Looking for more SFnal goings-on in the area?

Lots of discussion on the Lawrence SF Club Facebook page, and the Center's Facebook and Twitter pages.

2020 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - June 10, 2020

for immediate release

This year's Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award finalists have been announced. Congratulations to all the nominees!

The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award recognizes the best science fiction short story of each year. It was established in 1987 by James Gunn, Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at KU, and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon, including his partner Jayne Engelhart Tannehill and Sturgeon's children, as an appropriate memorial to one of the great short-story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.

Winners will be presented at the Gunn Center Conference and Awards after university policy allows large gatherings of attendees.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award award committee has limited book availability. We will release the Center's 2020 novel award finalists as soon as we can, likely later this summer.

2019 Winners Announced:

John W. Campbell Memorial Award and

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

LAWRENCE, KS

for immediate release

click here for .pdf

The winners of this year's annual Campbell and Sturgeon awards were announced Friday, June 28, at the Gunn Center Conference Awards Ceremony held on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence.

2019 Winners

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction of 2018 was presented by jurors Kij Johnson and Noël Sturgeon, Trustee of the Sturgeon estate and Ted's daughter. This year's first-place winner is Annalee Newitz, for their story "When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis," published by Slate.com.

On winning the award, Newitz thanked the jury, Slate Future Tense, Ed Finn, and their partners Jesse Burns (present) and Charlie Jane Anders (last year's winner). In their acceptance speech, Newitz went on to say:

It feels appropriate to be receiving the Sturgeon Award because when I was first getting into science fiction as a kid, I checked a book called More Than Human out of the library and it was the weirdest thing I have ever read. It really blew my mind, and it stuck with me for decades afterwards. I have continued to be fascinated by the idea of hive minds and the way Sturgeon offered such an affecting portrait of marginalized people who band together and become stronger through community. Despite being called idiots and outcasts, they take solace in each other's company and represent a better future for humanity. In my story, I played with similar themes - an abandoned drone and a crow become friends, and together they fight to stop certain death among the humans in East St. Louis. It's a hopeful story, though it's predicated on the fact that the people in East St. Louis are in danger from an epidemic because the CDC has shut down due to budget cuts. In real life, of course, East St. Louis needs more than robots and crows - we need the CDC, and we need other government agencies that protect the most vulnerable members of the population. It's my belief that science fiction can help us with that by providing a kind of emotional infrastructure that helps us believe in a better world despite our present difficulties. Fiction may not offer concrete ways to fix our problems, but it gives us the resolve to confront those difficulties in real life. That's what I want my story to do - to give people enough hope to carry with them into real life, to continue to resist injustice. And to push for social programs that cities need more than ever.

Winning second place for the Sturgeon is Adam Shannon for his story, "On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog."

The third-place winner is Daryl Gregory for his story, "Nine Last Days on Planet Earth."

2019 Winners

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel of 2018 was presented by juror Chris McKitterick and Gunn Center Conference administrator Ruth Lichtwardt. This year's first-place winner is Sam J. Miller, for his novel Blackfish City, published by Ecco.

Miller accepted remotely from New York City, citing the importance of being home to participate in the 50th anniversary of Stonewall this weekend. In his acceptance speech, Miller said:

I'm really happy and really surprised by this award. I thought that my John Campbell karma wasn't very good because I wrote a story called "Things With Beards" that was gay fanfic based on the movie The Thing, which was based on a story of his. I thought he'd be mad about that, but apparently he's into it. I really want to thank the jury who worked hard on a tough decision, and I want to thank my fellow finalists who are all amazing writers. There's so much great science fiction happening right now, and I'm excited and honored to be part of that. I want to thank my agent Seth Fishman and my editor Zack Wagman for seeing something in this story and bringing it out into the world. I've got to thank my sister, my brother-in-law, my nephew, and my new niece for just being generally amazing. I have to thank my mom, who is not a lesbian grandmother with a polar bear and killer whale on a mission of bloody revenge, but who is still a kickass warrior who became the inspiration for the character who is at the heart of Blackfish City. She's an all-around amazing inspiration and a fucking brilliant writer, so watch out for her stuff. Finally, above all and always, my husband Juancy, who turned me on to the three greatest narrative influences on my work: Octavia Butler, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Battlestar Galactica. I wouldn't be the writer I am without those things, and I wouldn't be the person that I am without you...

Winning second place for best novel is Mary Robinette Kowal for her brilliant and fast-paced alternate-history, The Calculating Stars.

The third-place winning novel is Audrey Schulman for her moving and powerful Theory of Bastards.

On behalf of the Center, jurors, and attendees, thanks to all who participated, and congratulations to the winners.

Ad Astra!

John W. Campbell Memorial Award and

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

2019 Finalists Announced

This year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award finalists and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award finalists have been announced.

Winners will be presented at the Gunn Center Conference and Awards on Friday evening ceremony. The Conference runs June 28-30 in Lawrence, Kansas, on the University of Kansas campus.

This year's theme is "Gender, Sexuality, Race, Class, Love, Empathy, and Style in Science Fiction: The Legacies of Theodore Sturgeon."

2018 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

and John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Winners Announced

LAWRENCE, KS

for immediate release

click here for .pdf

This year's winners of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short science fiction story, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel, have been announced by Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction director Chris McKitterick. The honors were presented during the awards ceremony and banquet held at the University of Kansas campus on Friday, June 22, as part of the annual Gunn Center Conference.

2018 Winners

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

The winners of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction of 2017 were presented by award juror and Sturgeon's daughter Nöel Sturgeon, and juror and Center associate director Kij Johnson:

1st: "Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue," by Charlie Jane Anders. Boston Review: Global Dystopias, Oct 2017.

2nd: "And Then There Were (N-One)," by Sarah Pinsker. Uncanny, March 2017.

3rd: "A Series of Steaks," by Vina Jie-Min Prasad. Clarkesworld, Jan 2017.

In her acceptance speech, Charlie Jane Anders discussed the role science fiction plays in helping think about and understand our differences, topics that the genre helps address. She used the example of a book often considered a classic, Myra Breckenridge by Gore Vidal (1963), to discuss how mainstream culture envisioned transgender individuals as Other and even as a problem to be solved. Anders wrote her story in part to respond to harmful stereotypes and present a thoughtful, nuanced view of the transgender experience, using science fiction to throw gender assumptions into sharp relief.

The Sturgeon Award recognizes the best science fiction short story of each year. Established in 1987 by James Gunn (the Center's Founding Director) and Sturgeon's partner Jayne Engelhart Tannehill and his children, this important award honors the work of a man who often explored seeing the Other as ourselves. Just as Sturgeon considered the social and psychological impact on the characters in his stories, Anders looks closely at how real people might respond to these scenarios in her story.

2018 Winners

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

The winners of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel of 2017 were presented by conference administrator Ruth Lichtwardt, award juror Elizabeth Anne Hull, and juror and newly named award chair Chris McKitterick:

1st: The Genius Plague, by David Walton. Pyr, Oct 2017.

2nd: (tie) The Moon and the Other, by John Kessel. Saga Press, April 2017.

2nd: (tie) The People's Police, by Norman Spinrad. Tor Books, Feb 2017.

3rd: The Rift, by Nina Allan. Titan Books, July 2017.

In his acceptance speech, David Walton talked about the impact of science fiction on his life. He related that reading his first science fiction book, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (winner of the 1974 Campbell), ended with a revelation every bit as amazing as the rest of the novel. This tradition of eye-opening awe, seeing the world in new ways, has inspired him throughout his life. Walton expressed deep joy and gratitude at being included among the greats honored by this award.

Walton's novel is about a smart network of fungal intelligences in the Amazon which infects humans with genius, and the forces in this world that try to stop it. He sees these questions of natural and unnatural drives to greater understand the world as extremely relevant to the struggles our society faces. Taking apart what it means to be human and looking at it in a new way is, to Walton, the great gift of science fiction.

The Campbell Award, established by Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss in 1972 to honor the late editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine (now Analog) and continue his efforts to encourage writers to produce their best work, has been presented at the Gunn Center Conference since 1979. One of the top awards for science fiction, its finalist lists have been called the "gold standard" in the genre, honoring work that finds new ways to use science fiction to look at the human condition. Many consider Campbell - who edited the magazine and guided its authors from 1937 until his death in 1971 - the father of modern SF. Jurors this year included Gregory Benford, Sheila Finch, James Gunn, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Paul Kincaid, McKitterick, Pamela Sargent, and Lisa Yaszek.

Gunn Center Conference

and Awards 2018

The Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction has held the Gunn Center Conference each year since 1979, usually in Lawrence, Kansas. This year's event delved into one of today's most intriguing concepts, "The Posthuman and Science Fiction," offering insights from both mainstream and SF scholars and authors. Most activities took place June 22-24 at the University of Kansas, including a panel discussion on SF writing; the Awards Banquet; formal presentations on this year's topic; a round-table discussion with scholars, scientists, writers, and fans; readings and signings by attending authors and editors; and receptions. As with this year, the award winners usually attend this intimately sized event.

On behalf of the Center, jurors, and attendees, McKitterick thanks all who participated and congratulates the winners.

Ad Astra!

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

2018 Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - May 24, 2018

for immediate release

click here for .pdf

Finalists for this year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel have been selected, announced Christopher McKitterick, director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction and newly named Campbell Award chair. The honor will be presented during the Gunn Center Conference Award Banquet on Friday, June 22, as part of the annual Gunn Center Conference.

Finalists for the 2018 John W. Campbell Memorial Award

The Campbell Award is one of the top annual awards for science fiction, and its finalist lists have been called the "gold standard" in science fiction. Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss established the award to honor the late editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine (now Analog), and continue his efforts to encourage writers to produce their best work. Many consider Campbell - who edited the magazine and guided its authors from 1937 until his death in 1971 - the father of modern SF. Jurors this year included Gregory Benford, Sheila Finch, James Gunn, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Paul Kincaid, McKitterick, Pamela Sargent, and Lisa Yaszek.

The Center for the Study of Science Fiction has held the Gunn Center Conference each year since 1978, usually in Lawrence, Kansas. It includes a Friday-evening banquet where the annual Theodore Sturgeon and John W. Campbell Memorial awards are presented; a round-table discussion with scholars, scientists, and writers of science fiction; and other events.

This year's Gunn Center Conference delves into one of today's most intriguing concepts, "The Posthuman and Science Fiction," offering insights for both mainstream and SF scholars and authors. Most activities take place June 22-24 at the University of Kansas Student Union, including talks, presentations, readings, and a group signing by the attending authors and editors. We'll continue adding more special guests until the event.

In addition to exploring our theme, the Conference celebrates the winners of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF (see prior years' finalists here) and the Campbell Memorial Award (see prior years' finalists here), our Guests of Honor. Most years, one or both winners are able to attend this intimately sized event.

For information about attending the Conference or Awards Banquet, see the Gunn Center Conference page.

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

2018 Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - April 16, 2018

for immediate release

click here for .pdf

Finalists for this year's Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction story have been selected, announced Christopher McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. The awards will be presented during the Gunn Center Conference Awards Banquet on Friday, June 22, as part of the annual Gunn Center Conference.

Finalists for the 2018 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award recognizes the best science fiction short story of each year. It was established in 1987 by James Gunn, Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at KU, and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon, including his partner Jayne Engelhart Tannehill and Sturgeon's children, as an appropriate memorial to one of the great short-story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.

The Gunn Center Conference has been held each year since 1978, usually in Lawrence, Kansas. It includes a Friday-evening banquet where the annual Theodore Sturgeon and John W. Campbell Memorial Award are presented; a round-table discussion with scholars, scientists, and writers of science fiction; and other events.

This year's Gunn Center Conference takes place on June 22-24 at the University of Kansas Student Union for most activities, including a mass signing by the attending authors and editors. We continue adding special guests throughout May and early June.

In addition to our theme, we'll also celebrate the winners of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel (see prior years' finalists here) and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF (see prior years' finalists here), and host a reception for our winning guests of honor (if they are able to attend).

For information about attending the Conference or Awards Banquet, see the Gunn Center Conference page.

James Gunn Memoir:

"Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction"

Book-Launch Event on Friday, Dec 1

LAWRENCE, KS - November 5, 2017

Story by Rick Hellman

for immediate release

His characters have traveled the galaxies. He has traversed the globe, creating, studying and promoting science fiction. Now, at age 94, the dean of science-fiction authors, University of Kansas English Professor Emeritus James Gunn, has written a memoir detailing his long life in letters.

Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction (McFarland, 2017) contains Gunn's reflections on a career that spans from science fiction's Golden Age to the present. The genre's biggest names - Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke - are all there because they were Gunn's peers and colleagues.

"I got the title from a late novel written by H.G. Wells," Gunn said. "It's a non-science fiction-like novel - a very quiet, earthbound discussion among ordinary people - one of whom has the conviction that people are being taken over by aliens or influenced in certain ways. It ends on a very surprising note that this narrator comes to believe that he himself is star-begotten, and that it's all probably a good thing in changing human nature in a better way."

Gunn recalls hearing Wells speak in 1937, when the father of sci-fi came through Gunn's hometown, Kansas City, Missouri, on a lecture tour.

"My uncle John took my brother and me to Municipal Auditorium to hear Wells talk," Gunn said. "I guess it made a great impression on me in spite of the fact he was a short, dumpy man at that time in his life with a high, squeaky voice. I don't recall what he said, but the very fact that I was there hearing him say it may make me sort of star-begotten. I remember pushing forward through the crowd as Wells was coming through the audience, and I reached out to shake his hand, but he rushed by me without noticing. I hope maybe he's looking down saying, 'Maybe I did some good there.'"

Gunn has certainly had a noteworthy career in science fiction, starting in the pulp-fiction era, publishing short stories in such magazines as Astounding Science Fiction, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and Galaxy Science Fiction. He went on to write 28 novels, starting in 1955 with "Star Bridge"(with Jack Williamson, for Gnome Press) and continuing through 2017 with the finale of his trilogy: Transcendental, Transgalactic, and Transformation (Tor Books).

As if that weren't enough, Gunn maintained a career as an academic, teaching science fiction at KU starting in 1969. In 1982, the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction was established at the university, hosting the annual Gunn Center Conference, giving out awards and otherwise serving as the genre's home at KU. This year's Gunn Center Conference was dedicated to Gunn's work, and former students and editors participated.

Then there has been Gunn's nonfiction work, perhaps most notably his 1975 Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction (Prentice Hall; soon to be a new edition). He won a Hugo Award for his 1982 work Isaac Asimov: The Foundation of Science Fiction (Oxford University Press). And this century he edited a six-volume series titled The Road to Science Fiction (Signet, White Wolf, Scarecrow), collecting milestone works in the genre.

Nor has his output ceased. In addition to Gunn's memoir, McFarland will also publish his 1951 thesis, Modern Science Fiction: A Critical Analysis (after 67 years), and a revised and updated edition of Alternate Worlds that Gunn is working on presently.

In 2007, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named Gunn a Damon Knight Grand Master for lifetime achievement, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He was the guest of honor at the World Science Fiction Convention in 2013.

Gunn has traveled the world, spreading the gospel of science fiction, too. He visited the former Soviet Union, Iceland, Romania, Singapore, Taiwan and elsewhere as part of Cold War-era cultural-exchange efforts sponsored by the United States Information Agency.

It's all been part of the ethos Gunn refers to as "Saving the World Through Science Fiction," which is the title of Michael Page's 2017 biography of him, also from McFarland. It means imagining new possibilities of being, preparing mankind to face the future.

Despite the volume of work he has produced, Gunn said he has never found writing to be easy.

"I have often made the point that writing is really hard work," he said. "Lots of times I've sat in front of my typewriter or computer and felt really I'd rather be out mowing the lawn, doing manual labor, than trying to wrench ideas out of my head.

"But there is also the feeling that sitting there and turning concepts into language that is suitable is what I was cut out to do. I've told people that I feel I earn my place here on Earth each day when I am able to create something that wasn't there before, and, in turn, some of these things enter stories that influence people.

"Just yesterday," he said, "I was reading a Facebook comment by a reader who was listing something like his 10 best unrecognized reading experiences, and among them, I was pleased to see, was my 1955 novel This Fortress World. It's that sort of thing, the realization that you may not have a best-seller, but somewhere out there are people who really respond to the kind of language that you put on the page to tell stories with, and I suppose here in my latter years I am still trying to earn my day on Earth by creating something."

Book Launch Event:

James Gunn will make a few remarks about the challenges of writing and publishing an autobiography, read the preface, do a Q&A, and autograph copies of Star-Begotten at a launch event ​sponsored by the Center and KU Bookstores:

When:

4:00pm to 5:30pm

Friday, December 1

Where:

Jayhawk Ink bookstore

Kansas Union

KU campus in Lawrence, KS

Gunn Center Associate Director Kij Johnson

Wins 2017 World Fantasy Award!

LAWRENCE, KS - November 5, 2017

for immediate release

Our own Kij Johnson has just won the 2017 World Fantasy Award for Best Long Fiction for her stand-alone novella, The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe.

Full list of winners here.

Congratulations, Kij!

Awards News:

2017 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

and John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Winners Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - June 28, 2017

for immediate release

This year's winners were announced on Friday, June 16, during the 2017 Gunn Center Conference Awards Ceremony held on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence. The winners were:

The winners of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction of 2016 were presented by juror Kij Johnson. They are:

1st "The Future is Blue," by Catherynne M. Valente. Drowned Worlds, ed. Jonathan Strahan, Solaris Books, 2016. 2nd "Touring with the Alien," by Carolyn Ives Gilman. Clarkesworld, April 2016. 3rd "Things with Beards," by Sam J. Miller. Clarkesworld, June 2016.



The winners of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel of 2016 were presented by Conference Administrator Ruth Lichtwardt, juror Christopher McKitterick, and juror Sheila Finch. They are:

1st Central Station, by Lavie Tidhar. 2nd Rosewater, by Tade Thompson. 3rd (tie) The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead. 3rd (tie) Underground Airlines, by Ben Winters.

Detailed Gunn Center Conference report to come!

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - June 4, 2017

for immediate release

click here for .pdf

Finalists for this year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel have been selected, announced Christopher McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction and juror for the award. The honor will be presented during the Gunn Center Conference Award Banquet on Friday, June 16, as part of the annual Gunn Center Conference.

Finalists for the 2017

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

The Campbell Memorial Award is one of the top annual awards for science fiction, created to honor the late editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine (now Analog). Many consider Campbell, who edited the magazine from 1937 until his death in 1971, the father of modern SF. Over the next year, Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss established the award in Campbell's name to continue his efforts to encourage writers to produce their best work. Jurors this year included Gregory Benford, Sheila Finch, James Gunn, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Paul Kincaid, Christopher McKitterick, Pamela Sargent, and Lisa Yaszek.

The Gunn Center Conference has been held each year since 1978, usually in Lawrence, Kansas. It includes a Friday-evening banquet where the annual Theodore Sturgeon and John W. Campbell Memorial Award are presented; a round-table discussion with scholars, scientists, and writers of science fiction; and other events.

This year's Gunn Center Conference celebrates James Gunn and the mission of the Gunn Center - "Saving the world through science fiction." The Conference takes place on June 16-18, when we return to the University of Kansas Student Union for most of our activities, including talks, presentations, readings, and a mass signing by the attending authors and editors. We continue adding more special guests until the event.

In addition to our theme which honors the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction's founder, James Gunn, we'll also celebrate the winners of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF (see prior years' finalists here) and the Campbell Memorial Award (see prior years' finalists here), and host a reception for our winning Guests of Honor (if they are able to attend).

For information about attending the Conference or Awards Banquet, see the Gunn Center Conference page.

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - May 21, 2017

for immediate release

click here for .pdf

Finalists for this year's Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction have been selected, announced Christopher McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. The award will be presented during the Gunn Center Conference Awards Banquet on Friday, June 16, as part of the annual Gunn Center Conference.

Finalists for the 2017

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

Nina Allan, "The Art of Space Travel," Tor.com, 27 July 2016.

Amal El-Mohtar, "Seasons of Glass and Iron," The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, eds. Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe, Saga Press, 2016.

Carolyn Ives Gilman, "Touring with the Alien," Clarkesworld, April 2016.

Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom, Tor.com, February 2016.

Ian R. MacLeod, "The Visitor From Taured," Asimov's, September 2016.

Sam J. Miller, "Things with Beards," Clarkesworld, June 2016.

Dominica Phetteplace, "Project Empathy," Asimov's, March 2016.

Catherynne M. Valente, "The Future is Blue," Drowned Worlds, ed. Jonathan Strahan, Solaris Books, 2016.

Kai Ashante Wilson, A Taste of Honey, Tor.com, 13 October 2016.

The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award recognizes the best science fiction short story of each year. It was established in 1987 by James Gunn, Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at KU, and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon, including his partner Jayne Engelhart Tannehill and Sturgeon's children, as an appropriate memorial to one of the great short-story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.

The Gunn Center Conference has been held each year since 1978, usually in Lawrence, Kansas. It includes a Friday-evening banquet where the annual Theodore Sturgeon and John W. Campbell Memorial Award are presented; a round-table discussion with scholars, scientists, and writers of science fiction; and other events.

This year's Gunn Center Conference celebrates James Gunn and the mission of the Gunn Center - "Saving the world through science fiction." The Conference takes place on June 16-18, where we return to the University of Kansas Student Union for most of our activities, including a mass signing by the attending authors and editors. We continue adding more special guests throughout May and early June.

In addition to our theme, we'll also celebrate the winners of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel (see prior years' finalists here) and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF (see prior years' finalists here), and host a reception for our winning Guests of Honor (if they are able to attend).

For information about attending the Conference or Awards Banquet, see the Gunn Center Conference page.

Dual Book-Launch Event:

Saving the World Through Science Fiction: James Gunn, Writer, Teacher, Scholar

Little Green Men - Attack!

April 6, 2017

LAWRENCE, KS - March 18, 2017

for immediate release

.pdf poster here

The Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction and Jayhawk Ink are delighted to help celebrate the launch of two new books: Saving the World Through Science Fiction: James Gunn, Writer, Teacher, Scholar, by Dr. Michael Page (with an introduction by Chris McKitterick), and Little Green Men - Attack! edited by Robin Wayne Bailey and Bryan Thomas Schmidt (with a story by Gunn). The authors and editors will be on hand to sign copies, and the bookstore has copies of both these books (and others by the authors on hand). The event is free and open to the public. When

Thursday, April 6, 2017

6:00pm - 7:30pm Where

Jayhawk Ink Bookstore

Kansas Memorial Union, Level 2

University of Kansas campus

Lawrence, KS 66045 Cost

Free Everyone is welcome!

Karen Joy Fowler to Speak at KU:

"Exploring and Expanding Gender in Speculative Fiction: The Tiptree Award at 25."

March 14, 2017

LAWRENCE, KS - March 1, 2017

for immediate release

.pdf poster here

The Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction and the University of Kansas Department of English are delighted to bring world-renowned author Karen Joy Fowler to KU to offer this year's Richard W. Gunn Lecture, "Exploring and Expanding Gender in Speculative Fiction: The Tiptree Award at 25." Karen Joy Fowler is the author of author of six novels and three short story collections. Her most recent novel, WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES, won the 2013 PEN/Faulkner, the California Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker in 2014. She has won the Nebula and World Fantasy awards, and this year she will be the Guest of Honor at World Fantasy in San Antonio. Among her many achievements, Fowler co-founded the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award, first announced at the 1991 WisCon, the world's only feminist-oriented science fiction convention. For 25 years, the Tiptree prize has been awarded annually to a work of science fiction or fantasy that contemplates shifts in gender roles in ways that are particularly thought-provoking, imaginative, and perhaps even infuriating. The lecture will provide an extraordinary opportunity to hear from a pioneer thinker about the relation between feminism, gender, and speculative fiction, from one of the most important and accomplished writers working in the field today. She lives in Santa Cruz, California where she is currently pretending to write a new book. Facebook event page



The event is free and open to the public. When

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

7:00pm - 8:00pm Where

Jayhawk Room

Kansas Memorial Union

University of Kansas campus

Lawrence, KS 66045 Cost

Free Everyone is welcome!

Yaqteenya: The Old World:

A science fiction novel from Saudi Arabia

LAWRENCE, KS - Dec 1, 2016

for immediate release

Tor press release here (pdf)

Speaker: Yasser Bahjaat Science fiction writer and promoter Yasser Bahjaat reads from his 2015 novel, Yaqteenya: The Old World, which posits an alternate history for Islamic society. The world of Yaqteenya is facing its first civil war, and so to save it from this disastrous future, young Al-Baz must risk breaking the law to leave home and search for truths that the rulers of the land have been keeping well hidden. Yasser Bahjatt is a Saudi computer engineer, writer, publisher, tech whiz and entrepreneur who set up Yatakhayaloon â€" or the League of Arabic SciFiers â€" with the purpose of investigating in greater detail his belief that science fiction and science fact are intrinsically linked. Yasser insists that there is "a distinct correlation between a culture's exposure to science fiction and the amount of scientific thought â€" experiments, inventions, patents and so on â€" that take place." While Yasser acknowledges that the Middle East "has been near to zero on both fronts in recent years," and that his position as an engineer and scientist, "can't really increase scientific activity to a meaningful degree," on its own, he hopes that his work will "increase the exposure of science fiction," in the region. Mr. Bahjattâ€™s Ted Talk: "How Arab Sci-Fi Could Dream a Better Future." Facebook events page.



The event is free and open to the public. When

Monday, December 5

5:00pm - 7:00pm Where

University of Kansas Law School Library

Green Hall on the KU campus

1535 W 15th St

Lawrence, KS 66045 Cost

Free

Refreshments provided (including Saudi food at the reception, the specialty of a doctoral Law student). Everyone is welcome!

James Gunn's Transgalactic

Book Launch Set for April 12

LAWRENCE, KS - March 30, 2016

for immediate release

Tor press release here (pdf)

The book launch for Transgalactic, by award-winning author and Grand Master of science fiction James Gunn, is scheduled for 5:30pm on Tuesday, April 12, at Jayhawk Ink in the KU Bookstore. The event, co-sponsored by Jayhawk Ink and the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, will include a reading and book signing.



The second book in Gunn's trilogy, Transgalactic (link goes to an excerpt) is the first sequel he's ever written. The end of the first novel, Transcendental, leaves Asha and Riley on two different planets after using the matter transmission device known as the Transcendental Machine. Unaware of each other's destination, and in a galaxy with billions of planets, the task of finding each other seems impossible. Yet, if they succeed, they know they can change the galaxy.



The event is free and open to the public. Transgalactic is published by Tor Books and is available now. When

Tuesday, April 12

5:30pm Where

Jayhawk Ink Bookstore

Kansas Union 2nd floor

University of Kansas

1301 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence, KS 66045 Cost

Free Everyone is welcome!

Lisa Yaszek Joins Campbell Jury;

Di Filippo and Shippey Retire

LAWRENCE, KS - November 25, 2015

for immediate release

Book Launch Event for Mission: Tomorrow

LAWRENCE, KS - November 2, 2015

for immediate release

Mission: Tomorrow is a new original anthology with stories by many of the genre's greats - and three local SF authors: Robin Wayne Bailey, James Gunn, and Christopher McKitterick. When

Monday, Nov. 16

2:00pm - 3:30pm Where

Jayhawk Ink Bookstore

Kansas Union 2nd floor

University of Kansas

1301 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence, KS 66045 Cost

Free

Baen Books is also providing light refreshments. Everyone is welcome!

Gregory Benford

to Speak and Sign at KU

LAWRENCE, KS - Sept 1, 2015

Sept 27 update: time change

for immediate release

"Interplanetary Economics in the 21st Century"

James Gunn Inducted into the

Science Fiction Hall of Fame

LAWRENCE, KS - June 18, 2015

for immediate release

Center for the Study of Science Fiction founding director James Gunn has been inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.



The class of 2015 induction also includes author Kurt Vonnegut, filmmaker Georges Méliès, and artists John Schoenherr and Jack Gaughan. Gunn is in elite company with Theodore Sturgeon, H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, and other SF greats.



"Twenty years ago, when Robin Wayne Bailey came to me and said science fiction needs a hall of fame," Gunn said at the induction ceremony, "it never occurred to me that I would be standing here in Seattle joining this illustrious group."



Gunn's career spans eight decades, starting in the 1940s, and he's not done yet. Two new short stories have just been accepted for publication. "New Earth" will be published in Asimov's Science Fiction, and "Saving the World" will be published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact. It seems fitting that in the year Gunn enters the Hall of Fame, Analog will publish one of his short stories; Astounding (as it was then called) was one of the first to publish his writing.



Among the honors bestowed upon Gunn are the Pilgrim Award from the Science Fiction Research Association and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master of science fiction from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is a past president of both organizations. Gunn said the Science Fiction Hall of Fame induction is a signal honor.



"I've had a great many honors in the science-fiction world," Gunn said, "and this represents the final honor to wind up a career."



But don't take that quote to mean his career is over by any stretch of the imagination. Gunn's most recent novel, Transcendental, is the first in a trilogy. The sequel, Transgalactic, is due out in Spring 2016, and he just received a contract for the third volume.



"Writing is what I do," Gunn said, "and as long as I can do it well enough that publishers are willing to publish it, I will continue to do what has brought a central core of meaning to my life."

Awards News:

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Winners

John W. Campbell Memorial Award Winners

LAWRENCE, KS - June 15, 2015

for immediate release

This year's Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner for best short science fiction, and John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel, were presented at this year's Gunn Center Conference Awards Banquet.

Cory Doctorow won this year's Sturgeon Award for his story, "The Man Who Sold the Moon," published in the 2014 collection, Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future, edited by Ed Finn and Kathryn Cramer, and published by William Morrow. Hieroglyph project director Joseph Eschrich accepted the award for Cory Doctorow, who also sent us an acceptance video, so he could be (virtually) present. Doctorow first attended the Conference in 1999 when his first professionally published short story, "Craphound," was a finalist for the Sturgeon. He won the Campbell Award in 2009 for Little Brother, and has visited KU other times to give talks. We hope to host Cory here once again soon to properly celebrate his win, and to hear his thoughts on DRM, copyright, and the future of publishing.

"Shatterdown," by Suzanne Palmer won second place. Palmer's story was published in the June 2014 issue of Asimov's SF Magazine. Sam J. Miller won third place for "We Are the Cloud," published in the Sept. 2014 issue of Lightspeed. See the full list of finalists here.

Doctorow is just the seventh person to win both the Campbell Award and the Sturgeon Award. Although Doctorow couldn't attend the Conference to accept the Sturgeon Award in person (he's in the process of moving to California from London), he sent a video acceptance speech in which he said it was the first award for which his work was ever nominated. He also said receiving the award is an "incredible honor."

"This honor means the world to me, especially because it came for this story," Doctorow said, "which, to me, expresses the most sincere hope we can have about utopia. Not that one day we'll come up with a system that works perfectly all the time, but that someday we may tell ourselves the right story so that when things go badly, we treat each other well instead of turning on each other with the conviction that our neighbors will turn on us if we don't on them first."

In addition to Eschrich, whose Hieroglyph project is a major project of Arizona's Center for Science and the Imagination, the Center also hosted the directors of most of the major international science-fiction educational programs - including from as far away as the University of Glasgow, Scotland (which now offers a new Masters in Fantasy literature and writing). At the Gunn Center Conference, we began organizing an international consortium of SF programs (soon to also include Australia, China, England, and India) to help each program do much more than any of us can do individually. Stay tuned!

The John W. Campbell Memorial Award went to The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North (aka Catherine Webb), and was published by Redhook.

North said the Campbell Award carries with it a fantastic legacy: "It's this catalog of amazing names, and it's good to be reminded of how many greats there've been," she said. "It embodies the evolution, but also the continuity, of science fiction more than many [awards] out there."

A Darkling Sea, by James L. Cambias and published by Tor, won second place. The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu (and Ken Liu, translator), originally published in China (a first for the Campbell!) and published here by Tor, won third place. See the full list of finalists here.

We now return to the Center's intensive Science Fiction Summer Institute and Repeat Offenders Workshop, where this year Tessa Gratton, Kij Johnson, and Chris McKitterick teach (in addition to a few KU students) five diverse and enthusiastic groups of professionals, professional-hopefuls, students, and professors from 15 states, 9 universities, and Canada.

I hope you join me in feeling Jayhawk pride as KU serves the world as science-fiction central in June!

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - May 11, 2015

for immediate release

This year's finalists for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science-fiction novel have been selected, announced Christopher McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. The awards will be presented on Friday, June 12, as part of the Gunn Center Conference held annually at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

The Center is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2015 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel of 2014:

The Campbell Award was created to honor the late editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine, now Analog. Campbell, who edited the magazine from 1937 until his death in 1971, is called by many the father of modern SF. Writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss established the award in Campbell's name as a way of continuing his efforts to encourage writers to produce their best possible work, and presented the first Award in 1973.

The Award is selected by a committee small enough to discuss among its members all of the nominated novels. The current jury consists of Gregory Benford, Paul Di Filippo, Sheila Finch, James Gunn, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Paul Kincaid, Christopher McKitterick, Pamela Sargent, and T.A. Shippey. In 2009, Paul A. Carter retired from the jury after serving for many years, and Paul Di Filippo and Sheila Finch joined the committee. In 2008, Paul Kincaid replaced Farah Mendlesohn.

The Award will be presented Friday, June 12, during the Gunn Center Conference, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, June 11-14. The Gunn Center Conference has been held here each year since 1978. It includes a Friday-evening banquet where the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards are presented; Saturday-morning presentations and afternoon discussion about science-fiction study programs, and many other events. This year's topic is "From the Fringes to the Classroom: What's Next in Science Fiction Education?"

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - May 11, 2015

for immediate release

This year's finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction have been selected, announced Christopher McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. The awards will be presented during the Gunn Center Conference on Friday, June 12, as part of the Gunn Center Conference held annually at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

The Center is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2015 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF of 2014:

Sturgeon, born in 1918, was closely identified with the Golden Age of science fiction, 1939-1950, and is often mentioned alongside Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and A. E. van Vogt as one of the four writers who established and led the way through that time. All four published their first SF stories in 1939, usually identified as the start of the Golden Age, and Sturgeon was famous for providing the heart.

In addition to fiction (his best-known novel is the classic, More Than Human), Sturgeon also wrote book reviews, poetry, screenplays, radio plays, and television plays, including two classic teleplays for the original Star Trek. He was a popular lecturer and teacher, and was a regular visiting author during the Intensive English Institute on the Teaching of Science Fiction. Sturgeon died in 1985. His books, manuscripts, and papers are deposited at the University of Kansas.

The Award will be presented Friday, June 12, at the Gunn Center Conference, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, June 11-14. The Gunn Center Conference has been held here each year since 1978. It includes a Friday-evening banquet where the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards are presented; Saturday-morning presentations and afternoon discussion about science-fiction study programs, and many other events. This year's topic is "From the Fringes to the Classroom: What's Next in Science Fiction Education?"



New for 2015:

The Mark Bourne Speculative Fiction Writing Scholarship

LAWRENCE, KS

March 10, 2015

For immediate release (pdf press release)

Thanks to a generous friend of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, starting in 2015 we are pleased to offer a scholarship to help 1-4 outstanding speculative-fiction writers attend one of the Center's summer writing workshops. The scholarship is intended to enable writers to attend one of the Center's writing workshops who might not otherwise be able to afford it. The donor (Elizabeth Bourne, an alum of the summer program) hopes to "help more writers attend the workshops and benefit from the world-class instructors they attract."

The scholarship is established in Mark's name to honor a man who dedicated his life to speculative fiction. See this page for full details on the new scholarship.

Mark Bourne, 1961 - 2012

Mark Wilson Bourne was a science-fiction writer, science writer, screenwriter, and film and movie reviewer, as well as an actor, stage director, teacher, and general awesome person. He even got to work with Ray Bradbury.

Mark passed away February 25, 2012, at the age of fifty. He was born July 10, 1961 in Russellville, Arkansas, to Philip and Elizabeth Wade Bourne. The middle of three boys, he is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; his stepson, Austin Lawhead; both brothers, Richard Bourne of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Randall Bourne of Phoenix, Arizona; and a large network of friends and chosen family.

Mark graduated from Russelville High School in 1979 and first attended Arkansas Tech, then the University of Arkansas where he earned his bachelor's with a double major in Music and English. He then achieved a Master's Degree in Theatre at the University of Nebraska.

Mark went on to script shows at planetaria and museums across the country. He is well published and highly regarded in the science fiction field. His story "What Dreams Are Made On" was reprinted in the 4th edition of Literature and Ourselves: a Thematic Introduction for Readers and Writers, making Mark a writer of academic significance. Mark is also listed in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction as having the earliest use of "morph" in his story, "Being Human."

But the things Mark was known best for can't be quantified by the remarkable facts of his life, like his dry and mischievous sense of humor, his infectious grin, his fierce friendship, his braininess and insight, and his love and generosity. He'll never truly be gone as long as we remember him.

Mark's bio: http://www.markbourne.com/Personal.htm

In Memoriam:

Sculptor Elden Tefft

LAWRENCE, KS

February 19, 2015

For immediate release The Gunn Center remembers Professor Elden Tefft, the sculptor who designed and cast the permanent Campbell and Sturgeon Award trophies, and left an indelible mark on University of Kansas culture. Tefft was Professor Emeritus of art and the artist behind two of the Lawrence campus' signature sculptures: "Academic Jay," perched outside Strong Hall; and "Moses," outside Smith Hall, where it faces a stained-glass window of a burning bush. Moses and the burning bush play prominently in the university's seal (see image at right). In 2008, a replica of Tefft's "Academic Jay" was installed on the KU Edwards Campus. Tefft died Tuesday, Feb. 17, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. "I join the KU community in mourning the loss of Elden Tefft and in offering sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues, as well as alumni who remember the talents he shared with them in the classroom," said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little. "Elden's pieces are such an integral part of Mount Oread - pieces such as 'Moses' and 'Academic Jay' - that it's nearly impossible to imagine our campus without them. The university is privileged to be a home for these iconic works and to have had Elden as part of our Jayhawk community." Services will be handled by Warren-McElwain Mortuary. Photo: "Moses," by Elden Tefft.

An Evening with Margaret Atwood

LAWRENCE, KS

"Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

The Arts, the Sciences, the Humanities, the Inhumanities, and the Non-Humanities. Zombies Thrown in Extra." The KU Commons is pleased to present Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?: The Arts, the Sciences, the Humanities, the Inhumanities, and the Non-Humanities. Zombies Thrown in Extra, through the support of the Kenneth A. Spencer Lecture fund. Literary icon Margaret Atwood, celebrated for her prescient vision and poetic voice, discusses the real-world origins of her speculative fiction and the roles of art, science and imagination in her creative process. A winner of many international literary awards, including the prestigious Booker Prize, Atwood is the bestselling author of more than thirty volumes of poetry, children's literature, fiction, and non-fiction. She is best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman, The Handmaid's Tale, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, and The Year of the Flood. Her non-fiction book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, was recently made into a documentary. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages. In 2004, she co-invented the LongPen, a remote signing device that allows someone to write in ink anywhere in the world via tablet PC and the internet. Born in 1939 in Ottawa, Atwood grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College. When: 7:00pm Monday, February 2, 2015

Where: Kansas Union, Ballroom A reception and book-signing will follow the talk. The Lawrence Public Library and KU Libraries selected Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale as the first Read Across Lawrence book for 2015. Find out more about programs, activities, and opportunities to get involved in the conversation here.

Christina Nelson:

New AboutSF Volunteer Coordinator

LAWRENCE, KS

Please give a warm welcome to the Center for the Study of Science Fiction's new AboutSF Volunteer Coordinator, Christina Nelson! A short bio: Once upon a time, she wanted to be an astrophysicist in France... but being a scientist was not in the stars. After earning her BA and MA in French and Francophone Studies from the University of Iowa as well as teaching in France, Christina came to KU to study French SF literature and film in the Department of French and Italian. Now a second-year PhD student, she plans to work on J.H. Rosny and Luc Besson for her dissertation. Antoine Volodine, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Jean-Claude Dunyach are also possible contenders.

Christina has been getting up to speed, consulting with prior AboutSF Coordinators, setting up her workspace, and planning for future SF-education outreach. When in Lawrence, you can make an appointment to talk with Christina in the CSSF offices and Lending Library, or in her teaching office.

Check out the official AboutSF website, and hang out with us on your favorite social networks:

AboutSF Facebook Group | AboutSF Facebook Page | AboutSF Twitter

Meanwhile, welcome, Christina!

AboutSF is the Gunn Center's educational-outreach program. We help teachers, librarians, researchers, and readers learn more about speculative literature and how to use it in teaching. AboutSF is a joint project of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at KU, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the Science Fiction Research Association, with generous support from Tor Books, The Heinlein Prize Trust, and several individual donors.

John Kessel and James Gunn:

Guest Authors for 2015 Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop

LAWRENCE, KS

John Kessel joins the Workshop for his first visit since his student days at KU! Kessel is the author of the novels Good News from Outer Space (which placed for the 1990 John W. Campbell Memorial Award), and Corrupting Dr. Nice, which Kim Stanley Robinson called, "the best time travel novel ever written," and, in collaboration with James Patrick Kelly, Freedom Beach. His short story collections are Meeting In Infinity (a New York Times Notable Book), The Pure Product, and The Baum Plan for Financial Independence.

A writer of erudite comic and satiric short fiction, Kessel's stories have twice received the Nebula Award (for his novella "Another Orphan," a fantasy about a commodities broker who awakes one morning to find himself trapped in the novel Moby Dick, and more recently for "Pride and Prometheus," in which Mary Bennet from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice meets Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein), in addition to the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, the Locus Poll, and the James Tiptree Jr. Award. His play "Faustfeathers" won the Paul Green Playwright's Prize, and his story "A Clean Escape" was dramatized as the first episode of the ABC TV series Masters of Science Fiction, starring Sam Waterston and Judy Davis. In 2009 his story "Pride and Prometheus" received both the Nebula Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. With Jim Kelly, Kessel has edited five anthologies of stories re-visioning contemporary short SF, most recently Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology, as well as Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, The Secret History of Science Fiction, and Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology.

Kessel holds a B.A. in Physics and English, and a Ph.D. in American Literature. He helped found and served as the first director of the MFA program in creative writing at North Carolina State University, where he has taught since 1982. He also writes plays and performs in the independent films, such as The Delicate Art of the Rifle. He lives and works in Raleigh, NC. As has been our tradition with guest authors for the Workshop, Kessel is also a "Young Gunn," having studied science fiction and writing under James Gunn. He earned his PhD from the University of Kansas in 1981. For more, check out Kessel's website, his Wikipedia page, and his Goodreads page.

Science fiction Grand Master James Gunn - who founded the Center for the Study of SF at KU and led the workshop from 1985 to 2010 - returns to participate during Week One and offer sage advice during lunch get-togethers, health permitting. Jim expects to give comments on one of each workshopper's stories.

Author and Gunn Center Director Christopher McKitterick, who served as guest author from 1996 to 2010, has led the Workshop since 2011. He participates from the start of the application period in January through the end of the summer program, critiquing every story and giving short talks on writing - especially during Week One.

For 2015, the Workshop meets from May 31 - June 14, followed by the Campbell Awards and Conference, which runs from June 13 - 16, which in turn is followed by the two-week Intensive Science Fiction Institute and the new "Young Gunns Repeat Offenders" workshop (details coming soon). Gunn joins us for the first week of the Workshop, for lunches throughout, and for the Conference; Andy joins us for the second week plus the Conference; and our Campbell Award- and Sturgeon Award-winning authors are usually on hand for the last day or two of the Workshop to share their expertise.



The Workshop is a fantastic experience, intended especially for writers who have just begun to publish or who need that final bit of insight or skill to become a published author. We work with all brands of speculative fiction, including horror, fantasy, magical realism, slipstream, speculative philosophy, all genres of science fiction, and so on, and it's a wonderful way to bond with fellow writers in a friendly and dedicated atmosphere. Plus we go out to dinner every night at a different restaurant in downtown Lawrence, watch lots of (both admirable and awful) SF film, and write our brains out.



Since 2011, the Workshop is also available for KU graduate credit as ENGL 757. If you're a grad student who needs summer credit to accelerate that graduation date, perfect! Most attendees, however, simply enroll as a professional workshop rather than for credit. Attendees come to KU from all around the world, so you'll get the chance to work with new people.



Interested? This is quite the opportunity to gain insights from some of the most-respected authors in the field. We are open for applications from January through May 20, but sooner is better as we usually fill early. See the website for details.

Author David Brin

Presents Talk and Signing at KU

LAWRENCE, KS

For immediate release

Click here for the poster (.pdf) (.jpg)

Facebook event here

"The Dangerous Impudence of Speculative Fiction"

John Symons Presents Talk at KU

LAWRENCE, KS

For immediate release

"What Can We Teach Our Posthuman Descendants?"

John Symons is Chair and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas. He received his PhD from Boston University. He most recently served as an associate professor and chair of the philosophy department at the University of Texas, El Paso. His research interests include metaphysics and epistemology of science (how scientists know what they know), the philosophy of psychology, and the logic behind knowledge and belief. Philosopher Nick Bostrom recently described a "posthuman" as an individual who has gone beyond "the maximum attainable capacities by any current human being without recourse to new technological means." In his lecture, Symons will discuss the posthuman, including what the term might mean and how we can talk to and think about our posthuman descendants. Sponsored by the Hall Center for the Humanities Everyone is invited!

Official page here. Presented by the KU Hall Center for the Humanities. When

Tuesday, October 7

7:30pm - 8:30pm Where

The Commons

Spooner Hall

University of Kansas

1340 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence, KS 66045 Cost

Free

Campbell and Sturgeon Award Winners Announced;

Frederik Pohl Honored

LAWRENCE, KS - June 18, 2014

.pdf version

.doc version

The winners of this year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science fiction novel, and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short science fiction, have been revealed, announced Christopher McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. The awards were presented during the Gunn Center Conference Awards banquet on Friday, June 13, as part of the Gunn Center Conference held annually at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

Sarah Pinsker won the Sturgeon Award for her story "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind." Ms. Pinsker was present to accept her award in person, and read "A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes Wide" on Sunday. Second place went to Robert Reed for "Mystic Falls." Vylar Kaftan took third with "The Weight of the Sunrise." The Sturgeon Award was established in 1987 by James Gunn, the Center's Founding Director, and Sturgeon's heirs, including his children and partner Jayne Engelhart Tannehill, as memorial to one of the great short-story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction. The jury consisted of Elizabeth Bear, Andy Duncan, James Gunn, Kij Johnson, and Nöel Sturgeon, Trustee of the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Estate.

Marcel Theroux won the Campbell Award for his novel Strange Bodies. Mr. Theroux was unable to attend the ceremony but provided a video of his acceptance speech. Second place went to Paul McAuley's Evening's Empires. Linda Nagata took third for The Red: First Light. Writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss established the Campbell Award to honor the late editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine (later named Analog) to continue his efforts to encourage writers to produce their best possible work. Campbell, who edited the magazine from 1937 until his death in 1971, is called by many the father of modern science fiction. The current jury consists of Gregory Benford, Paul Di Filippo, Sheila Finch, James Gunn, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Paul Kincaid, Christopher McKitterick, Pamela Sargent, and T.A. Shippey.

Depending on your reading tastes, your favorite book or short story for the year might turn out to be any of the finalists, so the jurors recommend that you read all the works on both the Sturgeon short-list and the Campbell short-list.

Other weekend events: A reception followed the Awards Banquet at the top of the Kansas Union, with a view six stories above Mount Oread overlooking beautiful downtown Lawrence. Using the theme "Science Fiction and the Real World," this year's Saturday-morning roundtable discussion explored SF's intersection with other disciplines, the future, and the world we live in today. After a mass signing with attending authors and editors, James Gunn, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Kij Johnson, Chris McKitterick, and Mike Page gave readings in honor of Frederik Pohl. Pohl's relationship with the Gunn Center goes back to its earliest roots in the 1970s; he recorded "Ideas in Science Fiction" for the Literature of Science Fiction Lecture Series, spoke at the Intensive Institute on Science Fiction and Science Fiction Writing Workshop, served the Sturgeon Award since 1995, and shared his wisdom and expertise for decades. On Saturday evening, attendees were treated to a special showing of CSA: The Confederate States of America, followed by a discussion with writer and director Kevin Willmott and cinematographer Matthew Jacobson. Sunday morning began with a Q&A with our special guests, during which Ms. Pinsker gave a reading, followed by an informal "Science Fiction Sunday" event at a local home.

Congratulations to the honorees! Much appreciation to all who participated, and thanks to the winners for providing us with such fine reading - Ad Astra!

John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - May 18, 2014

for immediate release

Also available in .doc or .pdf version

This year's finalists for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science-fiction novel have been selected, announced Christopher McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. The awards will be presented on Friday, June 13, as part of the Gunn Center Conference held annually at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

The Center is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2014 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel of 2013:

The Campbell Award was created to honor the late editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine, now Analog. Campbell, who edited the magazine from 1937 until his death in 1971, is called by many the father of modern SF. Writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss established the award in Campbell's name as a way of continuing his efforts to encourage writers to produce their best possible work, and presented the first Award in 1973.

The Award is selected by a committee small enough to discuss among its members all of the nominated novels. The current jury consists of Gregory Benford, Paul Di Filippo, Sheila Finch, James Gunn, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Paul Kincaid, Christopher McKitterick, Pamela Sargent, and T.A. Shippey. In 2009, Paul A. Carter retired from the jury after serving for many years, and Paul Di Filippo and Sheila Finch joined the committee. In 2008, Paul Kincaid replaced Farah Mendlesohn.

The Award will be presented Friday, June 13, at the Gunn Center Conference, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, June 13-15. The Gunn Center Conference has been held here each year since 1978. It includes a Friday-evening banquet where the annual Campbell and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards are presented; a Saturday-morning roundtable discussion with scholars, scientists, and writers of science fiction; an afternoon discussion about interdisciplinary science-fiction studies, and other events. This year's topic is "Science Fiction and the Real World," with a special focus on the work and life of Frederik Pohl, a long-time friend of the Center.

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

Finalists Announced

LAWRENCE, KS - May 5, 2014

for immediate release

Also available in .doc or .pdf version

This year's finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction have been selected, announced Christopher McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. The awards will be presented during the Gunn Center Conference on Friday, June 13, as part of the Gunn Center Conference held annually at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

The Center is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2014 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF of 2013:

Sturgeon, born in 1918, was closely identified with the Golden Age of science fiction, 1939-1950, and is often mentioned alongside Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and A. E. van Vogt as one of the four writers who established and led the way through that time. All four published their first SF stories in 1939, usually identified as the start of the Golden Age, and Sturgeon was famous for providing the heart.

In addition to fiction (his best-known novel is the classic, More Than Human), Sturgeon also wrote book reviews, poetry, screenplays, radio plays, and television plays, including two classic teleplays for the original Star Trek. He was a popular lecturer and teacher, and was a regular visiting author during the Intensive English Institute on the Teaching of Science Fiction. Sturgeon died in 1985. His books, manuscripts, and papers are deposited at the University of Kansas.

The Award will be presented Friday, June 13, at the Gunn Center Conference, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, June 13-15. The Gunn Center Conference has been held here each year since 1978. It includes a Friday-evening banquet where the annual Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award are given; a Saturday-morning roundtable discussion with scholars, scientists, and writers of science fiction; an afternoon discussion about interdisciplinary science-fiction studies, and other events. This year's topic is "Science Fiction in the Real World," with a special focus on the work and life of Frederik Pohl, a long-time friend of the Center.



Author and NASA Physicist Les Johnson

Presents KU Colloquium on Advanced Space Propulsion

LAWRENCE, KS - March 22, 2014



Scholar Gary K. Wolfe

Presents KU Bold Aspirations Lecture

LAWRENCE, KS - February 22, 2014

Click here for the poster (.pdf)

Click here for the .jpg of the poster

Facebook event here

"Asking the Next Question: Science Fiction and the Rational Imagination"

KU Libraries Acquire

William S. Burroughs Collection

LAWRENCE, KS - February 6, 2014

Official KU press release here

The University of Kansas Libraries has acquired the last works of legendary author William S. Burroughs. James Grauerholz, executor of Burroughs' estate, Lawrence resident and KU alumnus, has donated the author's final personal journals, type scripts, and editing materials to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library. The materials were the source for Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs, published in 2000, which Grauerholz edited. Grauerholz had multiple reasons for donating the journals to KU.

"William spent his last years, wrote his last books, painted his (first and) last paintings and jotted-down his last words in Lawrence, Kansas," Grauerholz said. "So the city of Lawrence, and the University of Kansas, which is the heart of our community, deserve to have the last word on Burroughs' life and works."

Burroughs, the often-controversial author, is perhaps best known as the author of Naked Lunch and numerous other novels, including Junkie, Nova Express, the Cut-Up Trilogy, and Cities of The Red Night. His work was highly influential on both American and international literature, and he was once described by Norman Mailer as "the only American novelist living today who may conceivably be possessed by genius." His work and influence were recognized professionally as well. He was inducted into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and received numerous other professional honors.

Burroughs lived in Lawrence from 1982 until his death in 1997. While they were his final years, they were far from retirement. In fact, they were among his most productive, in which he wrote his final seven major books, created hundreds of artworks and worked on several multimedia projects, including The Black Rider, an avant-garde opera with Tom Waits and Robert Wilson, plus audio and music recordings with U2, REM, Laurie Anderson, and others; as well as film projects with directors such as Gus Van Sant and Howard Brookner.

The donation of materials marking the end of Burroughs' life coincides with the centenary of his birth, February 5, 1914. He was associated with many cities around the world, including New York, Mexico City, Paris, London, and Tangier, Morocco. But the fact that his Lawrence years were among his most creative and important led Grauerholz to donate the 10 journals, type script, and editing materials to KU Libraries. Several of the journals will be on display in the library throughout February.

"This is long overdue for the Burroughs estate to work with the Kenneth Spencer Research Library," said Grauerholz, who attended KU from 1969 to 1973 and taught American studies in the 2000s. "I'm grateful the University will be able to make these materials available to the community of scholars, here and worldwide. Now anyone with a good reason to read them will be able to."

The donations will add the libraries' already noteworthy holdings of Burroughs materials. Among the materials are contributions to periodicals and first editions of many of his works, including Naked Lunch, and a manuscript collection containing materials from the 1950s and '60s, including letters by Burroughs as well as letters written to him by Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, publishers, and others. There are also several short typescripts and "cut-ups" by Burroughs, written for Jeff Nuttall's My Own Mag and others by writer and artist Claude Pelieu. The collections also include audio recordings of Burroughs made in the early 1960s purchased from Melville Hardiment at that time, including Burroughs speaking on "A Day in the Life of a Junkie."

The materials will be cataloged and made available upon request to inquirers who wish to read or study them. Elspeth Healey, special collections librarian, said the donation will be of great scholastic and cultural value for a broad population.

"Research in the humanities depends on access to writers' papers and other primary sources. Burroughs' last journals will open up new avenues of scholarship for this significant cultural figure and shine a light on the Lawrence chapter of his life and creative output," Healey said. "We are pleased that the University of Kansas will be able to make these unique artifacts available to students, scholars and the public."