The Hollowness of Canada's Speculative Fiction Award--Prix Aurora Awards
This could get me blacklisted but tough beanos. I'm Canada's best kept secret as a spec writer anyways so I'm not losing anything by stating my opinion (which could be misquided). I've never been interviewed. I've never made it onto an Aurora nomination form. And it's not because I'm a good writer or a bad writer. And it's not because I haven't published a lot as there are writers with less published than me who have been interviewed or included on the who's who lists.
How many times did I go to V-Con, giving bio info when asked for, to find I was left off of the program? Who else is considered Satan by one member of the Lonely Cry, and will be the only BC spec writer never allowed to join for it's small self-promotional benefits? My invisibility cloak works well. Still...I'm not a big cheese at all in writing so I can't expect much.
Anyways, the Auroras, once called the Caspers, look at best short and long works in speculative/SF/Fantasy fiction in French and English (fan work and art also) published by a Canadian each year. http://www.sentex.net/~dmullin/aurora/
There are several problems with the fairness of the system. Several years in the past (I haven't been paying attention lately) authors west of hmm, Ontario were often left off the eligibility list, which was always more complete in published works of those of the east (and middle, yes Ontario is the middle). Scouting certain venues/review sites would have garnered more information on writers and publications for the backwoods western provinces.
Albeit, there are far more spec writers in Ontario and Quebec than the rest of the country, that's no excuse to not notice what's being written and published elsewhere. And often when those of us with self-interest sent in other titles for eligibility, they weren't always put on. Now this could get me shot with the "prove it" thang but I do remember once sending in my titles for a year and never seeing them on an eligibility list. No, I don't remember when.
But the biggest problem with the Auroras is that really, Canada by and large doesn't know of them and it's only the small handful of spec writers, who then go around to their cronies and family, handing out ballots who know or care. It becomes a race to see who can get the most votes in for their own work. I distinctly recall one year when we were tired of a certain Toronto writer of fame (and heavily overdone self-promotion which has, granted, made this writer so well-known that said writer has won all the major awards--maybe the writer's writing is good too--I haven't read any) winning the awards because of some cronyism so we (our writers group) made sure that the one person in our group who had a book eligible was nominated by all of us and our friends and our families. And yep, we tilted the wheel our way. Makes you wonder how few votes are actually cast.
There have been cases of people standing outside of a live performance of their piece and handing out ballots to the crowd leaving. And who can blame anyone? We all want to be special and recognized. And we know that not many people vote so why not get people to vote any way you can? The only problem is that the Auroras do not represent the true Canadian favourite as based by the readership's votes. I don't know what the number of spec readers are in Canada but the percentage who vote I bet is much much smaller. So really it's only a contest to see who can get the most people to vote for them, not their works. Maybe that's one reason I've never made it to the list. I thought I should be nominated for writing, not who knows me and who I know. But yes, I, like probably all the other writers, have voted for those I know even if I didn't read their works. That's how the Auroras work. Now I may be a bit out of date here. I think they solved the voting thing by making it that people must pay to vote or attend the hosting convention.
And why doesn't anyone know about them? They're almost as well a kept secret as I am. If you go to the Aurora site, it is pitifully basic (and has been for years, maybe since the web took off) with very little info other than past winners and nominees. No real pictures or graphics, no pull for anyone crusing the site. If you google it you'll first get a fancy Aurora awards for flimmakers in the US. A fan site has more info and is better laid out than the Aurora site. And the Auroras are just not publicized even within the so-called fan areas of the genre (because the fans don't really know their local writers but only the big names as published by the US houses) I have just looked in Wiki and there is nothing entered for the Prix (being the French word for awards) Aurora Awards. I went to the V-Con website for this year, which will host the awards and although the site is in its early phase there is no mention in the events of the award ceremony. And this they would definitely already know. Now West Cost writers may have a better chance of winning this year (if they do get on the ballots) because V-Con is in Vancouver.
Whose fault is it that the Auroras are biased and not really representative? Everyone's. It is each writer's fault for not letting everyone know. It is our local media for not being interested in things so mundanely Canadian. It is SF Canada's fault (the Canadian SF pro writer association) for not pushing and organizing it. It is the fans' faults for not being more enthused for Canadian writers. It's my fault. And maybe, just maybe I'll join SF Canada again, and not let all the Tortontonianism bug me and try to interact, to represent the west coast as best I can and maybe make suggestions for positive change.
If I'm not blacklisted by then.
How many times did I go to V-Con, giving bio info when asked for, to find I was left off of the program? Who else is considered Satan by one member of the Lonely Cry, and will be the only BC spec writer never allowed to join for it's small self-promotional benefits? My invisibility cloak works well. Still...I'm not a big cheese at all in writing so I can't expect much.
Anyways, the Auroras, once called the Caspers, look at best short and long works in speculative/SF/Fantasy fiction in French and English (fan work and art also) published by a Canadian each year. http://www.sentex.net/~dmullin/aurora/
There are several problems with the fairness of the system. Several years in the past (I haven't been paying attention lately) authors west of hmm, Ontario were often left off the eligibility list, which was always more complete in published works of those of the east (and middle, yes Ontario is the middle). Scouting certain venues/review sites would have garnered more information on writers and publications for the backwoods western provinces.
Albeit, there are far more spec writers in Ontario and Quebec than the rest of the country, that's no excuse to not notice what's being written and published elsewhere. And often when those of us with self-interest sent in other titles for eligibility, they weren't always put on. Now this could get me shot with the "prove it" thang but I do remember once sending in my titles for a year and never seeing them on an eligibility list. No, I don't remember when.
But the biggest problem with the Auroras is that really, Canada by and large doesn't know of them and it's only the small handful of spec writers, who then go around to their cronies and family, handing out ballots who know or care. It becomes a race to see who can get the most votes in for their own work. I distinctly recall one year when we were tired of a certain Toronto writer of fame (and heavily overdone self-promotion which has, granted, made this writer so well-known that said writer has won all the major awards--maybe the writer's writing is good too--I haven't read any) winning the awards because of some cronyism so we (our writers group) made sure that the one person in our group who had a book eligible was nominated by all of us and our friends and our families. And yep, we tilted the wheel our way. Makes you wonder how few votes are actually cast.
There have been cases of people standing outside of a live performance of their piece and handing out ballots to the crowd leaving. And who can blame anyone? We all want to be special and recognized. And we know that not many people vote so why not get people to vote any way you can? The only problem is that the Auroras do not represent the true Canadian favourite as based by the readership's votes. I don't know what the number of spec readers are in Canada but the percentage who vote I bet is much much smaller. So really it's only a contest to see who can get the most people to vote for them, not their works. Maybe that's one reason I've never made it to the list. I thought I should be nominated for writing, not who knows me and who I know. But yes, I, like probably all the other writers, have voted for those I know even if I didn't read their works. That's how the Auroras work. Now I may be a bit out of date here. I think they solved the voting thing by making it that people must pay to vote or attend the hosting convention.
And why doesn't anyone know about them? They're almost as well a kept secret as I am. If you go to the Aurora site, it is pitifully basic (and has been for years, maybe since the web took off) with very little info other than past winners and nominees. No real pictures or graphics, no pull for anyone crusing the site. If you google it you'll first get a fancy Aurora awards for flimmakers in the US. A fan site has more info and is better laid out than the Aurora site. And the Auroras are just not publicized even within the so-called fan areas of the genre (because the fans don't really know their local writers but only the big names as published by the US houses) I have just looked in Wiki and there is nothing entered for the Prix (being the French word for awards) Aurora Awards. I went to the V-Con website for this year, which will host the awards and although the site is in its early phase there is no mention in the events of the award ceremony. And this they would definitely already know. Now West Cost writers may have a better chance of winning this year (if they do get on the ballots) because V-Con is in Vancouver.
Whose fault is it that the Auroras are biased and not really representative? Everyone's. It is each writer's fault for not letting everyone know. It is our local media for not being interested in things so mundanely Canadian. It is SF Canada's fault (the Canadian SF pro writer association) for not pushing and organizing it. It is the fans' faults for not being more enthused for Canadian writers. It's my fault. And maybe, just maybe I'll join SF Canada again, and not let all the Tortontonianism bug me and try to interact, to represent the west coast as best I can and maybe make suggestions for positive change.
If I'm not blacklisted by then.