The British Fantasy Awards Announce Their 2018 Shortlist
It’s a special time for fantasy fans, as the 2018 shortlist for The British Fantasy Awards has been officially announced. To have made it this far, entrants have to make it through two rounds of nominations, with votes being tallied by members of the British Fantasy Society and FantasyCon.
You might recognise the names of some bigger authors like Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill, but there’s plenty of fresh meat too, like Tade Thompson and Emma Newman. Although mostly literary, there’s still a category for film and TV. Here is where the boundaries of fantasy are broadened a little, and this year’s roster includes everything from Get Out and Black Mirror to Stranger Things.
Here are this year’s nominees:
Best Anthology
- 2084, ed. George Sandison (Unsung Stories)
- Dark Satanic Mills: Great British Horror Book 2, ed. Steve Shaw (Black Shuck Books)
- Imposter Syndrome, ed. James Everington & Dan Howarth (Dark Minds Press)
- New Fears, ed. Mark Morris (Titan Books)
- Pacific Monsters, ed. Margret Helgadottir (Fox Spirit)
Best Artist
- Ben Baldwin
- Jeffrey Alan Love
- Victo Ngai
- Daniele Sera
- Sophie E Tallis
- Sana Takeda
Best Audio
- Anansi Boys (by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Dirk Maggs for Radio 4)
- Brave New Words podcast (Ed Fortune and Starburst Magazine)
- Breaking the Glass Slipper podcast (Lucy Hounsom, Charlotte Bond & Megan Leigh)
- Ivory Towers (by Richard H Brooks, directed by Karim Kronfli for 11th Hour Audio Productions)
- PseudoPod podcast (Alasdair Stuart and Escape Artists)
- Tea & Jeopardy podcast (Emma & Peter Newman)
Best Collection
- Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury)
- Strange Weather, by Joe Hill (Gollancz)
- Tanith by Choice, by Tanith Lee (Newcon Press)
- Tender: Stories, by Sofia Samatar (Small Beer Press)
- You Will Grow Into Them, by Malcolm Devlin (Unsung Stories)
Best Comic / Graphic Novel
- Bitch Planet Vol 2: President Bitch, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Taki Soma & Valentine de Landro (Image)
- Grim & Bold, by Joshua Cornah (Kristell Ink)
- Monstress, Vol. 2, by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda (Image)
- Tomorrow, by Jack Lothian & Garry Mac (BHP Comics)
- The Wicked + The Divine Vol 5: Imperial Phase Part 1, by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie (Image)
Best Fantasy Novel (The Robert Holdstock Award)
- Age of Assassins, by RJ Barker (Orbit)
- The Court of Broken Knives, by Anna Smith Spark (HarperVoyager)
- The Ninth Rain, by Jen Williams (Headline)
- Under the Pendulum Sun, by Jeanette Ng (Angry Robot)
Best Film / Television Production
- Black Mirror, Series 4, by Charlie Brooker (Netflix)
- Get Out, by Jordan Peele (Universal Pictures)
- The Good Place, Season 1, by Michael Schur (Netflix)
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi, by Rian Johnson (Lucasfilm)
- Stranger Things, Season 2, by Matt & Ross Duffer (Netflix)
- Twin Peaks: the Return, by Mark Frost & David Lynch (Sky Atlantic)
- Wonder Woman, by Zack Snyder, Allan Heinberg & Jason Fuchs (Warner Bros.)
Best Horror Novel (The August Derleth Award)
- Behind Her Eyes, by Sarah Pinborough (Harper Collins)
- The Boy on the Bridge, by MR Carey (Orbit)
- The Changeling, by Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau)
- The Crow Garden, by Alison Littlewood (Jo Fletcher Books)
- Relics, by Tim Lebbon (Titan Books)
Best Independent Press
- Fox Spirit
- Grimbold Books
- Newcon Press
- Salt Publishing
- Unsung Stories
Best Magazine / Periodical
- Black Static, ed. Andy Cox (TTA Press)
- Gingernuts of Horror, ed. Jim Mcleod
- Grimdark Magazine, ed. Adrian Collins
- Interzone, ed. Andy Cox (TTA Press)
- Shoreline of Infinity, ed. Noel Chidwick
Best Newcomer (The Sydney J Bounds Award)
- RJ Barker, for Age of Assassins (Orbit)
- SA Chakraborty, for The City of Brass (HarperVoyager)
- Ed McDonald, for Blackwing (Orion)
- Jeanette Ng, for Under the Pendulum Sun (Angry Robot)
- Anna Smith Spark, for The Court of Broken Knives (HarperVoyager)
Best Non-Fiction
- Gender Identity and Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. FT Barbini (Luna Press)
- Gingernuts of Horror, ed. Jim Mcleod
- Luminescent Threads, ed. Alexandra Pierce & Mimi Mondal (12th Planet Press)
- No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, by Ursula K Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of 70s and 80s Horror Fiction, by Grady Hendrix (Quirk)
- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, by Maura McHugh (Electric Dreamhouse Press)
Best Novella
- Brother’s Ruin, by Emma Newman (Tor.com)
- Cottingley, by Alison Littlewood (Newcon Press)
- The Murders of Molly Southbourne, by Tade Thompson (Tor.com)
- Naming the Bones, by Laura Mauro (Dark Minds Press)
- Passing Strange, by Ellen Klages (Tor.com)
- A Pocketful of Crows, by Joanne Harris (Gollancz)
Best Short Story
- “The Anniversary” by Ruth EJ Booth (in Black Static #61) (TTA Press)
- “Four Abstracts” by Nina Allan (in New Fears) (Titan Books)
- “Illumination” by Joanne Hall (in Book of Dragons) (Kristell Ink)
- “The Little Gift” by Stephen Volk (PS Publishing)
- “Looking for Laika” by Laura Mauro (in Interzone #273) (TTA Press)
- “Shepherd’s Business” by Stephen Gallagher (in New Fears) (Titan Books)
The winners will be chosen by a jury, except for the Karl Edward Wagner Award, which is chosen by the British Fantasy Society Committee. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at FantasyCon 2018, taking place October 19-21 at Chester’s Queen Hotel.