The annual Arthur C. Clarke Award is given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a generous grant given by Sir Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987 to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
The winner is judged by a jury panel and selected from an initial shortlist of six eligible novels. The panel of judges is made up of a voluntary body of distinguished writers, critics and fans with the panel line-up changing every year. The juries are drawn from such organisations as the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation and the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival.
The six shortlisted books for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction novel of the year published in 2015 are:
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet – Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton)
Europe at Midnight – Dave Hutchinson (Solaris)
The Book of Phoenix – Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton)
Arcadia – Iain Pears (Faber & Faber)
Way Down Dark – J.P. Smythe (Hodder & Stoughton)
Children of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor)
The 6 shortlisted titles were selected from a list of 113 individual eligible submissions, put forward by 41 different publishing houses and imprints.
The judging panel for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2016 are:
David Gullen, British Science Fiction Association
Ian Whates, British Science Fiction Association
Liz Bourke, Science Fiction Foundation
Andrew McKie, Science Fiction Foundation
Leila Abu El Hawa, SCI-FI-LONDON film festival
The winner will be announced on Wednesday 24th August at a celebratory award ceremony held in partnership with Foyles, Charing Cross Road.
The winner will be presented with a cheque for £2016.00 and the award itself, a commemorative engraved bookend.
