Speculative Literature News
Current news from SFWA, Locus Magazine, the British Science Fiction Association, and other places. (Please feel free to suggest a source for speculative literature news.)
I had a really satisfying conversation with my sister earlier this week. She told me she’d been on a real dystopian literature kick in the last year, that her favorite books currently include The Hunger Games, Never Let Me Go, and The Handmaid’s Tale.
...Enough people thought Le Guin’s Lavinia was science fiction that it was shortlisted for the BSFA best novel award, and placed in last year’s poll of the best sf novels by women of the previous decade.
But why is it science fiction? Is it science fiction because that...
Over at Everything is Nice, Martin Lewis is leading discussions of the nominees for the BSFA award for best short story of 2011...
With those extra days’ reprieve for online nomination for the BSFA Awards, I went back to see what I’d read that had been published in 2011. I knew it hadn’t been much. Six novels. Two short story collections.
I vowed I would do better this year.
The problem is,...
This year’s class leaders for the Science Fiction Foundation Masterclass will be
• Edward James
• M. John Harrison
• Kari Sperring
The Science Fiction Foundation (SFF) will be holding the sixth annual Masterclass in sf criticism in 2012.
Dates: June 22nd,...
What a welcome sight! The post just arrived, and with it, the latest BSFA mailing. In addition to Vector, there’s an issue of Quantum, the BSFA’s occasional newsletter; and a paper copy of the ballot for the BSFA Awards (also available...
This is just a reminder that tonight’s BSFA London meeting will NOT be happening at the Antelope at Sloane Square, where the meetings have been for the last several years.
We’re decamping to a new venue, the basement of the Melton Mowbray on Holborn, near Chancery Lane...
BSFA: RT @ClarkeAward: The Importance of Science Fiction Awards in Elevating Geek Culture http://t.co/RXLEU63g via @HuffingtonPost
BSFA: Don't forget: Christopher Priest interviewed by Paul Kincaid tonight in London. Free entry, all welcome. http://t.co/Nq9xgyi1 EC1N 2LE
BSFA: @emmajanedavies try emailing sf@pwilkinson.cix.co.uk to be sure.
A reminder: Tomorrow’s BSFA meeting, guest BSFA-shortlisted author Christopher Priest, is in the Melton Mowbray, 18 Holborn, from 7.
...
BSFA: The BSFA Awards shortlist announced. http://t.co/d1VVEp36 Congratulations to all who made the shortlist.
The BSFA is delighted to announce the shortlisted nominees for the 2011 BSFA Awards.
The nominees are:
Best Novel
Cyber Circus by Kim Lakin-Smith (Newcon Press)
Embassytown by China Miéville (Macmillan)
The Islanders by...
BSFA: The BSFA Awards shortlist http://t.co/d1VVEp36
BSFA: @mkincaidspeller definitely today. We are "aiming" for an announcement around lunchtime.
BSFA: Last call. 2 hours until deadline for BSFA Awards nominations. Vote now online - http://t.co/uyPnliL5 or email awards@bsfa.co.uk
BSFA: BSFA Awards nominations officially close in 11 hours. Vote now online - http://t.co/uyPnliL5 or email awards@bsfa.co.uk
BSFA: @mangozoid issue has now been resolved. Could you complete the form again, or email noms to awards@bsfa.co.uk
BSFA: @mangozoid we are currently working on a fix.
BSFA: @mangozoid did you enter hyperlinks? There is a note at the top requesting that hyperlinks are not entered as there is a security exception
BSFA: If you're a BSFA member & did not receive an email this evening, we don't have your correct email address: Please email webadmin@bsfa.co.uk
BSFA: Non BSFA members can also vote in the awards by joining here http://t.co/rZ29x0lP and then voting here http://t.co/uyPnliL5
BSFA: Why YOU should vote in the BSFA Awards by @neilwilliamson http://t.co/xYF7MCQA
BSFA: BSFA Award nominations have been extended until Thursday 10pm. Nominate online here: http://t.co/uyPnliL5 Please RT
BSFA: RT @sworthen: Why you should take advantage of the BSFA's nomination extension, esp. if you haven't already nominated: http://t.co/0CYih ...
I have a guilty admission to share with you. For all the times I posted about the BSFA Awards in the last year, encouraging you to share your recommendations of the best UK-published sf novel, the best sf short story, the best work of sf non-fiction, and the best sf artwork from 2011… I...
BSFA: BSFA Award nominations have been extended until Thursday 10pm. Nominate online here: http://t.co/uyPnliL5 Please RT
Lavinia is one of the most recent installations in a long history of what is, in effect, Aeneid-related fan fiction. It was a particularly popular topic for authors in the seventeenth and eighteen century, when the well-educated were quite likely to have read it in Latin as...
Ursula Le Guin’s novel Lavinia is the story of an identity, and of permutations of “I”.
The book begins with the word “I”, and, as throughout, the reader sees this world through the eyes of the titular Lavinia:
I went to the salt beds by the mouth of the river, in the...
BSFA: BSFA Awards Nominations Update: The final list of nominations http://t.co/XskukmIn
BSFA: BSFA Meeting: Christopher Priest interviewed by Paul Kincaid http://t.co/Nq9xgyi1 - 25th Jan, EC1N 2LE. Free entry, all welcome. New venue.
BSFA members have just one day left now to nominate what they consider to have been the best science fiction novel, short story, work of art, and/or work of non-fiction from 2011. Nominations close at midnight on Friday, 13 January. That is, as of when I’m posting this tomorrow.
It...
BSFA: BSFA Meeting: Christopher Priest interviewed by Paul Kincaid http://t.co/Nq9xgyi1 - 25th Jan, EC1N 2LE. Free entry, all welcome. New venue.
On Wednesday 25th January 2012 from around 7pm:
Christopher Priest (Author and critic)
will be interviewed by Paul Kincaid (Critic and author)
Location:
Cellar Bar, The Melton Mowbray Public House
18 Holborn, London EC1N 2LE
...
John Martin may have died around 158 years ago, but his paintings and other works are still well worth seeing! John Martin: Apocalypse, the show of his work at the Tate Britain in London, the third-and-last venue...
BSFA: BSFA Awards Nominations Update: http://t.co/XskukmIn
BSFA: Please see comment at bottom of page for further clarification http://t.co/XskukmIn
BSFA: I'm afraid I've had to unconfirm an e-book I confirmed this morning via Twitter. I'm sorry for the inevitable disappointment - Donna
BSFA: @mpvectis @JonCG_novelist Hello - there is no limit.
BSFA: BSFA Awards Nominations Latest: http://t.co/XskukmIn Please RT
BSFA: BSFA Awards Nominations Update - 2nd one today!: http://t.co/iWkxvgBD
BSFA members have just one week left in which to nominate what they consider to have been the best science fiction novel, short story, work of art, and/or work of non-fiction from 2011. Nominations close at midnight on Friday, 13 January.
Email nominations, along with your name (and,...
BSFA: One week to go. Have you nominated yet? BSFA Awards Nominations Update: http://t.co/iWkxvgBD
BSFA: BSFA Awards Nominations Update: http://t.co/iWkxvgBD closing date 13th - get 'em in!
This review will appear in Vector 269. I encourage you, if you’re able, to go see the show before it closes in mid-January!
...
We’ve gotten a bit behind with plans here at Torque Control. I’ve had a busy end-of-semester, and Niall and Tony both ended up over-committed, which is why you haven’t seen the end (or in one case, beginning) of discussions of Farthing and The Carhullan Army....
The best-of-2011 lists are coming out and, as every year, they make me feel sorry for any book published in the last few weeks of the calendar year. They don’t make it onto best-of lists published before the year is over. They’re out after the brightest glow of holiday-season...
Rather later than originally planned, for which I apologise profusely, I begin the discussion of Sarah Hall’s Tiptree-winning The Carhullan Army (published in the US as Daughters of the North, and that’s the last time I’m going to use that title – it...
If you enjoyed the excerpt from the interview with Diana Wynne Jones in the most recent Vector, you might like to know that the volume which will contain the entire interview is now available for pre-order (Amazon UK...
BSFA: RT @BritFantasySoc: News: Overhaul of the British Fantasy Awards http://t.co/Fo36bfcz
