Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod and published by PS Publishing is the winner of this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award, the UK’s premier prize for science fiction literature.

The announcement was made at the award’s official ceremony held in London, Piccadilly on the evening of Wednesday 29th April at an exclusive event held as part of the opening celebrations of this year’s SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival.

The annual award is presented for best science fiction novel of the year and selected from a list of novels whose UK first  edition was published in the previous calendar year.

This year’s prize was presented by Angie Edwards, Sir Arthur’s niece and Director of Rocket Publishing, and Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Speaking after the ceremony, Award Administrator Tom Hunter said:

"I’m absolutely delighted for Ian R. MacLeod that Song of Time was chosen as the winner of this year’s Clarke Award. It was a very strong shortlist this year, with a lot of speculation and debate, so both Ian and Pete Crowther of PS Publishing have every right to be feeling especially proud with this win today.

“The reaction to the announcement has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive, and I’m especially pleased that this year the prize very deservedly went to PS Publishing, who in recent years have proved themselves to be an exemplary example of a boutique small press publisher and a vital cornerstone of the UK’s science fiction community.”

Chair of the Judges Paul Billinger added:

“Set in a near-future England, Song of Time is a rich and subtle novel that couples themes of memory and identity with well crafted and all too human characters. Following the thoughtful reflections of an elderly musician as she contemplates her death (and, as this is the future, what may come next) the novel is infused throughout with the love of music and contains some of the most evocative writing on the subject for many years. This is a well deserved winner and a novel to savour.”

The winner receives a prize of £2009 and a commemorative engraved bookend.

The judging panel for the 2008 Arthur C. Clarke Award were Chris Hill and Ruth O’Reilly for the British Science Fiction Association, Robert Hanks and Rhiannon Lassiter for the Science Fiction Foundation and Pauline Morgan for SF Crowsnest. Paul Billinger represents the Arthur C. Clarke Award as the Chair of Judges.

 

The six shortlisted books are:

Song of Time: Ian R. MacLeod - PS Publishing
The Quiet War: Paul McAuley – Gollancz
House of Suns: Alastair Reynolds – Gollancz
Anathem: Neal Stephenson – Atlantic
The Margarets: Sheri S. Tepper – Gollancz
Martin Martin’s on the Other Side: Mark Wernham – Jonathan Cape

Speaking on behalf of the judging committee, Chair of the Judges Paul Billinger commented:

“It was a long and intense meeting to decide this year’s shortlist, with passionate debate from all of the judges. Although at times it seemed almost impossible, they eventually concluded that these six books were the ones that demonstrated to them what was best about the science fiction novels published in 2008.”

Tom Hunter, administrator for the Arthur C. Clarke Award added:

“Speculation and active debate have always surrounded the announcement of the award shortlist, and earlier this year we took the unprecedented step of releasing the full long list of eligible submitted works from which this final shortlist was decided. Our aim was to highlight the strength and diversity of current science fiction publishing and to show the awesome task that faces our judging panel every year. I think they’ve risen to this challenge admirably and I’m greatly looking forward to the full range of reactions and conversations to come and, of course, to finding out the eventual winner at the end of April.”

A prize of £2009 will be awarded to the winner along with a commemorative engraved bookend.

The annual award is presented for the best science fiction novel of the year, and selected from a list of novels whose UK first edition was published in the previous calendar year.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday 29th April at an award ceremony held on the opening night of the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival: www.sci-fi-london.com

 

Interesting article in Saturday's Telegraph about the Award by Andrew McKie who attended this year's ceremony... and much preferred it to the Booker:

"One obvious distinction between the Arthur C Clarke Award, for the best science fiction novel published in Britain the previous year, and the Man Booker is that a lot of people care, a lot."

"I'm on the side of the SF writers and readers; unlike the readers of "literary" fiction they at least understand that the fact that there is a spaceship in a book does not prevent it from being well written. Last year's winner, M John Harrison, is one of the best novelists working in this country, full stop"

You can read the full article here.

 

 

Black Man by Richard Morgan and published by Gollancz is the winner of this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award, the UK’s premier prize for science fiction literature.

The announcement was made at the award’s official ceremony held in London, Piccadilly on the evening of Wednesday 30th April as part of an exclusive event in partnership with the opening of this year’s SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival.

The annual award is presented for best science fiction novel of the year and selected from a list of novels whose UK first edition was published in the previous calendar year.

Speaking about the winning novel, Chair of the Judges Paul Billinger said:

"Richard Morgan's Black Man (Gollancz) is a complex and passionate exploration of prejudice and identity, it is bold and risk-taking yet compelling and coherent and a proud addition to the winners of the Arthur C. Clarke Award"

Angie Edwards from Rocket Publishing and niece of Sir Arthur C. Clarke added:

“In his own eyes Arthur always felt that his major achievement was as a writer, and it was this that he most wanted to be remembered for. He was a continuing champion of the science fiction genre and its authors, and the award was created with the aim of inspiring new generations of writers and promoting their work.”

The winner receives a prize of £2008 and a commemorative engraved bookend.

The judging panel for the 2008 Arthur C. Clarke Award were Niall Harrison and Claire Weaver for the British Science Fiction Association, Pat Cadigan and Francis Spufford for the Science Fiction Foundation and Pauline Morgan for SF Crowsnest. Paul Billinger represents the Arthur C. Clarke Award as the Chair of Judges.

 

Matthew de Abaitua, Stephen Baxter, Sarah Hall, Steven Hall, Ken MacLeod and Richard Morgan are the six authors shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2008, the UK’s premier prize for science fiction literature.

The six shortlisted books are:

The Red Men: Matthew de Abaitua - Snowbooks
The H-Bomb Girl: Stephen Baxter - Faber & Faber
The Carhullan Army: Sarah Hall - Faber & Faber
The Raw Shark Texts: Steven Hall - Canongate
The Execution Channel: Ken MacLeod - Orbit
Black Man: Richard Morgan - Gollancz

Tom Hunter, administrator for the Arthur C. Clarke Award commented:

“The announcement of a new Clarke Award shortlist is always a highlight of the UK’s science fictional calendar, and this year’s list, featuring an all UK line-up of top authors, promises to continue this trend.

“Featuring visions as diverse as a dystopian Cumbria and a future Hackney, time-travel adventures in 1960’s Liverpool and an alternate world British Isles in the throes of terrorist attack, through to tech-noir thrillers and a trawl through subconscious worlds where memories fall prey to metaphysical sharks, the Clarke Award has never been so close to home and relevant to the British literary scene.

“The Clarke Award has always been about pushing at the speculative edges of its genre. It’s one possible map amongst many, never the whole territory, and this year’s shortlist stands as both the perfect introduction to the state of modern science fiction writing as well as a first tantalising glimpse of possible futures to come.”

A prize of £2008 will be awarded to the winner along with a commemorative engraved bookend.

The judging panel for the 2008 Arthur C. Clarke Award are Niall Harrison and Claire Weaver for the British Science Fiction Association, Pat Cadigan and Francis Spufford for the Science Fiction Foundation and Pauline Morgan for the science fiction news website SF Crowsnest.com. Paul Billinger represents the Arthur C. Clarke Award as the Chair of Judges.

The annual award is presented for the best science fiction novel of the year, and selected from a list of novels whose UK first edition was published in the previous calendar year.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday 30th April at an award ceremony held on the opening night of the Sci-Fi-London Film Festival.

 

Nova Swing by M. John Harrison and published by Gollancz is the winner of this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award, the UK’s premier prize for science fiction literature.

The announcement was made at the award’s official ceremony held in London, Piccadilly, on the evening of Wednesday 2nd May as part of an exclusive event to mark the opening of this year’s Sci-Fi-London Film Festival.

The annual award is presented for best science fiction novel of the year and selected from a list of novels whose UK first edition was published in the previous calendar year.

Speaking about the winning novel, Chair of the Judges Paul Billinger said:

“In M. John Harrison’s Nova Swing we have a triumphant return to the world first seen in his earlier acclaimed novel, Light. This is a vividly and richly described world, full of Harrison’s unique interpretations, and his most lyrical and affecting book to date.”

The winner receives a prize of £2007.00 and a commemorative engraved bookend.

The judging panel for the 2007 Arthur C. Clarke Award were Niall Harrison and Claire Weaver for the British Science Fiction Association, Pat Cadigan and Graham Sleight for the Science Fiction Foundation and Dave Palmer for the Science Museum. Paul Billinger represents the Arthur C. Clarke Award as the Chair of Judges.

A transcript of Paul Billinger's awards ceremony speech can be found here.