcon Press):
http://www.ianwhates.co.uk/uncategorized/a-new-novel-pelquins-comet/Vincent Sammy for the short story, “Songbird” in Interzone 257:
http://karbonk.deviantart.com/art/SONGBIRD-515008463Sarah Anne Langton for the cover of Jews Versus Zombies (Jurassic London):
http://www.jurassic-london.com/jews-vs-zombies.html
Once again, we’d like to encourage you to vote sooner rather than later if you can. Thank you!
On Wednesday 27th January 2016 we’ll be trying our best to stream January’s Jeff Noon interview, live online. Between now and then a public domain recording of The Planet’s by Gustav Holst will be playing and we’d like your feedback on it. Just open the link & let us know what you hear.
MP3 audio only
http://bit.ly/JeffNoonJan2016Interview
For the last few months Chad Dixon has been valiantly trying his best to broadcast BSFA interviews with Periscope, it’s a little error prone so if it doesn’t work we’ll just do the audio. Cheers Chad!
Audio and Video – on the night.
https://periscope.tv/BSFA
NEW LOCATION
Due to the popularity of this event we are moving to a new BIGGER venue which luckily is close by. Andrea has surpassed herself finding this venue 🙂
The Reliance, 336 Old Street, EC1V 9DR
MAP LINK: https://goo.gl/maps/
We are pleased to announce the following shortlisted nominees for the BSFA Awards 2014.
Voting will now be opened to BSFA members and attending members of Eastercon. The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the 66th Eastercon aka Dysprosium, taking place at the Park Inn, Heathrow from 3-6 April 2015.
Watch this space for details of the presenters and MC for this event, which will be announced shortly.
Once again, BSFA members will receive a commemorative BSFA Awards booklet with details of all the nominees.
Best Artwork:
Richard Anderson for the cover of Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley, published by Angry Robot Books.
Blacksheep for the cover of Bête by Adam Roberts, published by Gollancz
Tessa Farmer for her sculpture The Wasp Factory, after Iain Banks.
Jeffrey Alan Love for the cover of Wolves by Simon Ings, published by Gollancz
Andy Potts for the cover of Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougall, published by Egmont
Best Non-Fiction:
Paul Kincaid for Call and Response, published by Beccon Books
Jonathan McCalmont for ‘Deep Forests and Manicured Gardens: A Look at Two New Short Fiction Magazines’
Edward James, for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers and the First World War
Strange Horizons: various authors for The State of British SF and Fantasy: A Symposium
Karen Burnham for Greg Egan, published by University of Illinois Press
Best Short Fiction:
Ruth E J Booth for “The Honey Trap”, published in La Femme, Newcon Press
Octavia Cade for The Mussel Eater, published by The Book Smugglers
Benjanun Sriduangkaew for Scale Bright, published by Immersion Press
Best Novel:
Nina Allan, for The Race, published by Newcon Press
Frances Hardinge, for Cuckoo Song, published by Macmillan
Dave Hutchinson, for Europe in Autumn, published by Solaris
Simon Ings, for Wolves, published by Gollancz
Anne Leckie, for Ancillary Sword, published by Orbit
Claire North, for The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, published by Orbit
Nnedi Okorafor, for Lagoon, published by Hodder
Neil Williamson, for The Moon King, published byNewcon Press
Congratulations to all the shortlisted nominees, and thanks to our members for nominating.
