Poem From Voyagers Nominated For International Poetry Award

Meliors Simms’ poem “Two Kinds of Time”, first published in Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, which I co-edited with Mark Pirie, has been nominated for the Rhysling Awards, the international awards for speculative (science fiction, fantasy and horror) poetry. We thought that was well worth a press release, and here it is!

New Zealand poem nominated for international award

Meliors Simms’ poem “Two Kinds of Time”, first published in the acclaimed anthology “Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand” (Interactive Press, 2009), has been nominated for a Rhysling Award for the best science fiction, fantasy or horror poem published in 2009.

The Rhysling Awards, administered by the Science Fiction Poetry Association, were inaugurated in 1978. Among previous winners are such well-known writers as Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin, Jane Yolen and Joe Haldeman.

“I’m honoured to have my poem nominated for an international poetry award with such an illustrious history,” said Meliors Simms from her home in Hamilton. “I had never heard of the genre of science fiction poetry until I was invited to submit to the Voyagers anthology a few years ago. ‘Two Kinds of Time’ was my first effort and marked a shift in my writing style from introspective to more ideas-based poetry.”

Tim Jones, who co-edited Voyagers with Mark Pirie, said “We are delighted for Meliors, and very pleased for this further recognition for New Zealand science fiction poetry and for Voyagers. The anthology has been very well-received in New Zealand, and it has already appeared on the NZ Listener and New Zealand Herald best books lists for 2009. The international interest in the anthology, and in Meliors’ poem in particular, is just as exciting.”

Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand is available from leading New Zealand independent bookstores. It is also available online from Interactive Press, from Fishpond (NZ) and from Amazon.com.

Links

Meliors Simms has made a short video called “Non Linear Time”, which features one section of her nominated poem “Two Kinds of Time”. It can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIAkJVQ064o

Meliors’ web site is at http://www.meliors.net

For more information about the Rhyslings, please visit http://www.sfpoetry.com/rhysling.html

The Voyagers website is at http://ipoz.biz/Titles/Voy.htm

Voyagers received a very positive review in Star*Line, the journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. That interview is available online at http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/08/voyagers-gets-great-first-review.html

How To Buy Voyagers

In New Zealand

Directly from me. I now have a limited number of copies for sale for NZ $28 plus $2 p&p. If you’d like one, please email senjmito@gmail.com with your address and preferred payment method.

From an increasing range of bookshops, including (but not limited to) Unity Books (Wellington and Auckland), Books a Plenty in Tauranga, Bruce MacKenzie Books in Palmerston North, Madras Cafe Books in Christchurch, and the University Book Shop in Dunedin.