The Arthur C. Clarke Award is the most prestigious award for science fiction in Britain. The annual award is given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a generous grant given by Sir Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987 to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale . “The annual gong given out to the SF novel published in Britain has grown to become a major literary prize outside genre circles.” – SFX Magazine “A calendar highlight for fans of imaginative literature the world over” – New Scientist “Every year the Clarke Award makes a stronger and stronger case for the breadth, depth and originality of SF in the UK.” – The Guardian “The most prestigious science fiction prize in the UK” – Forbidden Planet International The winner is judged by a jury panel and selected from an initial shortlist of six eligible novels. The panel of judges is made up of a voluntary body of distinguished writers, critics and fans with the panel line-up changing every year. The juries are drawn from such organisations as the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation and the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival.