The Shirley Jackson Award has been established to honor writers of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic. The first awards will be given at later this year, for works published in 2007.
The award will be voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics, with input from a Board of Advisors. The awards will be given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories: Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.
The jurors for the inaugural 2007 Shirley Jackson Awards are F. Brett Cox, John Langan, Sarah Langan, and Paul G. Tremblay. The Board of Advisors includes editor and anthologist Ellen Datlow; author Jack M. Haringa; editor S.T. Joshi; author and editor Nick Mamatas; author Mike O’Driscoll; author Stewart O’Nan; and editor Ann Vandermeer.
Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, “The Lottery.” Her work continues to be a major influence on writers of every kind of fiction, from the most traditional genre offerings to the most innovative literary work.
The award’s website (which at the moment has only a copy of the introductory press release) is ShirleyJacksonAwards.org.