The nominees have been announced for the 2011 BSFA Awards as follows:

Best Novel:
Cyber Circus by Kim Lakin-Smith (Newcon Press)
Embassytown by China Mieville (Macmillan)
The Islanders by Christopher Priest (Gollancz)
By Light Alone by Adam Roberts (Gollancz)
Osama by Lavie Tidhar (PS Publishing)

Best Short Fiction:
The Silver Wind by Nina Allan (Interzone 233, TTA Press)
The Copenhagen Interpretation by Paul Cornell (Asimov’s, July)
Afterbirth by Kameron Hurley (Kameron Hurley’s own website)
Covehithe by China Mieville (The Guardian)
Of Dawn by Al Robertson (Interzone 235, TTA Press)

Best Non-Fiction:
Out of This World: Science Fiction But Not As We Know It by Mike Ashley (British Library)
The SF Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition ed. John Clute, Peter Nicholls and David Langford (website)
Review of Arslan by M J Engh, Abigail Nussbaum (Asking the Wrong Questions blog)
SF Mistressworks, ed. Ian Sales (website)
Pornokitsch, ed. Jared Shurin and Anne Perry (website)
The Unsilent Library: Essays on the Russell T. Davies Era of the New Doctor Who (Foundation Studies in Science Fiction), ed. Graham Sleight, Tony Keen and Simon Bradshaw (Science Fiction Foundation)

Best Art:
Cover of Ian Whates’s The Noise Revealed by Dominic Harman (Solaris)
Cover and illustrations of Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls by Jim Kay (Walker)
Cover of Lavie Tidhar’s Osama by Pedro Marques (PS Publishing)
Cover of Liz Williams’s A Glass of Shadow by Anne Sudworth (Newcon Press)

Full details HERE

The audio science fiction magazine StarShipSofa #217 is now available, contents as follows:

Main Fiction: Til Human Voices Take Us by Lewis Shiner

Fact: Hugo Review – Spin by Andy Thomaswick

Main Fiction: Fortitude by David Brin

Narrators: Ted Delorme and Josh Roseman

The Discover Festival is a new event for 2012 which takes place over the weekend of 18 – 20 May at Snibston Discovery Museum, Coalville, Leicestershire. It offers a weekend filled with panels, workshops, readings, Q+As and much more, in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror.

First guests announced are Peter F. Hamilton, Graham Masterton, Mark Chadbourn, Gav Thorpe, Kim Lakin-Smith, Fred Warrington and Gavin Smith, so it’s all shaping up to be a great event!

Full details HERE

Two workshops on writing science fiction will take place in Islington, one on 25 March 2012 (10-6pm) and one on 29 April 2012 (10am-6pm)

“What makes science fiction tick? Where do they get their ideas from? And how do they make it all seem so real? Androids and aliens, time travel and alternate worlds, cyber punk and steam punk, utopias, dystopias and post-apocalypses … not to mention space opera.

In this intensive one-day masterclass, bestselling science fiction author David Wingrove will teach you the basic skills as applied to literature’s most colourful genre, addressing such questions as: What are the rules? Where are the markets in this age of e-books and internet magazines?

Bring your imagination and come and learn with one of the experts in the field.”

One-day workshop
25th March 2012
29th April 2012
10am-6pm
£90

TUTOR: David Wingrove
£90 per workshop (lunch included)

To contact us or to book:
Email: londonwritersworkshop [at] hotmail [dot] co [dot] uk
Phone: 020 7609 1839

Details at the London Writers Workshop website

“Solaris is proud to announce it has commissioned the next book from one of the most exciting new voices in science fiction, Gareth L. Powell. Ack-Ack Macaque will be published in January 2013. Based on a short story published in 2007, the author describes the story as ‘a fusion of alternate history and gonzo cyberpunk’.

In a world where France and Great Britain merged in the late 1950s, Powell has crafted an environment where nuclear-powered Zeppelins encircle the globe, electronic ghosts stalk the living, and a king lies dying; a world in which a half-brained woman struggles to solve a deadly riddle in order to regain her stolen soul, and a monkey sets about killing as many online gamers as possible, in order to avert Armageddon.

With the scale of Iain M. Banks and the intrigue of Alistair Reynolds, Powell’s The Recollection was published by Solaris earlier this year and brought a stunning breath of fresh air into epic science-fiction – an astounding novel about both personal human relationships and their place in the vastness of time and space.”

Night Shade Books have released Alien Contact, an anthology of alien-inspired stories edited by Marty Halpern:

“We are not alone! From War of the Worlds to Invasion of the Body Snatchers… From ET to Close Encounters… creators of science fiction have always eagerly speculated on just how the story of alien contact would play out.

Editor Marty Halpern has gathered together some of the best stories of the last 30 years, by today’s most exciting genre writers, weaving a tapestry that covers a broad range of scenarios: from the insidious, to the violent, to the transcendent.

These twenty-six stories from extraordinary writers such as Harry Turtledove, Orson Scott Card, Molly Gloss, Michael Swanwick, Cory Doctorow, Elizabeth Moon, Adam-Troy Castro, Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Neil Gaiman will captivate and intrigue. Separately they are enthralling, combined together into one anthology they will take you to another world.”

Full details on the website

Ian Whates has announced his plans for NewCon Press in 2012. There are three titles planned for release at Eastercon 2012.  One is a short story collection from Ian Watson, gathering together fifteen previously uncollected stories, with an introduction by Adam Roberts. The next is a hard SF novel written by Andy West. Finally, there will be an anthology, Dark Currents, that returns to the traditional NewCon Press formula of mixing science fiction, fantasy, slipstream and horror stories, all written to a common theme.

Later in the year, there will be a collaboration between NewCon Press and Un:bound.  This will involve a podcast programme, individually downloadable readings of original stories, plus an anthology (e-book and hardcopy).

Finally, plans for the Imaginings series of signed limited editions are well under way with individual issues devoted to the work of Tanith Lee, Nina Allan, Adam Roberts, Stephen Baxter, Pat Cadigan and Jon Courtenay Grimwood. Volume 1 will feature the work of Tanith Lee. Entitled Cold Grey Stones, the book will comprise eleven stories, six of which have previously appeared in such publications as Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, and Fantasy Magazine, while five are completely original to this collection. The cover features atmospheric artwork by Tanith’s husband, John Kaiine.

Solaris Rising edited by Ian Whates
Published by Solaris on 25th October (US) and 1st November (UK)
£7.99 (UK)  $7.99/$9.99 (US & CAN)
Also available as an eBook

“Looking for science fiction of the highest order? Solaris Rising is the first in an exciting new series of anthologies set to reaffirm Solaris’ proud reputation for producing high quality science fiction.

In a book full of boundless variety, energy and imagination, award-winning editor Ian Whates gathers the most accomplished writers in the genre including Ian McDonald, Paul di Filippo, Stephen Baxter, Adam Roberts, Pat Cadigan, Eric Brown, Alastair Reynolds and Peter F. Hamilton.

From the imprint that brought you The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction series, Solaris Rising promises bizarre futures, gritty other worlds and strange realms, exemplifying the diversity and innovation that continue to make science fiction the most thrilling genre there is.”

GeekWire has reported the launch of a new website, BestSFBooks. Its developer, entrepreneur Adam Doppelt, is a self-confessed science fiction geek. The idea behind the site is simple: to help readers discover the most critically-acclaimed SF titles.

According to GeekWire, Doppelt has wanted to build the service for years as a tool to discover science fiction books. In fact, he created a prototype a few years ago, but shelved that concept as other entrepreneurial endeavors took precedent.

Doppelt explains “Amazon will gladly deliver any book that I want to purchase, but they’re terrible at guiding me to the best books, especially if you’re looking at a particular genre like science fiction which tends to get polluted by best sellers that aren’t critically acclaimed.”

The recommendation engine behind BestSFBooks identifies award-winning titles and those which have been nominated for major awards. In some cases, it also takes into account Amazon sales ranks. And Doppelt is considering adding what he calls a “lightweight” voting system so users can help SF fans discover new authors.

“These Awards reward the translation of science fiction, fantasy and related fiction from other languages into English. They exist both to promote the fiction of non-English-speaking authors and to highlight the valuable work done by translators.”

Do you know of a work you would like the jury to consider? Information on how to make nominations of both short and long fiction can be made here