honoured

on being placed on a short fiction award shortlist

Dear word explorer,

Last night, as I was winding down, I decided to check my phone before I headed to bed (my phone recharges in the living room).

I noticed several messages from friends, which was surprising for late hours on a Monday.

They informed me, with extra happy emojis, that my short story, ‘Raptor’, had been nominated for a World Fantasy Award in the Best Short Fiction category.

I clicked the link and saw my name on the shortlist. I re-read it several times, incredulous.

I walked into our office and momentarily worried Martin with my shocked expression and incoherent explanation since my language centre was lagging behind as my brain worked to process the wildly unexpected news.

The paperback edition with cover art by Vince Haig.

It was almost a year ago that I announced on this newsletter that my story ‘Raptor’ was part of an anthology called Heartwood, edited by Dan Coxon and published by PS Publishing in England. The book showcased twenty stories by writers inspired by the legacy of award-winning author, Robert Holdstock (1948 - 2009), especially his lyrical Mythago Wood series of novels.

Heartwood has also been nominated for Best Anthology in the World Fantasy Awards and the British Fantasy Awards.

In my previous newsletter I explained my friendship with Rob, and noted about his work:

Rob’s Mythago books could be termed ‘literary fantasy’, as they reflect the deep interconnectedness between humans and our landscapes, and in particular the ancient forests of the world. Our primal nature, our heroic structures, and our folklore, are stitched through with boughs and leaves and the animals that live and hunt in those primordial places. Rob referred to these spaces as the ‘repository of first consciousness,’¹ and within them Mythagos roam. He envisioned a Mythago as a creature forged from of our chthonic collective desires and drives, which prowls the ancient tracks and sometimes erupts into view.

As a fellow woods walker, I understood why Rob envisioned the ancient forest as a potential entry point into the symbolic realm populated by the deepest forces in the human un(sub)conscious.

When you stroll tame paths, carefully clear of ripping briars and snagging roots, you do not fully appreciate what it is like to experience the brooding watchful presence of a wild natural space.

It’s hard to experience that vivid immanence in Ireland, but you catch glimpses of it every now and again, as I did when I had to navigate ‘The Tangle’ recently.

The imagination — our divine sense, and our great undoing — becomes aroused by the dense green gloom, the tall oppressive trees and strangling creepers, hulking boulders, the creaking branches, the moving glints of light blinking between leaves, and the rot-fragrant moss-fringed gaping animal burrows.

Once, I wandered into a slump in my small local woods and discovered a cache of animal skulls. They gleamed ivory in the jade shadows, snug in nests girded with lichen-frilled sticks and dessicated leaves, and lined with dewy dandelion heads.

The forest bared its teeth to me. I took pictures.

A number of weeks later the skulls vanished. A concerned neighbour probably cleaned up the area.

Probably.

‘Death’ by Maura McHugh, 2006.

The World Fantasy Awards are one of most prestigious honours in the field of fantasy literature. Established in 1975, these awards are presented annually at the World Fantasy Convention to recognise outstanding achievements in fantasy fiction and art published during the previous calendar year. The WFC changes location every year, but it rarely ventures beyond the USA and Canada. The award shortlists and winners are determined by a jury of writers and editors.

This year's WFC will take place in Brighton, England from the 30th October - 3rd of November, during Halloween. It will also function as Fantasycon, which is the UK’s annual fantasy and horror convention run by the British Fantasy Society. They will be giving out their British Fantasy Awards at the same awards ceremony. This doubling of events hasn’t happened since 2013, so it is going to be a large convention with a lot of panels, discussions, events, an art show and dealers’ room, and a wide representation of international writers and artists.

Luckily, I purchased a ticket last year, taking a punt on the event long in advance. I’ve attended conventions in Brighton before, and I love the seaside location and bohemian vibe.

I’ve been nominated three times for a British Fantasy Award (and never won) but this is my first World Fantasy Award nomination. I’ve been part of juries for comic book, literature and film awards so I appreciate how difficult it can be to arrive at a consensus about the ‘best’ in any category.

Cheers to jurors James Brogden, Jessica Day George, Lee Murray, Jonathan Oliver and Molly Tanzer for choosing ‘Raptor’, and best of luck with their final deliberations.

However it goes on the night, being selected as one of the five best writers of fantasy short fiction during 2024 is an unforgettable honour.

Many thanks to Dan and PS Publishing for their sterling work, and congratulations to my fellow nominees.

We are all winners! (Until November.)

‘Brighton Mermaid’ by Maura McHugh, 2012.

1. ‘Avilion and Mythago Wood’ by Rob Holdstock.