This weekend, the winners of the 2023 World Fantasy Awards were announced at the World Fantasy Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The 2023 awards recognize work published in 2022. This year’s judges were Dale Bailey, Kelly Robson, Ginny Smith, A. C. Wise, and Ian Whates. Along with the awards below, Life Achievement Awards were given to Peter Crowther and John Douglas.
Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!
NOVELWINNER: Saint Death’s Daughter by C. S. E. Cooney (Solaris)
NOVELLAWINNER: Pomegranates by Priya Sharma (Absinthe Books
SHORT FICTIONWINNER: “Incident at Bear Creek Lodge” by Tananarive Due (Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology)
ANTHOLOGYWINNER: Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, eds. Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight (Tordotcom Publishing)
Details of all categories, winners and nominees, at tor.com
Ian Mond’s best books of genre not packaged as genre
Face to face meeting, simulcast in Zoom
A great pleasure of the Nova Mob is Ian’s annual talk on the year’s best books, selected from those that aren’t marketed as genre SF but instead typically have the words “A Novel” somewhere on the cover for the discerning book shop browser to be certain as to what it is they are buying.
Ian again has selected 10 books for your reading delight. Hear about them, and why #10 is good and his #1 pick is better, at our meeting on 1 November.
As usual with Nova Mob talks there’s lively discussion, so attendance in person is recommended. The Zoom option as always is available.
Many thanks to Julian and Lucy who will be chairing November’s Nova Mob meeting.
Kensington Town Hall, 8.00pm, Wednesday 1 November, address below.
Please share this Zoom invitation with like-minded friends and fans
Face to face
You are invited to an in-person Nova Mob meeting at:
Wednesday 1 November 8.00pm – 9.30 pm or so, first floor Conference Room Kensington Town Hall 30 – 34 Bellair St, Kensington Melbourne VIC 3031
By Zoom – simulcast
For those who prefer not to travel or are unable to attend face-to-face. This’ll be close to a webcast or radiocast in style, broadcast from the Kensington Town Hall. Questions or comments typed into the Zoom chat will be passed through to Ian as the opportunity permits.
The standard unchanging web link, deserving of a bookmark in your browser.
About Ian Mond
Ian has just won the 2023 Atheling Award for his reviews in Locus!
Locus says, “Ian Mond loves to talk about books. For eight years he co-hosted a book podcast, The Writer and the Critic, with Kirstyn McDermott. Recently he has revived his blog, The Hysterical Hamster, and is again posting mostly vulgar reviews on an eclectic range of literary and genre novels. You can also follow Ian on Twitter (@Mondyboy) or contact him at mondyboy74@gmail.com.
The 2023 Hugo Awards were presented October 21 during a ceremony at the Chengdu Worldcon.
BEST NOVEL: Nettle & Bone, by T. Kingfisher (Tor Books)
BEST NOVELLAWhere the Drowned Girls Go, by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
BEST NOVELETTE “The Space-Time Painter”, by Hai Ya (Galaxy’s Edge, April 2022)
BEST GRAPHIC STORY OR COMICCyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams, by Bartosz Sztybor, Filipe Andrade, Alessio Fioriniello, Roman Titov, Krzysztof Ostrowski (Dark Horse Books)
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORMEverything Everywhere All at Once, screenplay by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Sheinert (IAC Films / Gozie AGBO)
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORMThe Expanse: “Babylon’s Ashes”, written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, Naren Shankar, directed by Breck Eisner (Alcon Entertainment)
Yes, it’s time to enjoy an old SF movie. This one also happens to be an Ealing comedy…
Wednesday, October 25th
6:15 for a 6:30 start at Kappys, 22 Compton St.
We’re not screening the film over zoom. While kappys has the rights to screen old films, we doubt screening it over zoom would endear us 😉
If you’re familiar with the film, you’re welcome to join us for a brief post film discussion. Time: Oct 25, 2023 8pm Adelaide, 8:30 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Our next guest at the Nova Mob is a multiple winner of the Hugo Award!
As reported by David Langford in Ansible’s Fanfundery column: _GUFF:_ Alison Scott, the 2020 winner, is at last making her delayed Australian trip — arriving in Sydney on 24 September, flying home from Perth on 30 October.
Alison is our guest in person at the Nova Mob on Wednesday 4 October, along with her husband Steven Cain. Amid a whirl of Melbourne fannish socialising, of which more below! Expect adrenalin highs and mirth.
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MOB CALENDAR
4 October – Alison Scott, GUFF Winner “Zines and Me”
1 November – Ian Mond’s Mondial best books of the year: the world of sf, horror, and fantasy in 2023
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Alison Scott – GUFF Winner “Zines and Me”
Anzapa member and Hugo winner tells all (or much of it, anyway)
She is a member of the League of Fan Funds and won the 2020 GUFF trip, but had to postpone her trip because of the Covid-19 epidemic. She ran a virtual trip and is waiting for the moment when it’s safe to travel to Australia and New Zealand. [Ednote: that time has arrived]
She was married to UK fan Mike Scott from 1986–95 and has been married to UK fan Steven Cain since October 1998.
Meeting details Nova Mob Wednesday 4 October 2023 –
Alison Scott – A Life in Fanzines
Face to face
You are invited to an in-person Nova Mob meeting at: Wednesday 4 October 2023 8.00pm – 9.15pm or so, first floor Conference Room Kensington Town Hall 30 – 34 Bellair St, Kensington Melbourne VIC 3031
By Zoom – simulcast
For those who prefer not to travel or are unable to attend face-to-face. Zoom session broadcast from the Kensington Town Hall. Questions or comments typed into the Zoom chat will be discussed as the opportunity permits, and you’ll have as much airtime as the other Mob members at the venue.
You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Wednesday 4 October 8.00pm – 9.00/9.30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time 7.30pm – 8.30/9.00pm Adelaide time 11:00am UK London time, 3.00am USA Mountain View
Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 417 758 3193 Passcode: nova
This is the wholly reliable web link. By now one surely has added it to one’s bookmarks.
Tubi’s business model is that you get the movie for free but they ask you to sit through adverts. The TV and film studios pay for the adverts, rather than the consumer paying for the film.
The ARIA-award winning soundtrack by the Grigoryan Brothers is available here. Click on TIDAL and wait to see the track listing. Flamenco versions of out-of-copyright classics and it all just works.
Lucy Sussex and Julian Warner will be reprising their quarter-century-long role as Nova Mob co-ordinators for the night of 1 November. That’s the night of Ian Mond’s annual talk. I apologise for my absence on that night, I regret missing Ian, he always delivers a fine informative entertaining evening.
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Vale Helena Binns
Helena Binns died on the night of 18 September, at the age of 82. She was a Life Member of the Melbourne Science Fiction Club and I remember her delight at being nominated and awarded that status (I was the MSFC President at that time and nominated her). She spoke well and with feeling about what it was like in the 1950’s believing that amazing things were about to happen in science, space, and technology, and the opprobrium that those days had for science fiction fans and for female science fiction fans in particular. As Dick ‘Ditmar’ Jenssen wrote at the time, the bestowal recognised Helena individually and wimmen’s voices in the Melbourne fannish narrative generally. Helena was conscious of both aspects. Rest in peace.
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Gillian Polack shortlisted for Sideways Award, World Fantasy Con
Fingers crossed for Gillian – announcement on 29 October AEST
Here’s the shortlist and the link to the Sideways Awards. That Mr Turtledove is pretty good company… Shortlist with thanks to Dave Langford at Ansible. Gillian’s in Melbourne in October!
Sidewise (alt-history) finalists: LONG Appliance by J.O. Morgan; Babel by R.F. Kuang; Beat the Devils by Josh Weiss; Begin the World Over by Kung Li Sun; The Peacekeeper by B.L. Blanchard; Three Miles Down by Harry Turtledove.
SHORT ‘Kingsbury 1944’ (9/22 Analog) by Michael Cassutt; ‘A Sky and a Heaven’ (Other Covenants ed. Andrea D. Lobel and Mark Shainblum) by Eric Choi;‘Why the Bridgemasters of York Don’t Pay Taxes’ (ibid) by Gillian Polack;It’s Real Life by Paul Levinson; ‘Dreams of Electric Mothers’ (Africa Risen ed. Sheree Renee Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Zelda Knight) by Wole Talabi.
“Hi Murray, Does this give me an excuse to talk to Nova Mob? I haven’t been asked any questions by anyone at all about that short story and I’d so love an excuse. I don’t think I’m going to win either the Sidewise or the William Atheling Jr (I think my book is suitable for the Atheling, but no-one’s read it!) so I’m rejoicing in being shortlisted and not thinking beyond that. But I’m an actual Medieval historian (I know my first PhD was decades ago, but I’ve kept up that side of my life) and the story in Other Covenants is a Medieval one and it would be so much fun to chat about.
In other news, I’ll be in Melbourne for a few days in October for a conference. I can’t do things with big crowds, but am very happy to meet with small groups of friends for dinner, especially if it’s outside. I’m still COVID-vulnerable but being a bit daring… my health is just a little better than it has been and it’s time to find out if there still is a world outside my loungeroom.
This is pretty amazing. Cameron Nugent, director and writer of the feature-length award-winning film “A Boy Called Sailboat” is our guest speaker on Wednesday 6 September. It’s a very fine movie which fell through the cracks here in Australia for reasons which read like the usual you-must-be-kidding-me Hollywood treatment of how these things happen, whether it’s to filmmakers, musicians, or authors. Full details further down this email.
The heart of this fantasy movie (it’s a big heart) is a wonderful musical conceit.
A fantasy movie in which a child composes and plays a song which opens to the notes at the heart of the world.
The soundtrack by the Grigoryan Brothers was nominated for an ARIA. “A Boy Called Sailboat” was overall winner at the Boston Film Festival, among others. Extracts of the film will be played using the Zoom meeting software.
November is our final meeting of the year and Ian Mond will be listing the year’s best sfnal, fantasy, and horror works not packaged as genre.
Janeen Webb and Andrew Enstice have a book launch of genre literary critical interest on 19 Sep.
Bruce Barnes’s talk on Brick Bradford will be at a later date. It’s postponed again – with Bruce’s best wishes and kind assent – so that DUFF Winner Alison Scott can be our speaker on 4 October. Delighted to have Alison visit on her travels!
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CALENDAR
6 September – Cameron Nugent on his film “A Boy Called Sailboat”
[Book launch: 19 Sep Aliens & Savages: The Voice in Australia, by Janeen Webb and Andrew Enstice]
4 October – Alison Scott, GUFF Winner “Zines and Me”
1 November – Ian Mond’s Mondial best books of the year: the world of sf, horror, and fantasy in 2023
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Australian fantasy from Hollywood studios: A Boy Called Sailboat
Director and writer Cameron Nugent tells the inside story
Cameron has been showing A Boy Called Sailboat at boutique screenings across Australia, with the Grigoryan Brothers playing the soundtrack live and the showing-cum-performance followed by a Q&A. Turns out Cam is a long-time reader and fan of fantasy and science fiction and he’s delighted to be our speaker at the Nova Mob, feeling he will fit right in.
Cam’s name may be familiar to you. His acting credits include SeaChange, Blue Heelers, City Homicide, and Noah and Saskia. Also Celebrity House Cleaners.
So how did a reader, surfer and child actor from the Surf Coast write, direct, and get Hollywood funding for a fantasy film about a poor Hispanic family somewhere in deep Texas?
“A Boy Called Sailboat is an astonishingly assured debut narrative film, managing to be heartwarming but not overly cloying, visually striking without seeming like a formal exercise, thoughtful but probably not too complicated for kids to understand.”
“It’s a special kind of film that can rely on children to drive its story and maintain its charm, but A Boy Called Sailboat pulls it off, evading some of the pitfalls of the quirky indie comedy to deliver something truly wonderful.”
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards –
2020 Nominee AACTA Award “Best Indie Film”
ARIA Music Awards – 2020 Nominee ARIA Music Award
Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album for soundtrack by Slava Grigoryan and Leonard Grigoryan
Golden Trailer Awards –
2019 Nominee Golden Trailer Award for Best Independent Trailer (For Film Under $1.5 Million)
Adelaide International Youth Film Festival
2019 Winner Jury Award – Best Overall Film
Cameron Nugent (director) Andrew Curry (producer)
Borderscene Film Festival
2019 Nominee Borderscene Film Festival Award: Best U.S. Feature
Meeting details
Nova Mob Wednesday 6 September 2023 –
Cameron Nugent – A Boy Called Sailboat
Please share this invitation with like-minded friends and fans
Face to face
You are invited to an in-person Nova Mob meeting at:
Wednesday 6 September 2023 8.00pm – 9.15pm or so, first floor Conference Room Kensington Town Hall 30 – 34 Bellair St Kensington Melbourne VIC 3031
By Zoom – simulcast
For those who prefer not to travel or are unable to attend face-to-face. Zoom session broadcast from the Kensington Town Hall. Questions or comments typed into the Zoom chat will be discussed as the opportunity permits, and you’ll have as much airtime as the other Mob members at the venue.
You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Wednesday 6 September
8.00pm – 9.00/9.30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time
7.30pm – 8.30/9.00pm Adelaide time
11.00am UK London time
3.00am USA Mountain View
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 417 758 3193
Passcode: nova
This is the wholly reliable web link and it could fit nicely into your bookmarks.
You’re invited to the launch by Julian Burnside of Aliens & Savages: The Voice in Australia, by Janeen Webb and Andrew Enstice, at Readings Hawthorn on 19 September at 6:30pm. (Invitation via Rob Gerrand).
Janeen Webb is a superb anthologist and writer. Among her claims to fame are Dreaming Down Under and Dreaming Again. Her recent fiction has been published within the US market and it’s a delight to see her literary non-fiction chops at work in a significant Australian publication
.
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Clarke Award
Winner was announced on 17 August – it’s a good ‘un
“We’re delighted to announce that Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman and published by Sceptre has been announced as the 37th winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award science fiction book of the year.” (From the Clarke Award mailing list).
It’s reviewed here in The Guardian under the rather coy descriptor The Meaning of Life which is fully and niftily accurate as far as it goes.
I’m halfway through it and am finding it very similar to Max Barry’s work, but slightly less tight in the prose. One of the two protagonists is an Australian. Recommended (so far) and essential for Max Barry fans.
“The venomous lumpsucker is the most intelligent fish on the planet. Or maybe it was the most intelligent fish on the planet. Because it might have just gone extinct. Nobody knows. And nobody really cares, either. Except for two people.
Mining executive Mark Halyard has a prison cell waiting for him if that fish is gone for good, and biologist Karin Resaint needs it for her own darker purposes. They don’t trust each other an inch, but they’re left with no choice but to team up in search of the lumpsucker. And as they journey across the strange landscapes of near-future Europe – a nature reserve full of toxic waste; a floating city on the Baltic Sea; the lethal hinterlands of a totalitarian state – they’re drawn into a conspiracy far bigger than one ugly little fish.”
Ursula K LeGuin was the Guest of Honor at the first Australian Worldcon, in 1975. Her 1974 novel The Dispossessed won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards for best novel.
We’d like people to choose one of LeGuin’s books (either a novel or collection) to talk about for the September meeting of Critical Mass — note that we have moved to the fourth Wednesday of the month, so we are meeting at 6:30 on September 27th.
in person: Kappys Tea & Coffee merchants, 22 Compton St, Adelaide doors open at 6:15 for a 6:30 start.
I’ve just finished watching the opening two episodes of Ahsoka, and it’s lots of fun: there’s rumour of an attempt to revive the Empire. Lots of action, and importantly three interesting lead female characters: Ahsoka Tano — ex apprentice to Skywalker; Hera Syndulla, a general in the new Republic; and Ahsoka’s former apprentice, Sabine Wren.
It’ll be interesting to see how (if?) the three of them manage to thwart the plans to return the Empire’s Grand Admiral Thrawn.
The Adelaide Fan Review 
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