The results of the 2020 Ditmar Awards were released on September 18, livetweeted Elizabeth Fitzgerald. The Ditmar Award is Australia’s oldest and best-known science fiction, fantasy and horror award, presented annually at the Australian NatCon since 1969. This year’s NatCon, Swancon 2020 in Perth, was cancelled due … Continue reading
The final ballot for the Australian SF (“Ditmar”) Awards for 2017 has been released. It differs from the preliminary ballot (run here a few days ago) only in the addition of Ian Mond to the finalists for the William Atheling … Continue reading
(1) WRITERS STRIKE REPORTEDLY NEARS END. CNN reports“WGA strike: Writers Guild and Hollywood studios in ‘final phase’ of negotiations”. The striking writers and Hollywood studios are in the “final phase” of negotiations and hope to strike a deal to end … Continue reading
(1) HUGO FINALISTS AGED IN THE CASK. At Young People Read Old SFF, James Davis Nicoll gets the panel’s reaction to William F. Wu’s story “Hong’s Bluff”. This month’s Young People Read Old Hugo Finalists story is William F. Wu’s … Continue reading
(1) MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. Cora Buhlert rocked Twitter with another #MastersOfTheUniverse action figure photo story. Thread starts here. Don’t miss it! (2) GENRE BOOKS TARGETED FOR BAN. The Washington Post’s Hannah Natanson says two Virginia Republican state legislators have … Continue reading
(1) CLARKE AWARD CEREMONY. The Arthur C. Clarke Award winner will be announced September 27. Award Director Tom Hunter adds, “Long-time subscribers may remember back to pre-pandemic times when we used to announce our winner in July rather than September, … Continue reading
(1) OMENANA. The new issue of Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine is available to read online. The tri-monthly magazine takes submissions from speculative fiction writers from across Africa and the African Diaspora. Omenana is the Igbo word for divinity – it also … Continue reading
(1) GUESS WHO’S COMING TO HOLODINNER? Ryan Britt conducts an engaging thought experiment at Tor.com – “Star Trek: Picard — Ranking the 25 Most Likely Next Gen Cameos”. It seems likely that at least some characters from Picard’s past might … Continue reading
(1) RECESS IS OVER. File 770 was down for approximately 7 hours today, for reasons never fully explained by customer support, except they were “actively working” on a server problem. Well, to quote Sam Gamgee, “I’m back.” (2) WHO WATCHED. … Continue reading
(1) EXTRAPOLATION. At WIRED, The Geeks Guide to the Galaxy podcast asks Peter F. Hamilton “How Would Teleportation Change Society?” Hamilton envisions a future in which teleportation portals are used for garbage disposal, irrigation, and carbon sequestration, and in which … Continue reading