ALBEDO ONE WEBSITE REVAMP AND ALBEDO 2.0!

Aug 1 - Albedo One is proud to launch its new, revamped website. We feel that the new look and design will show off what Albedo One and its contributors have to offer in a more effective manner.

What you see here now is, of course, only the beginning! The new site is still a work in progress and you'll see some buttons that don't lead anywhere just yet - but expect this situation to change shortly, so check back often for updates!

For now, you'll still be able to buy Albedo One in print and .pdf formats, enter the Aeon Award 2010 short fiction contest with Grand Prize of €1000, subscribe to Albedo One and check out out our writers' guidelines for those who would like to submit their work to the magazine.

We believe in offering frequently updated and interesting online content. So, as well as bringing you some of the best content of Albedo One, we will also be featuring online exclusive content, including movie and book reviews.

As part of this, we're very excited to announce the lanuch of our Albedo 2.0 Fiction Showcase. This will bring to you, directly, four times per year, some of the very best original fiction we can get our hands on, for free, and exclusively online.

To launch Albedo 2.0, we are delighted to publish for the first time, a unique and excellent horror from the estimable Donald Mead. The story is entitled "A Falcon Sharp and Passing" and was placed in the top six of the Aeon Award 2009 shortlisted stories. Click here and enjoy the read!

AEON AWARD ROUND 2 SHORTLIST!

July 16 - At last it comes time to announce those stories added to the shortlist of the International Aeon Award 2010 Short Fiction Contest, after the second round of consideration. As usual, it has taken the judges over two weeks of fierce debate to decide upon the shortlisted stories. Thank you to everyone who entered and supported the contest. The new additions are listed below, in italics. Author names are withheld to ensure impartiality as the contest proceeds.

Poacher
Starchaser
Waiting for the Rain
The Machine
A Digital Agony
Mirror Image
The More Things Change

Carnival
Pinocchio
Sensitive
Autopsy
Milford Sound
Damn Nation

Congratulations to the shortlisted authors, whom we'll be contacting shortly, and commiserations to those whose stories were not shortlisted this time. Remember, the contest is still open to submissions of up to 8000 words in science fiction, fantasy and horror until November 30th, with the current (third) round running until the end of September, after which we will announce further additions to the shortlist. Click for full entry details for the Aeon Award 2010 short fiction contest.

And why enter? If the 1000, 200 and 100 euro prizes with publication in Albedo One, not to mention the chance to have your work read by our esteemed panel of Grand Judges, Ian Watson, Anne McCaffrey, Mike Resnick and Sam Millar, doesn't convince you, consider that shortlisted and winning stories have been given Honourable Mentions and even chosen for reprinting in prestigious Year's Best fiction volumes as edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant, and Gardner Dozois, and have been translated from English and reprinted in high profile national magazines! So start submitting those stories!

ISSUE 38 OF ALBEDO ONE IS RELEASED!

May 06 - Issue 38 of Albedo One is back from the printers and available for purchase on this website in print and low-cost pdf formats. Subscribers can expect to see the issue land on their doorsteps shortly. This issue's fiction is headed up by an evocative fantasy by the estimable Bruce McAlister, with further distinctive contributions by Aaron Polson, Priya Sharma, Matthew F. Perry and Martin Belderson. These stories range widely across the genres of SF, fantasy and horror and we hope you will enjoy them. The issue also features a fine, surreal horror, from Allison Francisco, which was placed third in the Aeon Award 2008 contest. The issue also features an in-depth interview with a true legend of SF, Jim Gunn, as well as book reviews from our regular columnists Juliet E. McKenna and David Conyers, with further contributions from Peter Loftus, John Kenny and Peter McClean. The fine cover art this issue comes courtesy of U.S. artist Jacob Probelski. All in all, an issue not to be missed.

Print copies can be purchased online, while pdf copies can be purchased and downloaded.


AEON AWARD 2009 WINNERS!

Feb 20 - Albedo One is proud to announce the winners of the Aeon Award 2009 short fiction contest. This ran from January 1st 2009 to November 30th 2009. All stories shortlisted for the contest are listed below, with the names of each author now revealed.

Grand Judge Ian Watson chose the winners. First place went to "Frogs on My Doorstep" by Annette Reader. Watson described the story as "very intriguing and full of emotional impact. The alternate world concept is handled very convincingly, and is reminiscent of the recent work of Chris Beckett." Reader receives the €1000 Grand Prize and publication in Albedo One.

Second place goes to "Bridges" by Nick Wood. Watson said the story, featuring a future South Africa in which apartheid never ended, is "politically acute and powerful, with its heart in the right place… and is in many ways a 'textbook story', because it's so well done." Second prize is €200 and publication in Albedo One.

Third place goes to "Canis Lupus, Rosa Canina" by Judith Brown. Watson said "the story is nasty, but brilliantly written, with masterly descriptions of landscape and powerful imagery." Third prize is €100 and publication in Albedo One.

Thank you to all who entered and supported the contest in 2009!

A Falcon Sharp and Passing - Donald Mead
Canis Lupus, Rosa Canina - Judith Brown
Frogs on my Doorstep - Annette Reader
Something Other - David Heaton
Bridges - Nick Wood
Fenn, Brother of Francis - Susan McElheran
He Who Picks the Bones - Frank W. Haubold (translated by Jason Roberts)
Trimble Does Time - Gerard Farrell
In the Boughs of his Blood Orange Tree a Vampire Sat to Dream of Love - Ian Wild
Stars in the Skies - Jennifer Harwood-Smith
Don't Go Playing with Naiads - Alice Godwin
The Girl in the Blue Bikini - Peter Loftus
Once, When the Sun Rose in the West - Susan Lanigan
Deconstruction - Alexis Boddy
Reflected Glory - Peter Loftus
Conversion - Jennifer Harwood-Smith
All the Beautiful Lights of Heaven - Russ Colson
Star in a Glass - Vaughan Stanger
Wailing Wheel - Joe Nazare
Angele Dei - Chandler Kaiden
Lost Things - Jennifer Harwood-Smith
On the Feast of Stephen - Cyril Simsa
The Art of the Intractable - Nathan Jones
Gordon Street - Katharine Clayden
Pirate Copies - Ian D. Martin

Remember, the Aeon Award 2010 is now open for entries to Nov 30th 2010.

AEON AWARD 2010 LAUNCHED!

Jan 1 - Albedo One is proud to announce the launch of the Fifth International International Aeon Award Short Fiction Contest, 2010. The Aeon Award is a writing competition, and its goals are to promote writers and writing in the speculative fiction genres, be it science fiction, fantasy, horror or anything unclassifiable or in-between.

The contest is open to writers from all nationalities for stories of up to 8000 words long, that are previously unpublished in English. The Grand Prize is 1000 euro and publication in Albedo One. Second and third place prizes are 200 and 100 euro and publication in Albedo One. The contest is open from January 1st 2010 to the end of November 2010, after which the winning stories are chosen by our Grand Judges, renowned SF author, Ian Watson, Hugo Award winning SF author Anne McCaffrey, multiple award-winning author Mike Resnick, and revered Irish horror and crime author, Sam Millar.

Since 2004, the Aeon Award has helped promote exceptional work of authors in speculative fiction. Aside from winning the cash prizes and publication in Albedo One, winning and shortlisted stories have been given Honourable Mentions or been reprinted in prestigious volumes such as the Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois, and the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant. Other winning stories have been translated and published in prestigious European magazines, like Galaxies SF, edited by Pierre M. Gevart.

The Aeon Award is therefore a great opportunity to promote your work. A modest entry fee of 7 euro applies, which can be paid easily and securely online via PayPal on our contest guidelines page. Get those stories submitted!

Sept 1, 2010 - Two items of good news. First, Albedo One's interview with renowned hard SF author, Greg Egan, conducted by David Conyers and first published in Albedo One issue 37, has now been made available online and free to read on Greg's homepage. Go see! Secondly, Dublin film director Thomas Hefferon is taking out a film option on the short story "Shelter" from Albedo One editor, David Murphy's 1995 chapbook Broken Heroes. Thomas bought the Albedo One published collection in Dublin's much missed Dandelion Bookshop way back in the nineties. The story, first published in FTL, the magazine of the old Irish Science Fiction Association (in issue six in the autumn of 1990), stayed with him all these years and struck a chord with his filmic imagination. Now he's in a position to turn it into a short film. It's incredible to think that this can happen to a story first published nearly twenty years ago and last published in '95.

Aug 22, 2010 - You can now read Albedo One editor, Robert Neilson's article "Don't judge me because I write science fiction" online at Essentialwriters.com. Well worth a look if you are a writer intending to submit a story to Albedo One and want to get an idea of what we like and don't like. See the article here.

Aug 20, 2010 - Albedo One contributing editor, David Conyers, has had his Aeon Award 2006-2007 shortlisted story, "Black Water", shortlisted for a Ditmar Award. The Ditmar recognises excellence in science fiction written by Australian authors. We wish David the very best of luck. Moreover, we're delighted to be able to publish "Black Water" (which first appeared in Jupiter Magazine) here on the Albedo One website as the first of our Fiction Highlights. Go check it out!

Aug 18, 2010 - We're happy to announce that for the first time ever, we have now made all of our still-in-print back issues available for purchase online, as well as making issues 1, 3 and 4 available to purchase in low cost .pdf format. Some of these issues are very rare, with only a few copies remaining in print. So go visit the Albedo One Shop and start adding to your collection!

Aug 04, 2010 - Owing to the demands of our readers, we're now delighted to be able to offer subscriptions to Albedo One in electronic .pdf format, as well as our traditional print format. Each issue in an electonic subscription will be emailed to e-subscribers, or can be downloaded directly from the new Albedo One site. We're even offering an excellent value combined electronic and print subscription option. Follow the link to see all options for subscribing to Albedo One.

Mar 02, 2010 - This year we're proud to announce that long-serving Grand Judge, renowned SF author Ian Watson, will be joined by Hugo-winning SF author Anne McCaffrey, multiple Hugo Award-winning author Mike Resnick, and respected Irish horror author Sam Millar as Grand Judges for the Aeon Award 2010 short fiction contest. The contest is open until November 30th 2010 for submissions of up to 8000 words in length in all speculative fiction genres. The Grand Prize is 1000 euro and publication in Albedo One magazine. See full details here.

Feb 01, 2010 - Albedo One co-editor, John Kenny, who recently landed a job as editor with Writing4all Ltd. has just been promoted to Managing Director of the company. Writing4all is an online writers’ resource aimed at providing writers a platform for developing their skills and selling their work. Members can post their work (fiction, non-fiction and poetry), get feedback from other members, discuss relevant issues on the site’s forums, and access information on literary agents, publishers, writers’ groups, writing festivals and courses. Members can also earn points through activity on the site and claim prizes. Check out their website at: www.writing4all.ie and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Jan 19, 2010 - The excellent Susan Lanigan is holding a workshop on Writing Short Fiction on 30 January 2010. An accomplished writer herself, twice shortlisted for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award, published in other magazines and shortlisted several times for the Aeon Award short fiction contest, she hopes to encourage exploration of the writing self through exercises, discussion and hopefully plenty of fun! The fee is a recession-busting €10! For more info and to sign up, please see here.

Dec 14, 2009 - The Aeon Award 2009 is now closed to submissions. A personal thank you to all who entered. We appreciate your support for the Award! The contest is our way of giving back to the writers and readers that support Albedo One, by giving the writers of quality works a high profile Award with a more substantial monetary value. Right now, the judges are in the difficult process of choosing a top six from the 27 excellent stories shortlisted for the Award. Keep an eye out here before Christmas when we will be announcing the top six.

July 25, 2009 - Some of the editors of Albedo One will be attending the upcoming SF Worldcon in Montreal in August of this year. We always value meeting other writers, readers, editors and publishers. Being stuck on an island, we probably don't get enough of this sort of contact. So, if you're going too, make sure to say hi to Bob Neilson, David Murphy, John Kenny or Frank Ludlow. In fact, the organisers of Worldcon have kindly given us a panel to discuss all things Albedo One. Come along and say hello!

Panel Details:
When: Sun 11:00
Location:  P-524C
Title:  Albedo One
Session ID:  572

July 03, 2009 - A quick round-up of news for all our readers. But where to begin?! Congratulations to Albedo One authors Philip Raines and Harvey Welles, whose story "Alice & Bob" in issue 35 of Albedo One has been given an Honourable Mention in the most recent volume of the prestigious Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois. Congratulations also to Julian West, whose 2004-2005 Aeon Award winning story, "My Marriage" will be translated and published in the highly respected French science fiction magazine Galaxies SF , edited by Pierre M. Gevart. Albedo One editor Bob Neilson has now taken to the blogosphere, one of his main intentions being to further Albedo One's efforts at translating and promoting European and international work in SF, fantasy and horror into English. See how the project is coming along here.

May 24, 2009 - Issue 36 of Albedo One is now at the printers, so subscribers can expect their copy in the post soon. The issue is of course also available to buy in print or low-cost pdf form on this website through PayPal! The issue features an interview with Paul Di Filippo and new fiction from Mike O'Driscoll as well and the Aeon Award 2008 winning story from Colin Henchley. Not to be missed!

Oct 7, 2008 - Albedo One authors have picked up four Honourable Mentions in the Year's Best anthologies for 2008. In Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant's fine volume, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Michael Matthews' "A Trail of Stars Whirling", Andrew McKenna's "Barrellhouse" (from issue 33) and Nicola Caines' "Times Winged Chariot" (from issue 32) were all given Honourable Mentions. Well done to the authors! In Gardner Dozois' prestigious Year's Best Science Fiction, Geoffrey Maloney's story "Blonde on Blonde" was also given an Honourable Mention. Not bad for a small magazine from Ireland!

Oct 6, 2008 - We've spotted that Alexander Kruglov's fine cover art, "It Will Never Fly Again" (issue 32 of Albedo One) was nominated for a 2008 British Fantasy Society Award, as was John Hogan's horror tale, "Unnatural" (also issue 32). Though these didn't make the ultimate shortlist, we're happy to see Alexander and John's work being recognised (Alexander's cover was also nominated for a 2007 British Science Fiction Association Award).

Feb 26, 2008 - Some good news to report! Albedo One author Will McIntosh, whose story Friction appeared in issue 30 and won the "Best In Issue Award" has appeared in a recent podcast on the excellent escapepod.org and can be downloaded or listened to free on the website. Well worth listening to!

Feb 12, 2008 - Issue 34 of Albedo One is almost ready to go. We're in the final proofing stages, and expect to see the issue in print by the end of February! As you know this issue features all top three shortlisted stories from the Aeon Award 2006-2007 contest, including Nina Allan's winning story, "Angelus". Juliet E. McKenna and Andrew McKenna return with more erudite book reviews, and we have an interview with Raymond E. Feist to boot! Not an issue to be missed!

ALBEDO ONE NEWS