October News Roundup

* Overheard in the store:

"Do you have CAT'S CRADLE by Vonnegut?  My boyfriend has never read it.  I wish I'd known that before I committed."

"This is my two-handed bastard sword of a cat. FEAR ME!"

"Have you _touched_ this book?!"
"Yes, it's LORD OF THE RINGS. We have 4."
"But this LORD OF THE RINGS is super-pettable!"

* A scholarship in Sir Terry Pratchett's name has been announced at the University of Southern Australia.  Endowed by the late author's estate, it will provide $100,000 to a grad student every two years in perpetuity.  More information here: http://www.unisa.edu.au/Media-Centre/Releases/Perpetual-Sir-Terry-Pratchett-Scholarship-announced-for-UniSA/

* Chris Hall at The Guardian explores the dystopian themes in JG Ballard's HIGH-RISE and discusses the new feature film adaptation: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/03/jg-ballards-high-rise-takes-dystopian-science-fiction-to-a-new-level

* The Spectrum Fantastic Art Live exhibition is moving next year from Kansas City, MO to our very own San Francisco's Academy of Art for 2016.  The press release is here: http://fleskpublications.com/blog/2015/09/23/spectrum-fantastic-art-live-moves-to-san-francisco/

* The Museum of Science Fiction has announced its intention to begin publishing a Journal of Science Fiction, free online for everyone.  The first issue will launch January 2016; more details on the SFWA website: https://www.sfwa.org/2015/09/call-for-submissions-to-the-journal-of-science-fiction/

* Despite the mixed reception the film received, there are apparently talks to revive Alan Moore's "Watchmen," with Zach Snyder at the helm again, for a television series.  Nothing is definite yet, owing to Snyder's current work in the DC universe, but it may be a chance for the director to redeem himself in the eyes of many: http://sciencefiction.com/2015/10/02/hbo-zack-snyder-talks-watchmen-tv-series/

* Pop singer Morrissey will release his first novel, this year, a ghost/demon story called LIST OF THE LOST, and by all accounts it's not good: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/04/list-of-the-lost-morrissey-review-publishers-ashamed (Although maybe I'm misunderstanding when a reviewer says the publishers should be ashamed of themselves.)

* The second of Marvel's Netflix series "Jessica Jones" has finally been revealed in a number of teaser trailers.  It looks much better than "Daredevil," and we've only seen a few seconds of it.  http://www.cnet.com/news/marvels-jessica-jones-drinks-fight-in-netflix-trailers/

* Huffington Post talked to a number scientists and "science enthusiasts" to find out their favorite science fiction films.  The answers are pretty standard, but there are a few surprises peppered throughout the list: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/top-scientists-tel-you-thier-favorite-boks-and-movies_55e9b22de4b093be51bb3ff8

* Iskander Krayenbosch has created a hilarious animated video to illustrate what he thinks are the twelve steps of the Hero's Journey.  Using imagery from iconic stories, he makes an excellent argument: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/the-12-steps-that-basically-every-hero-in-a-movie-goes-1734258433

* Author Jay Swanson has created the world's first real-time fantasy blog, INTO THE NANTEN.  In addition to Jay's unfolding story of the exiled Marceles na Tetrarch, the site features incredible original artwork from artist Nimit Malavia and the voice talents of Dennis Kleinman.  You really should check it out: http://intothenanten.com/about-into-the-nanten/

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Award News
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* The Copper Cylinder Award for Canadian fantastic literature has announced its fourth annual winners.  The Adult award went to Thomas King for THE BACK OF THE TURTLE and the Young Adult award to Caitlin Sweet for THE DOOR IN THE MOUNTAIN.  More details on the award and winners here: http://coppercylinderaward.ca/2015-winners

* The Science Fiction Poetry Association has announced their 2015 Dwarf Stars (for short poems 1-10 lines) and Elgin Award (for books and chapbooks of poetry) winners.  Full details here: http://www.sfpoetry.com/ds/15dwarfstars.html and here: http://www.sfpoetry.com/el/15elgin.html

* The National Book Award longlist has been announced, and while the adult categories have no speculative nominees, the Young Adult category boasts M.T. Anderson, Rae Carson, Noelle Stevenson and others: http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2015.html

* The Parsec Awards for speculative podcasting have announced their winners.  http://www.parsecawards.com/2015-parsec-awards/2015-parsec-awards-finalists/

* Stephen King was one of those awarded a National Medal of Arts this past month.  http://arts.gov/honors/medals/stephen-king