Award Season is upon us!
I’m very pleased to announce that Playground of Lost Toys is on the Aurora shortlist for Best English Related Work, alongside anthologies published by Edge, CZP, and Bundoran. It’s a great list and Colleen and I are honoured to be on it.
Voting for this year’s awards began on June 15th. CSFFA (Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association) members have until Midnight, EDT on July 23rd to cast their ballots. Membership is open to all Canadians and Landed Immigrants. For more info and to vote, please go here.
The awards will be given out at Canvention 36, hosted by When Words Collide in Calgary, Alberta on the weekend of August 12-14th. I may be able to attend, and if so, hope to see you there.
If you plan to vote, please think of us! There were three stories from Playground on the Sunburst Longlist for short fiction, a testament to this book’s quality, and our amazing writers.
Aurora Award: Best English Related Work
Licence Expired: The Unauthorized James Bond edited by Madeline Ashby and David Nickle, ChiZine Publications
nEvermore! Tales of Murder, Mystery & the Macabre edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles, EDGE
Playground of Lost Toys edited by Colleen Anderson and Ursula Pflug, Exile Editions
Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places edited by J R Campbell and Charles Prepolec, EDGE
Second Contacts edited by Michael Rimar & Hayden Trenholm, Bundoran Press
As I mentioned, three stories from Playground made it to the 2016 Sunburst Longlist for Short Stories. Catherine MacLeod’s fascinating story, “Hide and Seek” made it to the short list. Congratulations, Catherine! Here is the list of nominees.
Sunburst Award: Short Story
“La Héron”, Charlotte Ashley (F&SF 3-4/15)
“The Glad Hosts”, Rebecca Campbell, (Lackington’s #7)
“Stuck in the Past”, Mike Donoghue (Abyss & Apex #54)
“Hide and Seek”, Catherine A. MacLeod (Playground of Lost Toys)
“Get the Message”, Peter Wendt (Second Contacts)
Winners will be announced on September 14, 2016 and will receive a cash prize of $1,000 for the Adult and Young Adult categories and $500 for the Short Story category, as well as hand-crafted sunburst medallions. The top-notch jurors for the 2016 award are Timothy Anderson, Sylvie Bérard, Virginia O’Dine, Dale Sproule, and Myna Wallin. For more information, see The Sunburst Award Society.
Last but not least, Selena Chambers’ “The Neurastheniac” from Joe Pulver Sr.’s Cassilda’s Song has made it to the WFA shortlist. I’m proud to be in this intriguing book with my story, “Stones, Maybe”, and wish Joe and Selena all the best. Cassilda’s Song itself is also on the list for Anthologies, alongside some strong contenders including two Canadian anthologies, which is always nice to see.
World Fantasy Award: Short Fiction:
“The Neurastheniac”, Selena Chambers (Cassilda’s Song)
“Pockets”, Amal El-Mohtar (Uncanny 1-2/15)
“The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History”, Sam J. Miller (Uncanny 1-2/15)
“The Deepwater Bride”, Tamsyn Muir (F&SF 7-8/15)
“Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers”, Alyssa Wong (Nightmare 10/15)
World Fantasy Award: Anthology
The Doll Collection, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor)
Black Wings IV, S.T. Joshi, ed. (PS)
She Walks in Shadows, Silvia Moreno-Garcia & Paula R. Stiles, eds. (Innsmouth Free Press)
Cassilda’s Song, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., ed. (Chaosium)
Aickman’s Heirs, Simon Strantzas, ed. (Undertow)
The awards will be presented during the World Fantasy Convention, held October 27-30, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus OH. The Lifetime Achievement Awards, presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to the fantasy field, will go to David G. Hartwell and Andrzej Sapkowski.
We miss you, David.
