FIRST CORDWAINER SMITH REDISCOVERY AWARD TO BE PRESENTED ON SEPTEMBER 2 AT PHILCON;

CORDWAINER SMITH FOUNDATION DEBUT PARTY ALSO PLANNED

[For immediate release]

CONTACT:
Rosana Hart, contact form on
www.cordwainer-smith.com
Alan C. Elms, acelms@123ucdavis.edu, 530-752-1699
Eleanor Lang, eleanorlang@123erols.com , 212-488-6860
PLEASE REMOVE THE 123 FROM EMAIL ADDRESSES BEFORE USING.

Crestone, CO, June 12, 2001-- The first annual Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award will be presented on Sunday, September 2, 2001, at the 59th World Science Fiction Convention, "Philcon," in Philadelphia, PA. Noted science fiction author Robert Silverberg will be presenting the Award on behalf of the Cordwainer Smith Awards Committee and the Cordwainer Smith Foundation.

"The Cordwainer," as the award has been nicknamed, will go to to a science fiction or fantasy writer whose work displays unusual originality, embodies the spirit of Cordwainer Smith's fiction, and deserves renewed attention or 'Rediscovery.'

Jurors for this year's Award are four of the most distinguished and encyclopedic minds in contemporary science fiction, all Hugo winners themselves: Robert Silverberg, Gardner Dozois, John Clute, and Scott Edelman. They were free to choose any writer, living or dead, for the Award.

About Cordwainer Smith

The name of the award, Rediscovery, is derived from the title of the one-volume edition of Cordwainer Smith's complete short stories, The Rediscovery of Man, published by New England Science Fiction Association Press. "Cordwainer Smith" was the pseudonym of political scientist and psychological warfare expert Paul M. A. Linebarger (1913-1966). In the years since his death, his reputation for haunting, uniquely-crafted stories has continued to grow, with many writers in the science fiction community acknowledging his influence on their work. The first Cordwainer Smith story, "Scanners Live in Vain," has been nominated for a retro Hugo this year, in the novelette category.

About the Cordwainer Smith Foundation

The Rediscovery Award is a project of the Cordwainer Smith Foundation, which promotes the celebration and study of the works and ideals of Cordwainer Smith. Its Directors include Smith's two daughters. Joining them are Alan C. Elms, Professor of Psychology at UC Davis, who is completing the definitive biography of Paul Linebarger, and Ralph Benko, a Washington, DC, consultant who originally suggested the award.

The Cordwainer Smith Foundation is planning to celebrate its debut at Philcon, in a manner that will be announced later. Details will posted on the home page of www.cordwainersmith.com (also reachable as cordwainer-smith.com). The event will take place on Sunday, September 2.