On Friday 15 June 2012 the David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy will be taking place at the Magic Circle Headquarters in London.  These fantastic awards play an important role in spreading public awareness of the fantasy genre and rewarding excellence within the field.

In order to raise funds and keep these great awards running, an auction is held every year at the ceremony. This year, the auction lots include:

• Have your name featured in an upcoming Terry Brooks novel
• A Star Wars moleskin notebook containing the signatures of over 40 SFF authors including Brent Weeks, Robin Hobb, Peter Brett, Joe Abercrombie, China Miéville, Patrick Rothfuss, Peter Hamilton and many more
• Have 10,000 words of your manuscript, plus submission letter and synopsis edited by editor Gillian Redfearn at Gollancz
• The original pencil sketch by the artist Didier Graffet of the cover for The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

Please see details of all the auction lots via the Gemmell Award homepage HERE

All of these lots will be auctioned off at the award ceremony. However, for those who would like to bid on an item but can’t attend the event, highest bids can now be submitted by email to christineharrison_007 [at] hotmail [dot] com in advance of the ceremony on 15 June 2012.

Here is a round-up of recent awards news:

First, The David Gemmell Legend Award 2012 shortlist has been announced. See the full list HERE

The Testament of Jessie Lamb (Sandstone Press) by Jane Rogers – her first venture into science fiction – has won the 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award. Full details HERE

Meanwhile, SFScope reports that Stanley Schmidt – long-time editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine – is the 2012 winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award. The Award is “bestowed for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space.”

Finally, Locus Online reports that Joe Haldeman, James Tiptree Jr., James Cameron and Virgil Finlay are the 2012 inductees into the SF Hall of Fame.

The LEGEND poll for The David Gemmell Legend Award for Fantasy is now open. To register your vote, go to the website HERE

The MORNINGSTAR and RAVENHEART polls will open shortly.