Catherynne M. Valente wins the Norton

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Ok this is a couple days late for those that are in the know, but something I learned from working in a book store is the general public doesn't even know the names of most literary awards let alone who won or for what. Bad General Public, Bad!! You should know these things no only because they are the best books and authors in the world but also because this is your world and your cultural knowledge, you should know or at least be aware of these things. And so this post has a double meaning to both congratulate Cat on her win but also let those reading this post know they should go out and read her work.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making (the Norton Award winning story) is available for now on the web and will be available in print in May 2011. You can read everything but the final chapter and I can tell you it is so good you will be anxiously anticipating May of next year so you can pick it up in print to find out the ending.

I am so excited for her and having read most of her available work I can say that this award was well deserved. Each story she writes pulls you in and takes you on an page turning adventure that is hard to put down even after you've read the last word on the last page. Congratulations!