{{unreferenced, date=November 2010 The Darrell Awards are American literary wards intended to promote literacy in the United States Mid-South by recognizing the best published Midsouth regional science fiction, fantasy, and horror. The Awards consider a work Midsouth regional if the author lives in the Mid-South or if the work prominently features the Mid-South. The awards are named after

Darrell C. Richardson Darrell Coleman Richardson (May 17, 1918 – September 19, 2006) was an American Baptist minister and bibliographer, the author of 44 books. He served as Director of the National Fantasy Fan Federation and was involved in the Cincinnati Fantas ...

, founding member of Memphis Science Fiction Association (MSFA). Nominations are open until the 1st of each February. The Darrell Awards Jury selects the winners, with the winners announced at

MidSouthCon MidSouthCon is an annual multi-day fan convention in the Mid-Southern United States. Background Run by Mid-South Science and Fictions Conventions Inc., the annual multi-day fan convention focuses on anime, comic books, fantasy media, films, me ...

annually.

History

The Darrell Awards were founded in 1996 by the Memphis Science Fiction Association (MSFA) and are now sponsored by the Darrell Awards Jury. They were named in honor of Dr. Darrell C. Richardson, a member of

First Fandom First Fandom is an informal association of early, active and well-known science fiction fans. In 1958 a number of fans at Midwestcon realized amid table-talk that they all had been active in fandom for more than 20 years. This inspired the creat ...

and one of the founding members of MSFA. Darrell, who was most well known for his involvement in Edgar Rice Burroughs fandom, much approved of the honor and made a donation to MSFA in support of the effort. In 1997, the first two Darrell Awards were presented at Midsouthcon, held that year in

Tunica, Mississippi Tunica is a town in and the county seat of Tunica County, Mississippi, United States, near the Mississippi River. Until the early 1990s when casino gambling was introduced in the area, Tunica had been one of the most impoverished places in the Un ...

. One went to D.B. Smith for best short stories of the previous two years and one went to Gary L. Holleman for best novels of the same time period. The following year (1998), there was no Midsouthcon held and MSFA decided to present the Darrell Awards anyway. They were bestowed at Borders Books & Music Cafe in

Germantown, Tennessee Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,333 at the 2020 census. Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, bordering it to the east-southeast. Germantown was founded in 1841 by mostly German emigrants. T ...

-- winners

Jack McDevitt Jack McDevitt (born April 14, 1935) is an American science fiction authors, science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make First contact (science fiction), contact with Extraterrestrial life, alien races, and with archa ...

for "Eternity Road" (best novel of 1997) and Stephen Climer for "By Any Name of Devil" (best short story of 1997).

Kathleen Ann Goonan Kathleen Ann Goonan (May 14, 1952 – January 28, 2021)Kathleen Ann Goonan (1952–2021)

was a surprise guest who heard about the awards and flew in for the ceremonies. Her novel ''Mississippi Blues'' received an honorable mention. From 1999 through 2008, the Darrell Awards have been presented at Midsouthcon in the hotel on the corner of Airways and Democrat in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

. During this period, the categories have grown to include short stories, novellas, novels and other media (such as film, comics, games and plays). In 2009 and 2010, MidSouthCon moved to Whispering Woods in Olive Branch,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

, and the Darrell Awards were presented there. The 2011 MidSouthCon is slated to be held at the East Memphis Hilton, back in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Jury expects to present the Awards at that venue. Starting in 2002, the awards jury added a Hall of Fame to recognize authors who had a body of work that either came out before the Darrell Awards started or that was more extensive than just one work. Kathleen Ann Goonan was the first inductee into the Hall of Fame, for her series of novels that had begun with "Mississippi Blues", as well as her "Bride of Elvis" short story. The following year, 2003, it was renamed the Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame in memory of Dalvan Coger, a long-time member of MSFA who had died in October 2002. The Darrell Awards jury is planning to issue a book commemorating the first decade of the Darrell Awards and the Coger Hall of Fame.

External links

Official website
Regional and local science fiction awards Fantasy awards American literary awards

History

Categories

External links