The Arthur C. Clarke Award is the most prestigious award for science fiction in Britain. It is becoming recognised as one of the most prestigious science fiction awards in the world, the equivalent of the Booker Prize.
It is awarded every year to the best science fiction novel which received its first British publication during the previous calendar year. The Award is chosen by jury.
The Award was established with a generous grant from Arthur C. Clarke with the intention of encouraging science fiction in Britain, something that SCI-FI-LONDON also aims to do. The Award was set up in 1986 and the first winner was announced in 1987.
The Award consists of an inscribed plaque in the form of a bookend, and a cheque. The value of the prize matches the year. In 2001, the award was £2001. In 2005, it will be £2005.
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is the only British award for science fiction with a cash prize, and the only award chosen by jury.
The Award has sometimes been controversial, and the Science Fiction Encyclopedia points out that the very first award was made to a non-genre novel – The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Nevertheless, the Clarke Award is now acknowledged as the most important science fiction award in Britain and one of the most highly regarded around the world.
The Award was originally established in 1986 as a joint venture between three bodies, the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation and the International Science Policy Foundation. The ISPF withdrew from the Award in 1997 following the death of Maurice Goldsmith. In 2000, the Science Museum joined the Award but withdrew in 2003, though they will continue to provide a judge for 2005 and 2006.
The British Science Fiction Association was established in 1958 by a group of leading authors, readers, publishers and booksellers, including Brian Aldiss who was the first President of the BSFA and Edmund Crispin who became the second President. The current President is Arthur C. Clarke.
The BSFA was established to create an international forum that would bring together everyone interested in science fiction and today it has members around the world. It publishes a highly respected critical journal, Vector, a news magazine, Matrix, and a magazine aimed at writers, Focus.
We are very honoured to be chosen as the new home for the award and look forward to reviewing the short list on this site.