British Science Fiction Association Awards Shortlist Revealed

By John Freeman on February 19, 2021

The British Science Fiction Association has just announced the shortlist of nominees for their BSFA Awards for work published in 2020, which includes an award for Best Artwork and a nomination for Hugo nominated Fan Artist Iain Clarke.

*Iain Clarke, Shipbuilding Over the Clyde, Art for Glasgow in 2024 WorldCon bid*

The BSFA Awards are awarded each year to the best Novel, work of Short Fiction, Artwork and work of Non-Fiction as voted for by the members of the British Science Fiction Association.

Best Artwork

Iain Clarke, Shipbuilding Over the Clyde, Art for Glasgow in 2024 WorldCon bid
Fangorn, Covers of Robot Dreams series
Ruby Gloom, Cover of Nikhil Singh’s Club Ded, Luna Press Publishing
Sinjin Li, Cover of Eli Lee’s, A Strange and Brilliant Light, Jo Fletcher Books
Nani Walker, Four Black Lives Matter Murals in AR. Using drone photogrammetry, Nani Sahra Walker produced 3-D models of four Black Lives Matter murals as memorials to George Floyd
Breonna Taylor and others killed by police. Published by the Los Angeles Times in collaboration with RYOT and reported by Dorany Pineda

Best Short Fiction (under 40,000 words)

Eugen M. Bacon – Ivory’s Story, Newcon Press
Anne Charnock – ‘All I Asked For’, Fictions, Healthcare and Care Re-Imagined. Edited by Keith Brookes, at Future Care Capital
Dilman Dila – ‘Red_Bati’, Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora, AURELIA LEO. Edited by Zelda Knight and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki – ‘Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon’, Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora, AURELIA LEO. Edited by Zelda Knight and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
Ida Keogh – ‘Infinite Tea in the Demara Cafe’, Londoncentric, Newcon Press. Edited by Ian Whates
Tobi Ogundiran – ‘Isn’t Your Daughter Such a Doll’, Shoreline of Infinity

Best Non-Fiction

Francesca T Barbini (ed.) – Ties That Bind: Love in Science Fiction and Fantasy, Luna Press
Paul Kincaid, The Unstable Realities of Christopher Priest, Gylphi Press
Andrew Milner and J.R. Burgmann, Science Fiction and Climate Change, Liverpool University Press
Adam Roberts, It’s the End of the World: But What Are We Really Afraid Of?, Elliot & Thompson
Jo Lindsay Walton, ‘Estranged Entrepreneurs’, Foundation: the International Review of Science Fiction
Jo Walton, ‘Books in Which No Bad Things Happen’, Tor.com

Please note that the two non-fiction nominees with similar names, Jo Walton and Jo Lindsay Walton, are two different people.

Best Novel

Tiffani Angus, Threading the Labyrinth, Unsung Stories
Susanna Clarke, Piranesi, Bloomsbury
M. John Harrison, The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again, Gollancz
N.K. Jemisin, The City We Became, Orbit
Gareth L. Powell, Light of Impossible Stars, Titan Books
Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future, Orbit
Nikhil Singh, Club Ded, Luna Press
Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Doors of Eden, Tor
Liz Williams, Comet Weather, Newcon Press
Nick Wood, Water Must Fall, Newcon Press

The BSFA was established in 1958 by authors, publishers, booksellers and fans, to appreciate and encourage science fiction in every form.Today, the BSFA provides:* Vector, the BSFA’s critical journal, Focus, its magazine on writing, Orbiter writing groups, the BSFA Award, the UK’s longest-running popular award for SF.

They also publish The BSFA Review, a digital publication of SFF reviews, the BSFA newsletter, and much more.

The BSFA is entirely volunteer-run, and they are always looking for people to help out and contribute, and organisations to collaborate with.

• The British Science Fiction Association is online at bsfa.co.uk | Facebook | Twitter

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.