Yes, I am late with this post, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been keeping up with the news surrounding the nominees for this year’s speculative fiction awards. The good news is that thanks to all of my reading throughout the previous year, I’ve read a lot of the books that have been nominated for these awards. The bad news is that all of the conventions have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The silver lining is that many of these Cons and awards will be presented through livestream events. Yet, I feel sad for many of the nominees, especially the debut authors, because they will not be able to accept the award and give their acceptance speech in person. At the same time, I know some of these Cons are open to fans, and a lot of them had to cancel their plans as well. It does make the livestreams good enough substitutes and next year’s Cons will make up for it all, but it’s still a bummer.
Like I said, I read a lot of the nominees for almost all of this year’s speculative fiction awards. If you click on this Google Document that I’ve shared (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G2uYVlAPclCA83KYOb3n5G-xLfW5xza5HT50dz5uX4Y/edit?usp=sharing), then you’ll find which books I’ve been able to review so far. However, I’ve read enough of the nominees—mostly novels and novellas—to know that it’ll be another close year in terms of the winner. I have my picks of who is going to win, but in most cases, I can’t determine who the winner(s) will be. Nevertheless, I’m excited for all of these speculative fiction awards. Fans and readers should not only pay attention to the Nebulas and the Hugos, but also to the British Science Fiction Association, or BSFA, the Aurealis Awards, and the Nommo Awards (to start). On a serious note, there’s a lot more going on in Australia, in Africa, and within their writing communities than those of us residing in the rest of the continents can comprehend.
As for the awards themselves (some of them), both the nominations and the dates of them have been delayed. For example, the BSFA Awards were supposed to be in April during Eastercon, but the event was postponed until May. Those awards will be livestreamed this weekend (check their website for the link). It seems that most of these awards will be streamed, but we’ll have to consult the Awards’ websites and social media pages for information and dates. This experience will be memorable, and we won’t miss them.
Just like last year, I’ll update my Google Doc as both the nominations and the winners are announced. I’ll share any information on whether or not the awards will be streamed and when they’ll occur on social media. I suggest you follow any information provided by the award organizations themselves on their websites, which are listed below. Read or watch the nominated works as well. And, look out for my post on the wrap up of my Reading Challenge, which will be posted towards the end of the award season (whenever that is). Please note: the S.P.F.B.O. 6 will be mentioned in separate posts! Let me know which of the nominees you’ve read! Enjoy this year’s awards and nominations!
If any of the information listed below is incorrect, then please let me know.
Philip K. Dick: https://www.philipkdickaward.org
BSFA: https://bsfa.co.uk
Nebula: https://nebulas.sfwa.org
Aurealis: https://aurealisawards.org
Brave New Words: https://www.starburstmagazine.com
Hugos: http://www.thehugoawards.org
Lambda Literary: https://www.lambdaliterary.org
Compton Crook: http://www.bsfs.org
Otherwise (formerly the Tiptree Award): https://otherwiseaward.org
The Kitschies: http://www.thekitschies.com
BFA: http://www.britishfantasysociety.org
Locus Awards: https://locusmag.com
Arthur C. Clarke Award: https://clarkeaward.com
Nommo Award: http://www.africansfs.com/home
Bram Stoker Awards: http://www.thebramstokerawards.com
World Fantasy Award: http://www.worldfantasy.org/
Wow, I’m impressed that you’re keeping up with all of these! Lately I have been feeling I want to read more adult fantasy and was thinking about looking at award nominees as a place to start. Thanks for the list.
I believe awards nominations are a great place to start looking for reading recommendations, but they shouldn’t be the only references. Thank you for reading!