World Fantasy nominees announced

The World Fantasy Awards shortlist was announced today:

Best Novel
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes (Jacana South Africa; Angry Robot)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
The Silent Land by Graham Joyce (Gollancz; Doubleday)
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (Viking Canada; Roc; Harper Voyager UK)
Redemption In Indigo by Karen Lord (Small Beer)
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)

Best Novella
"Bone and Jewel Creatures" by Elizabeth Bear (Subterranean)
"The Broken Man" by Michael Byers (PS)
"The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon" by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All-New Tales)
"The Thief of Broken Toys" by Tim Lebbon (ChiZine)
"The Mystery Knight" by George R.R. Martin (Warriors)
"The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window" by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer 2010)

Best Short Fiction
"Beautiful Men" by Christopher Fowler (Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts)
"Booth’s Ghost" by Karen Joy Fowler (What I Didn’t See and Other Stories)
"Ponies" by Kij Johnson (Tor.com 11/17/10)
"Fossil-Figures" by Joyce Carol Oates (Stories: All-New Tales)
"Tu Sufrimiento Shall Protect Us" by Mercurio D. Rivera (Black Static 8-9/10)

Winners will be announced at this year’s World Fantasy Convention, to be held October 27-30, in San Diego, CA. Announced in advance of the event, the World Fantasy Awards Lifetime Achievement Winners for 2011 are Peter S. Beagle and Angélica Gorodischer.

Reactions:

I was particularly pleased to see Under Heaven on the shortlist for best novel and "Booth’s Ghost" for best short fiction. These were two of my favorite works of fiction from 2010. There are quite a few nominees that I haven't read and I look forward to catching up with as many as I can.

Related link:

Locus Online lists nominees in all the World Fantasy categories

2010 World Fantasy Award Winners

The World Fantasy Awards were announced on October 31, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio. Eligible works were published in 2009.

NOVEL WINNER
The City & The City by China Miéville (Macmillan UK/Del Rey)

NOVELLA WINNER
“Sea-Hearts” by Margo Lanagan (X6, coeur de lion publishing)

SHORT STORY WINNER
“The Pelican Bar” by Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse Three, Night Shade Books)

This gives me a chance to say again that the World Fantasy Awards judges do an excellent job year after year of finding outstanding work to recognize. All the winners and nominees are listed at Locus Online.

The City & The City was a fine novel and “The Pelican Bar” was exceptional, one of the best short stories of the decade. I haven't read “Sea-Hearts” by Margo Lanagan. I did purchase the X6 anthology in the dealers room at Aussiecon 4.

By comparison, the Hugo Awards seem inconsistent, frequently unable to find and recognize the best work. The 2010 Hugo Awards was a pretty good year, especially if we overlook the short story shortlist.

Next year the World Fantasy Convention will be in San Diego. That's too nearby to have any excuse not to go.

Related posts:
The 2010 Hugo Awards: Short Story Shortlist
The Pelican Bar by Karen Joy Fowler
The City & The City and The Other City

World Fantasy Awards 2009

A week ago the World Fantasy Awards were presented in San Jose, California.

• Lifetime Achievement: Ellen Asher & Jane Yolen
• Best Novel (tie): The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow, 2008) & Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin; Knopf, 2008)
• Best Novella: “If Angels Fight”, Richard Bowes (F&SF 2/08)
• Best Short Story: “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss”, Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 7/08)
• Best Anthology: Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, Ekaterina Sedia, ed. (Senses Five Press, 2008)
• Best Collection: The Drowned Life, Jeffrey Ford (HarperPerennial, 2008)
• Best Artist: Shaun Tan
• Special Award – Professional: Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant (for Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House)
• Special Award – Non-Professional: Michael Walsh (for Howard Waldrop collections from Old Earth Books)

The judges for 2009 were: Jenny Blackford, Peter Heck, Ellen Klages, Chris Roberson & Delia Sherman.

Having read enough of the fiction award winners to be able to say this is a strong group of winners, it appears to me that in the past decade the World Fantasy Awards are more consistent than the Hugos in handing awards to top notch work. Could it be because the World Fantasy Awards are not just a popular vote by convention members, but a hybrid of judging and popular voting?

Links:
World Fantasy Convention 2009: Awards
Previous discussion: Toward Better Hugo Award Winners