Awards

Adelaide Has Awards

~ Cheryl ~ 4 Comments

The Ditmars were announced last night and the live blog of the ceremony can be found on SFAW. My particular thanks to Cat Sparks and Rob Hood for dropping by. It is always good have winners in the audience.

I was pleased to see that the Best Fan Production award went to an online book review zine: AS if!.

But what I most want to talk about now is a brand new award which was announced here and will have its first presentation at Aussiecon 4 next year. The Norma K Hemming Award is a diversity award for “exploration of themes of race, gender, class and sexuality”. It is named after Norma Kathleen Hemming, a feminist author and fan who was active in Australia in the 1950s and died tragically of lung cancer at the age of 33. You can find more about Norma, the award and early Australian feminist fandom at the Australian Science Fiction Foundation web site.

Precise details of how the award will work are still being ironed out, but it will be a juried award. Given that it is diversity-based, and not just feminist, I asked about disability issues. The ASFF folks promised to look into this, but someone else in the audience suggested that the Australian disability community might not be happy about being included. You do have to check these things.

Still, I am delighted to see Australian launch an award of this type. We already have the Tiptree and Carl Brandon Awards, and the feminist award in Japan. There may be others I’m not award of, but as far as I know the UK doesn’t have anything like this.

Adelaide – Lazy Sunday

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

The con is now in full swing, but to be honest that’s not a lot of action. The number of people here appear to be quite low – probably not a lot more than were in Auckland. Many of the big name Australian authors are not here. And the con is mostly strolling along on the “she’ll be right” principle (which is Australian for “no further effort required”). We are having a fun time anyway.

Lunch yesterday was courtesy of the Central Market. Medge & Bean, Paul Ewins and I bought some bread, cheese and olives and ate them. Adelaide really is a very good place to eat.

In the afternoon I was on a panel about SF awards, and attended the GoH presentation for Steve and Catherine Scholz. Both were quite good events, and both had very small audiences – less than 20 in both cases, I think.

The masked ball last night was rather better attended, but it did prove the point that if you have a “masked ball” rather than a formal masquerade then hardly anyone will actually come in costume – a mask is seen as being quite sufficient. Sean Williams is an excellent DJ. Sadly, having been up since 5:30am, I was not really in a fit state to dance the night away. However, I did mange to give the French dress an outing, and I got some very kind comments.

This evening, all being well, I will be covering the Ditmar Awards live at SF Awards Watch.

Talking of the Ditmars, quite a bit of the discussion on the awards panel revolved around lack of participation. If you have less than 100 people voting it becomes much easier for people to stuff the ballot. There is, I’m afraid, no solution to this other than getting more people to attend the convention. The Australians have tried some creative solutions, including once trying to shame people into participating by adding a character of Best Fannish Cat. The idea was that people would be so outraged at the awards being trivialized that they would all want to get involved, but I don’t think it worked. Given that I’m now wondering how I could win an award for Best Fannish Cat, I can see why.

Auckland – Day 3

~ Cheryl

Progress with the jet lag – I almost slept through the night, just one brief period awake, and then the alarm went off at 7:00am because I need to be up and packed. My friends in Auckland have escaped their work-imposed quarantine and are able to pick me up, thereby allowing me to see some of the local area and saving me a night of hotel bills (yay!).

Yesterday seemed to go well. I don’t suppose we had a lot of people watching the live Sir Julius Vogel Awards webcast, but some people clearly did watch it. Many thanks to Lynne Jamneck for keeping me company through the ceremony. Congratulations to all of the winners, especially my new pal Russell whose books I clearly need to read.

I also bagged three more interviews – the promised ones with Nalini Singh and Norman Cates, plus a bonus interview with Helen Lowe who picked up two SJVs last night. Helen has a YA book out from Knopf and a 4-volume fantasy series due from Eos starting next year. It is great to see all of these NZ-based writers having success. All of them have mentioned the Internet as having helped them work easily with US publishers despite the physical distance.

I’m going to try to find some free wi-fi today so that I can download my email, but I am not sure how much I’ll be able to be online between now and getting to my hotel in Wellington tomorrow night. If you need to talk to me urgently, use Twitter because I can check that from the iPhone without incurring too much in the way of roaming charges.

Auckland – Early Morning

~ Cheryl

The sun is now coming up over Auckland and I can hear birdsong outside of my window. I’ve been composing blog posts and editing video offline because I’m worried about Internet costs here. I have paid NZ$40 for a “monthly” account, but that had a maximum free usage of 200 Mb, after which you pay by the Mb, and looking at my email via the webmail interface I would burn through that in a day or so just checking mail. And that’s just the start. Because we are used to un-metered access we now have software that does automatic updates and web sites with embedded animated ads that chew up the Mbs in no time. Even opening Facebook is liable to use a fair amount of bandwidth. I’m sticking mainly to Twitter and the webmail interface for my email while I am here.

The convention got started last night with opening ceremonies and an ice cream social. The former featured a very nice Samoan dance troupe from a local school that gave us a real sense of being in Polynesia. After the entertainment a bunch of us decamped to the bar, but I didn’t survive there long on account of the jet lag. I did, however, shoot a video interview with two ladies from the committee of Au Contraire, the 2010 New Zealand Natcon (thank you, Kelly & Daphne). This event is taking place the weekend before Worldcon, so it is very much feasible to take in both convention in your trip. From the US you would fly into Auckland, travel down to Wellington (the train is recommended) for the con and then fly out to Melbourne.

The interview covers a range of topics from Lord of the Rings to Lordi, and I was delighted to hear Kelly and Daphne tell me that most of their committee is in their 20s and they are keen to get lots of young people to the convention. I intend to talk to them some more about their plans through the weekend, but thus far it all sounds very promising.

Wellington is, of course, also home to WETA, and Norm Cates is here to give a presentation. Apparently we will be getting previews of what the studio is working on, so I may have to surrender my iPhone at the door, but I’m hoping I can get an interview with Norm while I am here.

Talking of Norm, yesterday he was busy setting up a display of materials for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards. New Zealand is, you may remember, the only country with a science fiction award named after a famous local writer who also happened to be Prime Minister. The award banquet takes place on Sunday night and I am going to look into the possibilities of a live webcast. The CoverItLive software doesn’t seem to use much bandwidth so hopefully I’ll be OK with that.

I shall report back again as and when I can, but right now it is time to get this lot online, have a shower and check out the breakfast. As my hotel booking includes a full cooked breakfast I am going to make the best of it.

Webby Awards

~ Cheryl

I’ve just been looking through the list of Webby Award winners to see if there was anything that SFAW should be reporting on. There wasn’t – the closest we came was Coraline being a nominee in the Movies category. It is interesting, however, to see the BBC and The Guardian picking up a bunch of awards. Journalism is definitely going international, and with so many US papers being so local, and the NYT shooting itself in the foot with the pay wall, British news sources seem to be doing rather well.

The other thing I want to highlight is the winner in the Science category, which is the Cassini Mission Website. It has certainly has some awesome material to post, and most of that material has been provided by the project’s imaging team, headed up by Carolyn Porco. Score one for my Ada Lovelace Day pick.

Martiniere Speaks: Part II

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

The second part of Maurizio Manzieri’s interview with Stephan Martiniere has just gone online. As part of it Martiniere talks about winning a Hugo, and reveals that he declined nomination this year. It is pretty clear that he doesn’t have much idea how the Hugos actually work, or indeed what changes have been made over the past few years, but I’m glad he won anyway because he does great work.

By the way, it occurs to me that Martiniere may be the first Frenchman ever to win a Hugo. I don’t have time to check the lists. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Sam At The Clarke

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

Sam Jordison attended the Clarke Award ceremony last night, and as a result we get a report in The Guardian‘s book blog.

The fans and organisers seemed to share the genuine belief – no doubt inherited from Arthur C Clarke himself – that SF can be a force for good. These books can inspire scientific exploration and discovery as well as amuse and entertain. And that – as someone said – is a worthwhile endeavour in a country where university physics departments are closing because of a lack of interest rather than a lack of funding.

Permit me a small warm and fuzzy moment. If only Sir Arthur had been alive to see it.

Update: And now I see that Alison Flood covered the Clarke too. Wow.

Tiptree Results

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

I’ve just blogged the Tiptree winners over at SF Awards Watch (many thanks to Pat Murphy for the press release). I’m much happier with the result this year. I’ve not actually fully read either of the winners (though I have read some of Nisi’s book and was impressed), but I have heard very good things about both of them. Also the two books I was hoping to see do well, Ekaterina Sedia’s The Alchemy of Stone and Alison Goodman’s The Two Pearls of Wisdom, are both on what looks to be a very strong honor list. I now very much want to read Ali Smith’s Girl Meets Boy. I’m slightly surprised not to see Cycler on the list, but otherwise I can’t think of anything to complain about (yeah, for once, I know…).

Gearing Up for the Nebs

~ Cheryl

It is going to be a long night. I’ll be helping host the SF Awards Watch coverage of the Nebulas from around 2:30am, UK time. That’s when the actual festivities start in Los Angeles (6:30pm local time). I don’t expect any actual announcements of winners for a few hours after that, because the SFWA folks have to eat, drink and listen to speeches first. But hopefully some of you will come and help me make it through the night (or at least until Kevin’s flight gets in and he can get online to take over).

Who Needs Sleep?

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

Last weekend I was in Montreal for a Worldcon committee meeting, on Tuesday I was back in the UK for the London Book Fair, and tomorrow I have to be in LA for the Nebulas – well, virtually anyway.

Details of our Nebulas coverage have been posted on SF Awards Watch, which is where the actual live coverage will take place. Basically we are just packaging the official SFWA tweets in an easily accessible format. But someone has to be online to host the show and approve comments, and as Kevin is traveling that means me. Yawn.

My New Favorite Newspaper…

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

… is the Ottawa Citizen, because of this.

Apologies to Sam Jordison, but I think that story is the best piece of newspaper coverage that the Hugos have ever had, because it makes the point very clearly that you can vote, and if you care about SF you should vote.

After what happened last time Worldcon was in Canada (yes, Rebecca Eckler, we do remember you) I am delighted with this turn of events.

Clarkesworld Stories up for Million Writers Award

~ Cheryl

The long list for this year’s Million Writers Award is out. I’ve just done the official post on SF Awards Watch, which if of course entirely neutral. Here, however, I’d like to congratulate those Clarkesworld contributors who have made it onto the list. They are:

There are many other SF/F/H stories on the list, and as is the nature of online fiction most of them are published by semiprozines.

Hugo Voting Package Released

~ Cheryl ~ 11 Comments

While we were in the Anticipation committee meeting someone else was sending out emails to members informing them that the Hugo voter packages are available. The message doesn’t say what is in it, though I gather from a tweet we caught that Anathem is not included. Scalzi hasn’t posted anything, last I looked. I don’t fancy trying to download it on the fairly slow connection in the hotel here, or on mobile broadband back in the UK, so I probably won’t get a copy until Friday. Hopefully I’ll find out what is in it before then.

Albedo One Translates

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

There’s a very good post by Bob Neilson up on the Save Semiprozine web site today. It talks about how Albedo One decided to adopt a policy of looking for top quality European SF that they could publish in translation. This is the sort of thing that semiprozines can do, but a more professional publication might balk at because of perceived financial risk.

Talking of translations, I’m delighted to see that of the finalists for the Gemmell Award is Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski. I haven’t read that one yet, but it was clear from the short story collection that Gollancz put out first that Sapowski is an excellent writer. Go Poland!

Dress Shopping Report

~ Cheryl ~ 4 Comments

I have bought a Dress. I must admit I wasn’t expecting to find one in Darkest Somerset, but maybe we are coming up in the world. It’s not the best quality ever, but it fits and it will be noticeable, and at £25 in the sale it was too good an opportunity to miss.

When I say “fits”, of course, I mean it fits in just about every place but one. Having small tits has its advantages, and its disadvantages. So the next thing on my Worldcon shopping list will probably be some sort of scaffolding. And accessories, of course. But hopefully the main problem is solved. I shall take it to Montreal with me next weekend to get a second opinion from Kevin.

Hugo Logo Contest

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

Hey, a sekrit projekt has just gone live into the blogosphere. The Hugo Awards Marketing Committee (of which Kevin and I happen to be members) is running a competition to find a logo for the Hugo Awards. Of course we already have the rocket, which is absolutely iconic, but with each year’s base being different, and thousands of different photos of Hugo trophies in existence, there isn’t a single image that sticks in people’s minds and says “Hugo Award”.

So what we are looking for is something that can be put on web sites, can be used in magazines and newspapers, and can even be turned into a sticker that can be put on the cover of books as happens with the Newbery Medal. Who knows, one day we may even see the logo on movie screens.

Full details about the award are available on the official Hugo Award web site. If you are planning to enter, please check out the official rules and submission guidelines. As this will produce something that we intend to register as a service mark the legalese got a bit excessive, but we’ve tried to keep it under control as best we can.

The other great thing about the contest is that we have some really awesome judges. Representing fandom is the fabulous fan editor and graphic designer, Geri Sullivan. From the art business we have Irene Gallo from Tor, and Chip Kidd from Random House who was once described as “the world’s greatest book-jacket designer”. And finally we have a certain Mr. Gaiman who has won several Hugos and is far better publicity for the awards than anything the HAMC can do.

Obviously we’d like this spread far and wide. In particular I’d like to get the word out to awesome graphic designers. Being a fannish non-profit, WSFS can’t afford a huge prize (though many thanks to the folks from SCIFI for helping with the cash prize). However, the visibility that the winning design is going to get will be significant, and being known as the person who created that design will hopefully be very good for someone’s career.