So, this last weekend -- October 4th, 5th, and 6th -- I was in Ottawa for
Can-Con: The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature which was, in 2013, hosting
Canvention 33. Now, because there's been some confusion, this is how it goes:
Can-Con is a yearly Ottawa convention and has been a yearly Ottawa convention since at least 1992.
Canvention is the yearly Canadian national convention which, because we have one heck of a lot of geography, is hosted at a different Canadian convention every year, alternating east and weat. (next year, it's in Vancouver at VCon)
As a literary oriented SF&F convention, Can-Con does cool things like make time available for writers to pitch books to Canadian publishers,
Chizine Publications and
Bundoran Press. It is also the convention where, many years ago, I met my good friend and fellow DAW author
Violette Malan.
As the Canadian national convention, Canvention, or more specifically the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, gives out the
Aurora awards "to honour the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy literary works, artwork, and fan activities from the previous year." Like the Hugo, the Aurora is a fan nominated and voted award. You must be a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association to nominate and vote but any Canadian can join.
This year, the CSFFA gave out a
Lifetime Achievement Award for the first time in thirty years, to Robert J. Sawyer. Rob is one of my oldest friends, we've known each other for more than thirty years, and I was thrilled to be there when he received this award. He has been, as well as an award winning writer, a tireless advocate for Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy. Rob's
acceptance speech is very much worth reading and I hope that in another thirty years they have to give him a second lifetime achievement award.
The winners for the 2013 Auroras were:
Novel: The Silvered – Tanya Huff
YA Fiction: Under my Skin, The Wildlings – Charles de Lint
Short Fiction: The Walker of the Shifting Borderland – Douglas Smith
Poem / Song: A Sea Monster Tells His Story – David Clink
Graphic Novel: Weregeek – Alina Pete
Related Work: Hayden Trenholm – Blood and Water
Artist: Erik Mohr – Cover Art for ChiZine Publications
Fan Publication: Speculating Canada Blog – Derek Newman-Stille
Fan Filk: Kari Maaren – Body of Work
Fan Organizational: Randy McCharles – When Worlds Collide
Fan Related Work: Ron Friedman – Aurora Awards Voter Package
Yes, that's me. Right up top. The Silvered won the 2013 novel Aurora. Fortunately, I have no idea of how to make that announcement a glittery gif because I have to admit, I'd be tempted.
I was, to put it mildly, thrilled, especially since I was pretty sure Destiny’s Fall by Marie Bilodeau was the front runner. (Actually, I'm still thrilled. Every now and then, at totally random moments, I grin and murmur, "I won an Aurora.") At the microphone I started by mentioning that Fiona had made me promise that if I won I wouldn't gasp, "Finally!" and throw myself on the award -- mostly because that's a good way to bleed out before help could arrive. It's a very pointy award. I then mentioned that the last time I had a microphone at an Aurora awards presentation, it was to announce that the two year eligibility for novels was no longer necessary because Canadian SF&F now had enough excellent work available on a yearly basis. I then added that this year's nominations certainly proved that. (Although honesty forces me to admit, I was slightly less articulate.) Then I thanked my editor, Sheila Gilbert at DAW, my agent Joshua Bilmes, the voters, and my wife Fiona Patton. I believe chocolate and scotch were also mentioned.
Then SF Canada presented me with a laminated check for $1,000.00 -- which was a complete, and very welcome surprise. If I was less than enthusiastic with my thanks at the time, it was only because my thoughts flew immediately to adding up the cost of tiling the new shower. So, thank you SF Canada! I thank you. Fiona, thanks you. And I'm sure Violette's husband, Paul, our contractor, thanks you.
So...
I won an Aurora. Pretty cool, eh?
