Novelist John Scalzi won the Robert A. Heinlein Award, which honors "outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space." Organizers cited Scalzi for his "body of work of 16 novels and numerous short stories. A majority of his work features a future in space for humanity including his groundbreaking novels in the Old Man's War series and the Interdependency series."
The award will be presented on May 26, during opening ceremonies for Balticon 57, the 57th Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention. Balticon and the Robert A. Heinlein Award are both managed and sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society.
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Small in Real Life, a manuscript by Kelly Sather, has won the 2023 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, which honors a collection of short stories. The prize includes $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press, which will take place on October 3.
Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and judge of the prize, commented: "This compact but mighty collection explores both the heights and depths of the unsavory business of being human. With exquisite, emotionally rich prose, every single story surprises and unsettles. Tenderness co-exists with terror, beauty alongside betrayal. Characters are at turns earnest and terrible as they grapple with longing, lust, grief, regret, and disappointment in these utterly original stories. The heart of this brilliant collection is chaos--the way the universe is chaotic, unpredictable, and simply dazzling."
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The longlist for the $50,000 2023 International Prize for Arabic Fiction has been announced and includes 16 writers, eight of whom are women (the highest number in the prize's history), all from nine countries. The shortlist will be released March 1 and the winner announced May 21. To see the longlisted titles, click here.