| The shortlists for the 2005 British Science Fiction Association (BSFA)
awards were announced today (22 January), as follows:
BEST NOVEL:
_9Tail Fox_ -- Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Gollancz)
_Accelerando_ -- Charles Stross (Orbit)
_Air_ -- Geoff Ryman (Gollancz)
_Learning the World_ -- Ken MacLeod (Orbit)
_Living Next Door to the God of Love_ -- Justina Robson (Macmillan)
BEST SHORT FICTION:
'Bears Discover Smut' -- Michael Bishop (SciFiction, 26 October)
'Bird Songs at Eventide' -- Nina Allan (_Interzone_ #199)
'Guadalupe and Hieronymus Bosch' -- Rudy Rucker (_Interzone_ #200)
'I, Robot' -- Cory Doctorow (Infinite Matrix, 15 February)
'Imagine' -- Edward Morries (_Interzone_ #200)
'Magic for Beginners' -- Kelly Link (_F&SF_, September - also collected
in _Magic for Beginners_, Small Beer Press)
'Soft Apocalypse' -- Will McIntosh (_Interzone_ #200)
'Two Dreams on Trains' -- Elizabeth Bear (Strange Horizons, 3 January)
(The shortlist for this category contains more than five nominees
because there was a tie.)
BEST ARTWORK:
Cover of _Brass Man_ -- Steve Rawlings (novel by Neal Asher, published
by Tor UK)
Cover of _Elantris_ -- Stephan Martinière (novel by Brandon Sanderson,
published by Tor)
Cover of _F&SF_, January 2005 -- Max Bertolini
Cover of _Interzone_ #198 -- Kenn Brown
Cover of _Interzone_ #200 -- Pawel Lewandowski
_We3_: chapter 2, pp2-3: 'Run!' -- Frank Quitely (with Grant Morrison
and Jamie Grant, published by Titan Books)
(The shortlist for this category contains more than five nominees
because there was a tie.)
The BSFA would like to extend its congratulations to all those
shortlisted.
The awards will be presented on Saturday 15 April 2006, in a ceremony at
the British national science fiction convention, Concussion, which will
be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow.
The BSFA awards are the main popular vote science fiction awards in the
UK. The shortlists for the awards are compiled from nominations
submitted by members of the BSFA, and will then be voted on by BSFA
members and by attending members of the convention.
In addition, for 2005 a non-fiction award will be presented for writing
about science fiction or fantasy. This will be determined by a panel of
judges from the BSFA, based on nominations from BSFA members. The result
of the non-fiction award will also be announced at the Eastercon awards
ceremony, and a shortlist/recommended reading list will be announced in
due course.
Eligibility for the 2005 awards was defined as follows:
-- The Best Novel award was open to any novel-length work of science
fiction or fantasy which was published in the UK for the first time in
2005. This did not include works published only online. Serialised
novels were eligible, provided that the publication date of the
concluding part was in 2005.
-- The Best Short Fiction award was open to any shorter work of science
fiction or fantasy, up to and including novellas, first published in
2005 (in a magazine, in a book, or online). This included books and
magazines published outside the UK.
-- The Best Artwork award was open to any single image of a science
fictional or fantastic nature that first appeared in 2005.
-- The Best Non-Fiction award was open to any written work about science
fiction and/or fantasy which appeared in its current form in 2005.
Other
decisions about eligibility were for the judges.
Additionally, works published by the BSFA itself (whether in book form,
on the website, or in one of the magazines) are not eligible for the
awards. Works by the judges are not eligible for the non-fiction award,
and works by the awards administrator are not eligible in any category.
Works by BSFA members (including Council and committee members) which
have been published elsewhere are otherwise eligible, subject to the
conditions above.
This year's shortlists include short fiction from a variety of sources
including both print and online magazines; the tie for places on this
shortlist may partly result from the exceptionally high number of
separate works nominated in this category. The artwork shortlist, which
also resulted from a tie, is drawn from sources including a graphic
novel as well as a selection of cover artwork from magazines and novels.
The shortlisted novels for 2005 all come from authors based in the UK.
Any enquiries about the BSFA awards should be directed to the Awards
Administrator, Claire Brialey, via awards@fishlifter.demon.co.uk or 59
Shirley Road, Croydon, Surrey CR0 7ES.
More information about the BSFA can be found at www.bsfa.co.uk; the full
list of nominations submitted for the awards is available on the website
now (including links where available) along with information about
previous winners. More information about the British national science
fiction convention can be found at www.eastercon2006.org/
---
Claire Brialey
BSFA Awards Administrator
awards@fishlifter.demon.co.uk
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