The Kitschies, the annual tentacle-themed prize for works containing elements of the “speculative and fantastic,” have announced the winners for the most “progressive, intelligent, and entertaining” fiction of 2014.
The prizes were awarded by judges Adam Roberts and Frances Hardinge at a ceremony held at London’s Seven Dials Club. The winners included a truly mind-blowing young adult novel and an episodic point-and-click adventure game; The Kitschies also honored an illustrator urging for more diversity in her peers’ work.
Andrew Smith was awarded the Red Tentacle for his YA novel Grasshopper Jungle. Judge Kim Curran said, “We loved all the shortlist, and Grasshopper Jungle was, in the end, the novel with the biggest chance to actually blow a young person’s mind.” Find out who else took home the handcrafted tentacle statues:
The Red Tentacle (Novel), judged by Kate Griffin, Adam Roberts, Frances Hardinge, Kim Curran, and Glen Mehn:
- Winner: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith (Egmont)
- Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton)
- The Peripheral by William Gibson (Viking)
- The Way Inn by Will Wiles (4th Estate)
- The Race by Nina Allan (NewCon Press)
The Golden Tentacle (Debut), also judged by the above panel:
- Winner: Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre (Jonathan Cape)
- The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne (Blackfriars)
- Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta (Voyager)
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Self)
- The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara (Atlantic Books)
The Inky Tentacle (Cover Art), judged by Jim Kay, Dapo Adeola, Ed Warren, and Siân Prime:
- Winner: Tigerman by Nick Harkaway, cover by Glenn O’Neill (William Heinemann)
- The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin, design by Steve Marking (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar, cover by Ben Summers (Hodder & Stoughton)
- Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, cover by Emily Carroll and Sonja Chaghatzbanian (Faber and Faber)
- The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, cover by Rafaela Romaya and Yehring Tong (Canongate)
The Invisible Tentacle (Natively Digital Fiction), judged by James Wallis, Laura Grace, and Clare Reddington:
- Winner: Kentucky Route Zero, Act III by Cardboard Computer
- @echovirus12 (Twitter fiction), created/curated by Jeff Noon (@jeffnoon), Ed (@3dgriffiths), James Knight (@badbadpoet), violet sprite (@gadgetgreen), Richard Biddle (@littledeaths68), Mina Polen (@polen), Uel Aramchek (@ThePatanoiac), Graham Walsh (@t_i_s_u), Vapour Vox (@Wrong_Triangle)
- 80 Days by Inkle Studios
- Sailor’s Dream by Simogo
The Kitschies also awarded the Black Tentacle to children’s illustrator and writer Sarah MacIntyre, for her outstanding support of genre literature and her fellow artists. MacIntyre has worked to elevate the conversation around genre literature; she also recently started the #NonIdentikit challenge, in which she encourages other illustrators to present more diverse faces in their work.
Congratulations to all of the winners!
