The Dragon and the Stars wins an Aurora Award!

Left to right: Derwin Mak, Tony Pi, and Eric Choi with the Aurora Award trophies for The Dragon and the Stars.

 

The Dragon and the Stars won the Aurora Award for Best Related Work in English. The Aurora Awards, Canada's national science fiction awards for science fiction, were handed out at SFContario 2, which served as this year's Canadian National Science Fiction Convention, on November 20, 2011. The short-list of nominees and the winners were decided by voting of Canadian science fiction readers.

This is the probably the first time that a Chinese-theme anthology of science fiction and fantasy has won a national science fiction award outside China. Hopefully, the success of The Dragon and the Stars will encourage the publishing of more science fiction and fantasy inspired by the various cultures and traditions of the world.

The editors Derwin Mak and Eric Choi thanked Dr. Wu Yan of Beijing Normal University, Canadian author Julie Czerneda, John Helfers of Tekno Books, Sheila Gilbert of DAW Books, and the authors of the anthology. Tony Pi, who wrote the story "The Character of the Hound", represented the authors at the ceremony.

Thanks to all the persons who voted in the Aurora Awards.

May science fiction and fantasy flourish in Canada and the Chinese communities around the world for ten thousand years!

Left to right: Eric Choi, Derwin Mak, and Tony Pi.

Derwin Mak with author J.M. Frey, a presenter at the Aurora Awards. Publishers' Weekly listed J.M.'s novel Triptych as one of the five best science fiction or fantasy novels of 2011.

A Science Fiction Fan and Writer at Auschwitz: The Diary of Petr Ginz

"Moon Landscape", pencil on paper, 1942-1944, by Petr Ginz.

The Diary of Petr Ginz, edited by Chava Pressburger

Holocaust Education Week (November 1-9, 2011) is not usually the occasion to discuss the lives of science fiction writers, but there is a connection between the Holocaust and a science fiction writer. Now available in bookstores is the diary of Petr Ginz, possibly the only verifiable science fiction fan and writer to die at Auschwitz. He was only 16 years old when he was murdered.

Few people know about Ginz, who was a highly intelligent boy and fan of Jules Verne. He wrote five novels, at least three with science fiction themes, between the ages of 8 and 14. Alas, none were professionally published, and only one, A Visit From Prehistory, has survived. However, many people have seen his drawing, "Moon Landscape", a copy of which Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon took aboard the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia. More recently, he was mentioned as an inmate of Theresienstadt concentration camp in the documentary Hana's Suitcase.

The Diary of Petr Ginz was recovered and edited by his surviving sister, Chava Pressburger. He started writing it when he was 14 years old in Prague. It ends when he goes to Theresienstadt, the "model camp" that the Nazis used to fool the outside world that they were treating Jews humanely. Ginz survived for another two years at Theresienstadt before being taken to Auschwitz.

Of course, people will compare Ginz's diary to a more famous diary of that era, Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl. Both are diaries, but they differ greatly in style. Anne Frank wrote about relationships and feelings among her family and a few others trapped in their Secret Annex. Her diary is all about feelings and emotions and growing up.

Petr Ginz, in contrast, treated his diary like a newspaper and wrote about current events and observations of life under German rule. Unlike Anne Frank, Ginz could roam about his ghetto, albeit with increasing restrictions on his movement. Thus his diary reports the daily news of life under German occupation. In addition to writing about school classes and German soldiers in the streets, he also mentions the loss of civil rights inflicted by the Nazis upon the Jews. One day, they have to surrender their fur coats, the next day, they're forbidden to walk on certain streets. There's a sense of impending doom as the indignities stack up one at a time.

At Theresienstadt, he edited a magazine called Vedem (We Lead) and assumed the title "editor in chief". The Diary of Petr Ginz includes several articles and drawings from Vedem.

Petr Ginz's diary may not be as famous as Anne Frank's, but it's an excellent first-hand account of life in the Prague ghetto, and the Vedem articles and drawings show rare glimpses of life in Theresienstadt.

Anders Breivik: Angry Science Fiction Nerd?

My article "The Norway Tragedy: Influences on Madness" was published in SITREP, the journal of the Royal Canadian Military Institute, September - October 2011. It is about Anders Breivik, the confessed killer of the massacre in Norway on July 22, 2011. Media reports say that Breivik was a Christian fundamentalist and a right-wing racist, but my analysis of his manifesto, 2083 - a European Declaration of Independence, shows that he was neither type of person. Instead, he is really a science fiction nerd gone violent. His manifesto, far from promoting Christian or right-wing ideas, has plenty of references to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Serenity, Battlestar Galactica, and other science fiction and fantasy movies, TV shows, and video games.

The article is available on my website here.

Four Stories From The Dragon and the Stars Get Honourable Mentions on Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction List

Four stories from The Dragon and the Stars received Honorable Mentions in Gardner Dozois' 28th Annual Year's Best Science Fiction:

"The Character of the Hound” by Tony Pi,
"Across the Sea" by Emily Mah,
"The Water Weapon" by Brenda Clough
"The Son of Heaven" by Eric Choi

Click on the titles to read excerpts from the stories.

The Dragon and the Stars is a finalist for a 2011 Aurora Award for Best Related Work in English. If you like its stories, please vote in the Aurora Awards.

Tony also made the list for three other stories ("The Curse of Chimère", "The Gold Silkworm", "Night of the Manticore") as did Melissa Yuan-Innes ("Iron Monk") and Ken Liu ("The Literomancer"). Congratulations to everyone!

Vote for The Dragon and the Stars for an Aurora Award

Help The Dragon and the Stars win an Aurora Award!

Aurora Awards voting is NOW OPEN! Voting procedures are different from previous years'. Now you have to register as a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, receive a membership number, and use it to vote online. There is no charge to register as a CSFFA member, but there is a $5.50 voting fee; however, persons attending SFContario 2 (this year's Canvention) will have their voting fee waived.

Here are the instructions from the Constellation Awards on how to vote:

"Here’s how to begin. First go to our membership page

http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/Membership/

and login. For those that registered to nominate you just have to use your email address and the society number you used before. For those that are new please click the “Register” button at the bottom of the form to sign up. We will send you your society number with a link to click to verify your account.

Once you have logged in you will see at the bottom the voting section with our “Buy Now” button. As in past years, there is a $5.50 fee to vote. If you are a member of Canvention this fee is being waived and you will instead see a “Vote Now” link at the bottom."

Remember, The Dragon and the Stars is on the ballot for Best English Related Work! To read its stories, go here:

http://www.aerospacewriter.ca/dragonandthestars.htm

On the Red Carpet at the Constellation Awards, July 16, 2011

The Constellation Awards are Canada's awards for excellence in science fiction film and television and are presented annually at the Polaris Science Fiction Convention in Richmond Hill, Ontario. This year, I presented the award for Best Female Performance in a 2010 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie or Miniseries. My co-presenter was the beautiful and talented Katherine Curtis, reporter for The Naked News. The award went to Chloe Grace-Moretz in Kick-Ass.

Photo above: Katherine Curtis and I hold the results envelope for Best Female Performance in a 2010 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie or Mini-Series. My white tuxedo jacket is a Pierre Cardin.

After the ceremony, Katie Uhlmann of TTN-HD News interviewed me about my anthology The Dragon and the Stars, which is nominated for an Aurora Award, Canada's national science fiction award for science fiction. The interview can be seen here on YouTube.

Photo above: Interview with Katie Uhlmann of TTN HD News

Teddy Wilson and Ajay Fry, hosts of the TV series Innerspace on Space: the Imagination Station, hosted the awards ceremony. They sang the opening song, the first musical act ever in the Constellation Awards. They also won the award for Outstanding Canadian Contribution to Science Fiction Film or Television in 2010.

Photo above: I'm with Teddy Wilson and Ajay Fry.

Also present at the ceremony were actors Jewel Staite (Firefly, Stargate Atlantis) and Paul McGillion (Stargate Atlantis).

Photo above: Jewel Staite and Paul McGillion.

Photo above: me, Paul McGillion, and Jewel Staite.

Actor Adam Baldwin (Firefly) won the award for Best Best Male Performance in a 2010 Science Fiction Television Episode for his performance in the Chuck episode "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock".

Photo above: Adam Baldwin accepts his award while Jewel Staite looks on.

Guelph, Ontario, has become a center of independent horror and fantasy filmmaking, and Aidan Harris and Claire Moran are two young actors from Mind's Eye, a fantasy web series made in Guelph. They presented a Constellation Award. Claire was also nominated for Best Female Performance in a 2010 Science Fiction Television Episode.

Photo above: Aidan Harris and Claire Moran from Mind's Eye.

Other awards presenters included science fiction author J.M. Frey (Triptych) and actor Paul Lee (of the TV series Train 48).

Photo above: J.M. Frey and Paul Lee.

The Constellation Awards ceremony was classy, entertaining and fun. It's definitely the most glamorous red carpet event for Canadian science fiction. Many thanks to awards committee chairman Andrew Gurudata, who is nominated for an Aurora Award for Best Fan - Organizational for organizing the Constellation Awards.

Photo above: Andrew Gurudata, chairman of the Constellation Awards.

The Dragon and the Stars is an Aurora Award finalist!

The Dragon and the Stars is on the ballot for the 2011 Aurora Awards in the category of Best Related Work. Many thanks to our talented authors for their wonderful stories (see the list below). Thanks to all who nominated our anthology for Canada's national science fiction and fantasy award.

The Dragon and the Stars is the first collection of science fiction and fantasy stories written by ethnic Chinese living outside of China. It features new fiction from Chinese writers in Canada, the United States, the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong.

If you don't have The Dragon and the Stars, what are you waiting for? Get it now at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com

If you like the stories of The Dragon and the Stars, promote our unique fusion of Canadian and international science fiction and fantasy by voting in the Aurora Awards, which are organized by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.

You can vote if you're Canadian or living in Canada.

Voting by both online form and mail-in ballot begins in early June and ends on October 15, 2011.

To learn more about the Aurora Awards and to vote, visit:

www.prixaurorawards.ca

(More information about the voting process will be posted on the Aurora Awards website later.)

Critical acclaim for The Dragon and the Stars:

"There are wonders aplenty in this hegemony-challenging volume."

- The Montreal Gazette

"Looking to read something a little different in SF and fantasy? The Dragon and the Stars features eighteen (in Chinese lore, a lucky number) new tales written by English-speaking writers of Chinese ancestry...I would be hard-pressed to select the best story from this collection."

- Bureau42.com

"A taste of Chinese culture and fine story telling."

- The Baryon Review

"Given the broad mandate of The Dragon and the Stars and the variety of the stories, it is a solid collection that should appeal to a wide range of readers."

- SFRevu.com

Many thanks to these talented authors for their wonderful stories in The Dragon and the Stars:

Introduction by Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling novelist.

"The Character of the Hound" by Tony Pi (Canada)
During the war between the Southern Song and the Jin Dynasties, a soldier allows a spirit to possess his body so he can solve a murder.

"The Fortunes of Mrs. Yu" by Charles Tan (Philippines)
A Filipino Chinese woman is horrified that each of her fortune cookies has a blank strip of paper inside it.

"Goin Down to Anglotown" by William F. Wu (United States)
In an alternate America that is dominated by Asians, three young Asian men go out for a night of intrigue in exotic "Anglotown".

"The Polar Bear Carries the Mail" by Derwin Mak (Canada)
Chinese investors and a Chinese Canadian pilot try to start a space tourism business in northern Canada. Unfortunately, they have bad feng shui at their spaceport.

"Lips of Ash" by Emery Huang (United States)
During the time of a historical dynasty, a cosmetics artist uses dark magic to help the ambitious mistress of a nobleman.

"The Man on the Moon" by Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo (Hong Kong)
Yue Lao (月老), the Man on the Moon, hosts a beauty pageant to find a bride.

"Across the Sea" by Emily Mah (United States)
A Tlingowa Native American woman's aunt tells a legend about mysterious visitors who came to America hundreds of years ago.

"Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" by Eugie Foster (United States)
During the reign of the First Emperor, a clay sculptor finds love and tragedy with a soldier.

"Dancers with Red Shoes" by Melissa Yuan-Innes (Canada)
In Montréal, magical red shoes dance by themselves.

"Intelligent Truth" by Shelly Li (United States)
A young Chinese American woman discovers truths about herself and her mother’s intelligent robotic servant.

"Bargains" by Gabriela Lee (Singapore)
A young woman meets a strange shopkeeper in Chinatown. The shopkeeper sells success as a writer – but with a terrible price.

"Threes" by E.L. Chen (Canada)
A Canadian man thinks his dead wife has become a Chinese dragon in Lake Ontario.

"The Son of Heaven" by Eric Choi (Canada)
The Chinese rocket scientist Tsien Hsue-shen (钱学森) is persecuted during the Red Scare in America in the 1950s.

"Shadow City" by Susan Ee (United States)
In a fantasy universe, a gatekeeper must stop people from leaving an evil place called Shadow City.

"The Water Weapon" by Brenda W. Clough (United States)
The British police are suspicious of a talking Chinese dragon and a Chinese princess who appear at the Great Exposition of 1851 in London.

"The Right to Eat Decent Food" by Urania Fung (United States)
Two American English teachers in China will do anything to get decent food during the SARS epidemic.

"Papa and Mama" by Wen Y Phua (Singapore)
A Chinese daughter struggles to remain dutiful to her late parents, who are inconveniently reincarnated as a fish and a bird.

"Běidŏu" by Ken Liu (United States)
In the Ming war against Japan, an ingenious Chinese army officer invents new weapons to defeat the Japanese.

Afterword by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi