Mark Hodder’s Jack wins Philip K. Dick Award

This past weekend at Norwescon, the Philip K. Dick Award was given the Mark Hodder’s steampunk novel The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack.

The Philip K. Dick Award is given each year for excellence in a novel first published in paperback. Now, Philip K. Dick may not be a writer most people think of when they think of steampunk, but there is a definite association. Among other interesting accomplishments during his writing career, Dick helped shepherd along three young writers named Tim Powers, James P. Blaylock, and K. W. Jeter. A few years later, Jeter would coin the term “steampunk” to describe the books he and his friends were writing.

Several other steampunk novels have won the Philip K. Dick in the past. Powers’ not-quite-steampunk (but excellent) novel The Anubis Gates won in 1983 and Blaylock’s Homunculus won in 1986. In 1996, Stephen Baxter won with his Time Machine sequel The Time Ships.