Shirley Jackson Award
Encyclopedia
The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson
in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic are presented at Readercon
, an annual conference on imaginative literature.
Writing in Salon
, Laura Miller noted, "The awards are only 3 years old, but have already proved a fitting tribute to a writer who roamed freely over similar ground and has never quite gotten the respect she deserves."
Award-winners are selected by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics and academics, with input from a Board of Advisors. The awards are given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories: Novel
, Novella
, Novelette
, Short Story
, Single-Author Collection and Edited Anthology
.
The first annual Shirley Jackson Awards were presented July 20, 2007 at the Readercon
Conference on Imaginative Literature in Burlington, Massachusetts
. The jurors were John Langan, Sarah Langan, Paul G. Tremblay
and F. Brett Cox.
Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson was an American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years...
in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic are presented at Readercon
Readercon
Readercon is an annual science fiction convention, held every July in the Boston, Massachusetts area, in Burlington, Massachusetts). It was founded by Bob Colby and statistician Eric Van in the 1980s with the goal of focusing exclusively on science fiction in the written form Readercon is an...
, an annual conference on imaginative literature.
Writing in Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, Laura Miller noted, "The awards are only 3 years old, but have already proved a fitting tribute to a writer who roamed freely over similar ground and has never quite gotten the respect she deserves."
Award-winners are selected by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics and academics, with input from a Board of Advisors. The awards are given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories: Novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
, Novelette
Novelette
A novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
, Short Story
Short Story
Short Story is a piece for violin and piano composed by George Gershwin in 1927.Gershwin composed the duet from two other short works that premiered at the same time as his Three Preludes. He combined a section of the "Novelette in Fourths" and another slower work to create this piece....
, Single-Author Collection and Edited Anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
.
The first annual Shirley Jackson Awards were presented July 20, 2007 at the Readercon
Readercon
Readercon is an annual science fiction convention, held every July in the Boston, Massachusetts area, in Burlington, Massachusetts). It was founded by Bob Colby and statistician Eric Van in the 1980s with the goal of focusing exclusively on science fiction in the written form Readercon is an...
Conference on Imaginative Literature in Burlington, Massachusetts
Burlington, Massachusetts
Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,498 at the 2010 census.- History :It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, however this has never been confirmed....
. The jurors were John Langan, Sarah Langan, Paul G. Tremblay
Paul G. Tremblay
Paul G. Tremblay is an American author and editor of contemporary horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction. Tremblay received two Bram Stoker Award nominations in 2007 and he is a juror for the Shirley Jackson Awards.- Biography :...
and F. Brett Cox.
2007
- Novel: Generation LossGeneration Loss-Reception:*The Washington Post states that the "portrayal of gritty suffering is as strong as its fantastical elements" -Awards:*It won the first Shirley Jackson Award.*Shortlisted for the Believer Book Award.-External links:**...
by Elizabeth Hand - Novella: "Vacancy" by Lucius ShepardLucius ShepardLucius Shepard is an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leans into other genres, such as magical realism. His work is infused with a political and historical sensibility and an awareness of literary antecedents...
- Novelette: "The Janus Tree" by Glen HirshbergGlen HirshbergGlen Hirshberg is an American author of horror fiction. His works include the short story collection The Two Sams, published in 2003 by Carroll & Graf; the collection American Morons, published in 2006 by Earthling Publications; and the novel The Snowman's Children, published by Carroll & Graf in...
- Short Story: "The Monsters of Heaven" by Nathan Ballingrud
- Collection: The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird BarronLaird BarronLaird Samuel Barron is an award winning author and poet, much of whose work falls within the horror, noir, and dark fantasy genres. He has also been the Managing Editor of the online literary magazine Melic Review. He lives in Olympia, Washington.-Biography:Mr...
- Anthology: Inferno edited by Ellen DatlowEllen DatlowEllen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
2008
- Novel: The Shadow Year by Jeffrey FordJeffrey FordJeffrey Ford is an American writer in the Fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginative power, humor, literary allusion, and a fascination with tales told within tales...
- Novella: "Disquiet" by Julia LeighJulia LeighJulia Leigh is an Australian novelist, film director and screenwriter.-Early life:Born in 1970 in Sydney, Australia, Leigh is the eldest of three daughters of a doctor and maths teacher. She initially studied law but shifted to writing. For a time she worked at the Australian Society of Authors...
- Novelette: "Pride and Prometheus" by John KesselJohn KesselJohn Kessel is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer and the author of two solo novels, Good News From Outer Space and Corrupting Dr...
- Short Story: "The Pile" by Michael BishopMichael Bishop (author)Michael Lawson Bishop is an award-winning American writer. Over four decades and thirty books, he has created a body of work that stands among the most admired in modern science fiction and fantasy literature....
- Collection: The Diving Pool by Yoko OgawaYoko Ogawais a Japanese writer.-Biography:Ogawa was born in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, graduated from Waseda University, and lives in Ashiya, Hyōgo, with her husband and son. Since 1988, she has published more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel The Professor's Beloved Equation has been...
- Anthology: The New Uncanny edited by Sarah Eyre and Ra Page
2009
- Novel: Big Machine by Victor LaValle
- Novella: "Midnight Picnic" by Nick AntoscaNick AntoscaNick Antosca is an American author of literary fiction. He is the author of two novels: Fires and Midnight Picnic . Midnight Picnic was set to be published by Impetus Press, but the small publisher folded under financial pressure in the fall of 2008...
- Novelette: "Morality" by Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
- Short Story: "The Pelican Bar" by Karen Joy FowlerKaren Joy FowlerKaren Joy Fowler is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the nineteenth century, the lives of women, and alienation....
- Collection: Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin WilsonKevin WilsonKevin Wilson may refer to:*Kevin Wilson , Northern Irish footballer*Kevin Wilson , Jamaican footballer*Kevin R. Wilson, American football coach*Kevin Bloody Wilson, Australian comedian...
- Collection: Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical by Robert Shearman
- Anthology: Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe edited by Ellen DatlowEllen DatlowEllen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...