Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour Taking Entries

The Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour is now open for submissions.

The prize, which first ran in 2020 and is founded by bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch, was previously called the Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award. As part of the prize’s long-term aim of opening science fiction and fantasy publishing to more people, it has been rebranded for its second year and will be working with publishers from across the industry.

The prize is sponsored by Aaronovitch, with additional financial support from Bridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh. It is administered by Cityread, a registered literature charity, and project managed by Sarah Shaffi.

Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour aims to find new talent writing in the SFF space, from magical realism and space operas to dystopia and more. The winner will receive a prize of £4,000, the runner-up £2,000 and up to six additional shortlisted authors will each receive £800. All shortlisted writers, the runner-up and the winner will also receive mentoring from one of the prize’s publishing partners.

Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson

The 2020 prize was won by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson for The Principle of Moments, a space-based adventure story. Jikiemi-Pearson has since secured a publishing deal with Gollancz, and her debut novel will be released in 2022.

Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour opens for submissions from unpublished writers of colour based in the UK at 09:00 on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 and closes at 23:59 GMT on Friday, June 25, 2021.

Ben Aaronovitch, founder of the prize and author of the Rivers of London books, said:

It was really great to have been introduced to so many talented people in the initial award; so many brilliant writers of colour, writing such a dazzling variety of incredible stories. My only regret was that we couldn’t have a great big awards ceremony just so I could meet them in person. We’ll have to do something about that.

I’m extremely excited that this year we’re expanding our reach by working with more UK publishers, agents, bookshops, librarians and anyone else we think can help spread the word and share their expertise with these upcoming writers. I’d always hoped that the award would widen its scope but the speed with which this has happened has been gratifying.

Last year’s winner, Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, has got a well-deserved publishing deal, and we are determined to build on that to ensure that the breadth of talent revealed amongst the runners up will make their own impact on the publishing world.

There’s still a long way to go before UK publishing is the meritocracy it aspires to be but I’m hoping that Future Worlds Prize can be a small step in the right direction.”

Adjoa Andoh said:

As a black actor and award-winning audiobook narrator of sci fi and speculative fiction, it has been my great joy to see more and more authors of colour follow in the mighty footsteps of Octavia Butler, diving into other worlds to reflect on this world, drawing their readers into adventure, danger and mystery to spectacular effect. 

With Future Worlds Prize our hope is to further increase the pool of writers of colour choosing to work in this genre, by encouraging those on the journey to first publication to bring their work to us, to apply for this prize, receive expert support and advice and flourish in their chosen field to the great benefit of all of the readership.

Sarah Shaffi said: “As a lover of science fiction and fantasy books, I’ve always craved more stories told by a richer variety of voices. I’m excited to see the breadth and depth of work we’ll receive, and I encourage authors of colour writing in this area to not be shy, and to get their novels and short stories in to us.”

The prize is continuing its partnership with Gollancz, and is also this year working with all Hachette’s SFF imprints including Orbit, and Pan Macmillan’s Tor for the first time, with more publishing partners to be announced in due course.

Marcus Gipps, publisher at Gollancz said: “As a founding partner in the inaugural prize, Gollancz was thrilled to be part of such an important and vital initiative. We are excited to work with SFF publishers across the market to continue to break down barriers to access and make this the biggest possible prize with the broadest reach. We look forward to many years of collaboration.”

Anna Jackson, publisher at Orbit, said: “We’re proud to be the UK publisher of some of SFF’s most popular and award-winning writers of colour, but we’re very aware that there’s still a significant need for progress to be made in terms of representation within the genre. That’s why we’re delighted to be able to support this fantastic award which aims to discover and champion more underrepresented voices within SFF.”

Bella Pagan from Tor said: “On behalf of Pan Macmillan and Tor, I am absolutely delighted to be involved in this important and relevant award. I hope this will lead to real opportunities for authors from more diverse backgrounds.”

Get full submission details at http://www.futureworldsprize.co.uk/.

Follow the award on social media:

About Ben Aaronovitch

Ben Aaronovitch was a screenwriter for Doctor Who and a bookseller at Waterstones. He now writes full time, and every book in his Rivers of London series has been a Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller. He is published in 14 languages and has sold more than 2 million copies around the world. Aaronovitch is also a trustee on the board of Cityread London and is a long-time supporter of Nigeria’s premiere arts and cultural festival, The Aké Festival. He still lives in London, the city he likes to refer to as ‘the capital of the world’.

About Cityread

Cityread is a registered charity that promotes reading for pleasure and supports public libraries. Previous Cityread initiatives include Cityread London, an annual month-long literature festival delivered in partnership with library services in all 32 London boroughs plus Luton, Reading and. Launched in 2012, it ran for eight years and featured books including Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, and Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik.

[Based on a press release.]

2020 Xingyun Awards for Chinese Science Fiction Winners Announced

The eleventh annual Xingyun Awards for Chinese Science Fiction were presented by the World Chinese Science Fiction Association on April 24, 2021. The ceremony was held in Lingshui, Hainan Province. Due to Covid-19, the award ceremony was postponed from November 2020 to April 2021.

BEST NOVEL

  • WINNER: The Stars, Qi Yue

Other finalists

  • Memory Deviation, Wu Chu
  • The Cosmic Egg, Wang Jinkang
  • A Voyager in the Sea of Stars, A Que

BEST NOVELLA

  • WINNER: “Astronomical Priests”, Baoshu

Other finalists

  • “Host”, Cheng Jingbo
  • “The Algorithms for Life”, Chen Qiufan
  • “Forget-Me-Not”, A Que

BEST SHORT STORY

  • WINNER: “In This Moment, We are Happy”, Chen Qiufan

Other finalists

  • “The Man Who Recedes into the Past”, Baoshu
  • “Seventeen Years”, Bai Bi
  • “The Personification Algorithm”, Yang Wanqing

BEST NON-FICTION

  • WINNER: Cognitive Estrangement: Study of Science Fiction by H.G. Wells, Li Chan

Other finalists

  • “’Materials’ and ‘Devices’ in Science Fiction: A case study of Tower of Babylon and Folding Beijing”, Fei Dao
  • “Relic, Mirage and Future-land: The positioning of contemporary science fiction”, Dai Jinhua
  • “I Have Run into this Galaxy Before: Reading Galaxy Edge No.4”, Jiang Zhenyu

BEST TRANSLATED FICTION

  • WINNER: Central Station, Lavie Tidhar, translated by Chen Yang

Other finalists

  • Dragon’s Egg, Robert L. Forward, translated by Kuan Yuan
  • “Magician”, Satoru Ogawa, translated by Ding Dingchong
  • Marrow, Robert Reed, translated by Jia Ye

BEST ARTWORK

  • WINNER: Cover of Science Fiction World Translation 6/19, Wu Wei

Other finalists

  • Cover of The Listener, Butu
  • Cover of Cat Country, Guangyuan
  • Illustration of Dark Forest in Illustration Collection of the Three-body Problem, Techism-Heyuan

BEST NEW WRITER (2017-2019)

  • WINNER: Mu Ming

Other finalists

  • Wang Nuonuo
  • Fenxing Chengzi
  • Wu Chu
  • Zhao Lei

[Based on a press release.]

Pixel Scroll 4/27/21 Two Pixels Diverged In A Mellow Scroll, And Sorry I Could Not File Both

(1) FREE COMIC BOOK DAY IS 8/14. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. (Me.) Free Comic Book Day is August 14 — just like it says on the logo! — contrary to the typoed date in my standalone post (which has now been corrected, thanks to eagle-eyed John King Tarpinian.)

(2) MARVEL’S PLAN FOR PRIDE MONTH. This June, Marvel Comics will observe Pride Month with a celebration of LGBTQ+ characters and creators in Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1.

Marvel’s first-ever queer-centered special will get a special Frame Variant cover by artist Luciano Vecchio. An homage to the iconic Marvel 25th Anniversary covers released in 1985, this cover spotlights Marvel’s tapestry of LGBTQ+ characters and will reveal a brand-new hero who is set to make their debut within the upcoming one-shot. Check out this incredible cover below!

(3) C’MON, YOU DROIDS, YOU WANNA POST FOREVER? Your reminder that the USPS Droid Stamps are scheduled for Star Wars Day! (May the Fourth). File 770’s post about them is here. Order them from USPS here.

(4) FILER IN THE NEWS. Cora Buhlert’s local paper the Kreiszeitung ran a profile of her today. The online version of the article with a photo of her standing beside a bookcase is here:  “Stuhrer Autorin ist für Science-Fiction-Preis Hugo nominiert” Only in German, alas.

…Schließlich schreibt sie auf ihrem eigenen Blog über Science-Fiction, Fantasy und Artverwandtes. Seit einiger Zeit außerdem auf der Webseite galacticjourney.org. Sie rezensiert Filme, Serien und Literatur, führt Interviews mit Kollegen. Und zwar immer auf Englisch, aus Fan-Perspektive….

(5) TED TALKS. Lex Berman interviews Ted White about his early writing career contributing to Rogue Magazine in a Diamond Bay Press podcast.

…White’s first sale there was Riot at Newport.

White also discusses his piece on the beatnik riot of Washington Square, Balladeers and Billy Clubs, and the general scene around Greenwich Village and what it was like trying to make a living as a jazz critic in the early 1960s.

“My eyes started to burn. We were on the fringe of a cloud of tear gas that the police had laid down in the center of Newport, where all these kids were “rioting.” When we drove up to Boston, around midnight, there were roadblocks. Police were letting people out, but they weren’t letting anybody in. It was like that.”

(6) LET MT. TBR FLOURISH. Vulture says these 11 books are “The Best Fantasy Novels to Read After ‘Shadow and Bone’”.

If you’re anything like us, you couldn’t wait to watch Netflix’s latest fantasy series, Shadow and Bone. An adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s original Grisha trilogy and the Six of Crows duology, the magical drama is filled with incredible world-building, complex heroes, rakish heists, and enticing villains. But if bingeing the eight-episode first season only left you wanting more, we have you covered…

First on the list:

Wicked Saints, by Emily A. Duncan

This dark fantasy features so much for Shadow and Bone fans to love: an intricate, Slavic-inspired world; a divine young girl tasked with saving her kingdom; an alluring boy with a terrible secret; and a weary prince unsure of his identity off the battlefield. Set amid a centuries-long war between Kalyazin, a devout polytheistic country where only a select few can access the gods’ magic, and Tranavia, a country that cast out the gods and is ruled by ruthless blood mages, Wicked Saints is a seductively brutal tale about power, faith, and agency. It’s also metal as hell, with creatively incorporated elements of cosmic horror. The series’ extensive lore adds a wonderful sense of history to this story, and it features an epic enemies-to-lovers romance that will be sure to resonate with any Darkling fans.

(7) RASCH OBIT. [Item by Cora Buhlert.] In sad news, the Brazilian born (East) German science fiction author Carlos Rasch died on January 7, 2021, aged 88. His death only became known in the German SFF community lately, similar to what happened when Charles Saunders died.

 Here is Carlos Rasch’s English-language Wikipedia page updated with his death date: Carlos Rasch.

…At the age of six, he moved with his parents from Brazil to Germany. In 1951 he started working as a reporter for the GDR’s Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst. It was during his days as a reporter that he started writing literature. In 1965 he became a full-time writer. In addition to writing novels, he penned science-fiction short stories and radio dramas as well co-authoring the unproduced thirteen-part GDR television series Raumlotsen. There followed a period in which he was out of favor with the ruling powers and earned his keep through pick-up jobs and writing under pseudonyms. By the mid-80s, he was once again able to publish. From 1990 until he retired in 1997, he worked for the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung in Potsdam.[3]

Available only in German are the death notice from his local newspaper, “Traueranzeigen von Carlos Rasch” — | Märkische Onlinezeitung Trauerportal, and this brief tribute by Klaus Frick, who is the current editor-in-chief of Perry Rhodan: “Carlos Rasch ist tot”.

I got some of Carlos Rasch’s novels on packages from my East German great-aunt, because “you like space books”. They were fun adventure SF about ancient astronauts and the like. After the fall of the wall, Rasch worked as a journalist, but his SF writing career never really took off again.

(8) KAHN OBIT. Bernie Kahn, who wrote more than 100 episodes of television including Bewitched, The Addams Family, Get Smart and Three’s Company, died April 21 reports Deadline: “Bernie Kahn Dead: ‘Get Smart’, ‘Addams Family’ Writer Was 90”. He also had a credit for writing the story of a My Favorite Martian episode.

(9) KAMINSKY OBIT. The New York Times recalls the reasons for his fame: “Daniel Kaminsky, Internet Security Savior, Dies at 42”. He was also known to some readers here who personally mourn his passing.

Daniel Kaminsky, a security researcher known for his discovery of a fundamental flaw in the fabric of the internet, died on Friday at his home in San Francisco. He was 42.

His aunt, Dr. Toby Maurer, said the cause was diabetes ketoacidosis, a serious diabetic condition that led to his frequent hospitalization in recent years.

In 2008, Mr. Kaminsky was widely hailed as a latter-day, digital Paul Revere after he found a serious flaw in the internet’s basic plumbing that could allow skilled coders to take over websites, siphon off bank credentials or even shut down the internet. Mr. Kaminsky alerted the Department of Homeland Security, executives at Microsoft and Cisco, and other internet security experts to the problem and helped spearhead a patch….

(10) MEDIA BIRTHDAY.

  • April 27, 1963 — On this day in 1963, The Day of the Triffids premiered in the USA. It was produced by George Pitcher and Philip Yordan, as directed by Steve Sekely.  It’s rather loosely based on the 1951 novel of the same name by John Wyndham (who was toastmaster at Loncon 1) as scripted by Bernard Gordon and Philip Yordan. It starred Howard Keel, Nicole Maurey, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore and Mervyn Johns. Critics who were familiar with the novel expressed their distaste for the film. It currently has a fifty-one percent rating among audience reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes.  Yes, it’s in the public domain, so you can watch it here.

(11) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.

[Compiled by Cat Eldridge and John Hertz.]

  • Born April 27, 1901 Frank Belknap Long. John Hertz says that he should be singled out for the “To Follow Knowledge” novelette, lovingly discussed here. I only add as John didn’t note it, that Long received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. (Died 1994.) (CE) 
  • Born April 27, 1920 Doris Baumgardt. Well-known and loved fan, illustrator and writer under the name of Leslie Perri. She was a member of the Futurians, and a founding member of FAPA. She was also a member of the CPASF and the Science Fictioneers. She was one of five members of the Futurians allowed into the first World Science Fiction Convention by Sam Moskowitz  with the other four were Isaac Asimov, David Kyle, Jack Robinson and Richard Wilson. She wrote three pieces of short fiction that were published in the Forties and Fifties; she contributed artwork to fanzines. (Died 1970.) (CE)
  • Born April 27, 1920 – Edwin Morgan.  Scottish poet and translator.  First Glasgow Poet Laureate.  First Scottish Nat’l Poet (The Scots Makar).  Two SF-chess short stories.  Many poems for us.  See e.g. collections The Second LifeFrom Glasgow to SaturnStar GateSonnets from Scotland.  (Died 2010) [JH]
  • Born April 27, 1922 Jack Klugman. He was in an amazing four Twilight Zone episodes (“A Passage for Trumpet “, “A Game of Pool, “Death Ship” and “ In Praise of Pip” plus one-offs on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Outer Limits. Does Around the World in Eighty Days count as genre adjacent? He was in the miniseries. (Died 2012.) (CE) 
  • Born April 27, 1936 – John Burningham.  Author and illustrator.  Two Greenaway Medals.  Boston Globe – Horn Book Award.  Maschler Award.  Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German youth-literature prize).  Five dozen books, some ours.  Here is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Here is Come away from the water, Shirley.  Here is an ed’n of The Wind in the Willows (showing different illustrations on slipcover and jacket).  Here is an interior from Borka (a goose with no feathers; second from right).  (Died 2019) [JH]
  • Born April 27, 1957 Rachel Caine. She had two series, the Weather Warden series which is most excellent and the superb Great Library series. I can’t speak to the Morganville Vampires series as I don’t do vampires really. And yes, I know she’s got a number of other series, far more than can be detailed here. (Died 2020.) (CE)
  • Born April 27, 1958 – Caroline Spector, age 63.  Three novels, a dozen shorter stories; games; two years Associate Editor at Amazing.  She is a Wild Card and has nine stories there.  Also plays bass.  [JH]
  • Born April 27, 1963 Russell T. Davies, 58. Responsible for the 2005 revival on BBC One of Doctor Who. (A Whovian since the very beginning, he thinks “The Talons of Weng-Chiang” has the best dialogue in the entire series, an opinion I concur with.) Of course he’s also responsible for Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures as well. (Need I note that the The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot was his idea?) Oh, and a few years back, he produced A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (CE) 
  • Born April 27, 1969 – Dame Darcey Bussell, age 52.  Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet at 20.  Judged Strictly Come Dancing on British television.  President of the Royal Academy of Dance.  Two honorary doctorates.  Kennedy Center Gold Medal.  Arlan Award.  Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.  For us, a score of novels, half a dozen shorter stories (with, she says, ghostwriters) about magic shoes that turn girls into ballerinas.  [JH]
  • Born April 27, 1970 – Emmanuel Gorinstein, age 51.  A dozen covers.  Here is The Rest of the Robots (only eight stories in this ed’n).  Here is The Caves of Steel.   Here is Ender’s Shadow.  [JH]
  • Born April 27, 1977 – Jedidiah Berry, age 44.  One novel (The New Yorker said it was like Wes Anderson adapting Kafka), ten shorter stories. “The Family Arcana” was published as a Poker deck.  Went to Bard, has taught there.  Co-edited an issue of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet.  Interactive fiction here.  [JH]
  • Born April 27, 1986 Jenna Coleman, 35. Clara Oswald, Companion to the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors.   She remains the longest serving companion since the series was revived. Genre wise, she was also Connie in Captain America: The First Avenger, and did voice work on the animated reboot of Thunderbirds Are Go. And yes, she showed up in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot which deserves to be annotated. (CE)

(12) ALL ABOARD! They’ve got a full house at the International Space Station.

(13) GROOT TAKES ROOT. Disney Imagineers are developing a free-roaming robotic actor, and the prototype has been decked out as Groot.

Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development is developing a small-scale, free-roaming robotic actor that can take on the role of our similarly-sized Disney characters. Its tightly integrated design provides over 50 degrees of freedom in a compact platform that can walk, gesture, and emote in style. Using custom authoring tools that combine whole-body motion planning and traditional character animation, artists can quickly bring robotic characters to life with expressive motions and interactive behaviors. There are no immediate plans for use in Disney theme parks; however, a prototype in the form of Groot is being used to test unique traits, gaits and capabilities.

(14) PORTRAIT WITHOUT THE ARTIST. DUST presents the sci-fi short film “Muse”.

An artist turns to his android muse for help when trying to sell his newest paintings, but events take a dark and disturbing turn when the android learns what has inspired the work.

(15) STARTING OUT SUPER. Can you stand this much wholesomeness? Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten on Kartoon Channel.

From the genius mind of the late Stan Lee comes the exciting new animated show for preschoolers, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten. The school day at Superhero Kindergarten is a lot like that at any other kindergarten…except these six extraordinary students have a secret… They are superheroes! Rather than powers derived from a radioactive spider bite or gamma rays, these special kids’ powers come from common kindergarten items like white glue, putty, building blocks and yes, even farts (yuck!) And thankfully, they have Arnold Armstrong (AKA Captain Fantastic, the greatest superhero to ever live!) as their teacher (voiced by Arnold Schwarzenegger). Superhero Kindergarten brings the very best superhero storytelling to a new generation of preschoolers with action, comedy and heart. Embedded in each episode is a valuable life-lesson about health, exercise, nutrition and anti-bullying!

(16) VIDEO OF THE DAY. In “Honest Game Trailers: Outriders” on YouTube, Fandom Games says the game is a “goofy sci-fi romp” that features the four elements:  “earth, fire, space-time, and guns!”  (Bonus feature: Gilbert and Sullivan parodies!)

[Thanks to Rob Thornton, Michael Toman, John King Tarpinian, Mike Kennedy, JJ, Martin Morse Wooster, Andrew Porter, Cat Eldridge, Cora Buhlert, Daniel Dern, and John Hertz for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Hampus Eckerman.]

Winnipeg Joins the Race for the 2023 Worldcon

The Winnipeg in 2023 Committee today announced their bid for the 81st World Science Fiction Convention. The bid has filed the required papers with the DisCon III committee inviting the Worldcon to return to Winnipeg for the first time since 1994.

The Winnipeg in 2023 committee proposes to host the Worldcon at the RBC Convention Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from August 24-28, 2023. The RBC Convention Center has doubled in size since it hosted the 52nd Worldcon in 1994, and is now Canada’s fourth largest convention center.

The bid committee is headed by Terry Fong, an experienced Worldcon convention organizer, and includes John Mansfield, the chair of the last Worldcon in Winnipeg, as a senior advisor. Its 23 members are experienced convention organizers, including past Worldcon and World Fantasy Convention chairs and local convention runners.

The Winnipeg in 2023 bid is a committee of Cansmof, a Canadian not-for-profit corporation that specializes in running and sponsoring fannish events in Canada. The bid is endorsed by WINSFA Inc., which oversees KeyCon, an annual science fiction convention that has been held in Winnipeg since 1984 over the Victoria Day weekend each year. Although the 2020 and 2021 events are virtual for safety reasons, the 2022 KeyCon is planning an in person event again. More information about KeyCon is available at Keycon.org.

 This bid was developed with the support of Tourism Winnipeg. The last Worldcon in Winnipeg generated an estimated Canadian $9M in economic activity and drew nearly 4000 attendees from around the world. The last Canadian Worldcon in Montreal in 2009 had similar numbers..

The Winnipeg bid is competing with Chengdu, Sichuan, China and Memphis, Tennessee to host the 2023 Worldcon

Copies of their submissions to Site Selection can be downloaded here.

More information about the Winnipeg bid is available from the committee’s website, winnipegin2023.ca. Direct queries for additional information can be sent to [email protected].

The chair may be directly contacted at [email protected].

Social Media: 

Organization of the Bid

  • Chair: Terry Fong
  • Vice-Chair: Robbie Bourget, Linda Ross Mansfield
  • Graphics: Phynix Caskey
  • Social Media: Marah Searle-Kovacevic
  • Discord: CarynLiz Bleakley-Fauerbach (Dundee,Scotland)

Other bid committee members:

  • Rebecca Downey (Montreal, QC, Canada)
  • Bruce Farr (Santa Rosa, CA, USA)
  • Neyir Cenk Gökçe (Ottawa, ON, Canada)
  • Níamh Kearney (Dublin, Ireland)
  • Diane Lacey (Toronto, ON, Canada)
  • Ruth Lichtwardt (Lawrence, KS, USA)
  • John Mansfield (Winnipeg, MB, Canada)
  • Sheena Morrison-Sousa (Winnipeg, MB, Canada)
  • Maree Pavletich (Auckland, New Zealand)
  • Andrea Senchy (Woodland Park, NJ, USA)
  • Jannie Shea (Tulsa, OK, USA)
  • Chuck Shimada (Huntington Beach, CA, USA)
  • Albert Sousa (Winnipeg, MB, Canada)
  • Christine Taylor-Butler (Kansas City)

[Based on a press release.]

Free Comic Book Day Is 8/14

August 14 is Free Comic Book Day, when participating comic book stores across North America and the world will be giving away comic books to visitors in their shops. Use the locator on the website to search for a store near you.

Click here to see the covers of 50 comics being handed out free.

The event traditionally takes place on the first Saturday in May but will return to a single-day celebration in August for the event’s milestone 20th anniversary.

The titles are shown in this promotional video.

Marvel Comics will release two Free Comic Book Day titles, each containing two separate stories that provide entry points for new readers to the ongoing sagas of the Avengers, Spider-Man, Venom, and the Hulk. Crafted by some of Marvel Universe’s chief architects including Jason Aaron and Chip Zdarsky and many more surprises and featuring art by superstars like Marvel’s Stormbreaker Iban Coello and Greg Smallwood, comic shop visitors will be able to pick up Free Comic Book Day 2021: Avengers/Hulk and Free Comic Book Day 2021: Spider-Man/Venom.

Here are several descriptions of the comics in the FCBD catalog:

ARCHIE: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE FUN!
Archie Comics

It’s the Crisis of Infinite Archies! Celebrate 80 years of the Riverdale Gang with this tale featuring a dimensionhopping Archie Andrews in his quest to save the multiverse! Then, witness Archie go toe-to-toe with… himself?! May the best Archie win! Plus, get a preview of the newest Archie One-Shot in shops! This title includes several versions of Archie (from classic to TV to horror) and showcases his evolution as a character over eight decades!

Rating: All Ages

LADY MECHANIKA
Image Comics

A young woman in the Victorian Era searches desperately for the secrets to her past, which resulted in her extraordinary but unnatural mechanical limbs. Lady Mechanika will include the 14-page stand-alone story “The Demon of Satan’s Alley,” which first introduced Lady Mechanika and her steampunk world (Lady Mechanika #0), plus 8 or more pages of excerpts from upcoming and/or existing Lady Mechanika books including “Monster at the Ministry of Health,” the newest story by series creator Joe Benitez which will debut this year at Image Comics.

Rating: Teen

WHO SPARKED THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT?
Penguin Workshop

From refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger to sparking civil rights protests across America, explore how Rosa Parks’ powerful act earned her the title “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.” A story of resistance, strength, and unwavering spirit, this graphic novel invites readers to immerse themselves in the life of the American Civil Rights leader.

Rating: All Ages

Pixel Scroll 4/26/21 In A Scrolling Way, It’s About That Pixel

(1) INTRODUCING BEST EDITOR. During last night’s telecast: “Harrison Ford uses Oscar soapbox to get some Blade Runner complaints off his chest”.

“I’d like to share some notes, some editorial suggestions that were prepared after the screening of, uh, a movie I was in,” joked Ford. “Opening too choppy. Why is this voice-over track so terrible? He sounds drugged.”

“Were they all on drugs? Dekker at the piano is interminable. Flashback dialogue is confusing. Is he listening to a tape? Why do we need the third cut to the eggs? The synagogue music is awful on the street. We’ve got to use Vangelis. Up to Zora’s death, the movie is deadly dull. This movie gets worse every screening.

(2) TRUST ME, IT DIDN’T WIN. EscYOUnited, in “Eurovision Movie’s ‘Húsavík’ does not win 2021 Oscar for Best Original Song”, admits its fans are disappointed, but notes how many other honors the movie has received – including a Hugo nomination.

…Sadly things did not go in Fire Saga’s favor, as H.E.R., Dernest Emile II, and Tiara Thomas won the award for their song “Fight For You” featured in Judas and the Black Messiah. Even without tonight’s Oscar, the Eurovision movie is still a two time award winning film. Prior to tonight the music editor team won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Musical for Feature film and “Húsavík” won the award for Outstanding Original Song for Visual Media….

(3) REMEMBERED. The Oscars 2021 In Memoriam video included Ian Holm, Max Von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, Wilford Brimley, Ron Cobb, Hal Holbrook, Helen McCrory, Carl Reiner, Brian Dennehy, Diana Rigg, Sean Connery, Chadwick Boseman, and others with genre credits.

(4) BONUS MURDERBOT. Tom Becker pointed out Tor.com’s post of “Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory”, by Martha Wells.

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory was originally given free to readers who pre-ordered Martha’s Murderbot novel, Network Effect. The story is set just after the 4th novella,Exit Strategy.

(5) MARTHA WELLS PROFILE. The Orange County Register’s Erik Pedersen tells “How ‘Murderbot Diaries’ author Martha Wells overcame a career in crisis to create the killer series”.

There was a time before Martha Wells created Murderbot, the character that narrates her award-winning science fiction series “The Murderbot Diaries,” when she thought her career might be dead.

After a successful start in the ‘90s, things had cooled down by the mid-2000s. When the final book in her “Fall of Ile-Rien” trilogy was published without fanfare, the soft-spoken Texan wondered if that was it for her.

“I was kind of at that point in my career where, you know, women writers my age were supposed to quietly fade away. It’s like, ‘Well, you had your shot, and that was it, and now go away.’ So I was not real optimistic about being able to continue to be published,” says the now 56-year-old novelist during a call from her College Station home, which she shares with her husband and three cats.

“I could not sell another book,” says Wells. “I knew my career was in a lot of trouble.”

But she refused to give up. Over the next few years, she got a new agent, started a new series, found a new publisher.

“That kind of got me back going again. I ended up also doing a Star Wars novel and did some work on some stories for Magic the Gathering,” she says, describing herself as plugging away but not soaring during that period. “I thought, ‘Well, this is probably about as high up as I can go,’ you know? It’s like, I’m not gonna win awards, and I’m not gonna be, you know, super popular or anything like that. But if I can keep going at this level, I’ll be okay.

“And then Murderbot just hit big,” she says….

(6) EUROCON. Eurocon 2021 in Fiuggi, Italy will be an in-person con the committee announced.

Just had green light for Eurocon in-person!

All attendees will have to be vaccinated or pre-tested for Covid 19.

If the con were to be held today, we could accommodate a little more than 200 guests. We are confident that it will be possible to increase this number in July. Hope to see you in Italy!!!

(7) B5 WAS THE PROTOTYPE. TechRadar boldly asks “Is Babylon 5 secretly the most influential TV show of the past 25 years?”

… If most TV viewers had no idea what a showrunner was back in the ’90s, even fewer could name one. Only superstar producers such as Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue creator Steven Bochco were big enough to occasionally eclipse their brands. However, the name of J Michael Straczynski was all over Babylon 5, as synonymous with the show as Minbari, Narn and Vorlons – just as much as The West Wing was Aaron Sorkin’s creation or The Sopranos David Chase’s, Babylon 5 was his. Arguably more so, in fact, seeing as he wrote 92 of the show’s 110 episodes, including the entirety of seasons 3 and 4. 

Babylon 5 was an auteur’s vision on an epic scale. On the rare occasions guest writers were brought in, they were often genre legends such as Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison and regular Star Trek writer DC Fontana – this show was never scared to embrace the harder edges of science fiction. And just as would later become the norm with showrunners such as Russell T Davies on Doctor Who or Dave Filoni on The Clone Wars, Straczynski was the public face of his show, becoming one of the first writers to talk directly to the fanbase via the internet.

A veteran of ’80s cartoons such as She-Ra: Princess of Power, The Real Ghostbusters, and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Straczynski always had big plans for Babylon 5. He set out to tell a story taking in space battles, political intrigue, epic mythology and more, and wanted to do it over the course of five years. 

That may not feel unusual now, when shows such as Breaking Bad, Lost and even comedies such as Schitt’s Creek make a big thing of spreading their stories over multiple seasons. But in the mid-’90s, the Babylon 5 approach was seriously radical. Most of the TV of the era was built on standalone episodes, with serialization kept to a minimum to ensure episodes could be watched in any order once they ended up in syndication. That Babylon 5 should so brazenly break the mould was a big shock to the system for ’90s viewers…

… It was ‘Westeros in space’ before George RR Martin had even published his first A Song of Ice and Fire novel, a show that rewarded viewers who tuned in for every installment. Babylon 5 was a show purpose-built for streaming and binge-viewing, trapped in the era of broadcast and cable….

(8) ESSENCE OF WONDER. “Strategy Strikes Back: Star Wars And Modern Military Conflict” will be the topic on Essence of Wonder with Gadi Evron on May 1 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Register for the Zoom webinar here.

Strategy Strikes Back authors Lt. Col. Matt CavanaughMax BrooksAugust Cole, and Steve Leonard join Gadi and Karen to discuss Star Wars and modern military conflict. In the book, they made understanding strategy fun by the use of a common global language – The love of Star Wars. We’ll be happy to share that love with them.

(9) BILLIONS AND BILLIONS. What Carl Sagan used to say about the number of stars this fellow says about his bank account. SpaceX’s Elon Musk will host Saturday Night Live on May 8 reports NPR.

Saturday Night Live doesn’t usually have business executives host its show, but as pointed out in a story by The Associated Press, Musk is far from a stuffy corporate type. He regularly jokes around on Twitter, where he has nearly 52 million followers and has gotten into legal trouble for making disparaging remarks about critics and hinting that he might lead a buyout of Tesla that resulted him getting fined $20 million by stock market regulators.

… Not counting news interview shows and press conferences, Musk has made guest appearances on the CBS shows Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory. His voice has also been heard on the animated shows South ParkThe Simpsons and Rick and Morty. Plus he made a cameo in the film Iron Man 2.

(10) WOLFE SPEAKS. Colombian author Triunfo Arciniegas reposted Lawrence Person’s 1998 interview with Gene Wolfe yesterday: “DRAGON: Suns New, Long, and Short / An Interview with Gene Wolfe”.

LP: You have literally dozens of characters in The Book of the Long Sun, yet many times you have scenes with a number of characters all speaking in turn, without being identified, and yet their speech patterns are so clearly and cleverly differentiated that we’re never confused about who’s talking. Just how do you do that?

GW: (Laughs) I’m certainly glad that you were never confused! There are two things. Obviously, you have the speech patterns. Spider does not talk like Maytera Mint. And if you understand speech patterns, you should be able to put in any statement Spider makes, certain characteristic phrases or mistakes, or whatever, that will identify him as the speaker. The other thing is, that if you’re doing it right, the speech that, oh, let’s say, Maytera Marble makes under a certain circumstance, is not the speech that Blood would make under that circumstance. When Maytera Marble talks, she is saying something that only Maytera Marble would say. When Blood speaks, he is saying something that only Blood would say. And so the reader, if the reader is intelligent, knows who said that from what was said.

(11) HWA POETRY SHOWCASE. Horror Writers Association is taking submissions from members to its 2021 Poetry Showcase.

The HWA is proud to announce that it will call for submissions from its members for the Poetry Showcase Volume VIII beginning April 1. Stephanie Wytovich will be the editor for the volume. This year’s judges, along with Stephanie, will include Sara Tantlinger and Angela Yuriko Smith.

Only HWA members (of any status) may submit. The reason for this can be found in the word “Showcase.” The HWA is very proud of the tradition of poetry in the horror genre and of the HWA’s support for poetry. This volume is designed to showcase the talents of HWA members which is why it is now limited to members….

(12) WILLIAMS OBIT. Charlie Williams, a long-time Nashville fan, passed away April 25 reports Tom Feller. He had been residing in a nursing home/rehab facility after being hospitalized for pneumonia.  He is survived by his wife Patsy and sister Jennifer.  Funeral arrangements are pending.

[NOTE: He is a different Charlie Williams than the fanartist from Knoxville.]

(13) MEDIA BIRTHDAY.

  • April 26, 2008 — On this date in 2008, Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered on the Cartoon Network. created by George Lucas and produced by Lucasfilm Animation, the series ran for seven seasons. It’s currently airing, as is all things Star Wars, on Disney+. 

(14) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.

[Compiled by Cat Eldridge and John Hertz.]

  • Born April 26, 1914 – Horace L. Gold.  One novel (with Sprague de Camp), twoscore shorter stories.  Edited Galaxy (insistence on taking SF in a new direction resulted in “You’ll never see it in Galaxy!”) and If; a dozen anthologies.  A Best-Prozine Hugo for Galaxy; Life Achievement Award from Westercon 28; Forry, Milford Awards.  (Died 1996) [JH]
  • Born April 26, 1922 A. E. van Vogt. I admit it’s been so long since I read him that I don’t clearly remember what I liked by him though I know I read Slan and The Weapon Makers.  I am fascinated by the wiki page that noted Damon Knight took a strong dislike to his writing whereas Philip K. Dick and Paul Di Filippo defended him strongly. What do y’all think of him? (Died 2000.) (CE)
  • Born April 26, 1925 Richard Deming. I think that all of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. novellasor in this case the Girl from U.N.C.L.E. novellas, were listed under the house name of Robert Hart Davis. Deming was only one of a very long list of writers (I know of Richard Curtis, Richard Deming, I. G. Edmonds, John Jakes, Frank Belknap Long, Dennis Lynds, Talmage Powell, Bill Pronzini, Charles Ventura and Harry Whittington) that were writers who penned novels in the twin U.N.C.L.E. series.(Died 1983.) (CE) 
  • Born April 26, 1939 Rex Miller. Horror writer with a hand in many pies, bloody ones at that. (Sorry couldn’t resist.) The Chaingang series featured Daniel Bunkowski, a half-ton killing-machine. Definitely genre. He contributed to some thirty anthologies including Hotter Blood: More Tales of Erotic HorrorFrankenstein: The Monster WakesDick Tracy: The Secret Files and The Crow: Shattered Lives and Broken Dreams. (Died 2005.) (CE)
  • Born April 26, 1950 Peter Jurasik, 71. Ambassador Londo Mollari on Babylon 5 who would be Emperor one day and die for his sins. (Yes, spoiler.) He has also very short genre credits other than Babylon 5— Doctor Oberon Geiger for several episodes on Sliders and Crom, the timid and pudgy compound interest program, in the Tron film. (CE)
  • Born April 26, 1943 – Bill Warren.  Three stories, three poems; best known as a student and critic of SF film, see his Keep Watching the Skies!  Fan Guest of Honor at Ambercon 3, VCON 11, Loscon 11, MisCon 6.  Evans-Freehafer Award (service to LASFS, Los Angeles Science Fantasy Soc.), Sampo Award (unsung-hero service).  Edited 15 posthumous issues of Bill Rotsler’s Masque. Our Gracious Host’s appreciation here. (Died 2016) [JH]
  • Born April 26 [Year unknown] – Miriam Lloyd.  Various fanzines under Goojie Publications as M. Dyches; Klein Bottle and Fanac as M. Carr with first husband Terry Carr; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Poughkeepsie as M. Knight with second husband Jerry Knight; see here.  (Died 2020) [JH]
  • Born April 26, 1948 – Marta Randall, age 73.  Eight novels, a score of shorter stories.  Fanzine, Mother Weary.  Edited Nebula Awards 19, New Dimensions 11-13.  Interviewed in Lightspeed.  Toastmaster at Norwescon VII, Baycon ’87, Windycon XIII, ConFusion 14, Chicon IV & V the 40th and 49th Worldcons.  Master of Ceremonies at Con*Stellation V.  Pro Guest of Honor at ConClave VIII, WisCon 7, Lunacon 29.  First female President of SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America).  [JH]
  • Born April 26, 1952 Peter Lauritson, 69. Long involved with the Trek franchise starting with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He became the producer of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and supervising producer for Deep Space NineVoyager and Enterprise. He directed three episodes of those series, including the Hugo Award-winning “The Inner Light”, as well as being second unit director for two Trek films. (CE) 
  • Born April 26, 1955 – Brad W. Foster, age 66.  Widely-applauded fanartist.  Eight Hugos.  Chesley.  Rebel, Neffy (Nat’l Fantasy Fan Fed’n), Rotsler Awards.  Guest of Honor at ArmadilloCon 10, Loscon 18, Westercon 49, Norwescon XX, Conestoga 9, ReConStruction the 10th NASFiC (N. Amer. SF Con, since 1975 held when Worldcon is overseas), Sasquan the 73rd Worldcon.  [JH]
  • Born April 26, 1967 – Nicholas Whyte, age 54.  Hugo Administrator twice and still alive; at it again this year and Worldcon Site Selection too.  Dr Who fan which is less nearly unique.  Reads 200-300 books a year (“in non-plague times, I have a long commute”).  Announced as Fan Guest of Honour for Eastercon 72 (April 2022).  Helpful fan with catholic (I know I didn’t capitalize that, go look it up) taste.  [JH]
  • Born April 26, 1969 Gina Torres, 52.  The first thing I remember seeing her in was Cleopatra 2525 where she was Helen ‘Hel’ Carter. Her first genre was in the M.A.N.T.I.S. pilot as Dr. Amy Ellis, and she actually was in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions as a character named Cas but I’ll frankly admit I remember almost nothing of those films. She’s had a number of DC voice roles including a recurring Justice League Unlimited run as Vixen / Mari McCabe. And of course Zoe in the Firefly verse. Lastly anyone remember her on the Angel series as Jasmine? (CE) 

(15) I’M JUST DREW THAT WAY. Daniel Dern found the excuse to give this item its title in io9’s production news roundup “Marvel She-Hulk Filming Pictures Sees Tatiana Maslany on Set”:

Tom Swift joins Nancy Drew in the synopsis for “The Celestial Visitor” airing May 12.

TIAN RICHARDS (“BURDEN,” “DUMPLIN”) GUEST STARS AS TOM SWIFT – As things begin to go haywire at The Claw, a striking stranger appears looking for Nancy (Kennedy McMann), and announces himself as the billionaire Tom Swift (guest star Tian Richards).

(16) BIG CHAP. Yahoo! Entertainment’s Ethan Alter discusses a rare find: “’Alien’ Day: The terrifying, long-lost Xenomorph prototype never before seen in public” – photos at the link.

Here’s an #AlienDay reveal that’ll make you happier than a long-haul space tug crew member headed back to Earth: A piece of ultra-rare Alien memorabilia that was blasted out of the airlock four decades ago has been salvaged and is now up for sale. On April 29, Julien’s Auctions is unveiling a long-lost early prototype of H.R. Giger’s classic Xenomorph design as the centerpiece attraction in a genre-themed “Hollywood Legends” auction. Known as “Big Chap,” this version of the franchise’s signature creature features a translucent design that’s distinctly different than the opaque acid-spitting monster we know and love. 

It should be noted that bidding on the Big Chap starts at $40,000. But you can get a closer look at the big guy for free courtesy of our exclusive virtual experience, which allows you to zoom in on Giger’s original vision for the Xenomorph, which evolved out of the Swiss artist’s pioneering “biomechanoid” designs. (Giger died in 2014.)

(17) WARP FACTORY. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] Here is a ten-minute physics briefing on some recent research of SFnal relevance from the wonderful PBS Space Time: there are “NEW Warp Drive Possibilities”.

That Einstein guy was a real bummer for our hopes of a star-hopping, science-fiction-y future. His whole “nothing travels faster than light” rule seems to ensure that exploration of even the local part of our galaxy will be an excruciating slow. But Einstein also gave us a glimmer of hope. He showed us that space and time can be warped – and so the warp drive was conceived. Just recently, a couple of papers contend that these are not pure science fiction.

This briefing builds on another PBS Space Time video from five years ago that introduces the notion of an FTL warp drive asking “Is The Alcubierre Warp Drive Possible?” Since then it has racked up 2.4 million views.

Inspired by Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek, physicist Miguel Alcubierre set out to transform one of the cornerstones of science fiction iconography, the Warp Drive, into reality. But is it even possible? Can we “warp” the fabric of reality so that we can break the speed of light?

(18) THREE’S A CHARM. Ingenuity buzzes Mars again. CNN has the story — “Ingenuity Mars helicopter achieves fastest, farthest flight yet”.

… Ingenuity exceeded speeds and distances beyond what it proved capable of doing during testing on Earth before launching to Mars.

The helicopter flew at 1:31 a.m. ET, or 12:33 p.m. local Mars time. Data and imagery began streaming into the control room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, at 10:16 a.m. ET Sunday. The Perseverance rover captured an image of the helicopter in flight and shared it shortly after.

(19) AND GNAW, THE GNEWS. Another Dern special, inspired by Gizmodo’s article “Beavers Take Down Canada Internet Service After Chewing Cables”.

…Tumbler Ridge, a tiny municipality in northeastern British Columbia with a population of about 2,000 people, lost service for roughly 36 hours in what Telus described as a “uniquely Canadian disruption!”

“Beavers have chewed through our fibre cable at multiple points, causing extensive damage,” said Telus spokesperson Liz Sauvé in an email to Gizmodo. “Our team located a nearby dam, and it appears the beavers dug underground alongside the creek to reach our cable, which is buried about three feet underground and protected by a 4.5-inch thick conduit. The beavers first chewed through the conduit before chewing through the cable in multiple locations.”

(20) VIDEO OF THE DAY. In “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Pitch Meeting” on Screen Rant, Ryan George explains that one character’s gratuitous dancing was put in the series “because people enjoyed memes of Thantos twerking.” This spoiler-filled video dropped today.

[Thanks to Tom Becker, Rich Lynch, John King Tarpinian, Daniel Dern, Mike Kennedy, JJ, Martin Morse Wooster, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Andrew Porter, Cat Eldridge, John Hertz, Gadi Evron, and Michael Toman for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jon Meltzer.]

2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury and Nominees

In alternate years the International Board on Books for Young People presents its Hans Christian Andersen Awards to “a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature.”

IBBY has revealed the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award nominees and jury members.

Sixty-two candidates from 33 countries have been nominated for the 2022 award:

  • Argentina: Author María Cristina Ramos; Illustrator Gusti
  • Australia: Author Margaret Wild; Illustrator Tohby Riddle
  • Austria: Author Heinz Janisch; Illustrator Linda Wolfsgruber
  • Belgium: Author Thomas Lavachery; Illustrator Carll Cneut
  • Brazil: Author Marina Colasanti; Illustrator Nelson Cruz
  • Canada: Author Angèle Delaunois; Illustrator Sydney Smith
  • China: Author Jin Bo; Illustrator Xiong Liang
  • Colombia and Venezuela: Illustrator Ivar Da Coll
  • Croatia: Illustrator Dubravka Kolanovi?
  • Cyprus: Author Anna Kouppanou; Illustrator Dora Oronti
  • Estonia: Author Andrus Kivirähk; Illustrator Piret Raud
  • France: Author Marie-Aude Murail; Illustrator Gilles Bachelet
  • Germany: Author Andreas Steinhöfel; Illustrator Nikolaus Heidelbach
  • Greece: Author Maria Papayanni; Illustrator Iris Samartzi
  • Hungary: Author András Dániel; Illustrator László Herbszt
  • Iran: Author Jamshid Khanian; Illustrator Pejman Rahimizadeh
  • Italy: Author Roberto Piumini; Illustrator Beatrice Alemagna
  • Japan: Author Joko Iwase; Illustrator Ryoji Arai
  • Republic of Korea: Author Yi Hyeon; Illustrator Suzy Lee
  • Latvia: Illustrator Aleksejs Naumovs
  • Lebanon: Author Fatima Sharafeddine; Illustrator Sinan Hallak
  • Lithuania: Illustrator Kestutis Kasparavi?ius
  • Netherlands: Author Tonke Dragt; Illustrator Sylvia Weve
  • Poland: Author Marcin Szczygielski; Illustrator Iwona Chmielewska
  • Russia: Author Sergey Makhotin; Illustrator Julja Gukova
  • Slovenia: Author Peter Svetina; Illustrator Damijan Stepan?i?
  • Spain: Author Jordi Sierra i Fabra; Illustrator Elena Odriozola
  • Sweden: Author Annika Thor; Illustrator Anna Bengtsson
  • Switzerland: Author Franz Hohler; Illustrator Catherine Louis
  • Turkey: Author Behiç Ak; Illustrator Mustafa Delio?lu
  • Ukraine: Author Halyna Malyk; Illustrator Kost Lavro
  • United Kingdom: Author Marcus Sedgwick; Illustrator David McKee
  • USA: Author Linda Sue Park; Illustrator Kadir Nelson

The award jury is composed of: Jury President, Junko Yokota  (USA): Antoine Al Chartouni (Lebanon), Marilar Aleixandre (Spain), Evelyn Arzipe (Mexico/UK), Mariella Bertelli (Canada), Tina Bilban (Slovenia), Viviane Ezratty (France), Jiwone Lee (South Korea), Robin Morrow (Australia), Jaana Pesonen (Finland) and Cecilia Ana Repetti (Argentina). IBBY Executive Director Liz Page is an ex officio Jury member. 

The shortlist will be announced in January 2022 and the winners will be revealed at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in March/April 2022.

SFWA Elects New Officers

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have posted the 2021 officer election results. Incoming President Jeffe Kennedy’s term begins July 1 and runs for two years.

President: Jeffe Kennedy

Secretary: Adam Rakunas 

Director-at-Large through 2023 – 3 open positions

  • José Pablo Iriarte
  • Remy Nakamura
  • Christine Taylor-Butler

The 2021 SFWA election was overseen by the Elections Committee: Maurice Broaddus, Matthew Johnson (Chair), Peng Shepherd, and Kate Baker (Advisor).

Uncanny Magazine Issue 40 Launches May 4

The 40th issue of Uncanny Magazine, winner of five Hugos and a British Fantasy Award, will be available on May 4. 

Hugo Award-winning Publishers Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas are proud to present the 40th issue of their five-time Hugo Award-winning online science fiction and fantasy magazine, Uncanny Magazine. Stories from Uncanny Magazine have been finalists or winners of Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. As always, Uncanny features passionate SF/F fiction and poetry, gorgeous prose, provocative nonfiction, and a deep investment in the diverse SF/F culture, along with a Parsec Award-winning monthly podcast featuring a story, poem, and interview from that issue. 

All of Uncanny Magazine’s content will be available in eBook versions on the day of release from Weightless Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo. Subscriptions are always available through Amazon Kindle and Weightless Books. The free online content will be released in 2 stages- half on day of release and half on June 1. 

Follow Uncanny on their website, or on Twitter and Facebook.

Uncanny Magazine Issue 40 Table of Contents

Cover

  • With Her Familiars on Mars by Galen Dara

Editorials

  • “The Uncanny Valley” by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
  • “Imagining Futures: Imagination, Ltd.” by Elsa Sjunneson

Fiction

  • “Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.” by Fran Wilde (5/4)
  • “Proof by Induction” by José Pablo Iriarte (5/4)
  • “Thirteen of the Secrets in My Purse” by Rachel Swirsky (5/4)
  • “How the Girls Came Home” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (6/1)
  • “The Hungry Ones” by Emma Törzs (6/1)
  • “Heart Shine” by Shveta Thakrar (6/1)

Reprint

  • “River, Clap Your Hands” by Sheree Renée Thomas (6/1)

Essays

  • “A Love Letter to Libraries” by E. Lily Yu (5/4)
  • Babylon 5 and Antifascism” by Andrew Liptak (5/4)
  • “The Protagonist Problem” by Ada Palmer and Jo Walton (6/1)
  • “More Than Meets the Eye: Transformers as Trans Fantasy” by C. J. Linton (6/1)

Poetry

  • “Self Portrait As a Printing Press” by Nnadi Samuel (5/4)
  • “Paqtasultieg” by Tiffany Morris (5/4)
  • “Mona Lisa’s Abecedarian to Leonardo da Vinci” by Abu Bakr Sadiq (6/1)
  • “Collection” by Vivian Li (6/1)

Interviews

  • José Pablo Iriarte interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (5/4)
  • Shveta Thakrar interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (6/1)

Podcasts

  • Episode 40A (5/4): Editors’ Introduction, “Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.” by Fran Wilde, as read by Erika Ensign, “Paqtasultieg” by Tiffany Morris, as read by Matt Peters, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Fran Wilde.
  • Episode 40B (6/1): Editors’ Introduction, “How the Girls Came Home” by Eugenia Triantafyllou, as read by Joy Piedmont, “Mona Lisa’s Abecedarian to Leonardo da Vinci” by Abu Bakr Sadiq, as read by Matt Peters, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Eugenia Triantafyllou.

2021 Oscar Awards

The 2021 Oscar winners were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in a televised ceremony on April 25.

Winners of genre interest are named below. The complete list of winners is here.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

  • SOUL — Pete Docter and Dana Murray

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

  • SOUL — Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

VISUAL EFFECTS

  • Tenet — Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher

Note: The telecast is still going on as this is posted, however, there are no genre nominees in the remaining categories.