Graham Joyce wins British Fantasy Award

Graham Joyce has won the flagship Best Novel award in the British Fantasy Awards announced over the weekend, for his book Memoirs of a Master Forger, which is published in the USA as How to Make Friends with Demons.

The book has received rave reviews. UK newspaper The Guardian wrote that it was “a sophisticated horror fantasy” and “an ultimately uplifting feat of storytelling which grips the reader to the very last page”, while Liviu C. Suciu, writing on Fantasy Book Critic, wrote:

“Memoirs of a Master Forger is almost like a fairy tale for adults — dark, full of emotion and suffering as well as love and redemption. In short, the novel instantly became one of my Top 5 Favorite Books of 2008 and is a book that I will reread for many years to come. Simply masterful …”

The book follows the life of William Heaney, a closet alcoholic who creates forgeries of Jane Austen first editions for money he donates to charity. But there’s more to Heaney than meets the eye … he sees demons; an ability that may have something to do with something he got involved with years ago as a student. What’s really going on?

The British Fantasy Awards are awarded by the British Fantasy Society. The full list is below:

Best Novel (The August Derleth Fantasy Award)
Memoirs of a Master Forger, by William Heaney, aka Graham Joyce (Gollancz)

Best Novella
The Reach of Children, by Tim Lebbon (Humdrumming)

Best Short Fiction
Do You See, by Sarah Pinborough, from Myth-Understandings, ed. by Ian Whates (Newcon Press)

Best Collection
Bull Running for Girls, by Allyson Bird (Screaming Dreams)

Best Anthology
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19, ed. Stephen Jones (Constable & Robinson)

The PS Publishing Best Small Press Award
Elastic Press, run by Andrew Hook

Best Non-Fiction
Basil Copper: A Life in Books, by Basil Copper, ed. Stephen Jones (PS Publishing)

Best Magazine/Periodical
Postscripts, ed. Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers (PS Publishing)

Best Artist
Vincent Chong

Best Comic/Graphic Novel
Locke and Key, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW Publishing)

Best Televison
Doctor Who, head writer Russell T. Davies (BBC Wales)

Best Film
The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner Brothers)

The Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer
Joseph D’Lacey, for Meat (Bloody Books)

The Karl Edward Wagner Award (the Special Award)
Hayao Miyazaki

The results of the BFS Short Story Competition 2009 were also announced at the ceremony:

Winner:
Dead Astronauts, Patrick Whittaker

Runner-up:
In the Moment, Elana Gomel