Philip K Dick Award

Year 50 Day 332

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Me wearing a black cap, black suit jacket with grey pinstripes, black shirt, and Star Trek bow tie, in front of a stage with a screen showing a slide that says 'Welcome to the 2024 Philip K Dick Awards'

Day 332: Norwescon day two is done! (Yes, once again, posting this the next morning and backdating.) Today was all about the Philip K. Dick Award. I wore my now-traditional Friday morning/day “electric sheep” t-shirt, and attended the readings for each of the three attending nominated authors. The afternoon was a bit more hectic than expected due to tech demands requiring us to move the location of the ceremony from one ballroom to the next on four hours’ notice (physically, not much of a move, but arranging logistics and getting set for the needs of the new location kept me very busy), but in the end, the ceremony went off quite well, and it was kind of fun to have it on the main stage this year. The rest of the evening was dancing and then watching a Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast from the back of the room (because I didn’t have enough energy to be very participatory). All in all, another good day!

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Why No PKD Nominee Book Reviews

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Just a little clarification as to why I’m no longer posting my usual star ratings or mini-reviews for the Philip K. Dick Award nominated books I read.

While I’ve been attending the award ceremony at Norwescon for quite a while now, last year I took on the responsibility of being the award ceremony coordinator for the convention. This position gives me no insight or influence over the nominees, the judging, or the selection of the eventual winner. I just make sure the ceremony comes together.

However, as part of organizing the ceremony, I do have contact with the authors and publisher representatives. Once the nominees have been announced, I contact the publishers to get permission to make poster-size reprints of the book covers to display at the ceremony, and I invite the authors to attend the ceremony at Norwescon (and, if interested, to participate in paneling for the convention as well). For those authors who can attend, I’m one of the primary points of contact before and at the con; for those who can’t, I assist with finding a stand-in reader if they don’t have someone they know already planning on attending.

So, then, a theoretical possibility: One of the nominated works is one I just don’t get into and end up giving a poor review. At some point in the next few years, the same author is nominated for a new work. Cue awkwardness! I’d like to avoid that.

I’ve also noted a few times in the past that I have a history of never managing to pick the winner as my favorite. So if I say which was my favorite, even though that actually has nothing to do with the final choice, then I’m (historically, statistically) predicting that that book won’t win.

It just seems prudent to keep my thoughts to myself for these books.

📚 Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney

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4/2024

The first of this year’s Philip K. Dick Award nominees. No review, because I’m the award ceremony coordinator. I’m not remotely involved with selecting nominees or winners, just making sure the ceremony goes as it should, but it’s best to keep my reviews to myself.

Me holding Wild Spaces