io9 Co-Founder Charlie Jane Anders Wins Best Novel at This Year's Nebula Awards

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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced the winners of the Nebula Awards for 2016 over the weekend. There are some impressive and talented works in the mix, including an award for Arrival. But, of course, io9 can’t help but be a little extra thrilled that our co-founder, Charlie Jane Anders, took home the prize for Best Novel.

The winners of this year’s Nebula Awards were announced Saturday at the 51st annual Nebula Conference in Pittsburgh. The Nebula Awards, given every year by members of the SFWA, honor the best works in science fiction and fantasy. They, along with the Hugo Awards, are considered some of the most prestigious accolades for scifi and fantasy writers.

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io9 co-founder Anders won Best Novel for All The Birds In The Sky, which tells the story of a complicated, decades-long relationship between a witch and a science genius, set against the backdrop of climate change’s escalating threat. In her acceptance speech, Anders said she hopes her win inspires others to “tell the voices to shut up and go and write their frickin’ book.” All The Birds In The Sky is also up for a Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Anders first announced Tor Books was publishing her novel all the way back in 2014, and wrote several articles on io9 about her trials and triumphs to bring it to fruition. Here are some of them, if you’d like to follow her journey. You can also read a preview of the first four chapters here.

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Other winners include Seanan McGuire for Best Novella, William Ledbetter for Best Novelette, and Amal El-Mohtar for Best Short Story. Denis Villeneuve’s scifi film Arrival beat out Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the season one finale of Westworld to receive the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and David D. Levine earned the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. Here’s a complete list of the winners this year... along with a party GIF for Anders. Congrats from all of us.

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Best Novel

Winner: All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)

Borderline, Mishell Baker (Saga)

The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Everfair, Nisi Shawl (Tor)

Best Novella

Winner: Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)

Runtime, S.B. Divya (Tor.com Publishing)

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, Kij Johnson (Tor.com Publishing)

The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle (Tor.com Publishing)

“The Liar,” John P. Murphy (F&SF)

A Taste of Honey, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com Publishing)

Best Novelette

Winner: “The Long Fall Up,” William Ledbetter (F&SF)

“Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea,” Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed)

“The Orangery,” Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)

“Blood Grains Speak Through Memories,” Jason Sanford (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)

The Jewel and Her Lapidary, Fran Wilde (Tor.com Publishing)

“You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay,” Alyssa Wong (Uncanny)

Best Short Story

Winner: “Seasons of Glass and Iron,” Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood)

“Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies,” Brooke Bolander (Uncanny)

“Sabbath Wine,” Barbara Krasnoff (Clockwork Phoenix 5)

“Things With Beards,” Sam J. Miller (Clarkesworld)

“This Is Not a Wardrobe Door,” A. Merc Rustad (Fireside Magazine)

“A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers,” Alyssa Wong (Tor.com)

“Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station│Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0,” Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed)

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Ray Bradbury Award For Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Winner: Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Eric Heisserer

Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson, screenplay by Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill

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Kubo and the Two Strings, directed by Travis Knight, screenplay by Mark Haimes & Chris Butler

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards, written by Chris Weitz & Tony Gilroy

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Westworld: ‘‘The Bicameral Mind’,’ directed by Jonathan Nolan, written by Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan

Zootopia, directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, & Jared Bush, screenplay by Jared Bush & Phil Johnston

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Andre Norton Award For Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

Winner: Arabella of Mars, David D. Levine (Tor)

The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin Young Readers)

The Star-Touched Queen, Roshani Chokshi (St. Martin’s)

The Lie Tree, Frances Hardinge (Macmillan UK; Abrams)

Railhead, Philip Reeve (Oxford University Press; Switch)

Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies, Lindsay Ribar (Kathy Dawson Books)

The Evil Wizard Smallbone, Delia Sherman (Candlewick)

[The Verge]