1968 marked something of a sea change in the life and career of Arthur C. Clarke. Before that date, he was one of the giants of science fiction, though the iconoclasts of the New Wave were already identifying him as one of the dinosaurs whose time was past. To a probably lesser extent he was […]

And still the awards keep coming. These are some of the awards that have been announced over the last couple of weeks. Sunburst Awards The shortlists have been announced for the Sunburst Awards for excellence in Canadian literature of the fantastic. The full lists are here. Adult Fiction          Spells of Blood and Kin, Claire […]

Still catching up here. While I was away, the death was announced of William Sanders. In person, he seems to have been a somewhat prickly character who made enemies more easily than he made friends, and the obituaries were full of references to controversies that were usually of his making. But as a writer, particularly […]

Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad has been named the 31st winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award. After a sometimes fraught few months, there was, in the end, remarkable unity between the Clarke Award and the Shadow Clarke jury, who, earlier the same day, had named The Underground Railroad as their choice. Whitehead is now in line […]