Galileo Awards 2011

My busiest time of the year, so far, it is almost over. Therefore starting from last few days I slowed down a bit and enjoyed a bit more of free time. I still have plenty of things to catch up, but I am certain that slowly I will manage to resume all of them.

First of all, as much as I would have liked to attend Bookfest, a Romanian National Book Fair, and the award ceremony of the first edition of the Galileo Awards, I wasn’t able to do so. But here are the winners of the 2011 Galileo Awards:

The best volume: Oliviu Crâznic – “…și la sfîrșit a mai rămas coșmarul” (…and at the end remained the nightmare) (Vremea)

I will honestly admit that this novel was not my choice in any of the voting stages. I didn’t find Oliviu Crâznic’s debut novel on my liking and the reasons for this can be seen on the review I wrote for his novel here on my blog.

The best short fiction: Costi Gurgu – “Îngeri și molii” (Angels and Moths) (Galileo 2)

I am not familiar with this short story, so I cannot say where Costi Gurgu’s story stays with me. However, I did read some of Costi Gurgu’s works and although they didn’t put his name among the ones of my favorite writers they were quite interesting.

Galileo Award for the entire career: George Anania

I only read one novel of George Anania, written together with Romulus Bărbulescu, “Doando”, but unfortunately I can’t remember much about it. As far as I can remember it is a novel about galactic exploration and conflict of civilizations.

Still, I can catch up on some of the works and writers nominated for the inaugural edition of the Galileo Awards, because Millennium Books publishes an anthology dedicated to the stories and writers nominated in 2011. Here is the complete line-up:

Cuvînt înainte (Foreword) – Horia Nicola Ursu
George Anania – Prisăcarul (The Beekeper)
Oliviu Crâznic – …şi la sfîrşit a mai rămas coşmarul (…and at the end remained the nightmare) (fragment)
Michael Haulică – Microtexte (Microtexts)
Mircea Oprita – Inginerii financiare (Financial Engineering)
Liviu Radu – Mestecenii (The Birches)
Cristian-Mihail Teodorescu – Electro-magneto-muza (Electro-Magneto Muse)
Ştefana Cristina Czeller – Slujesc Zeului Cîine (I Serve the Dog-God)
Costi Gurgu – Îngeri şi molii (Angels and Moths)
Florin Pîtea – Vînătoarea de sfincşi (The Hunt of Sphinxes)
Marian Truţă – Cumania 2010 (Cumania 2010)

Congratulations to all the winners!