The longlists for 2016’s Gemmell Awards is open for voting on the awards website – www.gemmellawards.com.
Staged annually since 2009, the awards consist of three categories:
The Legend Award (best novel)
The Morningstar Award (best début)
The Ravenheart Award (best cover art)
This year, there are 48 contenders for the Legend Award, 6 for the Morningstar and 39 for the Ravenheart.
The awards are determined by an open vote, and 2015 saw a record total of 36,759 votes cast.
Voting on the longlists closes at midnight (GMT) on Friday 24th June.
The shortlists will be opened for voting at midday (GMT) on Friday 8th July and close at midnight (GMT) on Friday 19th August.
The presentation ceremony will take place at 8pm, Saturday 24th September at Fantasycon (http://fantasyconbythesea.com/)
2016 marks the eighth year of the awards’ existence, and the tenth anniversary of the untimely death of fantasy author David Gemmell, in whose memory the awards were created.
The David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy were established with the aim of celebrating the best in fantasy fiction and art, and commemorating one of its legendary authors. Since their inaugural year, the awards have been won by authors including Andrezj Sapowski, Graham McNeill, Brandon Sanderson, Pierre Pevel, Patrick Rothfuss, Helen Lowe, Brent Weeks, John Gwynne, Brian McLellan and Mark Lawrence, and artists including Didier Graffet, Raymond Swanland, Jason Chan and Sam Green.
The Awards continue to pursue their three aims – to raise public awareness of the fantasy genre, to celebrate the history and cultural importance of fantasy literature and to appreciate and reward excellence in the field.
Fantasycon is the British Fantasy Society’s (www.britishfantasysociety.org) annual conference and has been part of the UK scene since its inception in 1972. Past guests include Joan Aiken, Clive Barker, Terry Brooks, Ramsey Campbell, Raymond E Feist, Jasper Fforde, Joanne Fletcher, James Herbert, Robert Holdstock, Tom Holt, Stephen Jones, Graham Joyce, Tanith Lee, Anne McCaffrey, George RR Martin, Sarah Pinborough, Terry Pratchett, Michael Marshall Smith and Tad Williams.
This year’s Guests of Honour are Costa Book Award winner Frances Hardinge, leading British horror author Adam Nevill, and bestselling fantasy author Scott Lynch.
The SFFN will be there for you and keep you posted on the ceremony as it unfolds!
The Gemmell Awards official website can be found at www.gemmellawards.comand its Facebook page is www.facebook.com/gemmellawards. Go Vote Now!
