Announcing the 38th winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award
Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!
We're delighted to announce that IN ASCENSION by Martin MacInnes and published by Atlantic Books has been announced as the 38th winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award science fiction book of the year.
Martin MacInnes receives a trophy in the form of a commemorative engraved bookend and prize money to the value of £2024.00; a tradition that sees the annual prize money rise incrementally by year from the year 2001 in memory of Sir Arthur C. Clarke.
Chair of the Judges, Dr Andrew M. Butler said:
“As always, the judging session was filled with emotion and intelligence and it took a while for Martin MacInnes’s In Ascension to emerge as the front runner. It shows us, in the words of one judge, “vistas between the cellular and the cosmic.” It’s an intense trip and for once it’s a winner that is in the tradition of Clarke’s own novels.”
Award Director Tom Hunter added:
“It has been a pleasure to watch the excitement build around In Ascension across multiple audiences since its first publication. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to welcome Martin MacInnes into the Clarke Award’s science fictional fold and to help our readership discover his work too!”
The winner was revealed at an award ceremony in London on Wednesday 24th July to an audience of authors, publishing professionals, and science fiction fans.
The judging panel for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2024 were:
Dolly Garland and Stark Holborn for the British Science Fiction Association.
Nic Clarke and Tom Dillon for the Science Fiction Foundation.
Glyn Morgan for the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival.
The annual Arthur C. Clarke Award is presented for the best science fiction novel of the year, and selected from a list of novels whose UK first edition was published in the previous calendar year.
The award was originally established by a generous grant from Sir Arthur C. Clarke with the aim of promoting science fiction in Britain, and is currently administered by the Serendip Foundation, a voluntary organisation created to oversee the on-going delivery and development of the award.
Members of the judging panel are nominated by supporting organisations, currently the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation and the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival.