“The Adjacent“, Christopher Priest’s SF novel was nominated to the Best Translated Novel category of the 2018 Japanese Seiun Awards.
The 57th Japan Science Fiction Convention has announced the 2018 Seiun Awards finalists (the Japanese equivalent to the Hugo Awards), honoring the best original and translated works published last year in Japan.
The Seiun Award (星雲賞 Seiunshō) is a Japanese speculative fiction award for the best science fiction works and achievements during the preceding year.
Organized and overseen by the Federation of Science Fiction Fan Groups of Japan (FSFFGJ) (日本ファングループ連合会議 Nihon Fan Group Rengō Kaigi), the awards are given each year at the annual Japan Science Fiction Convention.
It is the oldest SF award in Japan, which was first given in 1970 at the 9th Japan Science Fiction Convention and has been awarded every year since that.
“Seiun“, the Japanese word for “nebula“, was named after the first and short-lived professional science fiction magazine in Japan, which appeared in 1954.
The nominees for translated works :
Best Translated Novel
“The Adjacent” (2013) by Christopher Priest (UK), translated by Yoshimichi Furusawa & Yōko Miki (Hayakawa)
“The History of Soviet Fantastika” (2004) by Roman Arbitman (as Rustam Katz, Russia) translated by Hiroaki Umemura (Kyōwakoku)
“Sleeping Giants” by Sylvain Neuvel (Canada), translated by Chiori Sada (Tokyo Sogensha)
“Blue Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson (US), translated by Yutaka Ōshima (Tokyo Sogensha)
“Space Opera” by Jack Vance (US), translated by Hisashi Asakura & Rō Shiraishi (Kokusho Kankōkai)
“My Real Children” by Jo Walton (Canada), translated by Takeshi Mogi (Tokyo Sogensha)
“A Borrowed Man” Gene Wolfe (US), translated by Akinobu Sakai (Hayakawa)
Best Translated Story
“Travel Diary” - Alfred Bester (US), translated by Akinobu Sakai (Adam and No Eve)
“Healing Benjamin” - Dennis Danvers (US), translated by Makoto Yamagishi (Cats Curling Up in Space)
“The New Guys Always Work Overtime” - David Erik Nelson (US), translated by Jun Suzuki (SF Magazine 12/16
“An Advanced Reader’s Picture Book of Comparative Cognition” - Ken Liu (US), translated by Izumi Ichida (Memories of My Mother)
“Knotting Grass, Holding Ring” - Ken Liu (US), translated by Yoshimichi Furusawa (Memories of My Mother)
“Folding Beijing” - Jingfang Hao (People’s Republic of China - the first Chinese woman to win a Hugo Award), translated by Mayumi Ōtani (SF Magazine 4/17)
There are also nominees in Japanese Novel, Japanese Story, Dramatic Presentation, Comics, Art, Non-Fiction, and “Free” categories. A complete list of nominees (in Japanese) is available at the Nihon SF Taikai website.
The awards will be presented at Duracon, the 57th Japan SF convention, on July 21 2018 in Minakami, Japan.