Several awards are handed out annually at Readercon, and this year was no exception.
The Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award is given to “a science fiction or fantasy writer whose work displays unusual originality, embodies the spirit of Cordwainer Smith’s fiction, and deserves renewed attention or ‘Rediscovery’.” The judges this year were Martin Harry Greenberg, Barry Malzberg, Mike Resnick, and Robert J. Sawyer. This year’s honoree is Mark Clifton (1906–1963). Clifton’s writing career ran from 1952 (“What Have I Done?”, Astounding) to 1962 (When They Come from Space, Doubleday). Most of his writing was in his “Bossy” series (about an artificially intelligent computer) and his “Ralph Kennedy” comical series. He co-authored They’d Rather Be Right with Frank Riley, which won the 1954 Hugo Award.
The Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA)‘s 2010 Rhysling awards for science fiction poetry were announced. The winner in the long poem category is “In the Astronaut Asylum” by Kendall Evans and Samantha Henderson (which was first published in Mythic Delirium). Second place went to “Rattlebox III” by Mike Allen, Kendall Evans, and David C. Kopaska-Merkel (Strange Horizons), and third place to “The First Story” by Lana Hechtman Ayers (published by Hot Metal Press). In the short poem category, first place went to “To Theia” by Ann K. Schwader (Strange Horizons). Second place goes to “The Changeling Always Wins” by Nicole Kornher-Stace (Goblin Fruit), and third place to “Nine Views of the Oracle” by Rachel Manija Brown (Abyss & Apex). (For more on the nominees, see our earlier article.)
In addition, the members of the SFPA named Jane Yolen a Grand Master. This is only the fourth Grand Master award the organization has bestowed (following Bruce Boston in 1999, Robert Frazier in 2005, and Ray Bradbury in 2008).
Finally, the Shirley Jackson Awards—honoring the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic—were handed out. We detailed the nominees in this article. The winners, voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics (which included F. Brett Cox, John Langan, Erika Mailman, and Lisa Tuttle), with input from a Board of Advisors (including Bill Congreve, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Liz Hand, Jack M. Haringa, S.T. Joshi, Sarah Langan, Mike O’Driscoll, Stewart O’Nan, Peter Straub, Paul G. Tremblay, and Ann VanderMeer), are:
Novel: Big Machine by Victor LaValle (published by Speigel & Grau)
Novella: Midnight Picnic by Nick Antosca (Word Riot Press)
Novelette: “Morality” by Stephen King (published in Esquire)
Short Story: “The Pelican Bar” by Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse 3)
Single-Author Collection (tie): Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson (Harper Perennial)
     Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical by Robert Shearman (Big Finish Productions)
Edited Anthology: Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe edited by Ellen Datlow (Solaris)