World Fantasy Con -- Day 4

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the last day of WFC because somehow I inadvertently erased them from the camera before downloading. I was not cut out to be a photographer.

I had breakfast with Mary Robinette Kowal, during which we discussed publishing and puppets, the latter being Mary's other profession. This was followed by coffee in the green room (finally found it!) with Gene Wolfe, who also came to my reading. I had not seen Gene for many years, and this was a treat.

The main event of the day was the WFC banquet and awards. The fiction winners are:

Best Collection: This was a tie, between There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales, by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya,and The Very Best of Gene Wolfe. Gene gave a tearful, moving speech in which he said that the award had been earned by three people: himself, "the young man I used to be who wrote these stories," and his wife Rosemary, "who really should be up here with me."

Best Novel: The City in the City, China Mieville

Best Novella, "Sea-Hearts," Morgo Langahan

Best Short Story: "The Pelican Bar"

None of the other three fiction winners were present to accept. Of the three recipients of Life Time Achievement Awards, Brian Lumley gave a nice acceptance speech in his rich Scottish accent. Peter Straub, alas, seemed almost incoherent. Terry Pratchett sent remarks that might have read better had he been able to deliver them himself with a humorous slant, since they complained about never having won a Hugo or Nebula.

I got to meet Cecilia Holland, whose Floating Worlds I have admired for a very long time. I just wish my camera had retained the picture of her!