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Tuesday, February 10, 1970

WSFA Small Press Award Winners

The WSFA Small Press Award, created in 2007, is handed out every year by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association. The award is intended to honor original short fiction works of science fiction, fantasy, or horror published by small presses. The award defines a "small press" as either a publication house that publishes fewer than 45 titles in the calendar year the story was published, a paper periodical that has a circulation of less than 10,000 in the year the story is published, or a web periodical that has a fewer than 10,000 subscribers in the year the story is published. The publisher must compensate the author of the story in some manner, and the author cannot contribute financially to the publication.

One interesting feature of the WSFA Small Press Award is that it is judged entirely anonymously. Although small presses may self-nominate, they must do so in a manner that allows the name of the author of a submitted story to be stripped from it before it is reviewed by either the jury that selects the list of nominees or the membership of the Washington Science Fiction Association before they vote. Only after voting is completed are the identities of the authors revealed, meaning that voting is based entirely upon the strength of the nominated stories.

2007: El Regalo by Peter S. Beagle
2008: The Wizard of Macatawa by Tom Doyle (reviewed in The Wizard of Macatawa and Other Stories)
2009: The Absence of Stars: Part 1 by Greg Siewert
2010: Siren Beat by Tansy Rayner Roberts
2011: Amaryllis by Carrie Vaughn
2012: The Patrician by Tansy Rayner Roberts
2013: Good Hunting by Ken Liu
2014: Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma by Alex Shvartsman
2015: Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon (reviewed in 2015 WSFA Small Press Award Voting)
2017: The Tomato Thief by Ursula Vernon (reviewed in 2017 WSFA Small Press Award Voting)
2018: The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer (reviewed in 2018 WSFA Small Press Award Voting)
2019: The Thing in the Walls Wants Your Small Change by Virginia M. Mohlere

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Monday, February 9, 1970

Prometheus Award Winners for the Hall of Fame

Alongside the Prometheus Award for Best Novel is the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. Originally handed out in 1983, this award is designed to honor classic works of libertarian fiction, and as such is not necessarily a science fiction oriented award. In practice, the bulk of the Hall of Fame winners are works of science fiction, because the Libertarian Futurist Society is an organization comprised of libertarian science fiction fans, but there is nothing intrinsic to the award that requires the winners to be science fiction. In practice, the award was also heavily dominated by Robert A. Heinlein, who won this award six times.

In the first several years of this category, the Hall of Fame award was given to two winners. These were not tie results, but rather a practice of honoring two books by declaring two winners in each year. In 2007, on the other hand, Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here and Vernor Vinge's True Names did tie for the award. Like many "retrospective" or historical awards, the award seems to mostly be "what books did the voters love when they were young readers", with a grab-bag of works, some of which seem to have almost nothing to do with libertarian thought. While there is certainly political content in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed, it is difficult to see how it could be construed as libertarian fiction. And while The Dispossessed is something of a close call on the ground that it is certainly a political book, other books, like J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings just make me scratch my head. I love The Lord of the Rings, but I cannot figure out what it has to do with libertarianism.

1983: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
          Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
1984: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
          Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
1985: The Great Explosion by Eric Frank Russell
          Trader to the Stars by Poul Anderson
1986: The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
          The Syndic by Cyril M. Kornbluth
1987: Anthem by Ayn Rand
          Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
1988: The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
1989: Alongside Night by J. Neil Schulman
1990: Healer by F. Paul Wilson
1991: An Enemy of the State by F. Paul Wilson
1992: This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
1993: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
1994: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
1995: The Star Fox by Poul Anderson
1996: Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein
1997: Methuselah's Children by Robert A. Heinlein
1998: Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein
1999: A Planet for Texans (aka Lonestar Planet) by H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire
2000: The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen
2001: The Survival of Freedom edited by Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr
2002: The Prisoner written and produced by Patrick McGoohan
2003: Requiem by Robert A. Heinlein
2004: The Ungoverned by Vernor Vinge
2005: The Weapon Shops of Isher by A.E. van Vogt
2006: V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd
2007: (tie) It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
          (tie) True Names by Vernor Vinge
2008: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
2009: The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King) by J.R.R. Tolkien
2010: No Truce with Kings by Poul Anderson
2011: Animal Farm by George Orwell
2012: The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster
2013: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
2014: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
2015: 'Repent Harlequin!' said the Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison
2016: Courtship Rite by Donald M. Kingsbury
2017: Coventry by Robert A. Heinlein
2018: With Folded Hands . . . by Jack Williamson
2019: Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

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Prometheus Award Winners for Best Novel

In 1979 libertarian writer L. Neil Smith decided that there should be an award for science fiction that reflected his preferred political philosophy, so he got a panel together and they handed out the first Prometheus Best Novel award to F. Paul Wilson's Wheels Within Wheels. Without any funding or a supporting organization, the award vanished for two years before the Libertarian Futurist Society was created to revive it in 1982. The Best Novel award was promptly handed to none other than L. Neil Smith for his novel The Probability Broach. This time the award had staying power, and has been voted upon (and with the exception of one year, awarded) every year since then.

The Prometheus Award for Best Novel is something of an odd duck. While there are some familiar names that also appear on other genre award ballots and winner rosters, many of the names, and most of the repeat winners - F. Paul Wilson, L. Neil Smith, James P. Hogan, Victor Koman, and so on - are names that only appear on the Prometheus Award's lists. Not only that, almost all of the authors listed here are men, and the only female honorees have come in the last handful of years. Libertarian science fiction has, it seems, long been an inward looking boys club. The most recent couple of years indicate that this may be changing, but it is too soon to tell if this is an aberration or a trend.

1979: Wheels Within Wheels by F. Paul Wilson
1982: The Probability Broach by L. Neil Smith
1983: Voyage from Yesteryear by James P. Hogan
1984: The Rainbow Cadenza by J. Neil Schulman
1985: No Winner
1986: The Cybernetic Samurai by Victor Milán
1987: Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge
1988: The Jehovah Contract by Victor Koman
1989: Moon of Ice by Brad Linaweaver
1990: Solomon's Knife by Victor Koman
1991: In the Country of the Blind by Michael F. Flynn
1992: Fallen Angels by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael F. Flynn
1993: The Multiplex Man by James P. Hogan
1994: Pallas by L. Neil Smith
1995: The Stars Are Also Fire by Poul Anderson
1996: The Star Fraction by Ken MacLeod
1997: Kings of the High Frontier by Victor Koman
1998: The Stone Canal by Ken MacLeod
1999: The Golden Globe by John Varley
2000: A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
2001: Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
2002: Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury
2003: Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
2004: Sims by F. Paul Wilson
2005: The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
2006: Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
2007: Glasshouse by Charles Stross
2008: (tie) The Gladiator by Harry Turtledove
          (tie) Ha'Penny by Jo Walton
2009: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
2010: The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin
2011: Darkship Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt
2012: (tie) The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
          (tie) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
2013: Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow
2014: (tie) Homeland by Cory Doctorow
          (tie) Nexus by Ramez Naam
2015: Influx by Daniel Suarez
2016: Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
2017: The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo (translated by Lola Rogers)
2018: The Powers of the Earth by Travis J.I. Corcoran
2019: Causes of Separation by Travis Corcoran

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Prometheus Special Award Winners

The Prometheus Special Award could probably be best defined as "things the Libertarian Futurist Society wants to honor that are not novels". Among the handful of winners are two movies, one graphic novel, three anthologies, and a lifetime achievement award. There seems to be no real coherent criteria for choosing works for this category, resulting in what seems to be an almost random assemblage of books and movies tied together only by their libertarian themes. One might argue that this kind of randomized award is more or less in the spirit of libertarianism, but the end result is little more than a chaotic mess.

1998: Free Space edited by Brad Linaweaver and Edward E. Kramer
2001: Poul Anderson, Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
2005: The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel by L. Neil Smith, illustrated by Scott Bieser
          Visions of Liberty edited by Mark Tier and Martin H. Greenberg
          Give Me Liberty edited by Mark Tier and Martin H. Greenberg
2006: Serenity by Joss Whedon
2007: V for Vendetta
2014: Leslie Fish for the combination of 2013 novella Tower of Horses with filk song The Horsetaker's Daughter
2016: Alex + Ada (Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3)

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Sunday, February 8, 1970

Mythopoeic Award Winners for Myth and Fantasy Studies

In 1992, possibly realizing that the world of fantasy included much more than merely the three Inklings Tolkien, Lewis, and Williams, the Mythopoeic Society decided to introduce a more general award for scholarship related to myth and fantasy than the narrowly focused award they already bestowed for scholarly works about the Inklings. And thus was born the Mythopoeic Award for Myth and Fantasy Studies.

This Award is given for scholarly works concerning myth and fantasy or for works about the oeuvre of authors other than Tolkien, Lewis, and Williams who are "in the Inklings tradition". A work is eligible three years after its initial publication, and previously nominated works remain eligible for the award so long as they are still within their three-year window of eligibility.

1992: The Victorian Fantasists edited by Kath Filmer
1993: Strategies of Fantasy by Brian Attebery
1994: Twentieth-Century Fantasists: Essays on Culture, Society, and Belief in Twentieth-Century Mythopoeic Literature edited by Kath Filmer
1995: Old Tales and New Truths: Charting the Bright-Shadow World by James Roy King
1996: From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers by Marina Warner
1997: When Toys Come Alive: Narratives of Animation, Metamorphosis, and Development by Lois Rostow Kuznets
1998: The Encyclopedia of Fantasy edited by John Clute and John Grant
1999: A Century of Welsh Myth in Children's Literature by Donna R. White
2000: Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness by Carole G. Silver
2001: King Arthur in America edited by Alan Lupack and Barbara Tepa Lupack
2002: The Owl, the Raven & the Dove: The Religious Meaning of the Grimms' Magic Fairy Tales by G. Ronald Murphy
2003: Fairytale in the Ancient World by Graham Anderson
2004: The Myth of the American Superhero by John Shelton Lawrence by Robert Jewett
2005: Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography by Stephen Thomas Knight
2006: National Dreams: The Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth-Century England by Jennifer Schacker
2007: Gemstone of Paradise: The Holy Grail in Wolfram's Parzival by G. Ronald Murphy
2008: The Shadow-Walkers: Jacob Grimm's Mythology of the Monstrous edited by T.A. Shippey
2009: Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper by Charles Butler
2010: One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L'Engle, and Orson Scott Card by Marek Oziewicz
2011: The Victorian Press and the Fairy Tale by Caroline Sumpter
2012: The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films by Jack Zipes
2013: Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths by Nancy Marie Brown
2014: Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North by G. Ronald Murphy
2015: Stories About Stories: Fantasy and the Remaking of Myth by Brian Attebery
2016: The Evolution of Modern Fantasy: From Antiquarianism to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series by Jamie Williamson
2017: Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church by Richard Firth Green
2018: Children’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction by Michael Levy and Farah Mendelsohn
2019: Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology by Dimitra Fimi

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Mythopoeic Award Winners for Best Adult Fantasy Literature

The Mythopoeic Award for Best Adult Fantasy Literature was one of the initial categories established by the Mythopoeic Society. It was awarded from 1971 through 1976, dropped for four years, and then brought back in 1981. It has been awarded in every year since 1981.

This award is given to the fantasy novel, multi-volume series, or single-author story collection intended for adults and published during the previous year that the selection committee determines best exemplifies "the spirit of the Inklings". This award differs from many other genre awards because books not selected as finalists in the first year after publication are eligible to be nominated in their second year. Books from a series are eligible if they stand on their own; otherwise, the series becomes eligible the year its final volume is published.

1971: The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
1972: Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant
1973: The Song of Rhiannon by Evangeline Walton
1974: The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart
1975: A Midsummer Tempest by Poul Anderson
1981: Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
1982: Little, Big by John Crowley
1983: The Firelings by Carol Kendall
1984: When Voiha Wakes by Joy Chant
1985: Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen
1986: Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
1987: The Folk of the Air by Peter S. Beagle
1988: Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card
1989: Unicorn Mountain by Michael Bishop
1990: The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers
1991: Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner
1992: A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason
1993: Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
1994: The Porcelain Dove by Delia Sherman
1995: Something Rich and Strange by Patricia A. McKillip
1996: Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand
1997: The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
1998: The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt
1999: Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess
2000: Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
2001: The Innamorati by Midori Snyder
2002: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
2003: Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip
2004: Sunshine by Robin McKinley
2005: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
2006: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
2007: Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
2008: Orphan's Tales series (In the Night Garden, and In the Cities of Coin and Spice) by Catherynne M. Valente
2009: Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone by Carol Berg
2010: Lifelode by Jo Walton
2011: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
2012: The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein
2013: Digger (Volumes 1-6) by Ursula Vernon
2014: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
2015: Tales from Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery
2016: Uprooted by Naomi Novik
2017: Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip
2018: Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley
2019: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

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Mythopoeic Award Winners for Best Children's Fantasy Literature

In 1992, the Mythopoeic Society added two new award categories to their annual awards. One for Myth and Fantasy Studies, and this award, honoring the best in Children's Fantasy Literature. The qualifications for this award are very similar to the qualifications for the Adult Fantasy Literature award. The award for this category is to be bestowed upon the fantasy novel, multi-volume novel, or single-author story collection for children published during the previous year that best exemplifies “the spirit of the Inklings”. As with the Adult Fantasy Literature award, books that are not selected as finalists in the year after publication are eligible for a second year and books from a series are eligible if they stand on their own, but if not the series becomes eligible the year its final volume appears. The question of whether a book is best suited to the Adult Fantasy Literature category, or the Children's Fantasy literature category is decided by consensus of the selecting committees.

One interesting difference between the Adult Fantasy Literature award and the Children's Fantasy Literature award is how often series win the award. While Catherynne M. Valente's Orphan's Tales series is the only series to win the Adult Fantasy Literature award, four different series have won the Children's Fantasy Literature award. I'm not sure why this is: perhaps children are more willing to read a series of fantasy books, perhaps children's stories are more suited to a multiple book format.Whatever the reason, due to the proliferation of series victors in this category means that even though the Children's Award has been around for only half as long as the Adult award, there are three-quarters as many total novels represented in this category. If this trend keeps up, the total number of winning books in this category will exceed the total number of winning books in the Adult category in fairly short order.

1992: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
1993: Knight's Wyrd by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald
1994: The Kingdom of Kevin Malone by Suzy McKee Charnas
1995: Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl
1996: The Crown of Dalemark by Diana Wynne Jones
1998: Young Merlin trilogy (Passager, Hobby, and Merlin) by Jane Yolen
1999: Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
2000: The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley
2001: Aria of the Sea by Dia Calhoun
2002: The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson
2003: Summerland by Michael Chabon
2004: The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle
2005: A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
2006: Bartimaeus trilogy (The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's Gate) by Jonathan Stroud
2007: Corbenic by Catherine Fisher
2008: Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) by J.K. Rowling
2009: Graceling by Kristin Cashore
2010: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
2011: Queen's Thief series (The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings) by Megan Whalen Turner
2012: The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
2013: Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst
2014: Doll Bones by Holly Black
2015: A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
2016: Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon
2017: The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz
2018: Frogkisser by Garth Nix
2019: Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead

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Mythopoeic Award Winners for Scholarship in Inklings Studies

This award is currently for books about J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams that make significant scholarly contributions to the study of the Inklings and their works. Books are eligible for three years after they are first published, and a finalist from a previous year that is still within this three-year window remains eligible in later years.The limitations on this award are fairly severe, as only works that relate to the three named authors are eligible for consideration. In practice half of the awards have gone to books about or by J.R.R. Tolkien, with most of the remainder going to books about C.S. Lewis, and a handful of works about Charles Williams.

Early in the award's history, some awards were given to individuals, and not to specific works, as a means of honoring them for their body of scholarship about the Inklings. The first three honorees from this category are individuals, and the last time this type of honor was handed out was 1981, when J.R.R. Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien was recognized for his work in editing his father's many unfinished manuscripts. Since 1982, the award has been given every year, and has been given solely to individual works of scholarship.

As a side note, there have been multiple winners in two different years: 1971 and 1976. I have listed these multiple winners as having a "tie" result, but it is unclear whether these multiple winners were the result of a tie in the voting or merely the result of a decision by the selecting committee to bestow the award upon multiple winners.

1971: (tie) C.S. Kilby
          (tie) Mary McDermott Shideler
1972: Walter Hooper
1973: Master of Middle-Earth by Paul H. Kocher
1974: C.S. Lewis, Mere Christian by Kathryn A. Lindskoog
1975: C.S. Lewis: A Biography by Roger Lancelyn Green and Walter Hooper
1976: (tie) C.S. Lewis, an Annotated Checklist by J.R. Christopher and Joan K. Olstling
          (tie) Charles W.S.Williams, a Checklist by Lois Glenn
          (tie) Tolkien Criticism by Richard C. West
1981: Christopher Tolkien
1982: The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter
1983: Companion to Narnia by Paul F. Ford
1984: The Road to Middle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology by Tom Shippey
1985: Reason and Imagination in C.S. Lewis by Peter J. Schakel
1986: Charles Williams, Poet of Theology by Glen Cavaliero
1987: J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality, and Religion by Richard Purtill
1988: C.S. Lewis by Joe R. Christopher
1989: The Return of the Shadow by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
1990: The Annotated Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, annotated by Douglas A. Anderson
1991: Jack: C.S. Lewis and His Times by George Sayer
1992: Word and Story in C.S. Lewis edited by Peter J. Schakel and Charles A. Huttar
1993: Planets in Peril: A Critical Study of C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy by David C. Downing
1994: J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography by Wayne G. Hammond and Douglas A. Anderson
1995: C.S. Lewis in Context by Doris T. Myers
1996: J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
1997: The Rhetoric of Vision: Essays on Charles Williams edited by Charles A. Huttar and Peter Schakel
1998: A Question of Time: J.R.R. Tolkien's Road to "Faerie" by Verlyn Flieger
1999: C.S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide by Walter Hooper
2000: Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
2001: J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey
2002: Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-Earth edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter
2003: Beowulf and the Critics by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Michael D. C. Drout
2004: Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth by John Garth
2005: War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Janet Brennan Croft
2006: The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
2007: The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond
2008: The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Pavlac Glyer, appendix by David Bratman
2009: The History of the Hobbit (Part One: Mr Baggins, and Part Two: Return to Bag-End) by John D. Rateliff
2010: Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits by Dimitra Fimi
2011: Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward
2012: Tolkien and Wales: Language, Literature and Identity by Carl Phelpstead
2013: Green Suns and Faërie: Essays on J.R.R. Tolkien by Verlyn Flieger
2014: Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays edited by Jason Fisher
2015: C.S. Lewis and the Middle Ages by Robert Boenig
2016: Charles Williams: The Third Inkling by Grevel Lindop
2017: The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski
2018: The Inklings and King Arthur: J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain by Sørina Higgins
2019: There Would Always Be a Fairy Tale: More Essays on Tolkien by Verlyn Flieger

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Saturday, February 7, 1970

Arthur C. Clarke Award Winners

In 1987 science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke provided a grant to establish a new science fiction award, and thus the Arthur C. Clarke Award was born. This award honors the best science fiction novel written in or translated into English that was first published in the United Kingdom during the calendar year immediately prior to the award being bestowed.

The winner of the award gets an engraved bookend, and in an odd quirk, since 2001 a cash award in pounds equal to the numerical calendar year in which the award was won. In prior years, winners received a flat award of £1,000. Therefore, in 1987, when Margaret Atwood won this award for her novel The Handmaid's Tale, she was awarded £1,000, while Jane Rogers, who won in 2012 for The Testament of Jesse Lamb was awarded £2,012.

1987: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
1988: The Sea and Summer by George Turner
1989: Unquenchable Fire by Rachel Pollack
1990: The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman
1991: Take Back Plenty by Colin Greenland
1992: Synners by Pat Cadigan
1993: Body of Glass by Marge Piercy (published as He, She and It in the United States)
1994: Vurt by Jeff Noon
1995: Fools by Pat Cadigan
1996: Fairyland by Paul J. McAuley
1997: The Calcutta Chromosome by Amitav Ghosh
1998: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
1999: Dreaming in Smoke by Tricia Sullivan
2000: Distraction by Bruce Sterling
2001: Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
2002: Bold As Love by Gwyneth Jones
2003: The Separation by Christopher Priest
2004: Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
2005: Iron Council by China Miéville
2006: Air by Geoff Ryman
2007: Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
2008: Black Man by Richard Morgan
2009: Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod
2010: The City & the City by China Miéville
2011: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
2012: The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers
2013: Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
2014: Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie
2015: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
2016: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
2017: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
2018: Dreams Before the Start of Time by Anne Charnock
2019: Rosewater by Tade Thompson

What Are the Arthur C. Clarke Awards?

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Friday, February 6, 1970

Locus Award Winners for Best Novel

The Locus Award for Best Novel was bestowed starting in 1971. In 1980 this award was discontinued and split into two awards, one for Best Science Fiction Novel, and one for Best Fantasy Novel.

1971: Ringworld by Larry Niven
1972: The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
1973: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
1974: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
1975: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
1976: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
1977: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
1979: Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

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Locus Award Winners for Best Anthology

The Locus Award for Best Anthology is bestowed upon the best collection of short fiction that is compiled from the works of several authors. This differentiates this award from the award for Best Collection, which honors compilations of short fiction in which the works are all from a single author.

Though the award had a fair amount of variety until 1987, with Terry Carr's Best Science Fiction of the Year series showing up four times in nine voting years, since 1987, the award has been dominated by Gardner Dozois and his Year's Best Science Fiction series. In the last twenty-five years the Year's Best Science Fiction series has won this award for Dozois eighteen times. Dozois has also won this award three more times with other anthology collections, although in each of those cases he shared the award with a coeditor. In short, it seems that your best bet to have a chance to win this award is to either be Gardner Dozois, or team up to edit a book with Gardner Dozois.

1976: Epoch edited by Roger Elwood and Robert Silverberg
1977: The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5 edited by Terry Carr
1979: The Best Science Fiction of the Year #7 edited by Terry Carr
1980: Universe 9 edited by Terry Carr
1981: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: A 30 Year Retrospective edited by Edward L. Ferman
1982: Shadows of Sanctuary edited by Robert Lynn Asprin
1983: The Best Science Fiction of the Year #11 edited by Terry Carr
1984: The Best Science Fiction of the Year #12 edited by Terry Carr
1985: Light Years and Dark edited by Michael Bishop
1986: Medea: Harlan's World edited by Harlan Ellison
1987: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Third Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1988: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1989: Full Spectrum edited by Lou Aronica and Shawna McCarthy
1990: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1991: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Seventh Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1992: Full Spectrum 3 edited by Lou Aronica, Amy Stout, and Betsy Mitchell
1993: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1994: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Tenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1995: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eleventh Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1996: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twelfth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1997: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1998: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
1999: Legends edited by Robert Silverberg
2000: Far Horizons edited by Robert Silverberg
2001: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Seventeenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
2002: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
2003: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Nineteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
2004: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twentieth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
2005: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
2006: The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin J. Grant
2007: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
2008: The New Space Opera edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan
2009: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
2010: The New Space Opera 2 edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan
2011: Warriors edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
2012: The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
2013: Edge of Infinity edited by Jonathan Strahan
2014: Old Mars edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
2015: Rogues edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
2016: Old Venus edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
2017: The Big Book of Science Fiction edited by Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer
2018: The Book of Swords edited by Gardner Dozois
2019: The Book of Magic edited by Gardner Dozois

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Locus Award Winners for Best Horror or Dark Fantasy Novel

The Locus Award for Best Horror of Dark Fantasy Novel was first handed out in 1989, and was quickly dominated by Dan Simmons, who won the award four times in its short history. The award was not handed out in 1998, returned for one last hurrah in 1999, and was then discontinued.

1989: Those Who Hunt the Night (aka Immortal Blood) by Barbara Hambly
1990: Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
1991: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
1992: Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
1993: Children of the Night by Dan Simmons
1994: The Golden by Lucius Shepard
1995: Fires of Eden by Dan Simmons
1996: Expiration Date by Tim Powers
1997: Desperation by Stephen King
1999: Bag of Bones by Stephen King

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Locus Award Winners for Best Collection

The Locus Award for Best Collection is intended to honor compilations of short stories by one author. This is in contrast to the award for Best Anthology, which honors multi-author compilations of short fiction. This is a moderately odd award because it has been more or less dominated by Ursula K. Le Guin, John Varley, and Fritz Lieber. These three are all fine authors, but are by no means the "big names" in the field of genre fiction. In contrast, due to exigencies of timing and other considerations, this award has never been bestowed upon a collection of fiction by Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, or Robert Heinlein, despite those four authors' reputations as masters of short fiction.

1975: The Best of Fritz Leiber by Fritz Leiber
1976: The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin
1977: A Song for Lya and Other Stories by George R.R. Martin
1979: The Persistence of Vision by John Varley
1980: Convergent Series by Larry Niven
1981: The Barbie Murders by John Varley
1982: Sandkings by George R.R. Martin
1983: The Compass Rose by Ursula K. Le Guin
1984: Unicorn Variations by Roger Zelazny
1985: The Ghost Light by Fritz Leiber
1986: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
1987: Blue Champagne by John Varley
1988: The Jaguar Hunter by Lucius Shepard
1989: Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison
1990: Patterns by Pat Cadigan
1991: Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card by Orson Scott Card
1992: Night of the Cooters: More Neat Stories by Howard Waldrop
1993: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume 1: Secret Sharers by Robert Silverberg
1994: Impossible Things by Connie Willis
1995: Otherness by David Brin
1996: Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin
1997: None So Blind by Joe Haldeman
1998: Slippage by Harlan Ellison
1999: The Avram Davidson Treasury by Avram Davidson, edited by Robert Silverberg and Grania Davis
2000: The Martians by Kim Stanley Robinson
2001: Tales of Old Earth by Michael Swanwick
2002: Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
2003: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
2004: Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin
2005: The John Varley Reader by John Varley
2006: Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
2007: Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
2008: The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories by Connie Willis
2009: Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi
2010: The Best of Gene Wolfe (aka The Very Best of Gene Wolfe) by Gene Wolfe
2011: Fritz Leiber: Selected Stories by Fritz Leiber
2012: The Bible Repairman and Other Stories by Tim Powers
2013: Shoggoths in Bloom by Elizabeth Bear
2014: The Best of Connie Willis by Connie Willis
2015: Last Plane to Heaven by Jay Lake
2016: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
2017: The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
2018: Ursula K. Le Guin: The Hainish Novels and Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
2019: How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin

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