On his blog Jeff VanderMeer announced the finalists for the Last Drink Bird Head Awards — you can learn all about the award there. This year the awards will be given out at Capclave during the Saturday (October 23th, 2010) evening awards ceremony.

THE FINALISTS

Gentle Advocacy— In recognition of individuals willing to enter into blunt discourse about controversial issues…

– Ay-leen the Peacemaker (for Beyond Victoriana)
– Hal Duncan (for blogging and Notes from New Sodom)
– N.K. Jemisin (for blogging and commentary)
– Jason Sanford (for blogging)

Tireless Energy — In recognition of individuals who selflessly give of themselves for worthy causes, websites, or organizations…

– Rick Kleffel (for The Agony Column)
– Leslie Howle (for Clarion West and Hugo House activities)
– Debbie Notkin (for Tiptree Awards work, Wiscon work, and other activities)
– Victor Raymond (for past Carl Brandon Society and Interstitial Arts Foundation work, as well as other behind-the-scenes activities)

Promotion of Reading — In recognition of individuals whose efforts contribute to the promotion of reading or an increase in reading proficiency…

– Colleen Cahill (for Library of Congress work as a genre fiction advocate and as the library’s representative to the ALA)
– James Gunn (for his work with AboutSF)
– Julia Starkey (for building the Harvard Library’s SF/F section)
– Lynne Marie Thomas (for archiving the works and papers of SF/F authors)

Expanding Our Vocabulary — In recognition of writers whose nonfiction, through reviews, blogging, and/or essays, exposes readers to new words and, often, new ideas…

– Matthew Cheney
– Anil Menon
– Abigail Nussbaum
– Adam Roberts

International Activism — In recognition of those who work to bring writers from other literary traditions and countries to the attention of readers in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia…

– Larry Nolen (for coverage of international fiction, primarily on The Of Blog)
– Charles Tan (for Bibliophile Stalker and The World SF Blog)
– Lavie Tidhar (for The World SF Blog)
– Yan Wu, Guangyi Li, and Nathaniel Isaacson (for Chinese Sci Fi )

The Neil Clarke Special Achievement Award:

Winner: L. Timmel Duchamp

The Special Achievement Award is geared toward recognizing individuals who are proactive behind the scenes but whose efforts often don’t receive the measure of public recognition they deserve. The winner will receive an elegant Hieronymous Bosch bird-with-letter figurine, a certificate, and chocolate. The award is named after the first year’s winner, publisher and editor Neil Clarke.