Misc fantasy/sci fi stuff with an international flavor, including one item of particular interest to fans of Diana Wynne Jones

Here's an account from the Guardian Book Blog of the first Diana Wynne Jones Conference held last weekend over in Bristol. But, great sadness--DWJ could not be there herself, as she has just been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Moving beyond the UK, there's a fascinating two part look at international science fiction at SFSignal (Part 1 and Part 2).

And going up to Canada, here are the Young Adult novels shortlisted for the 2009 Sunburst Award, which honors Canadian writers of speculative fiction:

The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong (Doubleday Canada)
Dingo, Charles de Lint (Viking)
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor)
Wild Talent, Eileen Kernaghan (Thistledown Press) (my review)
Night Runner, Max Turner (HarperTrophy)

The first four are friends from my Cybils reading last fall, and the fifth arrived in ARC form in my mail today. I am not at all sure which of the four I've read I'd pick. They are so very different from each other...

Keeping the international theme going with a German word, a festschrift celebrating Ursula Le Guin's 80th birthday is in the works--the call for contributions is here.

For those who like Manga, here are two cards from the Taiwanese Eastern Tarot Deck. Yes, the one on the right is "The Clonk." Very strange. I don't know Manga at all--is she supposed to look evil?

(from The Artwork of Modern Tarot, via Children's/Fantasy Illustrations).


Finally, and with no pretense of thematic cohesion, I'd like to thank JuJu, who just began to blog at Tales of Whimsy, for honoring me with The Kreativ Blogger Award.