|
The results of the 2005 British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) awards
were announced on 15 April 2006. The awards were presented during
Concussion, the British national science fiction convention (aka
Eastercon), at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow. A separate press release
has been issued about the overall results of the awards.
In addition to the awards for the best novel, short fiction and artwork of
2005, which were decided by a ballot of BSFA members and attending members
of the Eastercon, the results of a jury award for non-fiction were
announced. This award was open to any writing about science fiction or
fantasy published, on paper or online, during 2005. The award is not
confined to academic criticism or reviews, but neither does it exclude
these categories. (Works published by the BSFA itself are not eligible for
any of the BSFA awards.)
The winner of the BSFA award for non-fiction in 2005 was _Soundings:
Reviews 1992-1996_ by Gary K Wolfe, published by Beccon Publications. The
award was presented by John Clute to Roger Robinson of Beccon on Gary
Wolfe's behalf.
The shortlist and the overall winner were selected by a panel of three
judges from nominations made by members of the BSFA. The judges for the
2005 award, drawn in this pilot year from within the BSFA organisation,
are Niall Harrison, Steve Jeffery and Geneva Melzack.
The intention behind the award is to promote good and thought-provoking
writing about science fiction, with an eye to recommending this writing to
anyone interested in science fiction and to members of the BSFA in
particular. Therefore, the full shortlist announced at the Eastercon has
been published as a list of 'recommended reading', as follows:
* 'Speculative Poetry: A Symposium', by Mike Allen, Alan DeNiro and
Theodora Goss, ed. Matthew Cheney
(Strange Horizons, editor in chief Susan Marie Groppi)
* 'Science Fiction, Parable, and Parabolas', by Brian Attebery
(_Foundation_ #95, ed. Farah Mendlesohn)
* 'Blank Pages: Islands and Identity in the Fiction of Christopher
Priest', by Paul Kincaid
(_Christopher Priest: The Interaction_, ed. Andrew M Butler; SF
Foundation)
* 'A Young Man's Journey to Ladbroke Grove: M John Harrison and the
Evolution of the New Wave in Britain', by Rob Latham
(_Parietal Games: Critical Writings by and on M John Harrison_, ed.
Mark Bould & Michelle Reid; SF Foundation)
* _The History of Science Fiction_, by Adam Roberts
(Palgrave)
* 'Perverting Science Fiction: Thinking the Alien Within the Genre', by
Chris West
(_Foundation_ #94, ed. Farah Mendlesohn)
* _Soundings: Reviews 1992-1996_, by Gary K Wolfe
(Beccon Publications)
STATEMENT FROM THE JUDGES
'We found 2005 to have been a good year for non-fiction. In addition to
the diverse range of works nominated by other BSFA members, we
considered book-length works as well as individual articles and
collaborative works appearing in journals, magazines, websites and web logs.
'We feel that the final shortlist both reflects this diversity and
recognises the qualities we think this award should celebrate. It
therefore includes works that we consider to be insightful, innovative,
and well-written.
'One of the obvious challenges in judging an award like this is
balancing book-length works and shorter articles and essays, including
those from non-traditional media. All of these have their own strengths
but, in their own ways, each of the shortlisted works demonstrates the
qualities for which we were looking in writing about science fiction or
fantasy. If they have a single quality in common, it is that they make you
think.
'However, our final choice came down to a closely-argued decision
between two book-length works. One of these -- _The History of Science
Fiction_ by Adam Roberts -- examines the historic ideas and the mindset
that led to the development of science fiction as a particular branch of
fantastic literature. It presents a wide-ranging and original thesis
which, whether the reader agrees or disagrees with it, forces them to
think about the ways in which science fiction developed.
'It was a very close decision but, in the end, the judges decided that the
2005 BSFA award for non-fiction should go to _Soundings_ by Gary K Wolfe.
This collection of reviews provides a reader's-eye view of
science fiction in the early 1990s. Wolfe's reviews are consistently both
perceptive and entertaining, and filled with innumerable careful
observations that are as useful to think with as they are to think about.
Collected together, they stand as an admirable exemplar of
reviewing as a forum for critical discourse, and are essential reading for
anyone interested in written science fiction.'
ABOUT THE JUDGES
Niall Harrison is co-editor of _Vector_, the critical journal of the BSFA,
and senior reviews editor for Strange Horizons. He has written for
_Interzone_, _Foundation_, and the _New York Review of Science Fiction_.
Steve Jeffery is a former reviews editor of _Vector_ and a former judge
for the Arthur C Clarke Award.
Geneva Melzack is co-editor of _Vector_, the critical journal of the BSFA,
and reviews for a variety of venues.
---
Claire Brialey
BSFA Awards Administrator
awards@fishlifter.demon.co.uk
" | 
