STARBURST Magazine is happy to announce the shortlist for its Brave New Words Award.
Due to Covid-19, the winner will be announced much later in the year than normal.

The nominees are:

Evan WinterRage of Dragons (Orbit Books)
Max Gladstone and Amal El-MohtarThis is How You Lose the Time War (Jo Fletcher Books)

Tyler HayesThe Imaginary Corpse (Angry Robot)

Sady DoyleDead Blondes and Bad Mothers (MHP Books)
Nisi ShawlNew Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color (Rebellion)
Tamsyn MuirGideon the Ninth (Tor)

STARBURST invited nominations from publishers and creators earlier this year.  The award goes to an individual, not a specific work. The magazine’s team actively sought out examples published in 2019 that most define a creator’s output. STARBURST editorial staff assembled the shortlist from roughly 100 entries, which included blog posts, comic books, short stories, screenplays, poetry, anthologies and novels. This was then discussed vigorously amongst the team at the Starburst International Film Festival in March.

STARBURST Magazine’s own Literary Editor, Ed Fortune, is the head judge.  He said “Blimey, it gets harder every year. Some very different entries this year, but we are very proud of this year’s short list and recommend any book on this list.”

The panel of judges for the Brave New Words Award includes genre critics and media professionals. The panel includes Urban Fantasy author Russell Smith, media expert Rebecca Derrick, book podcaster Jane Hanmer and book blogger Matt Cavanagh. Finally, we welcome narrative expert Professor Esther MacCallum-Stewart to the team.

A ceremony presenting the awards are planned to take place in October as part of Octocon 2020, The National Irish Science Fiction Convention.

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  1. […] The award will be announced as part of a ceremony at Octocon 2020, The National Irish Science Fiction Convention. The same ceremony will also announce the winner of Starburst Magazine’s prestigious Brave New Words Award. […]


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