Paul McAuley

Winner for Fairyland (1996) “Winning was a huge thrill, and felt like a vindication of a decision I’d made while writing Fairyland to quit my job and become a full-time author. I grew up reading the Holy Trinity – Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein – and of those three Clarke is the only author I can now comfortably reread. And my favourite film is 2001: A Space

Odyssey. So although Clarke always, rightly, maintained a hands-off approach to the award, it felt like a blessing from an author I hugely admired.”