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Neal Stephenson wins Clarkes
24/05/2004 . Source: Jessica Martin 
The novel Quicksilver scoops the 18th Arthur C. Clarke Award. The 18th Arthur C. Clarke Award has been won by Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. The Award was announced at a ceremony at the English Heritage Lecture Theatre, London on Wednesday 12th May.
In his speech, praising all six of the shortlisted novels, the Administrator, Paul Kincaid, said that Quicksilver 'is about the moment that yesterday turned into today. In this subtle alternate history he addresses that fundamental paradigm shift which, in a sense, allowed science fiction to come into existence, when empirical science provided a completely new way of perceiving how the world works and where we belong in it. It is an exploration of the ways in which we began to see the world in terms of information, pointing out that capital itself is an information technology.'
Collecting the award on behalf of Neal Stephenson, his editor at William Heinemann, Ravi Mirchandani, said that this was the fourth time he had attended the Clarke Award ceremony on Stephenson's behalf, and since it hadn't been third time lucky he didn't have an acceptance speech ready this time. However he was confident that Stephenson would be 'gobsmacked' and 'chuffed' by the Award, though Mirchandani pointed out that these were both words that Stephenson himself would not have used.
After a troubled year for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, which lost both its funding and its home for the last eight years at the Science Museum, the event was staged at such short notice that only two of the shortlisted authors, Stephen Baxter and Gwyneth Jones, were able to be present. Nevertheless a large audience was in attendance, including previous Clarke Award winners Christopher Priest, China Mieville, Paul McAuley, Pat Cadigan and Geoff Ryman, other notable authors such as Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Chris Wooding, Robert Holdstock, Christropher Evans, Roy Kettle, and a host of former judges including Farah Mendlesohn, Edward James, Kev McVeigh, Claire Brialey, Mark Plummer, Caroline Mullan, David Pringle, David V. Barrett and more.
The response to the new venue, and particularly to the displays designed and arranged by John Bell Design, were overwhelmingly positive. Overall, this was clearly one of the most successful Clarke Award events of recent years.
The judges this year were Mark Bould and Geoff Ryman for the Science Fiction Foundation, Iain Emsley and Carol-Ann Kerry Green for the British Science Fiction Foundation, and Dave Palmer for the Science Museum. Their final judging meeting - during which they had to decide among a shortlist that also included Coalescent by Stephen Baxter, Darwin's Children by Greg Bear, Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, Midnight Lamp by Gwyneth Jones and Maul by Tricia Sullivan - was an intense two-and-a-half hours during the afternoon of the Award Ceremony.
During his speech, as well as thanking the judges, Paul Kincaid paid tribute to the members of Serendip Foundation - Elizabeth Billinger, Paul Billinger, Simon Bradshaw, Andrew Butler, Angie Edwards and Maureen Kincaid Speller - who had stepped in to remove much of the administrative burden from his shoulders, and to provide a sound management structure in the Award's search for permanent funding. He also thanked the BSFA and the SF Foundation, who had stepped in to guarantee funding so the Award could continue for this year. Thanks also went to the League of Fan Funds, who have given the BSFA and Foundation financial backing to enable their support for the Award; and to 3SF who have already promised funds for the coming year.
Finally, the judges for the coming year were announced. They are: Carol-Ann Kerry Green and Mark Greener for the BSFA, Mark Bould and Justina Robson for the SF Foundation and Dave Palmer for the Science Museum.
For any further information, please contact the administrator
Paul Kincaid paul@appomattox.demon.co.uk
:sad:
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