The Nebula Awards

APRIL 2009 Los Angeles, U.S.A.

Nominees and Winners

View past nominees and winners of the Nebula Award.

Novels

Virtual library of Nebula and Norton novels at Shelfari.

Pictures

View images from the 2007 Nebula Awards Ceremony.

Links

A list of links to other sites & blogs of interest.

Nebula Weekend 1999

April 30–May 2, 1999 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Toast master: Stan Schmidt
Guest Speaker: David Hartwell
Author Emeritus:William Tenn
Grand Master: Hal Clement
Bradbury award: J. Michael Straczynski

pittsburgh

For the first time, the Nebula Awards weekend is coming to Pittsburgh. The Nebula Awards weekend will be the first national science fiction event in Pittsburgh since the 1960 Worldcon. Pittsburgh is the nicest city you’ve never been to, with interesting restaurants and fine museums. You can take a trip on one of the riverboats, view the city from up on Mount Washington, go to Oakland’s museum district, sample local micros at one of five brewpubs or visit the restaurants and eclectic shops of the South Side. The weather for this weekend is predicted to be warm (low 70s during the day and low 50s at night), with possible showers on Thursday.

Our hotel, the Marriott Pittsburgh City Center is in downtown Pittsburgh, across from the Civic Arena. Note for drivers: the parking garage adjacent to the hotel charges $20 a night for parking, but there is a cheaper lot within five block of the hotel.

The hotel was completely renovated in the mid-’90s, and features the Steelhead Grill, one of the finest restaurants in America. To make a hotel reservation, call the toll-free number, 888-456-6600, and say you’re with Nebula Weekend, Friday, April 30—Sunday, May 2. The block has closed, but you should be able to get a room at rack rate. There are cheaper hotels outside of the downtown Pittsburgh area.

Nebula Awards™ Banquet Menu

Wedding Bell Soup (Italian Vegetable for the people ordering the vegetarian dinner)
Assorted Fields of Green Salad with Tomatoes and Black Olives
Choice of Entree
Rollard of Roast Chicken with Dried Tomato Stuffing
Pittsburgh-style Beef Filet with Horseradish Sauce (served rare to medium rare)
Pasta Primavera with Pesto
Kosher Chicken Dinner (prepared in a kosher kitchen)
Chef selection of side dishes and breads
Chocolate Truffle Cake
Coffee, Tea, Decaf, Iced Tea

Nebula Banquet and Weekend Ticket: No longer available

Parties Only Ticket includes the Awards Ceremony, Friday Night Social, Three Drink Tickets and the SFWA Suite and costs $25

The parties-only ticket is available at the door for $25.00 until 7pm on Saturday, May 1. Registration opens on Thursday, April 29 at 4pm in the SFWA Suite.

The SFWA Suite will run from from Thursday evening until Sunday at 2pm. Saturday’s activities will include a SFWA meeting and several workshops during the day, cocktails before the banquet, and the gala Nebula Banquet. There will be signing opportunities for the people who’d like to trek to local bookstores and meet the public.

People who plan to attend include:

Joe Haldeman, Sharon Lee, Paul Levinson, Steven Miller, Connie Willis, Michael A. Burstein, Ann Crispin, Michael Capobianco, Brenda Clough, William Keith, Allen Steele, Ellen Klages, Bruce Holland Rogers, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Katie Waitman, David Gerrold, Martha Wells, K. D. Wentworth, Catherine Asaro, Jack McDevitt, Walter Jon Williams, Sam Lundwall, Ed Ferman, Christine Valada, Gregory Feeley, Geoff Landis, William Shunn, Timons Esias, Eleanor Wood, Bud Sparhawk, Charles Oberndorf, Scott Edelman, Keith Stokes, Louise Marley, Lee Allred, Barbara Hill, Everett S. Jacobs, and Allison Stein

The Sci Fi Channel will be cybercasting the Nebula Awards Ceremony.

How to Get to Pittsburgh by Mass Transit
How to Drive to, Around, and Park in Pittsburgh
How to Walk and T Around Pittsburgh and Where to Go

Weekend Schedule:

Thursday, April 29

4:00pm

Registration Opens
SFWA Suite Opens

Evening events could include a brewbpub tour or trip to the South Side.

7:00pm

Speaking and Signing
Green Tree Public Library

7:30-9:00pm

Book Signing
Barnes and Noble in Squirrel Hill

8:00pm-10:00pm

Allegheny Observatory Tour, led by Diane Turnshek.

Friday, April 30

10:00am

Registration Opens
SFWA Suite Opens

Take a daytime city tour or a boat ride. Fallingwater anyone?

12:30-1:30pm

Book Signing
Barnes and Noble, Downtown

1:30-2:30

Robotics Institute Tour

Take a bus or taxi over to the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Limited to 30 - sign up in the SFWA Suite when you check in.

2:00-4:00

Gifted and Talented, Middle and High School Program
Marquis B Ballroom

SF professionals, including Author Emeritus William Tenn, Toastmaster Stan Schmidt, SFWA President Paul Levinson, Joe Haldeman, and Brenda Clough will address and answer questions for about 100 teachers and students from all over Western Pennsylvania.

(At about the same time, Sharon Lee and Steven Miller will be giving a presentation at the Pittsburgh School for the Creative and Performing Arts.)

8:00pm-10:00pm
In Pittsburgh Science Fiction Night at the Metropol

If you’re over 21, you can visit a local club for an evening of “science fiction, aliens, klingons, techno music and fun.” Invitations to the event will be available at the Nebula Awards™ registration table in the SFWA Suite for Nebula Awards™ weekend registrants. Steven Miller, Sharon Lee, Allison Stein, Mike Higgins, Barbara E. Hill, and Catherine Petrini will be among the attendees.

9:00pm-midnight
Marquis A-C Ballroom

After dinner social at the Marriott - cash bar, snacks.

Saturday, May 1

8:00am-10:00am

SFWA Board of Directors Meeting
Board Room

10:00am

Registration Opens
SFWA Suite Opens

noon-2:00pm

Book Signing
Barnes and Noble, Cranberry Township

1:30-2:30pm

Writing Scams and How They Effect Legitimate Publishing
Prof. Jim Fisher of the University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro will address interested members.

2:30pm-5:30pm

SFWA Business Meeting; this will include the presentation of the SFWA pins to all current and past Nebula Awards™ nominees.

7:00pm-8:00pm

Cocktail Hour, Grand Foyer, Marriott

8:00pm-10:00pm

Nebula Awards™ Banquet, Marriott Grand Ballroom

10:00pm-midnight

Awards Ceremony and after-ceremony dance and party in the Grand Ballroom

Sunday, May 2

10:00am

SFWA Suite Opens

10:00am-10:30am

Guest Signing
Second floor function area
Get your books or Nebula Awards™ Programs signed by some of our special guests, including William Tenn and Hal Clement.

10:30am - 12:30pm

Electronic Publishing Symposium
Second floor function area
noon-2:00pm

Book Store Signing Borders, South Hills

2:00pm

SFWA Suite Closes

Bookstore Signings:

Thursday, April 29

7:00pm - Green Tree Public Library

Sharon Lee
Steve Miller

7:30-9:00pm - Barnes and Noble in Squirrel Hill

Hal Clement
Joe Haldeman
Paul Levinson
Connie Willis

Friday, April 30

12:30-1:30pm - Barnes and Noble, Downtown

Brenda Clough
Joe Haldeman
William Keith
Paul Levinson
Allen Steele

Saturday, May 1

noon-2:00pm - Barnes and Noble, Cranberry Township

Catherine Asaro
David Gerrold
Jack McDevitt
Martha Wells
K. D. Wentworth

Sunday, May 2

noon-2:00pm - Borders, South Hills

Jack McDevitt
Bruce Holland Rogers
Walter Jon Williams

AwardWeb Nebula Listings

This year’s Nebula weekend was organized by Paul Levinson, Ann Crispin, and Michael A. Burstein, managed the Nebula weekend for SFWA, and Laurie Mann who served as hotel liaison and local coordinator.

Winners Presented in 2008

  • Novel: The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
  • Novella: Fountain of Age by Nancy Kress
  • Novelette: The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
  • Short Story: Always by Karen Joy Fowler
  • Script: Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro
  • Andre Norton Award: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

View the archives for a listing of all past winners.

List of archived Nebula Weekends



Site Search

The Yiddish Policemen's Union (winner) by Michael Chabon

Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell

The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson

Odyssey by Jack McDevitt

The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman

The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon

For sixty years, Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of revelations of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. Proud, grateful, and longing to be American, the Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant, gritty, soulful, and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. For sixty years they have been left alone, neglected and half-forgotten in a backwater of history. Now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end: once again the tides of history threaten to sweep them up and carry them off into the unknown.

About the Author

Michael Chabon is the bestselling author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, the novelist Ayelet Waldman, and their children.

Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell

The Benevolent Satrapy rule an empire of forty-eight worlds, linked by thousands of wormholes strung throughout the galaxy. Human beings, while technically “free,” mostly skulk around the fringes of the Satrapy, struggling to get by. The secretive alien Satraps tightly restrict the technological development of the species under their control. Entire worlds have been placed under interdiction, cut off from the rest of the universe.

Descended from the islanders of lost Earth, the Ragamuffins are pirates and smugglers, plying the lonely spaceways around a dead wormhole. For years, the Satraps have tolerated the Raga, but no longer. Now they have embarked on a campaign of extermination, determined to wipe out the unruly humans once and for all.

About the Author

A professional blogger and SF/F author originally born in Grenada, Tobias currently lives in Ohio with his wife, Emily. Tobias began reading at a young age and started submitting and writing multiple short stories while in high school. He attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy workshop in 1999. He sold his first story shortly afterwards, and has since gone on to sell over 30 more. He has written and sold three novels.

The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson

When an abandoned toddler appears on the shore of her Caribbean island home, Chastity Theresa Lambkin, aka "Calamity," becomes a foster mother in her 50s. Years previously, a one time, teenage experiment with a best friend unsure of his sexuality resulted in daughter Ifeoma. As Calamity, who narrates, now freely admits, Ifeoma bore the brunt of Calamity's immaturity, and their relationship still suffers for it. As Calamity relates all of this, things that have been missing for years inexplicably reappear, including an entire cashew tree orchard from Calamity's childhood that shows up in her backyard overnight. It could be island magic, or something much more prosaic. The rescued little boy's origins do have some genuinely magical elements (Calamity names him "Agway" after his foreign-sounding laughter), and Hopkinson's take on "sea people" and how they came to be adds depth and enchantment.

About the Author

Nalo Hopkinson a writer who has so far published a collection of short stories, four novels and an anthology or two. She has lived in Toronto, Canada since 1977, but spent most of her first 16 years in the Caribbean, where she was born.

Odyssey by Jack McDevitt

The world has discovered, despite all the promises held out by the champions of interstellar travel, that it offers few prospects for economic advantage. Public funding and private contributions for the Academy have been drying up. Even sightings of mysterious lights in the sky, once called UFO's, now known as moonriders, draw only skepticism. In an effort to recapture some of the glamor of earlier years, the Academy plans a well-publicized mission ostensibly to seek the truth about the moonriders. The mission will visit tour spots where they've been seen, while simultaneously — the real purpose of the flight — giving the general public a chance to get a good look at famous locations in the solar neighborhood.

About the Author

Jack McDevitt is a former English teacher, naval officer, Philadelphia taxi driver, customs officer, and motivational trainer. With the nominations of Infinity Beach, Ancient Shores, “Time Travelers Never Die,” Moonfall, “Good Intentions” (cowritten with Stanley Schmidt), “Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City,” Chindi, Omega, and Polaris,, "Henry James, This One's for You," and Seeker, his work has been on the final Nebula ballot ten of the last eleven years.

The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman

Since H. G. Wells' heyday, the time travel scenario has undergone so much variation that it's easy to envision the river of ideas finally running dry. But here the ever-inventive Haldeman offers a new twist: a device that travels in one direction only, to the future. Lowly MIT research assistant Matt Fuller toils away in a physics lab until one day he makes an odd discovery. A sensitive quantum calibrator keeps disappearing and reappearing moments later when he hits the reset button. With a little tinkering, Matt realizes that the device functions as a crude, forward-traveling time machine.

About the Author

Born in Oklahoma 9 June 1943. Grew up in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D. C., and Alaska. Currently lives in Gainesville, Florida and Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife Gay Haldeman. As of August, 2008, they will have been married 43 years.