Adventures of a Bookonaut: 2012 Chronos Award Nominees and Ballot

Apr 17, 2013

2012 Chronos Award Nominees and Ballot

Now for those of you unschooled in the ways if Australian Speculative Fiction awards, it’s nearly time for the Chronos Awards. The Continuum Foundation(who ran a tip top national convention last year) has proudly announced this year’s ballot for the Chronos Awards for excellence in Victorian Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror in 2012.

Victorian fiction being the State of Victoria, Australia, not Victorian as in Steampunk. So some of those nominated below appear on national awards and there are other who don’t. It's nice to sometimes see good work that may have been missed.

I even get a guernsey.

Best Long Fiction

Bread and Circuses by Felicity Dowker (Ticonderoga Publications)

Salvage by Jason Nahrung (Twelfth Planet Press)

Walking Shadows by Narrelle M. Harris (Clan Destine Press)

Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror 2011 edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)

Dyson’s Drop by Paul Collins (Ford Street Publishing)

Comments:

Must get Bread and Circuses. I can remember Felicity Dowker being interviewed about it early in the first season of Writer and the Critic. Salvage by Nahrung, nominated for national awards, this is a good novel/novella even Mrs Blogonaut loved it. Walking Shadows, is staring daggers at me from the shelf. And well I … yep moving on

Best Short Fiction

“Five Ways to Start a War” by Sue Bursztynski in Light Touch Paper Stand Clear, edited by Edwina Harvey and Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)

“The Mornington Ride” by Jason Nahrung in Epilogue, edited by Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing)

“Nematalien” by LynC in The Narratorium, edited by David Grigg

“Fireflies” by Steve Cameron in Epilogue (FableCroft Publishing)

“The D_d” by Adam Browne in Light Touch Paper Stand Clear, edited by Edwina Harvey and Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)

Comments:

I fare subtly better in this category. Owning 4 of the stories. All good, but my favourites are the Nahrung and the Bursztynski.

Best Fan Writer

Alexandra Pierce – good reviewer and commentator

Jason Nahrung – great reviews, music as well as the Specfic scene (bastard’s a good writer too)

Nalini Haynes - tireless content provider of reviews & geek culture- often provides audio and video interviews with local and international stars.

Bruce Gillespie – an institution :D

Grant Watson – intelligent commentator on film, Dr Who, and speculative fiction in general

Steve Cameron – Good writer, sadly have not chanced upon his fan writing.

Comments:

See above

Best Fan Written Work

Reviewing New Who series by David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely

Comments:

A worthy nomination. But sad the category has no other competition.

Best Fan Artist

Dick Jenssen

Comments:

A worthy nomination. But sad the category has no other competition.

Best Fan Artwork

“The Entellechy” by Dick Jenssen, cover art for Interstellar Ramjet Scoop for ANZAPA 267 edited by Bill Wright

Comments:

A worthy nomination. But sad the category has no other competition.

Best Fan Publication

Dark Matter Fanzine (www.darkmatterfanzine.com), by Nalini Hayes

SF Commentary, (http://efanzines.com/SFC/) edited by Bruce Gillespie

Viewing Clutter, DVD and Blu-ray reviews blog (http://georgeivanoff.com.au/other-writing/reviews/viewing-clutter/), by George Ivanoff

Comments:

On content and visible effort Dark Matter should take this one out.

Best Achievement

Continuum 8: Craftonomicon (51st Australian National SF Convention) Program by Julia Svaganovic, Emma Hespa Mann, and Caitlin Noble

“Snapshot 2012″ by Alisa Krasnostein, Kathryn Linge, David McDonald, Helen Merrick, Ian Mond, Jason Nahrung, Alex Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Tehani Wessely and Sean Wright

Comments:

I took me about five days to realise I was nominated in this category. Like I said I’m sometimes a bit slow. That being said Continuum 8, the last Natcon, was a blast. I think despite the mammoth effort that was Snapshot 2012, the programming of Continuum 8 I wouldn’t attempt if you paid me. I reckon it will go to them.

Best Artwork

The award for Best Artwork is not being presented due to insufficient nominations being received.

Comments:

Victoria is one of our larger states, so its a bit sad to see this category and others bordering on empty

Comments (4)

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raventracks 46p · 621 weeks ago

The artwork would be for professional art. Looking through the eligibles, there weren't too many anyway. And some of them were for children's books and who reads those except me? Only just realised Matt Bissett Johnson was a Victorian! And he's done stuff for ASIM. Possibly we can nominate him next year. Aw, thanks for favouring my story! :-) I got the news at a time when I needed it badly.

As you say, Bruce Gillespie is an institution. So is Dick Jensen, who is a fine artist and the one who had the Ditmars named for him. George Ivanoff's work is terrific, though strictly speaking should be under professional category, because he's paid for his book blogging by Boomerang Books. Well, maybe not for the DVDs? Not sure. I haven't read Dark Matter fanzine, myself.

Snapshot was great and I benefited from it, with an interview from Tehani. But Craftonomicon was definitely one of the better cons I have attended and I still have the orange scarf I knitted using wool and needles supplied by the con. ;-) Having been on a couple of con committees myself, including Aussiecon 3 and Convergence, I KNOW how much work goes into them.

The Dr Who posts were great!

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SB Wright 110p · 621 weeks ago

It's a bit of a theme isn't it, the focus falling away from art. I wonder if artists are finding other outlets? Yeah I think you have to be a special kind of person to help take on the running of a con, especially as unpaid volunteers. The Natcon ran better than some professional cons I have been to.

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raventracks 46p · 621 weeks ago

Thing is, fan art is not that much these days because most fanzines have gone online. Interstellar Ramject Scoop is one of the few left. Professional should have a bigger list, but remember, this is Victorian-based. And as the ASIM art director, I get submissions from all over the world - again, the Internet thing. I didn't know there were professional cons, other than those dreadful media things where you pay $$$ to hear third Romulan from the left tell you how much he enjoys being in Mel-borrrn! Fan run conventions are better because the people on the committee are fans. They do what they enjoy and hence what the members would enjoy. Pity Waris Hussein can't ake it to this year's Continuum, it would have been fun to hear someone involved ith the very beginnings of Dr Who.
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SB Wright 110p · 621 weeks ago

I meant non Scifi cons, the ones where the tickets are exponentially more expensive but you don't get much better value

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