Chambers, Kim and Ward among ‘supremely talented’ authors up for Kitschies trophies

Books by Becky Chambers, Un-Su Kim and Catriona Ward have been shortlisted for The Kitschies, the Blackwell’s-sponsored prizes for novels containing elements of the speculative and the fantastic. 

This year’s shortlisted books were narrowed down from 198 submissions from 57 publishers.

The winners of the prizes, now in their 12th year, will be announced in a virtual ceremony on 12th October and receive a total of £2,000 in prize money, as well as one of the prize’s Tentacle trophies. Previous winners include Margaret Atwood, Madeline Miller, Ahmed Saadawi, Ruth Ozeki and Clare Rees.

Up for the Red Tentacle prize for a novel are Bear Head by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Head of Zeus), The Galaxy And The Ground Within by Becky Chambers (Hodder Fiction), The Cabinet by Un-Su Kim (Angry Robot), The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward (Serpent’s Tail) and Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (Macmillan).

Up for the Golden Tentacle for a debut are Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke (Hodder Studio), Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell (Orbit), Temporary by Hilary Leichter (Faber), Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Rock The Boat) and Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker (Angry Robot).

Oliver Johnson, Red and Gold Tentacle judge, said: “Judging from the strengths of the many books we debated, fought for, joyously put through, or sorrowfully parted with, the future of speculative fiction is in safe hands with this cohort of supremely talented authors.”

Fighting for the The Inky Tentacle for cover art are The Seep by Chana Porter, designed by Julia Lloyd (Titan), Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, designed by Ashley Mackenzie (Rock The Boat), Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder, designed by Suzanne Dean (Harvill Secker), Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Morena-Garcia, designed by Faceout Studio’s Tim Green (Jo Fletcher Books) and A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine, designed by Jaime Jones (Tor).

Judge Natalie Radmall-Quirke commented: “The Inky judges had the enviable task of eyeballing covers from every corner of the speculative fiction galaxy. The shortlist we landed on is a brilliant visual shorthand for everything The Kitschies stands for: it’s fantastic, beautiful, weird and fun. Nothing looks the same, and each one is testament to the astonishing creative talents of cover designers and illustrators across the industry.”

Award directors Leila Abu el Hawa and Anne Perry said that in the 12 years of The Kitschies, they have seen the nature and scope of science fiction and fantasy publishing in the UK “change and evolve brilliantly”. They said: “We are so excited to share these wonderful shortlists and once again, marvel at how SFF is moving forward."