Carbon-Based Bipeds, the newsletter of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, April 2021
Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!
And welcome to our April newsletter
Here at Clarke Award HQ we're looking forward to announcing our 35th winner this year, and more news on that below, but first and foremost today we're celebrating the 10 year anniversary of ZOO CITY by Lauren Beukes becoming our 25th, and indeed almost final, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2011.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8942cc72-8421-4882-8efa-2c49ecdfba6a_326x500.jpeg)
Following Sir Arthur's passing in 2008 and the closing of his UK company, Rocket Publishing, which funded the prize, we had enough resources to keep going for a few years, but by 2011 we were faced with a dilemma - remove the prize money element of the award, attempt to pivot our business model to something more financially sustainable or, worst case scenario, celebrate a quarter century of the award before quietly closing up the pod bay doors.
Determined not to go quietly into the night however, we happened upon a unique opportunity to partner with the British Library on their record-breaking science fiction exhibition, Out of this World.
Not only did this partnership come with a consulting fee (not at all coincidentally totaling the same amount as our annual prize money) that allowed us to bridge the year until we fully reset our business model, it also created the opportunity to begin a series of collaborations with cultural organisations that continues to this day, and even to triumphantly display ZOO CITY within the exhibition itself:
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa792b4a4-f407-4614-a8ad-3ba6e79ff3ed_640x582.jpeg)
Today I'm delighted to say that not only is the award in great shape as we gear up to announce our 35th winner, we're now planning even further ahead and starting to scope the award's ambitions looking towards our 50th presentation in the year 2036.
Of course I'm duty-bound to say that every year is my favourite year of the award, but certainly 2011 was one of the most memorable and influential for shaping both where we are today and our continuing ambitions for the future, and I can't think of a better winner to share that year with.
Please join me in wishing Lauren three cheers and a happy anniversary!
Tom Hunter,
Award Director
Beyond Games: Discount code for all our Carbon-Based Subscribers
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34fb8515-9124-42a1-9ede-7309ab62dea8_640x322.jpeg)
Beyond Games is a new five-day conference focused on the future of games, transmedia, digital entertainment and the creative industries.
We've been doing a little informal advising behind the scenes as part of our broader mission to encourage the positive promotion of science fiction in all its forms, and in exchange we're delighted to be able to offer an exclusive 20% discount code to share with you all: ClarkeAwardBG20
Book Tickets Eventbrite Link
Rumour has it there's even a panel track called Indistinguishable From Magic, which if true would make us very happy indeed!
Coming Soon: The Underground Railroad launches on Amazon Prime, May 14th
Winner of the 2017 Arthur C. Clarke Award (plus a few other prizes you might have heard of), The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead will debut as a limited series on Amazon Prime next month.
Until then, you can watch the full trailer Here
Also coming soon: The Arthur C. Clarke Award 2021
Astute readers and long-time award watchers will have spotted that whereas 10 years ago today we were busy announcing our winning title, in more recent years the award dates have moved progressively later into the year.
There's a number of good reasons for this, including adjusting our timings to avoid calendar clashes with other friendly awards, rising awareness of the award across the wider publishing landscape leading to increased volumes of submissions, and most recently the small matter of a global pandemic.
56% of responders to our 2020 reader survey agreed that Covid 19 had affected their regular reading habits, and that's no less true for us and our judging panel.
While repeated lockdowns may sound like the perfect opportunity to burn through your to-be-read pile, in reality we all know how the pressures of homeworking, job insecurity, child-care and home-schooling, not to mention the existential dread of 24hr news doom-scrolls and lockdown time-loop fatigue syndrome, can take their toll, and that's for those lucky enough not to have had their own close encounter with the virus.
This year, as with 2020, we've been determined to put our people first and to make sure to take things slow and one step at a time. The good news is, even with the publishing industry working remotely, our submissions remain strong, and a shortlist for 2021 is on its way.
We'll be announcing our dates shortly, so watch this space, and as is now traditional, we'll be starting with the publication and analysis of our complete list of books submitted.
In the meantime, for analysis of past submissions years and more you can visit our blog on Medium Here.
HAL's recommended reading
And finally, as lockdowns begin to ease (we hope) we're all beginning to face the new challenge of a return to Earth.
In this article for Fast Company astronaut Douglas Weelock shares his secrets for reentering society after a long time away.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc68775e5-45c9-445a-994c-03507419d784_640x313.png)