Lauren Beukes’ ZOO CITY wins 2010 Arthur C. Clarke Award

Lauren Beukes' ZOO CITY has won the 2010 Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction novel of the year. This is the Britain's most prestigious prize for science fiction writing and a wonderful accolade for a remarkable novel. Previous winners of the prize include Margaret Atwood, China Mieville, Amitav Ghosh and Ian McLeod.

Here is the YouTube clip of Lauren being presented the award by previous three time winner China Mieville.

Award director Tom Hunter said "This is a great book that promises to inspire both long terms fans of the genre and introduce a whole new readership to the best of science fiction literature."

ZOO CITY is also on the ballot for the Locus Award and the John W Campbell Award for best new writer, one of the three most prestigious sci-fi awards in the United States. She is also in the running for The 2010 University of Johannesburg Prize for the best creative work in English, the winner to be announced in May.

Congratulations Lauren!

TARZAN is king of the swingers on Amazon Children's thriller best-seller list

TARZAN by Andy Briggs is the latest chart topper one of the children's  thriller list on Amazon Canada despite the book not being published there yet.

The reworking by Briggs will have Tarzan as far 'edgier and more feral' than the original, and deeply concerned about the destruction of his environment in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His Jane is also decidedly modern - her father, Archie and his friend Phil, who in Burroughs' version are a couple of amiable academics are now involved in illegal logging. Jane hates what her father is doing and she and Tarzan plot to stop it.
 
Praise for TARZAN:

'Tarzan is back with a bloodcurdling roar! An epic re-book of the classic series.' -- Eoin Colfer, author of ARTEMIS FOWL

  'Wow! All the things I loved about the original Tarzan books rebooted for modern-day Africa, with a plot that will whisk you off your feet and swing you through the trees at breakneck speed.' -- Roderick Gordon, author of TUNNELS

 'This is a lion-roaring read of an adventure that seized me from the first page and refused to let go.The action is breathless, the characters are enthralling and the environmental message is vital. Tarzan is not only stunningly reborn, he is more relevant today than he ever was.' -- Chris Bradford, author of YOUNG SAMURAI

 'A hero that doesn't have special powers, can't do magic, and isn't an angel? Andy's Tarzan doesn't need them; he kicks ass from the moment he appears in the first chapter.' -- David Gatward, author of THE DEAD, THE DARK, THE DAMNED

Ivan Vladislavic wins the 2010 University of Johannesburg Award

Ivan Vladislavić's new novel DOUBLE NEGATIVE wins the University of Johannesburg English Literary Award 2010. The UJ Prize is awarded to the writer of the best original creative work in English published in the previous calendar year. The UJ Debut Prize is awarded to the writer of the best original creative debut work in English published in the previous calendar year, and was this year awarded to Shaida Kazie Ali for NOT A FAIRYTALE. A formal prize giving ceremony will be held at a function in September 2011.
 
The shortlists, compiled from approximately 60 submitted works, were as follows:

Main prize
Altbeker, Antony. FRUIT OF A POISONED TREE
Beukes, Lauren.  ZOO CITY
Medalie, David. THE MISTRESS'S DOG
Van Onselen, Chris.  MASKED RAIDERS
Vladislavić, Ivan. DOUBLE NEGATIVE
Watson, Stephen.  MUSIC IN THE ICE

Debut prize
Ali, Shaida Kazie.  NOT A FAIRY TALE
Clelland, James.  DEEPER THAN COLOUR
Irving, David Dinwoodie.  AFRICAN COOKBOY

Ivan Vladislavić's DOUBLE NEGATIVE is published as a standalone novel in South Africa by Umuzi. In DOUBLE NEGATIVE apartheid-era university drop-out Neville Lister is in danger, his father thinks, of 'falling in with the wrong crowd' and so is sent to eminent photographer Saul Auerbach - 'a man of strong convictions, but who has learned to direct them' - to gain some sense of perspective and direction. And so begins a delicate, funny and beautifully written exploration of the art of depiction, of the haunting power of photographs - those 'odd little memorials that owe so much to chance and intuition'. In three sections - 'Available Light', 'Dead Letters', and 'Small Talk' - this spare yet memorable novel tracks the changing city of Johannesburg and Neville's path to career success - though that first day and what they saw, and what Saul Auerbach photographed then, are things he will never forget. DOUBLE NEGATIVE is a brilliant meditation on our ways of seeing and recording, on how and what we remember, and the art of being lost.

Praise for Ivan Vladislavić

'One of the most imaginative minds at work in South African literature today.' -- André Brink

'Vladislavić is without doubt the most significant writer in South Africa today.' -- Focus on Africa

'Vladislavić is a rare, brilliant writer.' -- Sunday Times (SA)

DEAD LIKE YOU won the Sounds of Crime Award for Best Unabridged novel in audio

DEAD LIKE YOU by Peter James, read by David Bauckham, has won the Sounds of Crime Award for Best Unabridged novel in audio. The CrimeFest awards ceremony took place in Bristol at the weekend during the Crime Writing Festival. The Sounds of Crime Awards are sponsored by Audible UK and both Peter James and David Bauckham received the commemorative Bristol Blue Glass.

DEAD LIKE YOU is the sixth book in the Roy Grace series, and was published by Macmillan in October 2010. The Roy Grace series is sold around the world to 34 languages.  His new title in the series, DEAD MAN'S GRIP will be published by Macmillan later this month.

Peter James says: "At a time when there is much concern over electronic novels replacing print novels, it is important to remember that storytelling began thousands of years before the printing press was invented, as an oral tradition.  The beauty of audio books, and particularly unabridged ones, is that they take people back to those spellbinding roots, and this is the reason I am particularly thrilled to have won this award - and I owe a very big part of it to the brilliant and vivid reading of David Bauckham."

Praise for Peter James:

'A terrific thriller...DEAD LIKE YOU is a haunting page-turner that seamlessly blends psychological suspense with police procedure, echoing the heart and voices of such authors as P. D. James and Ian Rankin at their best.' -- Jeffery Deaver, author of ROADSIDE CROSSES

'The highly regarded Peter James tries something unusual in DEAD LIKE YOU ... James is to be commended for producing an insider's view of a rape investigation. This is a gripping novel about a desperately serious subject.' -- Joan Smith, Sunday Times

'With the action jumping between two time periods, plotting is satisfyingly thorough, dialogue is deceptively casual, and the traumatic effects of rape are made explicit. James is probably the closest we'll get to a British Stephen King.' -- Financial Times

BLACK BUTTERFLIES a Cannes pick

The film, scripted by Greg Latter, has been selected by the Hollywood Reporter as one of six not to be missed at this year's Festival.

BLACK BUTTERFLIES is directed by Dutch filmmaker Paula van der Oest and tells the tragic story of apartheid-era South African poet, Ingrid Jonker.

The film, which generated strong reviews at the Tribeca Film Festival, stars Carice van der Houten as Ingrid, alongside Liam Cunningham and Rutger Hauer.

The other films chosen were LA DELICATESSE, CITIES, GREAT HOPE SPRINGS, FRIENDS WITH KIDS and SOLO.

The Cannes Film Festival runs until 22nd May.