KU News Release

KU honors best science fiction novel, short story of 2007

LAWRENCE — The Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas has announced the winners of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel of 2007 and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction work of 2007.

The awards will be presented at a dinner Friday, July 11, in conjunction with the center’s annual Campbell Conference and the annual meeting of the Science Fiction Research Association, which is taking place July 10-13 in Lawrence.

The Campbell award will go to “In War Times” by Kathleen Ann Goonan. For the first time, there are two winners of the Sturgeon award: “Finisterra” by David R. Moles and “Tidelines” by Elizabeth Bear.

The Campbell award is one of the three major annual awards for science fiction. The award was created to honor the late editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine (now called Analog). Many writers and scholars call Campbell, who edited the magazine from 1937 until his death in 1971, the father of modern science fiction.

The Sturgeon award was established in 1987 by James Gunn, professor emeritus of English and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon as a memorial to one of the great short-story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.

The Science Fiction Research Association is the oldest professional organization for the study of science fiction and fantasy literature and film. This year’s conference is titled “Creating, Reading and Teaching Science Fiction.” Notable guest speakers include Karen Joy Fowler, author of “The Jane Austen Book Club”; Paul Kincaid, author of “What We Do When We Read Science Fiction”; and Joan Slonczewski, a professor at Kenyon College who uses science fiction to help teach biology. Breakout sessions will explore topics such as “Reimagining the Future of the Past in Science Fiction Film and Television”; “Aliens, Animals and Environmentalism in Science Fiction”; and “Playing the Universe: Reading and Teaching Science Fiction With Video Games.”

This year, the Campbell Conference will offer “Teaching Science Fiction: A Portable Workshop,” primarily for high school teachers.

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