Pennsylvania author David Walton won the second annual Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest with a story titled “Letting Go.” The winning story will be published in a future issue of Jim Baen’s Universe magazine.
The contest was “designed to promote and reward forward thinking science fiction authors who write exciting and innovative stories about the near future of manned space exploration,” according to Baen Books Editorial Assistant Laura Haywood-Cory.
Baen Publisher Toni Weisskopf said of the entries, “I was favorably impressed by the positive spirit toward space science and the future found in each story. Space development was one of Jim Baen’s passions.”
First runner-up was “Skipping Stones” by Darwin Garrison of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and second runner up was “Self Defence” by British writer Charlie Allery. Each of the three winners will receive a subscription to Jim Baen’s Universe, a membership in the National Space Society (the co-sponsor of the contest), and assorted Baen and NSS merchandise. The awards will be presented by contest administrator William Ledbetter at the 27th International Space Development Conference, in Washington, DC, on Saturday 31 May.
The judges for the contest were JBU Editor Eric Flint, author Mike Resnick, and Baen Senior Editor Hank Davis.
The Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest is named for editor Jim Baen, who founded of Baen Books. The contest seeks to provide incentives for new authors to write short speculative fiction. It is a fitting memorial for Baen, who died in 2006, since he spent much of his career finding and grooming new writers.