Fantasycon | Suite101.com

Colin Harvey by James Owens Studios, Photo by James Owens Studios

Posted by
Colin Harvey
Sep 22, 2009

My Fantasycon was sadly truncated by being on holiday in Wales on the Friday, and needing to be home for Sunday afternoon to allow me to catch-up.

Still, even a few hours with friends and colleagues was worth the cross-country trek, and besides shring (or even sharing!) a curry with Rob, Sharon and Derek, I got back in time to witness the unscripted --or rather semi-scripted-- chaos that is the British Fantasy Awards presentation.

Angry Robot sponsored the award for Best Cover Art, while AR Editor Lee Harris and his Hub co-editor Alasdair Stuart gave a brilliant speech as they presented the Best Anthology Award.

The full awards list is:

Best Novel (The August Derleth Fantasy Award) Memoirs of a Master Forger, by Graham Joyce, writing as William Heaney (Gollancz)

Best Novella The Reach of Children, by Tim Lebbon (Humdrumming)

Best Short Fiction Do You See, by Sarah Pinborough, from Myth-Understandings, ed. by Ian Whates (Newcon Press)

Best Collection Bull Running for Girls, by Allyson Bird (Screaming Dreams)

Best Anthology The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19, ed. Stephen Jones (Constable & Robinson)

The PS Publishing Best Small Press Award Elastic Press, run by Andrew Hook

Best Non-Fiction Basil Copper: A Life in Books, by Basil Copper, ed. Stephen Jones (PS Publishing)

Best Magazine/Periodical Postscripts, ed. Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers (PS Publishing)

Best Artist Vincent Chong

Best Comic/Graphic Novel Locke and Key, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW Publishing)

Best Televison Doctor Who, head writer Russell T. Davies (BBC Wales)

Best Film The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner Brothers)

The Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer Joseph D’Lacey, for Meat (Bloody Books)

The Karl Edward Wagner Award (the Special Award) Hayao Miyazaki

Highlights of the con were Sharon's boots; catching up with Marc and Lee, and Andy Remic as well as Kim Lakin-Smith, Sam Stone, Raven Dane and Paul Meloy; putting the fear of God into Saxon Bullock, even if only momentarily; and meeting Carole Johnstone and her sister (Lauren?) and catching up with James from Worldcon.

Lowlights were seeing Paul score 0 from 3 on the awards -and I'm convinced that having two stories on one ballot worked against him-- and not having enough time to catch up with Ian Whates and Mike Shevdon.

Still, there's always next time....