SF Author Wins Major Literary Award - Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums

Ian Whates · 4th July 2009, 01:03 PM

Chris Beckett's Elastic Press collection The Turing Test has just been awarded the 2009 Edge Hill Short Story prize.

The Edge Hill Short Story Prize is the UK's only award for a short story collection by a single author. The announcement was made at a ceremony in Liverpool today (Saturday 4th July). The other shortlisted authors were all (or so I'm told) former winners or finalists for the Mann Booker prize, and Chris's appearance on the shortlist came as a bit of a surprise, particularly to the author. As for his winning it...?

Judge James Walton, journalist and chair of BBC Radio 4's "The Write Stuff" said: "I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand.

"Yet, once the judging process started, it soon became clear that The Turing Test was the book that we'd all been impressed by, and enjoyed, the most—and one by one we admitted it."

This is fabulous news for Chris, and surely for science fiction in general.

WELL DONE, CHRIS!!!

chopper · 4th July 2009, 01:16 PM

Booker prize? Never heard of it. strictly smalltime, i'd guess.

Seriously, excellent news.

GeoffNelder · 5th July 2009, 04:59 PM

Brilliant news. TTT is excellent, Chris that is well-deserved.

Geoff

Connavar · 5th July 2009, 07:09 PM

Shocking a SF author being giood enough to win a major "Lit" award

Seriously though its good news that shows the mainstream literary snobs where to stuff their genre bias.

4th July 2009, 01:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ian Whates Author and Editor Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Cambridgeshire Posts: 1,571	SF Author Wins Major Literary Award Chris Beckett's Elastic Press collection The Turing Test has just been awarded the 2009 Edge Hill Short Story prize. The Edge Hill Short Story Prize is the UK's only award for a short story collection by a single author. The announcement was made at a ceremony in Liverpool today (Saturday 4th July). The other shortlisted authors were all (or so I'm told) former winners or finalists for the Mann Booker prize, and Chris's appearance on the shortlist came as a bit of a surprise, particularly to the author. As for his winning it...? Judge James Walton, journalist and chair of BBC Radio 4's "The Write Stuff" said: "I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand. "Yet, once the judging process started, it soon became clear that The Turing Test was the book that we'd all been impressed by, and enjoyed, the most—and one by one we admitted it." This is fabulous news for Chris, and surely for science fiction in general. WELL DONE, CHRIS!!!

4th July 2009, 01:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
chopper fit & working again Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: South Yorkshire Posts: 1,829 Blog Entries: 74	re: SF Author Wins Major Literary Award Booker prize? Never heard of it. strictly smalltime, i'd guess. Seriously, excellent news.

5th July 2009, 04:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
GeoffNelder in orbit Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Cheshire Posts: 44	Re: SF Author Wins Major Literary Award Brilliant news. TTT is excellent, Chris that is well-deserved. Geoff

5th July 2009, 07:09 PM	#4 (permalink)
Connavar Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 7,996	Re: SF Author Wins Major Literary Award Shocking a SF author being giood enough to win a major "Lit" award Seriously though its good news that shows the mainstream literary snobs where to stuff their genre bias.

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