The Kitschies 2012

The Kitschies are a non-profit association with the mission of encouraging and elevating the tone of the discussion of genre literature in its many forms.

You know how we all like to bitch and complain about how out of touch the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award voters and judging panels are? Well, that’s why awards like The Kitschies exist. They’ve a pure, well stated prerogative and judging criteria, they were created by two of the best people in in the Speculative Fiction community (Jared Shurin and Anne Perry, of Pornokitsch), and the panel of judges is always stellar. They exist, in many ways, as a balance against the long-time awards circuit. So, you should pay attention.

They released the short list for this year’s awards late last week, and it’s looking mighty swell.

The 2012 finalists for the Red Tentacle:

Jesse Bullington’s The Folly of the World (Orbit)
Frances Hardinge’s A Face Like Glass (Macmillan)
Nick Harkaway’s Angelmaker (William Heinemann)
Adam Roberts’ Jack Glass (Gollancz)
Juli Zeh’s The Method (Harvill Secker)

The 2012 finalists for the Golden Tentacle:

Madeline Ashby’s vN (Angry Robot)
Jenni Fagan’s The Panopticon (William Heinemann)
Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina (Doubleday)
Karen Lord’s Redemption in Indigo (Jo Fletcher Books)
Tom Pollock’s The City’s Son (Jo Fletcher Books)

The 2012 finalists for the Inky Tentacle:

La Boca for Ned Beauman’s The Teleportation Accident (Sceptre)
Oliver Jeffers for John Boyne’s The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket (Doubleday)
Tom Gauld for Matthew Hughes’ Costume Not Included (Angry Robot)
Peter Mendelsund for Ben Marcus’ Flame Alphabet (Granta)
Dave Shelton for his own A Boy and a Bear in a Boat (David Fickling Books)

Of the awards, Shurin of Pornokitsch says,

The Kitschies, presented by The Kraken Rum, reward the year’s most progressive, intelligent and entertaining works that contain elements of the speculative or fantastic. Winners share a total of £2,000 in prize money, an iconic Tentacle trophy and a bottle of The Kraken’s fine black rum. Congratulations to all the finalists, and thanks to all the publishers and authors who submitted books for consideration. In 2012, The Kitschies received a record 211 books from over 40 publishers and imprints.

If you’re unfamiliar with the awards, “The Red Tentacle” awards the year’s best novel, “The Golden Tentacle” awards the year’s best debut, and “The Inky Tentacle” awards the best cover art. I appreciate the Kitschies’ proclivity towards diversity and celebrating the wide expanse that the speculative fiction genre has to offer as a whole, rather than littering their nominations with mainstays and longtime fan favourites.

P.S. Yah, I’m a little late to the party here. Sorry, Pornokitsch.

Discussion
  • K. January 23, 2013 at 12:48 pm

    This is the first I have heard about this and I am excited to say the least! I’ll be adding some of these to my reading list this year to be sure.

  • Martin January 24, 2013 at 2:47 am

    Bit unfair on the World Fantasy Award . Do people really bitch about it being out of touch? It is streets ahead of the Hugo and Nebula. I’d say the Kitschies are a peer rather than balance.

  • Ama A-Badu January 24, 2013 at 3:21 am

    That looks like a good list. I’ll be adding some of them to my book list for this year! :)
    I’ve also never heard of this award before, but the more the merrier!

    http://the-writing-junkie.blogspot.com/
    I write, read and review books. I like publicizing authors and their stories.