Nebula Awards Showcase 2009 (2 page)

The delivery systems for text are evolving too: from print to the Internet, on to portable electronic readers. Sony’s Reader and Amazon’s Kindle
may
herald an important shift that can only help our field. But that doesn’t mean that print is going away.

The “mainstream” of fiction has been embracing science fiction and fantasy for a very long time—it just perhaps hasn’t acknowledged it. Science fiction and fantasy stories, some from genre sources, have been chosen for the
Best American Short Stories
and the
O’Henry Award
volumes for decades, including work by Harlan Ellison, Kelly Link, Tim Pratt, James P. Blaylock, Ray Bradbury, Kevin Brockmeier, Stephen King, Cory Doctorow, A. S. Byatt, George Saunders, Dan Chaon, Bruce McAllister, and Michael Bishop. Every year the discerning reader can discover fantastic literature—stories and novels—not marketed as science fiction or fantasy but as mainstream.

Sometimes I worry that the ghetto mentality has closed us off in a little bubble, blinding us from acknowledging the fact that
sometimes
writers outside our field get it right. So I’m always delighted to be proven wrong—perhaps the fact that Michael Chabon’s wonderful alternative history,
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union
, won the Nebula Award for best novel this year is a positive step in breaking down our own biased walls.

New writers are still published by magazines and publishing houses, and some SF/F novels make the bestseller lists and are read by people outside the field. Magazines and webzines continue to pop up and publish noteworthy stories. What’s this all mean? To me, it’s that the Nebula Awards are a celebration of a field that has endured.

This is the
Nebula Awards Showcase
of 2009, reprinting the winners and several of the nominees from 2007, plus an excerpt from the award-winning novel. In addition, there is a classic story by our new Grand Master, Michael Moorcock.

The Rhysling Award-winning poems are also part of the volume, as are essays on a number of subjects. Ellen Asher looks back at her thirty-four-year tenure with the Science Fiction Book Club. Barry N. Malzberg provides an entertainingly jaundiced view of the state of the art of science fiction and its blurring with fantasy fiction and Kathleen Ann Goonan responds with a passionate counterpunch as to why she believes the writing of science fiction is not only a viable career choice for writers but important for our society. Gwenda Bond celebrates the booming market for young adult science fiction and fantasy. Howard Waldrop covers the movies: the good, the bad, the awful. And Tim Lucas, editor and publisher of
Video Watchdog
, writes about Guillermo del Toro’s screenwriting award-winner,
Pan’s Labyrinth
.

And so here is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s annual snapshot of the field—I hope you enjoy what you see as much as I do.

T
he Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Incorporated, includes among its members most of the active writers of science fiction and fantasy. According to the bylaws of the organization, its purpose “shall be to promote the furtherance of the writing of science fiction, fantasy, and related genres as a profession.” SFWA
^®
informs writers on professional matters, protects their interests, and helps them in dealings with agents, editors, anthologists, and producers of nonprint media. It also strives to encourage public interest in and appreciation of science fiction and fantasy. At the beginning of 2008, SFWA had more than 1,500 members.

Anyone may become an active member of SFWA after the acceptance of and payment for one professionally published novel, one professionally produced dramatic script, or three professionally published pieces of short fiction. Only science fiction, fantasy, horror, or other prose fiction of a related genre, in English, shall be considered as qualifying for active membership. Beginning writers who do not yet qualify for active membership but have published qualifying professional work may join as associate members; other classes of membership include affiliate members (editors, agents, reviewers, and anthologists), estate members (representatives of the estates of active members who have died), and institutional members (high schools, colleges, universities, libraries, broadcasters, film producers, futurist groups, and individuals associated with such an institution).

Anyone who is not a member of SFWA may subscribe to
The Bulletin of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
. The magazine is published quarterly and contains articles by well-known writers on all aspects of their profession. Subscriptions are $21 a year or $37 for two years. For information on how to subscribe to the
Bulletin
, or for more information about SFWA, visit
www.sfwa.org/bulletin/subscribe.htm
or write to:

Readers are also invited to visit the SFWA site on the World Wide Web at the following address:

T
hroughout every calendar year, the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America read and recommend novels, stories, and scripts for the annual Nebula Awards. The editor of the
Nebula Awards Report
collects the recommendations and publishes them in the
SFWA Forum
and on the members’ private interactive web page. At the end of the year, the
NAR
editor tallies the endorsements, draws up a preliminary ballot containing all works that have received ten or more recommendations, and sends it to all active SFWA members. Under the current rules, each novel and story enjoys a one-year eligibility period from its date of publication in the United States. A script begins its eligibility period on the day of its first release in a U.S. public theater or first airdate on U.S. television. If the work fails to receive ten recommendations during that interval, it is dropped from further Nebula consideration.

The
NAR
editor processes the results of the preliminary ballot and then compiles a final ballot listing the five most popular novels, novellas, novelettes, short stories, and scripts. For purposes of the Nebula Awards, a novel is 40,000 words or more; a novella is 17,500 to 39,999 words; a novelette is 7,500 to 17,499 words; and a short story is 7,499 words or fewer. Additionally, SFWA impanels member juries for the novel, short fiction, and script categories. These juries are empowered to supplement the five nominees with a sixth choice in cases where a worthy title was neglected by the membership at large. Thus, the appearance of extra finalists in any category bespeaks two distinct processes: jury discretion and ties. A complete set of Nebula rules can be found at
www.sfwa.org/awards/rules.htm
. A three-member SFWA Awards Rules Committee rules on questions pertaining to the Nebula and other SFWA awards rules in the event of a dispute.

Founded in 1965 by Damon Knight, the Science Fiction Writers of America began with a charter membership of seventy-eight authors. Today it boasts over fifteen hundred members and a name befitting the wider reach of speculative fiction. Early in his tenure, Lloyd Biggle Jr., SFWA’s first secretary-treasurer, proposed that the organization periodically select and publish the year’s best stories. This notion quickly evolved into the elaborate balloting process, an annual awards banquet, and a series of Nebula anthologies. Judith Ann Lawrence designed the trophy from a sketch by Kate Wilhelm. It is a block of clear Lucite containing planetlike polished rocks, crystals, and a spiral nebula made of metallic glitter. The prize is handmade, and no two are exactly alike.

THE 2008 NEBULA AWARDS FINAL BALLOT

NOVELS

Ragamuffin
by Tobias Buckell (Tor, Jun07)

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union
by Michael Chabon
(HarperCollins, May07)

The Accidental Time Machine
by Joe Haldeman (Ace, Aug07)

The New Moon’s Arms
by Nalo Hopkinson (Warner Books, Feb07)

Odyssey
by Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov06)

 

NOVELLAS

“Awakening” by Judith Berman (
Black Gate 10
, Spr07)

“The Helper and His Hero” by Matt Hughes (
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
, Mar07 (Feb07 & Mar07))

“Stars Seen Through Stone” by Lucius Shepard (
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
, Jul07)

“Kiosk” by Bruce Sterling (
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
, Jan07)

“Memorare” by Gene Wolfe (
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
, Apr07)

 

NOVELETTES

“The Children’s Crusade” by Robin Wayne Bailey (
Heroes in Training
, Martin H. Greenberg and Jim C. Hines, Ed., DAW, Sep07)

“Child, Maiden, Woman, Crone” by Terry Bramlett (
Jim Baen’s Universe 7
, June 2007)

“The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change” by Kij Johnson (
Coyote Road: Trickster Tales
, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)

“Safeguard” by Nancy Kress (
Asimov’s Science Fiction
, Jan07)

“Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy)” by Geoff Ryman (
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
, Nov06)

“The Fiddler of Bayou Teche” by Delia Sherman (
Coyote Road: Trickster Tales
, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)

 

 

 

SHORT STORIES

“Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse” by Andy Duncan (
Eclipse 1: New Science Fiction and Fantasy
, Jonathan Strahan, Ed., Night Shade Books, Oct07)

“Titanium Mike Saves the Day” by David D. Levine (
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
, Apr07)

“The Story of Love” by Vera Nazarian (
Salt of the Air
, Prime Books, Sep06)

“Captive Girl” by Jennifer Pelland (
Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly
, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue—#2))

“Pride” by Mary Turzillo (
Fast Forward 1
, Pyr, Feb07)

SCRIPTS

Children of Men
by Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby (Universal Studios, Dec06)

Blink
by Steven Moffat (
Doctor Who
, BBC/The Sci-Fi Channel, Sep07 (Aired on SciFi Channel 14 Sep07))