This weekend, a comprehensive document of voting statistics for the 2023 Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards was released—standard practice for the sci-fi awards that are given annually at the World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon). But as those in the sci-fi community looked into the details, they seem anything but standard. In June, many readers were surprised to see that R.F. Kuang’s BABEL—which won the Nebula and Locus awards—was not among the finalists for the Hugo Award for Best Novel. The newly-released document notes that BABEL, despite getting the third most nominating votes, was found ineligible for the award. It is unclear […]
Controversies
Del Rey Removes Cait Corrain’s Book From 2024 Schedule Following Goodreads Controversy
Del Rey posted online that it has removed Cait Corrain’s debut CROWN OF STARLIGHT from next year’s publishing schedule, following a controversy in which Corrain created multiple Goodreads accounts to give other debut authors one-star reviews. Corrain’s book was set to be published on May 14. The publisher writes, “We are aware of the ongoing discussion around author Cait Corrain. CROWN OF STARLIGHT is no longer on our 2024 publishing schedule.” Corrain herself notes in a lengthy apology on Twitter that two of the writers she review bombed, Molly X. Chang and Danielle Jensen, were fellow Del Rey authors. Del […]
92NY Pauses Literary Series Amid Resignations
92NY has put its 2023-2024 literary series “on pause” amid staff resignations and author withdrawals. Unterberg Poetry Center director Sarah Chihaya and senior program coordinator Sophie Herron have both resigned following a controversy involving the author Viet Thanh Nguyen. Authors and critics including Christina Sharpe, Saidiya Hartman, Dionne Brand, Paisley Rekdal, and Andrea Long Chu had pulled out of their scheduled events. The controversy started when the organization cancelled (or at least postponed) a poetry center event featuring Nguyen on Friday, after Nguyen signed an open letter in London Review of Books criticizing Israel. The event was convened downtown at […]
92Y Cancels Viet Thanh Nguyen Event Over Israel Criticism
NYC’s 92Y abruptly cancelled an event featuring Viet Thanh Nguyen on Friday, after Nguyen signed an open letter in London Review of Books criticizing Israel. The event was to be a discussion with novelist Min Jin Lee about Nguyen’s new nonfiction book, A Man of Two Faces. 92Y claimed the event was only postponed, but Nguyen said he was notified that the event was cancelled, and organizer Bernard Schwartz, the director of the Y’s Unterberg Poetry Center, moved the event downtown to McNally Jackson. 92Y wrote in a statement on Saturday, “We are a Jewish institution that has always welcomed […]
Scholastic Creates Separate Diverse Books Collection For Elementary School Book Fairs
Following Reddit reports from librarians in September, the Mary Sue recently asserted that to comply with country-wide book bans Scholastic Book Fairs has grouped diverse titles into a separate, optional or excludable a la carte case. On Friday, Scholastic released a statement claiming, “The biggest misconception is that Scholastic Book Fairs is putting all diverse titles into one optional case. This is not true, in any school, in any location we serve.” The company notes the legislation “enacted or pending” in more than 30 states restricting books predominantly about LGBTQ+ and BIPOC experiences in schools. “Because Scholastic Book Fairs are […]
Elizabeth Gilbert Removes Russia-Set Novel from Publication Schedule
Author Elizabeth Gilbert has decided to withdraw her forthcoming novel, THE SNOW FOREST, from its scheduled publication date of February 13, 2024. Just announced with a cover reveal on Good Morning America on June 6, Gilbert said the book follows a family living in Siberia away from society as a way of resisting the Soviet government. In a video posted to social media, Gilbert explained that she heard from many Ukrainian readers who expressed “anger, sorrow, disappointment and pain about the fact that I would choose to release a book into the world right now—any book, no matter what the […]