World Fantasy Award Nominees Announced

Below is the full list of nominees for all of the categories of the World Fantasy Awards; they were released sometime yesterday. Winners will be announced, as usual, at this year's World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, NY in early November. (And you'll see me there, as well, as long as I'm not living in a box under an overpass by then.)

My most profound congratulations to all of the nominees, and thanks and congratulations to the judges, who have hit the fun part of a long, grueling (but enjoyable, I hope) process -- now they get to act mysterious and give small smiles when people try to get them to reveal who the winners are. (I was a judge last year, and it was one of the best things I've ever done.) Specifically, those judges this year were Gavin Grant, Ed Greenwood, Jeremy Lassen, Jeff Mariotte, and Carsten Polzin, and their hard work should be recognized.

But the person I want to give the greatest thanks and congratulations to is Ellen Asher, my former boss at that employer I now do not name. Ellen was nominated in the category of Special Award: Professional, for what I think is the first time and what probably will be the last time (she's now retired, and so won't be eligible). It may be parochial of me, but I hope she wins.

I won't say who else I'm rooting for; this looks like a strong list from top to bottom, and all of the nominees would be fine winners. Again, congratulations to all of them.

NOVEL

Lisey's Story, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton)

The Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner (Bantam Spectra; Small Beer Press)

The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch (Gollancz; Bantam Spectra)

The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden, Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)

Soldier of Sidon, Gene Wolfe (Tor)

NOVELLA

"Botch Town", Jeffrey Ford (The Empire of Ice Cream, Golden Gryphon)

"The Man Who Got Off the Ghost Train", Kim Newman (The Man from the Diogenes Club, MonkeyBrain)

Dark Harvest, Norman Partridge (Cemetery Dance)

"Map of Dreams", M. Rickert (Map of Dreams, Golden Gryphon)

"The Lineaments of Gratified Desire", Ysabeau S. Wilce (F&SF Jul 2006)

SHORT FICTION

"The Way He Does It", Jeffrey Ford (Electric Velocipede #10, Spr 2006)

"Journey Into the Kingdom", M. Rickert (F&SF May 2006)

"A Siege of Cranes", Benjamin Rosenbaum (Twenty Epics, All-Star Stories)

"Another Word for Map is Faith", Christopher Rowe (F&SF Aug 2006)

"Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy)", Geoff Ryman (F&SF Oct/Nov 2006)

ANTHOLOGY

Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard, Scott A. Cupp & Joe R. Lansdale, eds. (MonkeyBrain and the Fandom Association of Central Texas)

Salon Fantastique, Ellen Datlow & Terry Windling, eds. (Thunder's Mouth)

Retro Pulp Tales, Joe R. Lansdale, ed. (Subterranean)

Twenty Epics, David Moles & Susan Marie Groppi, eds. (All-Star Stories)

Firebirds Rising, Sharyn November, ed. (Firebird)

COLLECTION

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)

The Empire of Ice Cream, Jeffrey Ford (Golden Gryphon)

American Morons, Glen Hirshberg (Earthling)

Red Spikes, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin Australia; Knopf)

Map of Dreams, M. Rickert (Golden Gryphon)

ARTIST

Jon Foster

Edward Miller

John Picacio

Shaun Tan

Jill Thompson

SPECIAL AWARD, PROFESSIONAL

Ellen Asher (For work at SFBC)

Mark Finn (for Blood & Thunder: The Life of Robert E. Howard, MonkeyBrain)

Deanna Hoak for copyediting

Greg Ketter for Dreamhaven

Leonard S. Marcus, ed. (for The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy, Candlewick)

SPECIAL AWARD, NON-PROFESSIONAL

Leslie Howle (for her work at Clarion West)

Leo Grin (for The Cimmerian)

Susan Marie Groppi (for Strange Horizons)

John Klima (for Electric Velocipede)

Gary K. Wolfe (for reviews and criticism in Locus and elsewhere)

[via Locus Online]