Sunday, October 28, 2001

2001 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Montreal, Canada.

Comments: With two wins and another nomination, 2001 was Andy Duncan's year at the World Fantasy Awards. Despite this, a lot of people who consider themselves to be fantasy fiction fans probably have no idea who Andy Duncan is, in all likelihood because Duncan has not published any novels. This simple fact clearly illustrates the primacy of novels in the modern publishing world, and is, I think, one of the primary reasons that fiction publishing is having difficulties. In the 1950s and 1960s, a writer could make a decent living and achieve a fair amount of fame simple by publishing a lot of short fiction. This allowed many writers to hone their craft while still earning enough money to pay their bills while devoting themselves to writing full time. In more recent years, unless you can churn out a publishable novel or two while you are holding down a "day job", you simply aren't going to ever have a viable career as an author. As a case in point, more than a decade after his stellar year of 2001, Andy Duncan's primary job is teaching English at Frostburg State University. I don't begrudge Andy the opportunity to teach a subject that he loves, but the fact that he hasn't published more due to his need to hold down a "paying" job is something of a tragedy.

Best Novel

Winner:
(tie) Declare by Tim Powers
(tie) Galveston by Sean Stewart

Other Nominees:
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky
Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

Best Novella

Winner:
The Man on the Ceiling by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem

Other Nominees:
Blue Kansas Sky by Michael Bishop
Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol by Elizabeth Hand
Mr Dark's Carnival by Glen Hirshberg
Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower by Susanna Clarke
Pelican Cay by David Case
Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
The Pottawatomie Giant by Andy Duncan

Other Nominees:
Down Here in the Garden by Tia V. Travis
Is There Anybody There? by Kim Newman
Lincoln in Frogmore by Andy Duncan
The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O by Michael Swanwick
The Saltimbanques by Terry Dowling
Shoe and Marriage by Kelly Link

Best Anthology

Winner:
Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora edited by Sheree R. Thomas

Other Nominees:
Dark Terrors 5 edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton
Shadows and Silence edited by Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden
Vanishing Acts edited by Ellen Datlow
Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction edited by Nalo Hopkinson
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Best Collection

Winner:
Beluthahatchie and Other Stories by Andy Duncan

Other Nominees:
Blackwater Days by Terry Dowling
Magic Terror: Seven Tales by Peter Straub
Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories by Neal Barrett, Jr.
The Perseids and Other Stories by Robert Charles Wilson
Travel Arrangements by M. John Harrison

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Philip José Farmer
Frank Frazetta

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Shaun Tan

Other Nominees:
Jim Burns
Kinuko Y. Craft
Les Edwards
Daniel Merriam
John Jude Palencar

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Tom Shippey

Other Nominees:
Ellen Datlow
Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner
William K. Schafer
Gary Turner and Marty Halpern

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Bill Sheehan

Other Nominees:
Benjamin Cossel, Jeremy Lassen, and Jason Williams
Peter Crowther
Philip J. Rahman and Dennis E. Weiler
Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden
Raymond Russell and Rosalie Parker

Go to previous year's nominees: 2000
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2002

Book Award Reviews     Home