Ian Whates
Author and Editor
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 1,613
Chris Beckett's Elastic Press collection The Turing Test has just been awarded the 2009 Edge Hill Short Story prize.
The Edge Hill Short Story Prize is the UK's only award for a short story collection by a single author. The announcement was made at a ceremony in Liverpool today (Saturday 4th July). The other shortlisted authors were all (or so I'm told) former winners or finalists for the Mann Booker prize, and Chris's appearance on the shortlist came as a bit of a surprise, particularly to the author. As for his winning it...?
Judge James Walton, journalist and chair of BBC Radio 4's "The Write Stuff" said: "I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand.
"Yet, once the judging process started, it soon became clear that The Turing Test was the book that we'd all been impressed by, and enjoyed, the most—and one by one we admitted it."
This is fabulous news for Chris, and surely for science fiction in general.
WELL DONE, CHRIS!!!
The Edge Hill Short Story Prize is the UK's only award for a short story collection by a single author. The announcement was made at a ceremony in Liverpool today (Saturday 4th July). The other shortlisted authors were all (or so I'm told) former winners or finalists for the Mann Booker prize, and Chris's appearance on the shortlist came as a bit of a surprise, particularly to the author. As for his winning it...?
Judge James Walton, journalist and chair of BBC Radio 4's "The Write Stuff" said: "I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand.
"Yet, once the judging process started, it soon became clear that The Turing Test was the book that we'd all been impressed by, and enjoyed, the most—and one by one we admitted it."
This is fabulous news for Chris, and surely for science fiction in general.
WELL DONE, CHRIS!!!
