orget the Shrine Auditorium and the allure of the Oscars. For toilers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, the place to be lauded by one's peers was at the Beverly Hills Hilton last Saturday night, site of the 2001 Nebula Awards ceremony of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Ray Bradbury, in presenting SFWA's Bradbury Award to Harlan Ellison and Yuri Rasovsky for their work on the 2000x radio play series, which has been appearing on National Public Radio, set the tone for the evening with a story that pinpointed with poetic accuracy why we were gathered there that night.
It seems that Bradbury was once outside a toy store peering through the windows at the marvels within when some teenage boys ran by. One paused to peer in at the shop. His rushing friends shouted for him to follow them, insisting that all he'd find inside was useless kid stuff. Nearby, Bradbury prayed that he would ignore the naysayers. "Go in! Go in!" he wished. And still the friends razzed the boy, and still Bradbury prayed for the teen not to abandon the magic. But sadly, he allowed himself to be pulled away by his friends, and moved on. This turning away from childish things (or at least what the world wants to consider so) broke Bradbury's heart.
Those of us who joined together Saturday night have done our best to live within the walls of Bradbury's toy store, because we know that is where the miracle of life truly resides. We have not set aside the things that filled us with wonder when we were young. The treasures of the universe have not dimmed with age, and all still seems magical and new.
The toy makers who picked up trophies this year are (above, from left to right) Robert Gordon (co-screenwriter of Galaxy Quest, which won for Best Script), Terry Bisson, winner of the award for Best Short Story for "macs," Greg Bear (kneeling), winner of the Best Novel award for Darwin's Radio, Robert Sheckley, chosen as Author Emeritus, Harlan Ellison, who was both the recipient and presenter of awards that night, Walter Jon Williams, Best Novelette winner for "Daddy's World," Ellen Datlow, editor of SCI FICTION, who picked up Linda Nagata's Best Novella trophy for "Goddesses," and Philip Jose Farmer, SFWA's newest Grand Master.
Pixels trump paper as words triumph
No one could have been happier at the Beverly Hills Hilton that night than Ellen Datlow, who can be seen at right holding Linda Nagata's Nebula, since the author was unable to attend. (Well, maybe I'd give a slight edge in the happiness catagory to Walter Jon Williams, who over the years has joked that he had become known as the Susan Lucci of science fiction, with the greatest number of awards nominations without a win. Until now.) One reason for Ellen's smile was that this trophy had come for a story that had only seen online publication, and was competing with the traditional print magazines.
Proof that readers and writers are willing to set aside biases to deal with the story as story, and not as paper product, was rewarding. I offer my congratulations to all of the winners, but particularly to both of my SCIFI.com sisters--Linda Nagata, who wrote the story, and Ellen, who was wise enough to publish it. Thanks to the Web, the full text of "Goddesses" is just a mouse click away.
There was much talk over the weekend about the current state and future prospects of science fiction. Consider the weekend to be a sort of state of the union address, except rather than being given in a single voice by a lone president, it was made up of hundreds of voices--publishers, editors, agents and writers--all blending in what to an outsider might appear to be a cacophony, but which to those of us on the inside was clearly perceived as harmony, however ragged. We honored our legends, Sheckley and Farmer, and rewarded the staggering individual achievement of newer writers. Science fiction is still strong, and will endure.
You, too, are a part of this. You who are reading these words have chosen to join me at Bradbury's toy store. Not pressing our noses up against the glass outside, or even worse, running past without pausing to peer in at the windows, but inside, joyously at play.
It is the only place to be.
Scott Edelman started his trek to the editor-in-chief position at Science
Fiction Weekly back in 1974, when he began working as an assistant editor at
Marvel Comics. Between these two positions, this four-time Hugo Award nominee in
the category of Best Editor was the founding editor of the
award-winning magazine Science Fiction Age, and also edited SCI
FI, the official magazine of the SCI FI Channel, in addition to
Sci-Fi Universe, Sci-Fi Flix and Satellite Orbit. His most recent short fiction appears in The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy, edited by Mike Ashley.
