Geoff Ryman (born 1951) is a writer of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, he was also one of the founding members of the Mundane science fiction movement.[1] In 2008 a Mundane SF issue of Interzone magazine was published, guest edited by Geoff Ryman, Julian Todd and Trent Walters.[2] Ryman says he knew he was a writer "before [he] could talk", with his first work published in his Mother's newspaper column at six years of age.[3] He is most well known for his science fiction writing, however his first novel was the fantasy The Warrior Who Carried Life, and his revisionist fantasy Was has been called "his most accomplished work".[4]
Much of his work is based on travels to Cambodia. The first of these The Unconquered Country (1986) was winner of the World Fantasy Award and British Science Fiction Association Award. His novel The King's Last Song (2006) was set both in the Angkor Wat era and the time after Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.[5]
He was guest of honour at Novacon in 1989 and has twice been a guest speaker at Microcon, in 1994 and in 2004.[6][7][8] He was also the guest of honour at Gaylaxicon 2008.[9]
Ryman has written and published seven novels, including an early example of a hypertext novel, 253, or Tube Theatre. He is currently at work on a new historical novel set in the United States before the Civil War.[5] His novels and novelas have won multiple awards, including the World Fantasy Award, and his novel Was was inducted into the Gaylactic Spectrum Hall of Fame. His novel 'Air was nominated for eight awards, winning four. In total, Ryman's works have been nominated for 59 speculative fiction awards.[10]
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987. The book is chosen by a panel of judges from the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation and a third organization, currently SF Crowsnest. It is now administered by the Serendip Foundation. The winner receives a prize consisting of a number of pounds sterling equal to the current year (£2008 for year 2008). In recent years, the award has been presented on the opening night of the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Child Garden | Arthur C. Clarke Award | Won |
| 2005 | Air, or Have Not Have | Arthur C. Clarke Award | Won |
The British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) annually presents four awards (though numbers have differed in previous years) based on a vote of BSFA members and recently also members of the Eastercon. Ryman's works have been nominated ten times in the novel and short fiction categories, and won three times.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Unconquered Country | John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel | 3rd |
| 1990 | The Child Garden | John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel | Won |
| 2005 | Air, or Have Not Have | John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel | 2nd |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Was | Gaylactic Spectrum Hall of Fame | Inducted |
| 2004 | Lust | Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Novel | Nominated |
Interzone Poll
edit| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Unconquered Country | Interzone Poll for best fiction | Won |
| 1995 | "Fan" | Interzone Poll for best fiction | 6th (tie) |
| 1995 | "Dead Space for the Unexpected" | Interzone Poll for best fiction | 10th (tie) |
| 1996 | "Warmth" | Interzone Poll for best fiction | 3rd (tie)
|
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Unconquered Countries | Tiptree award for best fiction | Nominated | — |
| 2004 | "Birth Days" | Tiptree award for best fiction | Nominated | — |
| 2006 | "Air" | Tiptree award for best fiction | Won | — |
| 2006 | Tesseracts Nine | Tiptree award for best fiction | Nominated | Co-edited with Nalo Hopkinson
|
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Unconquered Country | Nebula Award for Best Novella | Nominated |
| 1995 | Fan | Nebula Award for Best Novella | Nominated |
| 2006 | Air, or Have Not Have | Nebula Award for Best Novel | Nominated |
| 2008 | Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy) | Nebula Award for Best Novelette | Nominated |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 253 | Philip K. Dick Award | Won |
| 2005 | Air, or Have Not Have | Philip K. Dick Award | Nominated |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Everywhere" | Theodore Sturgeon Award | Nominated |
| 2002 | "Have not Have" | Theodore Sturgeon Award | Nominated |
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Unconquered Country | World Fantasy Award for Best Novella | Won | — |
| 1993 | Was | World Fantasy Award for Best Novel | Nominated | — |
| 2007 | Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy) | World Fantasy Award for best Short Fiction | Nominated | — |
Other awards
edit| Year | Nominated work | Category | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Warrior Who Carried Life | Crawford Award | Nominated | Given by International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts to a first fantasy novel published in the preceding 18 months. |
| 1998 | "Family" | BSFA Award for best short story | Nominated | Given by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to a short story published in Britain in the preceding year. Based on a vote of BSFA members and attendees the Eastercon. |
| 2004 | Air | Sunburst for best novel | Won | — |
| 2006 | Tesseracts 9 | Prix Aurora Award for best other work in English | Won | Co-edited with Nalo Hopkinson |
| 2007 | "Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy)" | Hugo Award for best novelette | Nominated | — |
See also
editReferences
edit- General
- Specific
- ^ "Geoff Ryman: The Mundane Fantastic: Interview excerpts". Locus. January 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ Andy Cox (3 May 2008). "Interzone 216: Special Mundane-SF issue". TTA Press.
- ^ "Geoff Ryman interviewed - infinity plus non-fiction".
- ^ Ency fantasy
- ^ a b "Geoff Ryman (Centre for New Writing, the University of Manchester) (Centre for New Writing - the University of Manchester)". Archived from the original on 2013-08-31. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
- ^ Ansible #199, February 2004
- ^ Ansible #79, February 1994
- ^ John Grant: Gulliver Unravels: Generic Fantasy and the Loss of Subversion - infinity plus non-fiction
- ^ "Gaylaxicon 2008: Author Guest of Honor - Geoff Ryman". Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ^ "The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees". Locusmag.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ "Geoff Ryman". Science fiction awards database. Retrieved 2024-05-03.