Last weekend was a busy one for awards. First up the Shirley Jackson Awards were announced at Readercon. I’m not familiar with all of the winners, but I am delighted to see an award for Wylding Hall by the fabulous Liz Hand. That, of course, is a novella. The novel category was taken by Experimental Film by Gemma Files, a book I have been wanting to read since I first heard about it a couple of years ago.

Also announced at Readercon was the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award, given to unfairly forgotten authors. This year it went to Judith Merril, better known as an editor but also a fine writer. The judges for the award were Elizabeth Hand, Barry Malzberg, Mike Resnick, and Robert J. Sawyer. This may come as a surprise to some as Malzberg has recently penned an article for Galaxy’s Edge which is, shall we say, less than complimentary about Merril’s contribution to the field. Malzberg notes:

I am not in a merciful mode—as I have become both the perpetrator of a body of work now close to unknown…

Oh dear…

The finalists for this year’s World Fantasy Awards were also announced at the weekend. There’s a lot of good material in there. I’m pleased to see both Uprooted and The Fifth Season make the novel list. Congratulations are due to a couple of my friends, Kim Newman and Selina Chambers, who both have fiction nominations. There’s a Finnish book on the list — the awesome Collected Fiction of Leena Krohn, published by the VanderMeers’ Cheeky Frawg. And there’s a nod for Letters to Tiptree in the still insultingly named “Special Award, Nonprofessional” category. Alisa and Alex already have a Locus Award, and I’d love to see them add a not-Howie-any-more to it.

Over in Japan, Ancillary Justice has added a Seiun to its many awards. Tough luck on my pal, Gareth Powell, but hey, what company to be in. Big in Japan, mate.

The Gemmell Award shortlists have produced the expected whiff of testosterone, but I’m pleased to see two local(ish) writers on the debut novel list. Well done Pete Newman (The Vagrant) and Lucy Hounsom (Starborn).

Canada’s Suburst Award (their version of the Clarke) has shortlisted both Experimental Film and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s wonderful Signal to Noise.

And there have been announcements about the Sidewise Awards and Prometheus Award, neither of which I have much to say about as I’m unfamiliar with the works involved.