29 March 2005

For Sale: 77 Acres, Celestial View
The University of Chicago has announced plans to sell its Yerkes Observatory site in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, overlooking Lake Geneva. The estimate cost is around $10 million and currently the two bidders are an East Coast developer who wants to turn the site into luxury homes and Aurora University, which has a campus that straddles the observatory grounds.

27 March 2005

Philip K. Dick Award
The winner of this year's Philip K. Dick Award was announced at Norwescon. The winner is Gwyneth Jones for the novel Life. A special citation was awarded to Lyda Morehouse for Apocalypse Array. The PKD Award is presented for best original paperback. The 2005 judges are Charles Coleman Finlay, Kay Kenyon, Robert A. Metzger, Lyda Morehouse, and Graham J. Murphy (chair).

British Science Fiction Awards
The British Science Fiction Awards were presented at Eastercon. These awards are presented for works published in the United Kingdom and are voted on by the membership of Eastercon.
Best Novel: River of Gods, by Ian McDonald
Best Short Fiction: Mayflower II, by Stephen Baxter
Best Artwork: Cover for Newton's Wake by Ken MacLeod, by Stephan Martinière

26 March 2005

Hugo Nominees
Interaction has announced this year's Hugo Nominees. Alll members of Interaction are eligible to vote. The Awards will be presented on August 7, 2005.

Best Novel
The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks
Iron Council by China Miéville
Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
River of Gods by Ian McDonald

Best Novella
"The Concrete Jungle" by Charles Stross
"Elector" by Charles Stross
"Sergeant Chip" by Bradley Denton
"Time Ablaze" by Michael A. Burstein
"Winterfair Gifts" by Lois McMaster Bujold

Best Novelette
"Biographical Notes to A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Air-Planesí by Benjamin Rosenbaum" by Benjamin Rosenbaum
"The Clapping Hands of God" by Michael F. Flynn
"The Faery Handbag" by Kelly Link
"The People of Sand and Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi
"The Voluntary State" by Christopher Rowe

Best Short Story
"The Best Christmas Ever" by James Patrick Kelly
"Decisions" by Michael A. Burstein
"A Princess of Earth" by Mike Resnick
"Shed Skin" by Robert J. Sawyer
"Travels with My Cats" by Mike Resnick

Best Related Book
The Best of Xero by Pat and Dick Lupoff
The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction ed. by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn
Dancing Naked: The Unexpurgated William Tenn, Volume 3 by William Tenn
Futures: 50 Years in Space: The Challenge of the Stars by David A. Hardy and Patrick Moore
With Stars in My Eyes: My Adventures in British Fandom by Peter Weston

Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Incredibles
Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow
Spider-Man 2

Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form
Heroes Part 1 & 2 - Stargate SG-1
Not Fade Away - Angel
Pilot Episode - Lost
Smile Time - Angel
33 - Battlestar Galactica

Best Professional Editor
Ellen Datlow
Gardner Dozois
David G. Hartwell
Stanley Schmidt
Gordon Van Gelder

Best Professional Artist
Jim Burns
Bob Eggleton
Frank Kelly Freas
Donato Giancola
John Picacio

Best Semiprozine
Ansible ed. by David Langford
Interzone ed. by David Pringle and Andy Cox
Locus ed. by Charles N. Brown
The New York Review of Science Fiction ed. by Kathryn Cramer, David G. Hartwell and Kevin J. Maroney
The Third Alternative ed. by Andy Cox

Best Fan Writer
Claire Brialey
Bob Devney
David Langford
Cheryl Morgan
Steven H Silver

Best Fanzine
Banana Wings ed. by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger ed. by Guy H. Lillian III
Chunga ed. by Randy Byers, Andy Hooper and Carl Juarez
Emerald City ed. by Cheryl Morgan
Plokta ed. by Alison Scott, Steve Davies and Mike Scott

Best Fan Artist
Brad Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Frank Wu

Best Web Site
eFanzines (www.efanzines.com) ed. by Bill Burns
Emerald City (www.emcit.com) ed. by Cheryl Morgan
Locus Online (www.locusmag.com) ed. by Mark R. Kelly
SciFiction (www.scifi.com/scifiction) ed. by Ellen Datlow, Craig Engler, general manager
Strange Horizons (www.strangehorizons.com) Susan Marie Groppi, editor-in-chief

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
(Not a Hugo Award -- an award for best new science fiction writer of the past two years, sponsored by Dell Magazines and administered by the current Worldcon committee.)
Elizabeth Bear (second year of eligibility)
K.J. Bishop (second year of eligibility)
David Moles (second year of eligibility)
Chris Roberson (second year of eligibility)
Steph Swainston (first year of eligibility)

Prometheus Nominations
The Prometheus Award Nominations have been announced by the Libertarian Futurist Society. The Prometheus Awards will be presented at Interaction and honor outstanding science fiction and fantasy that dramatizes the value of individual liberty, exposes coercive abuses of power or critiques authoritarianism, whether of the left or right.

Novel
State of Fear, by Michael Crichton
Anarquía, by Brad Linaweaver and Kent J. Hastings
Newton's Wake, by Ken MacLeod
Marque and Reprisal, by Elizabeth Moon
The System of the World, by Neal Stephenson

Hall of Fame Finalists for Best Classic Fiction:
It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis
V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore and David Lloyd
A Time of Changes, by Robert Silverberg
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R. R.Tolkien
The Weapon Shops of Isher, by A.E. Van Vogt

25 March 2005

Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
This year's inductees to the science fiction Hall of Fame will include Steven Spielberg, Ray Harryhausen, Chesley Bonestell, and Philip K. Dick. This year's induction ceremony will take place the weekend of May 5-7 in Seattle. This will make the first induction ceremony at the Hall of Fame's new home at the Science Fiction Museum. Each year, the Hall inducts two living and two dead members.

Dr Who Leaked
"The Rose," a 45-minute long episode of the new Dr. Who series which is scheduled to air on the BBC, was leaked to the internet on March 7. The series is scheduled to premiere in late March. The individual who leaked the episode had access to a promotional copy sent to the Canadian Broadcasting Company and has been fired, with possible further actions pending.

22 March 2005

Star Wars on Television
Steve Sansweet has stated that following the release of Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, there will be additional Star Wars projects made for television, in both animated and live action formats. Previous Star Wars television projects include "Clone Wars" "The Ewok Adventure," "Droids" and "The Star Wars Christmas Special." Sansweet didn't offer any specific details.

21 March 2005

Crawford Award
The William L. Crawford Award for best new fantasy author was presented to Steph Swainston for the novel The Year of Our War. The award includes a $100 cash prize and was sponsored by Andre Norton.

Interaction Adds Guest
This year's worldcon, Interaction, has added a special guest, artist Alan Lee. Lee has a long career in print and film, having worked on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Erik the Viking, and Legend. He co-published Faeries with Brian Froud in 1978 and went on to illustrate the 50th anniversary editions of The Lord of the Rings. Interaction will be held in Glasgow from August 4-8.

IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts presented its Distinguished Scholarship Award to Damien Broderick. The award has been presented since 1986

Lord Ruthven Award
The Lord Ruthven Society presented its annual award to David Sosnowski's novel Vamped. The award, founded in 1989, is presented to works of fiction or non-fiction which deal with vampires.

18 March 2005

Conference in Seattle
The University of California-Riverside, which hosts the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle will co-host "Inventing the 21st Century: Many Worlds, Many Histories" from May 5-7 in Seattle. The event will occur with the museum's first induction ceremony for the Hall of Fame, which was previously located in Lawrence, Kansas.

Lindgren Winners
Author Philip Pullman and Illustrator Ryoji Arai have been announced as the winners of the third annual Lindgren Award presented annually to promote children's literature and books focusing on the rights of children. The award is named after Astrid Lindgren, who created the character Pippi Longstocking.

Isaac Asimov Memorial Award
The Lunarians have announced that this year's Isaac Asimov Memorial Award would be presented to John Noble Wilford. Wilford is a science correspondent and director of science news at the New York Times. The award honors those who have contributed significantly to increasing the public knowledge and understanding of science through writing.

Lord of the Rings, Tra La
The musical adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is scheduled to debut in Toronto on March 23, 2006. The show will cost about $11 million to produce and is being directed by Matthew Warchus. Originally, the show was scheduled to premiere in London, but it won't open there until the Autumn. Rehearsals are slated to begin on October.24.

Star Wars 3-D
George Lucas has announced plans to re-release all six Star Wars films in 3-D to help promote the technology. Although the schedule is not confirmed, he has said he hopes to release the 3-D version of A New Hope in 2007 with additional films following each year.

Obituary
Artist James Avati (b.1912) died on February 27. He began seeling covers for paperbacks in 1949 and created covers for works by Tennessee Williams, J.D. Salinger, and John Steinbeck. His genre credits include covers for books by Harry Harrison. In 1995, he was named to the New York City Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.

17 March 2005

Klingon at Library of Congress
The Library of Congress has announced the official addition of a language code and subject heading for works in Klingon in bibliographic records. The subject heading is "Klingon (Artificial Language)."

Obituaries
Game designer Redmond Simonson (b.1943) died on March 11 in Garland, Texas. Simonson and Jim Dunnigan founded Simulations Publications, Inc. to publish their table-top wargames. SPI was purchased by TSR in 1982.

Author Andre Norton (b.1912) died on March 17. Born Alice Mary Norton, she adopted her pseudonym in part to mask her gender at a time when science fiction was predominantly a male field. She began publishing genre work in 1947 with the story "The People of the Crater" (later expanded to Garan the Eternal). She is perhaps best known as the author of juveniles and the Witch World series. Norton was named a grandmaster of the SFWA in 1983 and this year SFWA has announced the creation of an Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Novels.

Fan Suffers Stroke
Fan Fred Patten suffered a stroke on March 11 that has left his left side paralyzed. His vision is blurred and he keeps his eyes closed to avoid feeling like he is on a roller coaster.

Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Nominating Period Still Open
Nominations for the 2005 Gaylactic Spectrum Awards are still open and will remain open through March 31, 2005. The 2005 Gaylactic Spectrum Awards will honor works in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres originally released in English in North America in 2004 in 3 or more categories - Best Novel, Best Short Fiction, and Best Other Work

Small Moon with Atmosphere
The Cassini probe has determined that the Saturnian moon Enceladus, which has a diameter of 500 miles, also has an atmosphere, making it the second moon in the solar system known to have an atmosphere. Scientists speculate the atmosphere comes from volcanoes, geysers or some other kind of sub-surface activity.

Birth
Author Ryk E. Spoor (a.k.a. Seawasp) has announced the birth of his daughter, Victoria Elizabeth, on March 14. Victoria was born at 5:48 pm and weighed 8 lbs. 6.4 oz.

Talebones Database Lost
Patrick Swenson has announced that the subscriber database for Talebones Magazine has been lost. He urges all subscribers to contact him with current mailing address and subscription information.

Machen Award
Reggie Oliver has won the Arthur Machen Short Story Competition with the story "The Silver Cord." He will receive £100 and publication in the journal Faunus, published by the Friends of Arthur Machen. The society has also announced the publication of John Gawsworth's Life of Arthur Machen which was written in the 1930s had remained unpublished.

Legal Defense Fund Auction
Neil Gaiman is hosting an auction on ebay in support of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. The winner of the auction, which ends on March 18, will get to name a cruise ship in Gaiman's forthcoming novel Anansi Boys.

Obituary
Karen Wynn Fonstad, (b.1945) died on March 11 of complications from breast cancer. Fonstad was a freelance cartographer, part-time lecturer at The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, and an invited speaker for many events. She was the author and illustrator of The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Atlas of Pern, The Atlas of the Land, The Atlas of the Dragonlance World and The Forgotten Realms Atlas. Karen helped develop Eowyn Challenge-Worldwide Walk to Rivendell and Beyond where over 800 people have logged 200,000 miles in the past two years.

10 March 2005

Correction: Tiptree Award
Despite previously announcing the winner of the James Tiptree Award as Joe Haldeman for Camouflage, in fact two novels were awarded the prize. Haldeman shares this year's prize with Johanna Sinisalo for her novel Troll: A Love Story.

Ditmar Nominations
The nominations for the Ditmar Awards for Australian science fiction have been announced. The awards will be presented at Thylacon in Hobart, Tasmania the weekend of June 10.

Novel
Richard Harland: The Black Crusade
Maxine McArthur: Less than Human
Sean Williams: The Crooked Letter

Novella or Novelette
Simon Brown: Water Babies, Agog! Smashing Stories
Stephen Dedman: The Whole of the Law, ASIM 13
Paul Haines: The Last Days of Kali Yuga, NFG Magazine, Volume 2 Issue 4, August 2004
Richard Harland: Catabolic Magic, Aurealis #32
Cat Sparks: Home by the Sea, Orb #6, July

Short Story
Deborah Biancotti: Number 3 Raw Place, Agog! Smashing Stories
Rjurik Davidson: The Interminable Suffering of Mysterious Mr Wu, Aurealis #33
Margo Lanagan: Singing My Sister Down, Black Juice
Ben Peek: R, Agog! Smashing Stories

Collected Works
Agog! Smashing Stories: ed. Cat Sparks
Black Juice: Margo Lanagan.
Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine: ed. Lyn Triffitt, Edwina Harvey, Andrew Finch, Zara Baxter, Robbie Matthews & Tehani Croft
Orb 6: ed. Sarah Endacott
Encounters: ed. Donna Hanson and Maxine McArthur, CSFG Publishing

Pro Artwork
Les Petersen: cover of ASIM 12
Kerri Valkova: cover of The Black Crusade, Chimaera Publications
Cat Sparks: cover of Agog! Smashing Stories
Les Petersen: cover of Encounters
Les Petersen: cover and internal ASIM 16

Fan Art
Sarah Xu

William Atheling Jnr Award for Criticism or Review
Robert Hood: review of Weight of Water at Hood Reviews, asking "is this film a ghost story?"
Jason Nahrung: Why are publishers afraid of horror, BAM, Courier Mail, 20 March 2004
Ben Peek: review of Haruki Murakami's work in the Urban Sprawl Project

Pro Achievement
The Clarion South Team: negotiating with the US Clarion people, then promoting and establishing Clarion South which gives emerging writer the chance to work with the best in the business.
Cat Sparks: editing and writing including winning third place in the writers of the future award
Margo Lanagan: for Black Juice
Maloney, Geoff: Tales of the Crypto-System, his short story publications
Sean Williams for The Crooked Letter and efforts in teaching
Jonathan Strahan for work over the year in internationally published reviews and in editing anthologies

Fan achievement
Super Happy Robot Hour
Conflux convention committee
Continuum 2 convention committee

Fan writer
Edwina Harvey
Gillespie, Bruce

Fan website/zine
Antipodean SF: ed Ion Newcomb
SF Bullsheet: ed Edwina Harvey & Ted Scribner
Gynaezine: ed Emma Hawkes and Gina Goddard

New Talent
Barnes, Chris
Barrow, Stuart
Dugan, Grace
Haines, Paul
Robson, Barbara
Smith, Brian

White Wolf Extends Deadline for Fiction Contest
Due to a production delay in the release of Werewolf: The Forsaken, White Wolf is extending the deadline for submission of synopses for novel based on the work. The new deadline for the $20,000 contest is April 15.

Older Writers Grant
The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) has announced that its first annual Older Writers Grant is to be awarded to Andrea Hairston. Hairston will receive a $750 grant to help her in her writing career. Honorable mentions Huey Alcaro, Kathleen Camp, Robin Courtwright, Bruce Golden, and Elaine Sutherland will will receive a year's free membership to the Speculative Literature Foundation. The Older Writers Grant is sponsored in its entirety by Centric Advertising.

Clarion Scholarship
The Clarion West Writers Workshop has announced the creation of the Alma Alexander Scholarship. The scholarship will run from this year through 2009 and grant the recipient $800. Deadline for application in April 1.

Obituary
Fan G. (Gertrude) M. Carr (b.1907) died on March 6. Carr entered fandom in 1949 and was named best new fan by NFFF. She was the original editor o Cry of the Nameless and was a member of both SAPS and FAPA. She left SAPS in 1960, but rejoined in the 1980s, remaining active until 2003.

7 March 2005

Tiptree Award
Joe Haldeman's novel Camouflage has been announced as the winner of this year's James Tiptree Award. The Award will be presented at Gaylaxicon during the weekend of July 1-4. The Tiptree Award, named for the nom de plume of Alice Sheldon, is given to science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.

Seiun Award Presentation
This year's English language Seiun Awards will be presented at CascadiaCon, the NASFiC, to be held in Seattle, Washington from September 1-5. The Seiun Awards are the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo Awards.

Earliest Biped Found
Scientists working in Ethiopia have discovered the earliest known biped, dating back to 3.8 million to 4 million years old. The bones were discovered about 60 kilometers from where Lucy was discovered in 1974. The new skeleton is believed to be a million years older than Lucy.

Hobbits New Species
Scientists have determined that Homo floresiensis, a group of miniature humans whose remains have been found on the Indonesian island of Flores, were a separate human species. According to scientists, the species had smaller brains, but the areas of the brain that control speech and other advanced skills were larger in proportion to their brains as a whole. Team member Dr. Chris Turney, claims that there are stories from neighboring islands that may indicate that the Hobbits were alive as recently as two centuries ago.

Obituary
Producer Debra Hill (b.1950) died on March 7. Hill wrote and produced the film Halloween and many other genre films, including writing credits on several Halloween sequels and production credits for The Fisher King, The Fog and Escape from New York.

3 March 2005

Spectrum Awards Announced
The twelfth annual Spectrum Awards for Contemporary Fantastic Art were presented on February 25 in Kansas City. The winners and other entrants will be included in this year's Spectrum anthology, edited by Cathy and Arnie Fenner.
Grandmaster: H.R. Giger
Advertising Gold Award: "Jack", Brom
Book Gold Award: Brad Holland, Cover of Outside the Dog Museum
Comics Gold Award: "Freaks of the Heartland", Greg Ruth
Dimensional Gold Award: "Quan Yin", Lawrence Northey
Editorial Gold Award: "Sir Hillary Poised For a Takeover", Thomas L. Fluharty
Institutioanl Gold Award: "When Giants Walk the Earth", Arthur Suydam
Unpublished Gold Award: "Victorian Goblin in Formal Dress Circa 1893", Travis Louie

Obituary
Michigan Filker "Dr. John" Filpus has died. In addition to filking, Dr. John had a strong interest in centaurs and wrote several fan stories about the animals. Dr. John was an active convention attendee in the Upper Midwest and also attended several worldcons. He played classical guitar as well as bass and synthesizer. He was found in his Lansing, Michigan apartment.

2 March 2005

SFRA Call for Papers
The Science Fiction Research Association has called for papers for its annual conference, to be held this year in Las Vegas. Papers on any SF-related topic are welcome. Papers on Ursula K. LeGuin, John Barnes, Kij Johnson, Steven Brust, Elizabeth Bear, and Tim Powers are particularly encouraged, as are papers on Gaming and Gambling in SF, the American West in SF, and the relationship between the Western and SF. Submission deadline is March 15.

Kelly to Teach
Author James Patrick Kelly has joined the faculty of the University of Southern Maine. He will specialize in teaching popular fiction in the Stonecoast MFS in Creative Writing program. Stonecoast is one of the few MFA programs to offer a degree in creative writing in science fiction, fantasy and horror.

New Editor at IROSF
The Internet Review of Science Fiction has announced that Joy Ralph will take over the position of editor for the on-line zine. Previous editor, John Frost, resigned in November 2004 and subsequent issues were overseen by bluejack. Ralph will be assuming her duties with the March issue.

FAAN Awards
The FAAN Awards, to honor excellence in fannish endeavors were presented at this year's Corflu:
Best Letter Writer: Lloyd Penney
Best Fanzine Layout: Carl Juarez for Chunga
Best Fan Art: Steve Stiles
Best Fan Writer: Claire Brialey
Best Fanzine: Chunga (Andy Hooper, Randy Byers & Carl Juarez, eds.)

Diary Restored
A sixteen page diary belonging to Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon has been restored by forensic scientists. The journal covers technical notes from classes before the last flight of the Columbia, personal notes, and flight four pages of notes taken during the flight. Ramon was one of the seven astronauts killed when the shuttle Columbia was destroyed on February 1, 2003.

Poetry Contest
Ascent Magazine has announced a poetry contest to determine the contests of its first print collection. There is a Can$5 fee for submission of one poem, or Can$10 fee for submission of three poems with a top prize of Can$100. For more information, see www.bcsupernet.com/users/ascent/contest.htm.

1 March 2005

Academy Awards
The Academy Awards were presented on February 27. None of the major awards went to films of genre interest, although two such films, "Finding Neverland" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" were nominated in some of those categories. Categories with winners of genre interest are listed below.
Original screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
Visual effects: "Spider-Man 2"
Sound editing: "The Incredibles"
Original score: "Finding Neverland"
Makeup: "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"
Animated feature: "The Incredibles"

Japan on the Moon
Japan's Space Agency is drawing up plans for a manned space flight as well as a manned research base on the moon. The announcement comes shortly after the successful launch of a satellite on February 26. Although China has also stated plans to land on the moon, so far only the United States has landed humans on the moon.

Peruvian Figures Found
Archaeologists have announced the discovery of about 50 figures scraped into a hillside in Peru. Similar to the Nazca Lines, these new figures are believed to predate the Nazca lLines by as much as six centuries. The figures cover an area of nearly 90 square miles near Palpa, Peru.

Obituary
Computer programmer Jef Raskin (b.1944) died on February 26. Raskin joined Apple computers in 1978 and went on to create the interface used for the original Apple MacIntosh He began work on the project, which he initiated, in 1979 and is the one who oversaw development and selected the name for the computer.