The Shirley Jackson Award

From Ellen Datlow:

PRESS RELEASE: THE SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD

Contact: JoAnn F. Cox
Award Administrator
admin@shirleyjacksonawards.org

Award named for Shirley Jackson to Honor Writers of Psychological Suspense, Horror, and the Dark Fantastic

Inaugural year is for works published in 2007; Board of Advisors and Judges announced.

Boston, MA (January 2008) — In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson's writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, the Shirley Jackson Award has been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.

Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, “The Lottery.” Her work continues to be a major influence on writers of every kind of fiction, from the most traditional genre offerings to the most innovative literary work. National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novelist Jonathan Lethem has called Jackson “one of this century’s most luminous and strange American writers,” and multiple generations of authors would agree.

The Shirley Jackson Award will be voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics, with input from a Board of Advisors. The awards will be given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories: Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.

A website, www.ShirleyJacksonAwards.org, will provide more information on the award categories and the selection process. The date and location for the awards ceremony will be announced soon.

The jurors for the 2007 Shirley Jackson Awards are, alphabetically:

F. Brett Cox, co-editor (with Andy Duncan) of Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (Tor, 2004); author of numerous short stories, critical essays, and reviews; English faculty at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.

John Langan, author of short story collection Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (Prime Books, forthcoming 2008) and numerous critical essays and reviews; English faculty at State University of New York-New Paltz.

Sarah Langan, author of novels The Keeper (Harper, 2006; finalist for Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel) and The Missing (Harper, 2007); MFA in Creative Writing, Columbia University; freelance writer currently living in New York City.

Paul G. Tremblay, author of collection Compositions for the Young and Old (Prime Books, 2004), novella “City Pier: Above and Below” (Prime, 2007), and novel The Little Sleep (Henry Holt, forthcoming); one-time co-editor of Fantasy Magazine and the anthologies Fantasy and Bandersnatch.

The Board of Advisors for the Shirley Jackson Award includes award-winning editor and anthologist Ellen Datlow; renowned scholar and editor S.T. Joshi; author, editor, and teacher Nick Mamatas, author and teacher Jack M. Haringa (co-editor, with Joshi, of the critical journal Dead Reckonings); editor Bill Congreve; author Mike O’Driscoll; editor Ann Vandermeer; and award-winning and best-selling novelist Stewart O’Nan.

www.ShirleyJacksonAwards.org