Alasdair Stuart reports from the prestigious Clarke Awards ceremony.

There tend to be two ways genre award ceremonies go. The first is the Hugo model, which is basically a four hour State of the Union with special guest stars, occasionally a chat show in the middle and the odd Stormtrooper or two. The second is the model that both the Gemmells and the Clarke have used to great effect in the last week or so.

The Gemmells went for a couple of hours which, given there’s three of them is understandable. The Clarke, held at Foyles on July 18, is only one award so it was a shorter, punchier affair. Nonetheless there was some surprisingly meaty discussion to be had, as well as some unfortunately slightly meaty tasting Rosemary water.

Dubious refreshments aside there was a ton to enjoy here. Award coordinator Tom Hunter’s speech touched on everything from the challenges of promoting the award to the new partnership with I Dot Everyone, a digital think tank dedicating to improving digital life. He also talked about how, as part of the ongoing conversation about diversity in genre, they are beginning to discuss what awards are actually for. He ended on the intriguing idea that the award is an invitation, a chance for the organisation to talk about how much they love these books and for others to discuss them too.

This year’s award reflected that desire, going to Dreams Before The Start of Time by Anne Charnock. The novel follows two families, each shaped by their grandmother’s drastic different attitudes to pregnancy and reproduction. Across three generations, Charnock explores the evolution in society that changes in pregnancy, reproductive technologies and gender will bring. Its a deceptively gentle novel, one very much in the style of the Dangerous Visions plays and approaches science fiction from that same, literary perspective. I was really impressed by the nuanced and unusual approach it took. Plus I like things that break literary models in fun ways and this does absolutely that.

The book was also the subject of one of the most widely divergent roundtables on this year’s Shadow Clarke so if you want to take a look at a range of opinion for it, go take a look.

This year’s winner, and shortlist, are exactly what the Clarke is made for; to provide a cross section of modern SF in the West. So, congratulations to Anne and the finalists, pick a book and dive in. They’re all worth your time.