We're very sad to pass on the news that Deborah Miller, author and principal founder of the David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy, passed away on Monday. Deborah had been battling breast cancer for some years, and went into remission several times. The condition recently surfaced again, and she fought it with her usual resolve, but treatment proved ineffective. She passed peacefully, with her husband, Bill, at her side.  Deborah faced her illness with courage and good humour.

Her fiction and the Gemmell Awards will stand as permanent memorials to an exceptional person, an indomitable spirit and a good friend.

Hail Friends of the David Gemmell Awards,

First, a piece of news.  We regret to announce that due to health issues Deborah Miller has had to relinquish her role as Awards Administrator.  The David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy quite simply wouldn’t exist if it hadn’t been for Deborah’s drive and determination.  Liaising with publishers, assembling nominations and overseeing the voting process - all of which Deborah handled with consummate efficiency - made her the most valuable member of our team.  We’re immensely grateful for all the hard work she’s put in.

The good news is that although Deborah will no longer be undertaking these tasks she isn’t so much quitting as stepping back from the minutiae of organising the awards.  She’ll still be on hand as an adviser, and to generally keep the rest of us in line.

The position of Awards Administrator has passed to Christine Harrison, which she’s carrying out in addition to her function as Treasurer.  Christine can be contacted via dgla@live.co.uk 

It’s our intention to get the committee back up to strength, and we hope to be announcing the appointment of new members in due course.

None of this affects the awards.  Nominations are now being gathered, and once the longlists have been compiled we’ll be announcing the date for the first round of voting.

However, we should remind you that we have a change of venue and date for this year’s ceremony.  It’s going to take place at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton (31st Oct-3rd Nov).  We are, in fact, the convention’s opening item, on the evening of Thursday 31st October - a fitting way to mark the awards’ fifth anniversary.

Hopefully most of you will already have registered for WFC.  But if you just want to be at our awards ceremony, entrance is free and all are welcome - the only restriction being the capacity of the hall (which is quite large).  But please note that only the awards ceremony is free to all; to attend the rest of WFC you have to be a paid member of the convention.

You can find out more about the Gemmell Awards at WFC 2013.

We expect the awards ceremony to return to its usual date (June) and venue, London’s Magic Circle HQ, in 2014.

We’ll keep you informed of progress.  Look out for future updates and be prepared to vote for the 2013 Gemmell Awards!