SFFANZ Press Release: Finalists for the 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards Announced - Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Authors Nominated

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand is pleased to announce its list of finalists for the 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards celebrating consumer choice and excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror. Eligible works are from the 2008 calendar year.

Christchurch author Helen Lowe, author of “Thornspell”, is one of the finalists in the category of “Young Adult Novel”. Other finalists in this category are Ella West for “Anywhere But Here”, Fleur Beale for “Juno of Taris”, Margaret Mahy for “The Magician of Hoad” and Glynne MacLean for “The Spiral Chrysalis”.

Young Adult works feature very strongly on this year's nominations. Helen Lowe and Ella West have also been nominated in the category of “Best New Talent”, while Glynne MacLean has also been nominated in the Novella category for “The Time Stealers”.

Auckland writer Nalini Singh, author of “Mine to Possess” and “Hostage to Pleasure” has been nominated for both works in the category of Best Novel. Hamilton author Russell Kirkpatrick has also been nominated in this category for his work “Dark Heart”, the second book of the Husk trilogy. Both authors will be attending Conscription as New Zealand Literary Guests of Honour.

For more information about Conscription — including how to obtain tickets to attend — please visit http://www.conscription.co.nz/ConScription/index.htm.

Voting for the SJV Awards will take place at Conscription, the 30th New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention, which will be held in Auckland, New Zealand over Queen's Birthday Weekend, 29 May - 1 June 2009. Conscription is taking place at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Mangere. Winners will be announced after the Conscription banquet on the Sunday night of the convention.

A full list of finalists by category can be seen at http://sffanz.sf.org.nz/sjv/sjvNominations-2009.shtml. Other categories include "Best Short Story" and "Best Collected Work", with Tim Jones having two works in this latter category.

Tim adds:

If you check out the link to the list of finalists, you'll find several people with connections to this blog. One of them is me: I've been nominated both for my short story collection Transported, which you can buy online from Fishpond and New Zealand Books Abroad, and as the editor of JAAM 26, from which Darian Smith's fantasy story "Banshee" has also been nominated. Lyn McConchie and Helen Lowe also had work in JAAM 26.

Helen Lowe has been nominated both for her excellent novel Thornspell, which I read this past week, and as Best New Talent - and talented she surely is.

Pat Whitaker is another multiple nominee. I met Pat a few weeks ago and was very impressed by the energy and commitment he puts into his writing. And Regina Patton, nominated for her short story "The Derby", is a recent guest blogger right here.

It's nice to see other old friends and new nominated as well, among them Sally McLennan, Yvonne Harrison, Dan McCarthy and Maree Pavletich (the latter two for Services to Fandom - either would be a worthy winner). The best of luck to all the nominees!