Friday, December 31, 1999

1999 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: When an award has a category for adult fiction and another for young adult or children's fiction, there is a recurring question of exactly where do the borders between these two categories lie. In 1999, Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess won in the Best Adult Literature category. To a certain extent I can see why the Mythopoeic Society saw fit to classify Stardust as a work of adult fiction, but if someone had asked me whether the book was a work of adult fiction or a piece aimed at younger readers before I had seen this list, I would have replied that it was a young adult book without any hesitation. This, to me, simply reinforces the fact that the borders between categories of fiction are blurry, indistinct, and mostly idiosyncratic preferences of the observer.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess

Other Nominees:
The High House by James Stoddard
The History of Our World Beyond the Wave by R.E. Klein
Someplace to Be Flying by Charles de Lint
Song for the Basilisk by Patricia A. McKillip

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones

Other Nominees:
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (aka Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) by J.K. Rowling
Heavenward Path by Kara Dalkey
The Squire's Tale by Gerald Morris

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:
C.S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide by Walter Hooper

Other Nominees:
C.S. Lewis: Writer, Dreamer & Mentor by Lionel Adey
Christian Mythmakers by Rolland Hein
Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:
A Century of Welsh Myth in Children's Literature by Donna R. White

Other Nominees:
Dreams and Wishes: Essays on Writing for Children by Susan Cooper
No Go the Bogeyman: Scaring, Lulling, and Making Mock by Marina Warner
Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum by Michael O. Riley

Go to previous year's nominees: 1998
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2000

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