2017 Aurora Awards Ballot Announced

The Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association has announced this years’ Aurora Award ballot. We are very pleased to note that twelve SFC members are included in the ballot in various categories:

In Best Young Adult Novel, Edward Willett (Door into Faerie) and James Bow (Icarus Down)

In Best Short Fiction, Robert Runté (“Age of Miracles”) and Hayden Trenholm (“Marion’s War”)

In Best Related Work, Dominik Parisien (Clockwork Canada: Steampunk Fiction), Hayden Trenholm (Lazarus Risen), Susan Forest (Strangers Among Us: Tales of the Underdogs and Outcasts), and Lucas K. Law (Strangers Among Us: Tales of the Underdogs and Outcasts)

In Best Artist, Samantha M. Beiko (cover to Strangers Among Us: Tales of the Underdogs and Outcasts),  and Jim Beveridge (covers and poster art)

In Best Fan Organizational, Samantha M. Beiko (co-chair, Chiaroscuro Reading Series: Winnipeg), Sandra Kasturi (co-chair, 2016 Toronto SpecFic Colloquium), and Sandra Wickham (chair, Creative Ink Festival, Burnaby)

In Best Fan Related Work, Ron S. Friedman (Villains and Conflicts presentation, When Words Collide, Calgary Comic Expo, and File 770)

Voting begins July 15th and will end on September 2nd. This gives CSFFA members plenty of time read the many books and stories. Canvention 37 and the Aurora Awards will be hosted this year in Halifax, NS, during Hal-Con 2017. If you would like to join CFFSA to be eligible to vote on the shortlisted nominees, you can do so at their website: www.prixaurorawards.ca.

Congratulations to all the finalists!

 

Short Story Published

Paul Marlowes short story “The Grinsfield Penitent” has been published in the Indian literary magazine The Affair. (Click the links to read the story for free on-line.) Ether Frolics cover

The story, about a priest confessing and recollecting a supernatural incident connected to the First World War, also appears in Marlowe’s collection Ether Frolics, which was short-listed for the 16th annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award for the best début collection of short fiction by a Canadian author.

Reviews of Ether Frolics

Marlowe’s sense of place is dynamic and fresh, for all that his writing is set in the past… what Marlowe has written is a creation well worth the read, revealing a major Canadian talent.” – Chadwick Ginther, The Winnipeg Review

This collection of nine short stories is a true jaw-dropping jewel of a book…
Aly Grauer, Doctor Fantastique’s Show of Wonders

SF Canada Members on Alberta Book Awards Shortlists

The recently-released shortlist for the 2014 Alberta Book Awards features a number of SF Canada members.

Sherry D. Ramsey’s debut novel, One’s Aspect to the Sun, published by Tyche Books, is one of three titles shortlisted in the Book of the Year – Speculative Fiction category.

Another Tyche title in this category is Masked Mosaic, an anthology of Canadian superhero tales. SFC contributors to the anthology include Claude Lalumiere (co-editor), David Perlmutter, Marie Bilodeau, Michael Matheson, Mike Rimar, Rhea Rose, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

SFC member Simon Rose’s non-fiction work, Canada in World War I: Roots of the Conflict, published by Weigl Educational Publishers, has also been shortlisted in the Education Book category.

The award recipients in ten categories will be announced during the Alberta Book Awards Gala on Friday, June 6, at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel in Calgary. Awards for Publisher of the Year, Book Illustration, and Lifetime Achievement will also be presented.

Full details of the awards and finalists can be found on the BPAA website at http://bookpublishers.ab.ca/

One's Aspect to the SunMaskedMosaicrootsoftheconflict

SF Canada Awards $1000 to Tanya Huff

JLTrudelTSHuff2013AJean-Louis Trudel presents Tanya Huff with a ceremonial cheque.
(Photo by Jonathan Crowe)

The Aurora Award for Best Novel, accompanied by the SF Canada Award of $1000, was given to Tanya Huff in Ottawa on October 6, 2013 for her fantasy novel The Silvered, published by DAW Books. Born in Nova Scotia but now living in rural Ontario with her wife Fiona Patton, Tanya Huff is one of Canada’s most important and best loved fantasy authors. Since her first professional sale to Amazing Stories in 1985, she has published over thirty books and a number of short stories. Her “Blood Books” series was adapted as the television series Blood Ties in 2007. Her award-winning novel features magicians and shapeshifting werewolves united against a steampunk empire, and has been well received by readers and critics alike.

The 2013 Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature played host to the 33rd national Canadian convention of science fiction and fantasy, also known as Canvention. Ten other Aurora Awards were announced. The fantasy adventure Under My Skin (in the “Wildlings” series) by Charles de Lint won the Aurora Award for Best YA Novel. Published in On Spec, the fantasy tale “The Walker of the Shifting Borderland” by Douglas Smith won the award for best short fiction. David Clink’s poem “A sea monster tells his story” in The Literary Review of Canada won for Best Poem or Song. The webcomic Weregeek by Alina Pete won the Aurora for best graphic novel while the award for best related work went to the anthology Blood and Water edited by Hayden Trenholm for Bundoran Press. Finally, Erik Mohr received the Aurora Award for Best Artist, honouring his covers for ChiZine Publications. The remaining Aurora Awards went to fans contributing to the speculative fiction community across Canada, and the Aurora-Boréal awards for works in French were given out earlier this year in Montreal.

Ether Frolics Shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award

etherfrolicscoverPaul Marlowe’s latest news (aside from joining SF Canada) is that his short story collection Ether Frolics was shortlisted last month for the 16th annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award, which recognizes the best debut English-language collection of short fiction by a Canadian author.

http://www.writersunion.ca/news/short-list-announced-2012-danuta-gleed-literary-award

“Marlowe offers a neatly controlled yet artfully wild and original sense of the bizarre and otherworldly. A unique collection that deserves readers.” – Danuta Gleed Literary Award Jury

The collection was also reviewed recently:

“Marlowe’s stories are detailed, quirky, with a good sense of humour, but not without some dark, deft touches of horror…” – Craig Pinhey, Telegraph-Journal

Arts East has an interview regarding Ether Frolics, the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, and writing, at: http://artseast.blogspot.com/2013/06/author-paul-marlowe.html

There’s more on the book & author at: http://www.paulmarlowe.com

SF Canada Awards $500 to Ariane Gélinas

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Jean-Louis Trudel of SF Canada hands Ariane Gélinas, the winner of the Aurora-Boréal Award for best novel, a presentation cheque for $500. / Au nom de SF Canada, Jean-Louis Trudel remet à Ariane Gélinas, la lauréate du Prix Aurora-Boréal du meilleur roman, un chèque de 500 $.

Montréal, 10 mai 2013 — Dans le cadre du trentième congrès Boréal, les prix Aurora/Boréal ont été décernés le 5 mai 2013 à Montréal.  Parrainés par SFSF Boréal Inc. et l’Association canadienne de la science-fiction et du fantastique, ces prix récompensaient les œuvres produites en français par des Canadiens en 2012 dans les genres de l’imaginaire (science-fiction, fantastique, fantasy) à l’issue d’un vote ouvert à tous les amateurs de ces genres.

Le prix Aurora-Boréal du meilleur roman a été décerné à Ariane Gélinas pour son roman Transtaïga, le premier volume d’un ouvrage intitulé Les villages assoupis que publient les éditions du Marchand de feuilles.   La lauréate a également reçu un prix en argent de 500 $ remis par SF Canada, l’association nationale des créateurs professionnels de la science-fiction et du fantastique.

Le prix Aurora-Boréal de la meilleure nouvelle a été décerné à Geneviève Blouin pour le récit Le Chasseur, publié par les éditions des Six Brumes sous la forme d’une plaquette.

Le prix Aurora-Boréal du meilleur ouvrage connexe a été remis à la revue Solaris, la plus ancienne au Canada dans son genre.  Le prix a été accepté par Joël Champetier, le rédacteur en chef de Solaris.

Le prix Boréal de la création artistique/audiovisuelle a été remis à Ève Chabot pour ses illustrations parues dans la revue Brins d’éternité.  Le prix Boréal de la fanédition a d’ailleurs été remis à Brins d’éternité, qui a amorcé en 2012 une transition qui l’a fait passer de fanzine en début d’année à revue professionnelle en fin d’année.  Enfin, le prix Boréal de la création sur place a été accordé à deux auteurs qui ont complété en une heure une nouvelle digne de mention.  Dans la catégorie des auteurs professionnels, Geneviève Blouin a obtenu le prix pour sa nouvelle « Trou noir de mémoire ».  Dans la catégorie des auteurs montants, Dave Côté l’a obtenu pour sa nouvelle « Brouillard ».

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Montréal, 10 May 2013 — The Aurora/Boréal Awards were announced in Montréal on May 5, 2013, as part of the 30th Boréal convention.  Sponsored by SFSF Boréal Inc. and the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, they recognize the best works produced in French by Canadians in 2012 in the speculative genres as determined by a vote open to all who wish to take part.

The Aurora-Boréal Award for best novel was given to Ariane Gélinas for her novel Transtaïga, the first volume of a larger work, Les villages assoupis [The Sleeping Villages], published by Marchand de feuilles.  She also received a $500 prize provided by SF Canada, Canada’s national association of speculative fiction professionals.

The Aurora-Boréal Award for best short fiction went to Geneviève Blouin for her novella Le Chasseur [The Hunter], published by Six Brumes as a standalone book.

The Aurora-Boréal Award for best related work was given to Solaris, the oldest genre magazine in Canada.  The award was accepted by Joël Champetier, the magazine’s editor in chief.

The Boréal award for artistic and audiovisual achievement went to Ève Chabot for her illustrations in the magazine Brins d’éternité.  Indeed, the Boréal award for best fan publication was given to Brins d’éternité, which began the year 2012 as a fanzine and upgraded to professional status by the end of the year.  Finally, the Boréal award for the one-hour writing contest at the convention was shared between Geneviève Blouin for her short story “Trou noir de mémoire” [Memory Black Hole], in the professional author category, and Dave Côté for his short story “Brouillard” [Mist], in the rising author category.