Hugo Award
Encyclopedia
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction
or fantasy
works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback
, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories
, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards until 1992. Organized and overseen by the World Science Fiction Society, the awards are given each year at the annual World Science Fiction Convention
as the central focus of the event. The awards were first given in 1953, at the 11th World Science Fiction Convention
, and have been awarded every year since 1955. Over the years that the award has been given, the categories presented have changed; currently Hugo Awards are given in more than a dozen categories, and include both written and dramatic works of various types.
One of the most prestigious science fiction awards, the Hugo Award has been termed as "among the highest honors bestowed in science fiction and fantasy writing". Works that have won the award have been published in special collections, and the official logo of the Hugo Awards is often placed on the winning books' cover as a promotional tool. The 2011 awards were presented at the 69th convention
in Reno, Nevada, on August 20, 2011, and the 2012 awards will be presented at the 70th convention
in Chicago, Illinois, on September 2, 2012.
or fantasy
works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback
, who founded the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories
and who is considered one of the "fathers" of the science fiction genre. Works are eligible for an award if they were published in English in the prior calendar year. There are no written rules as to which works qualify as science fiction or fantasy, and the decision of eligibility in that regard is left up to the voters, rather than to the organizing committee. Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention
, or Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the WSFS constitution as instant-runoff voting
with five nominees per category, except in the case of a tie. The awards are split over more than a dozen categories, and include both written and dramatic works.
The five works on the ballot for each category are the most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of stories that can be nominated. From 1953 to 1958 the awards did not include any recognition of runner-up novels, but since 1959 all of the candidates have been recorded. Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, while voting on the ballot of five nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held. Worldcons are generally held near the start of September, and take place in a different city around the world each year.
The idea of giving out awards at Worldcons was proposed by Harold Lynch for the 1953 convention. The idea was based on the Academy Awards. The award itself was created by Jack McKnight and Ben Jason
in 1953, based on the design of hood ornaments of 1950s cars. It consisted of a finned rocket ship on a wooden base. Each subsequent award, with the exception of the 1958 award, has been similar to the original design. The rocket trophy was formally redesigned in 1984, and since then only the base of the trophy has changed each year.
in Philadelphia in 1953, which awarded Hugos in seven categories. The awards presented that year were initially conceived as a one-off event, though the organizers hoped that subsequent conventions would also present them. At the time, Worldcons were completely run by their respective committees as independent events and had no oversight between years. As such, there was no mandate for any future conventions to repeat the awards, and no set rules for how to do so. The 1954 Worldcon chose not to, but they were reinstated at the 1955 Worldcon, and thereafter became traditional. The award was called the Annual Science Fiction Achievement Award, with "Hugo Award" being an unofficial, but better known name. The nickname was accepted as an official alternate name in 1958, and since the 1992 awards the nickname has been adopted as the official name of the award.
In 1959, though there were still no formal guidelines governing the awards, several rules were instated which thereafter became traditional. These included having a ballot for nominating works earlier in the year and separate from the voting ballot; defining eligibility to include works published in the prior calendar year, rather than the previous rule of the "preceding year"; and allowing voters to select "no award" as an option, which then won that year in two categories. The eligibility change additionally sparked a separate rule, prohibiting the nomination of works which had been nominated for the 1958 awards, as the two time periods overlapped. In 1961, after the formation of the WSFS to oversee each Worldcon committee, formal rules were set down in the WSFS constitution mandating the presenting of the awards as one of the responsibilities of each Worldcon organizing committee. The rules restricted voting to members of the convention that the awards would be given at, while still allowing anyone to nominate works; nominations were restricted to members of the convention or the previous year's convention in 1963. The guidelines also specified the categories that would be awarded, which could only be changed by the World Science Fiction Society board. These categories were for Best Novel
, Short Fiction
(short stories, broadly defined), Dramatic Presentation
, Professional Magazine
, Professional Artist
, and Best Fanzine
(fan magazine).
In 1964 the guidelines were changed to allow individual conventions to create additional categories, which was codified as up to two categories for that year. These additional awards were officially designated as Hugo Awards, but were not required to be repeated by future conventions. This was later adjusted to only allow one additional category; while these extra Hugo Awards have been given out in several categories, only a few were ever awarded for more than one year. In 1967 categories for Novelette
, Fan Writer
, and Artist
were added, and a category for Best Novella
was added the following year; these new categories had the effect of providing a definition for what word count qualified a work for what category, which was previously left up to voters. Novelettes had also been awarded prior to the codification of the rules. The fan awards were initially conceived as separate from the Hugo Awards, with the award for Best Fanzine losing its status, but were instead absorbed into the regular Hugo Awards by the convention committee. While traditionally five works had been selected for nomination in each category out of the proposed nominees, in 1971 this was set down as a formal rule, barring ties.
In 1973, the WSFS removed the category for Best Professional Magazine, and a Best Professional Editor
award was instated as its replacement, in order to recognize "the increasing importance of original anthologies". After that year the guidelines were changed again to remove the mandated awards and instead allow up to ten categories which would be chosen by each convention, though they were expected to be similar to those presented in the year before. Despite this change no new awards were added or previous awards removed before the guidelines were changed back to listing specific categories in 1977. In 1980 the category for Best Related Work
was added, followed by a category for Best Semiprozine
(semi-professional magazine) in 1984. In 1990 the Best Original Art Work award was given as an extra Hugo Award, and was listed again in 1991, though not actually awarded, and established afterward as an official Hugo Award. It was then removed from this status in 1996, and has not been awarded since. In 2003, the Dramatic Presentation award was split into two categories, Long Form and Short Form. This was repeated with the Best Professional Editor category in 2007. The most recent change to the Hugo Awards was in 2009, when an award for Best Graphic Story
was added.
The only discontinued awards which were instantiated in the WSFS constitution as permanent categories were the Best Professional Magazine and Best Original Art Work Hugo Awards. Worldcon committees may also give out special awards during the Hugo ceremony, which are not voted on. Unlike the additional Hugo categories which Worldcons may present, these awards are not officially Hugo Awards and do not use the same trophy, though they once did. An additional award, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, is presented at the Hugo Award ceremony and voted by the same process, but is not formally a Hugo Award.
has termed it "among the highest honors bestowed in science fiction and fantasy writing", a claim echoed by Wired
, who said that it was "the premier award in the science fiction genre". Justine Larbalestier
, in The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (2002), referred to the awards as "the best known and most prestigious of the science fiction awards", and Jo Walton
, writing for Tor.com
, said it was "undoubtedly science fiction’s premier award". The Guardian
similarly acknowledged it as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" as well as "one of the most venerable, democratic and international" science fiction awards "in existence". James Gunn
, in The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1988), echoed The Guardians statement of the award's democratic nature, saying that "because of its broad electorate" the Hugos were the awards most representative of "reader popularity". Camille Bacon-Smith, in Science Fiction Culture (2000), says that fewer than 1000 people vote on the final ballot; she holds, however, that this is a representative sample of the readership at large, given the number of winning novels that remain in print for decades or become notable outside of the science fiction genre, such as The Demolished Man
or The Left Hand of Darkness
. Jo Walton has said that the 2011 awards saw a record 2100 voters.
Brian Aldiss
, in his book Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction, claimed that the Hugo Award was a barometer of reader popularity, rather than artistic merit; he contrasted it with the panel-selected Nebula Award
, which provided "more literary judgment", though he did note that the winners of the two awards often overlapped. Along with the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award is also considered one of the premier awards in science fiction, with Laura Miller of Salon.com
terming it "science fiction's most prestigious award".
The official logo of the Hugo Awards is often placed on the winning books' cover as a promotional tool. Gahan Wilson
, in First World Fantasy Awards (1977), claimed that noting that a book had won the Hugo Award on the cover "demonstrably" increased sales for that novel, though Orson Scott Card
said in his 1990 book How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy that the award had a larger effect on foreign sales than in the United States. Spider Robinson
, in 1992, claimed that publishers were very interested in authors that won a Hugo Award, more so than for other awards such as the Nebula Award. Literary agent Richard Curtis said in his 1996 Mastering the Business of Writing that having the term Hugo Award on the cover, even as a nominee, was a "powerful inducement" to science fiction fans to buy a novel, while Jo Walton claimed in 2011 that the Hugo is the only science fiction award "that actually affects sales of a book".
There have been several anthologies collecting Hugo-winning short fiction. The series The Hugo Winners
, edited by Isaac Asimov
, was started in 1962 as a collection of short story winners up to the previous year, and concluded with the 1982 Hugos in Volume 5. The New Hugo Winners
, edited originally by Asimov, later by Connie Willis
and finally by Gregory Benford
, has four volumes collecting stories from the 1983 to the 1994 Hugos. The Hugo Award Showcase (2010), edited by Mary Robinette Kowal
, contains most of the short stories, novelettes, and novellas that were nominated for the 2009 award.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
or fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback , born Hugo Gernsbacher, was a Luxembourgian American inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher, best remembered for publications that included the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with H. G...
, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards until 1992. Organized and overseen by the World Science Fiction Society, the awards are given each year at the annual World Science Fiction Convention
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
as the central focus of the event. The awards were first given in 1953, at the 11th World Science Fiction Convention
11th World Science Fiction Convention
The 11th World Science Fiction Convention, also known as Philcon II, was held in September 1953 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was the first Worldcon to present the Hugo Awards. The supporting organization was the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. The guest of honor was Willy Ley. ...
, and have been awarded every year since 1955. Over the years that the award has been given, the categories presented have changed; currently Hugo Awards are given in more than a dozen categories, and include both written and dramatic works of various types.
One of the most prestigious science fiction awards, the Hugo Award has been termed as "among the highest honors bestowed in science fiction and fantasy writing". Works that have won the award have been published in special collections, and the official logo of the Hugo Awards is often placed on the winning books' cover as a promotional tool. The 2011 awards were presented at the 69th convention
69th World Science Fiction Convention
The 69th World Science Fiction Convention , also known as Renovation, was held in Reno, Nevada, August 17-21, 2011, at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center . The Atlantis Casino Resort served as the headquarters/party hotel, with additional rooms supplied by the Peppermill Hotel Casino and Courtyard...
in Reno, Nevada, on August 20, 2011, and the 2012 awards will be presented at the 70th convention
70th World Science Fiction Convention
The 70th World Science Fiction Convention , also known as Chicon 7, will be held in Chicago, Illinois, August 30-September 3, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The convention committee is chaired by Dave McCarty....
in Chicago, Illinois, on September 2, 2012.
Award
The World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) gives out the Hugo Awards each year for the best science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
or fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback , born Hugo Gernsbacher, was a Luxembourgian American inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher, best remembered for publications that included the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with H. G...
, who founded the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
and who is considered one of the "fathers" of the science fiction genre. Works are eligible for an award if they were published in English in the prior calendar year. There are no written rules as to which works qualify as science fiction or fantasy, and the decision of eligibility in that regard is left up to the voters, rather than to the organizing committee. Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
, or Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the WSFS constitution as instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
with five nominees per category, except in the case of a tie. The awards are split over more than a dozen categories, and include both written and dramatic works.
The five works on the ballot for each category are the most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of stories that can be nominated. From 1953 to 1958 the awards did not include any recognition of runner-up novels, but since 1959 all of the candidates have been recorded. Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, while voting on the ballot of five nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held. Worldcons are generally held near the start of September, and take place in a different city around the world each year.
The idea of giving out awards at Worldcons was proposed by Harold Lynch for the 1953 convention. The idea was based on the Academy Awards. The award itself was created by Jack McKnight and Ben Jason
Benedict Jablonski
Benedict Jablonski, aka Ben Jason was a longtime science fiction fan and booster who co-designed the Hugo Award based on a rocket-shaped hood ornament from an Oldsmobile 88...
in 1953, based on the design of hood ornaments of 1950s cars. It consisted of a finned rocket ship on a wooden base. Each subsequent award, with the exception of the 1958 award, has been similar to the original design. The rocket trophy was formally redesigned in 1984, and since then only the base of the trophy has changed each year.
History
The first Hugo Awards were presented at the 11th Worldcon11th World Science Fiction Convention
The 11th World Science Fiction Convention, also known as Philcon II, was held in September 1953 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was the first Worldcon to present the Hugo Awards. The supporting organization was the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. The guest of honor was Willy Ley. ...
in Philadelphia in 1953, which awarded Hugos in seven categories. The awards presented that year were initially conceived as a one-off event, though the organizers hoped that subsequent conventions would also present them. At the time, Worldcons were completely run by their respective committees as independent events and had no oversight between years. As such, there was no mandate for any future conventions to repeat the awards, and no set rules for how to do so. The 1954 Worldcon chose not to, but they were reinstated at the 1955 Worldcon, and thereafter became traditional. The award was called the Annual Science Fiction Achievement Award, with "Hugo Award" being an unofficial, but better known name. The nickname was accepted as an official alternate name in 1958, and since the 1992 awards the nickname has been adopted as the official name of the award.
In 1959, though there were still no formal guidelines governing the awards, several rules were instated which thereafter became traditional. These included having a ballot for nominating works earlier in the year and separate from the voting ballot; defining eligibility to include works published in the prior calendar year, rather than the previous rule of the "preceding year"; and allowing voters to select "no award" as an option, which then won that year in two categories. The eligibility change additionally sparked a separate rule, prohibiting the nomination of works which had been nominated for the 1958 awards, as the two time periods overlapped. In 1961, after the formation of the WSFS to oversee each Worldcon committee, formal rules were set down in the WSFS constitution mandating the presenting of the awards as one of the responsibilities of each Worldcon organizing committee. The rules restricted voting to members of the convention that the awards would be given at, while still allowing anyone to nominate works; nominations were restricted to members of the convention or the previous year's convention in 1963. The guidelines also specified the categories that would be awarded, which could only be changed by the World Science Fiction Society board. These categories were for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, Short Fiction
Hugo Award for Best Short Story
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
(short stories, broadly defined), Dramatic Presentation
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, Professional Magazine
Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, Professional Artist
Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, and Best Fanzine
Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
(fan magazine).
In 1964 the guidelines were changed to allow individual conventions to create additional categories, which was codified as up to two categories for that year. These additional awards were officially designated as Hugo Awards, but were not required to be repeated by future conventions. This was later adjusted to only allow one additional category; while these extra Hugo Awards have been given out in several categories, only a few were ever awarded for more than one year. In 1967 categories for Novelette
Hugo Award for Best Novelette
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, Fan Writer
Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, and Artist
Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
were added, and a category for Best Novella
Hugo Award for Best Novella
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
was added the following year; these new categories had the effect of providing a definition for what word count qualified a work for what category, which was previously left up to voters. Novelettes had also been awarded prior to the codification of the rules. The fan awards were initially conceived as separate from the Hugo Awards, with the award for Best Fanzine losing its status, but were instead absorbed into the regular Hugo Awards by the convention committee. While traditionally five works had been selected for nomination in each category out of the proposed nominees, in 1971 this was set down as a formal rule, barring ties.
In 1973, the WSFS removed the category for Best Professional Magazine, and a Best Professional Editor
Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
award was instated as its replacement, in order to recognize "the increasing importance of original anthologies". After that year the guidelines were changed again to remove the mandated awards and instead allow up to ten categories which would be chosen by each convention, though they were expected to be similar to those presented in the year before. Despite this change no new awards were added or previous awards removed before the guidelines were changed back to listing specific categories in 1977. In 1980 the category for Best Related Work
Hugo Award for Best Related Work
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
was added, followed by a category for Best Semiprozine
Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
(semi-professional magazine) in 1984. In 1990 the Best Original Art Work award was given as an extra Hugo Award, and was listed again in 1991, though not actually awarded, and established afterward as an official Hugo Award. It was then removed from this status in 1996, and has not been awarded since. In 2003, the Dramatic Presentation award was split into two categories, Long Form and Short Form. This was repeated with the Best Professional Editor category in 2007. The most recent change to the Hugo Awards was in 2009, when an award for Best Graphic Story
Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
was added.
Retro Hugos
In the mid-1990s Retrospective Hugo Awards, or Retro Hugos, were added. These awards are given by Worldcons held 50, 75, or 100 years after a Worldcon where no Hugos had been awarded, which were the conventions in 1939–41, 1946–52, and 1954, and are given for works that would have been eligible in that year, by the same process as the regular Hugos. Retro Hugos have only been given three times: in 1996, 2001, and 2004 for 50 years prior; the five Worldcons eligible in 1997–2000 and 2002 chose not to award them. The next opportunity will be in 2014 for the year 1939, starting the 75-year cycle.Categories
| Current categories | Year started | Current description |
|---|---|---|
| Best Novel Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1953 | Stories of 40,000 words or more |
| Best Novella Hugo Award for Best Novella The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1968 | Stories of between 17,500 and 40,000 words |
| Best Novelette Hugo Award for Best Novelette The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1955 | Stories of between 7,500 and 17,500 words |
| Best Short Story Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1955 | Stories of less than 7,500 words |
| Best Related Work Hugo Award for Best Related Work The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1980 | Works which are either non-fiction or noteworthy for reasons other than the fictional text |
| Best Graphic Story Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
2009 | Stories told in graphic form |
| Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... (Long and Short Forms) |
1958 | Dramatized productions, divided between works longer or shorter than 90 minutes |
| Best Semiprozine Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1984 | Semi-professional magazines |
| Best Fanzine Hugo Award for Best Fanzine The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1955 | Non-professional magazines |
| Best Professional Editor Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... (Long and Short Forms) |
1973 | Editors of written works, divided between editors of novels or magazines and anthologies |
| Best Professional Artist Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1953 | Professional artists |
| Best Fan Artist Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1967 | Fan artists |
| Best Fan Writer Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1967 | Fan writers |
| Former categories | Years active | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Best Professional Magazine Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially... |
1953–1972 | Professional magazines |
| Best Cover Artist | 1953 | Artists of covers for books and magazines |
| Best Interior Illustrator | 1953 | Artists of works inside magazines |
| Excellence in Fact Articles | 1953 | Authors of factual articles |
| Best New SF Author or Artist | 1953 | New authors or artists |
| #1 Fan Personality | 1953 | Favorite fan |
| Best Feature Writer | 1956 | Writers of magazine features |
| Best Book Reviewer | 1956 | Writers of book reviews |
| Most Promising New Author | 1956 | New authors |
| Outstanding Actifan | 1958 | Favorite fan |
| Best New Author | 1959 | New authors |
| Best SF Book Publisher | 1964–1969 | Book publishers |
| Best All-Time Series | 1966 | Series of works |
| Other Forms | 1988 | Printed fictional works which were not novels, novellas, novelettes, or short stories |
| Best Original Art Work | 1990, 1992–1996 | Works of art |
| Best Web Site | 2002, 2005 | Websites |
The only discontinued awards which were instantiated in the WSFS constitution as permanent categories were the Best Professional Magazine and Best Original Art Work Hugo Awards. Worldcon committees may also give out special awards during the Hugo ceremony, which are not voted on. Unlike the additional Hugo categories which Worldcons may present, these awards are not officially Hugo Awards and do not use the same trophy, though they once did. An additional award, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, is presented at the Hugo Award ceremony and voted by the same process, but is not formally a Hugo Award.
Recognition
The Hugo Award is highly regarded by observers. The Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
has termed it "among the highest honors bestowed in science fiction and fantasy writing", a claim echoed by Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, who said that it was "the premier award in the science fiction genre". Justine Larbalestier
Justine Larbalestier
Justine Larbalestier is an Australian young-adult fiction author. She is best known for the Magic or Madness trilogy: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons and Magic's Child...
, in The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (2002), referred to the awards as "the best known and most prestigious of the science fiction awards", and Jo Walton
Jo Walton
Jo Walton is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2002 and the World Fantasy award for her novel Tooth and Claw in 2004. Her novel Ha'penny was a co-winner of the 2008 Prometheus Award...
, writing for Tor.com
Tor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
, said it was "undoubtedly science fiction’s premier award". The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
similarly acknowledged it as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" as well as "one of the most venerable, democratic and international" science fiction awards "in existence". James Gunn
James Gunn (author)
- Further reading :James E. Gunn The Listeners, BenBella Books, ISBN 1-932100-12-1 -External links:*...
, in The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1988), echoed The Guardians statement of the award's democratic nature, saying that "because of its broad electorate" the Hugos were the awards most representative of "reader popularity". Camille Bacon-Smith, in Science Fiction Culture (2000), says that fewer than 1000 people vote on the final ballot; she holds, however, that this is a representative sample of the readership at large, given the number of winning novels that remain in print for decades or become notable outside of the science fiction genre, such as The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
or The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books by Le Guin all set in the fictional Hainish universe....
. Jo Walton has said that the 2011 awards saw a record 2100 voters.
Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
, in his book Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction, claimed that the Hugo Award was a barometer of reader popularity, rather than artistic merit; he contrasted it with the panel-selected Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
, which provided "more literary judgment", though he did note that the winners of the two awards often overlapped. Along with the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award is also considered one of the premier awards in science fiction, with Laura Miller of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
terming it "science fiction's most prestigious award".
The official logo of the Hugo Awards is often placed on the winning books' cover as a promotional tool. Gahan Wilson
Gahan Wilson
Gahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...
, in First World Fantasy Awards (1977), claimed that noting that a book had won the Hugo Award on the cover "demonstrably" increased sales for that novel, though Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
said in his 1990 book How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy that the award had a larger effect on foreign sales than in the United States. Spider Robinson
Spider Robinson
Spider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...
, in 1992, claimed that publishers were very interested in authors that won a Hugo Award, more so than for other awards such as the Nebula Award. Literary agent Richard Curtis said in his 1996 Mastering the Business of Writing that having the term Hugo Award on the cover, even as a nominee, was a "powerful inducement" to science fiction fans to buy a novel, while Jo Walton claimed in 2011 that the Hugo is the only science fiction award "that actually affects sales of a book".
There have been several anthologies collecting Hugo-winning short fiction. The series The Hugo Winners
The Hugo Winners
The Hugo Winners is a collection of science fiction short stories and novelettes that won the Hugo Award in the World Science Fiction Convention between 1955 and 1961. Isaac Asimov edited it, writing the introduction and a short essay about each author featured in the book.-Volume 1:*1955: 13th...
, edited by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, was started in 1962 as a collection of short story winners up to the previous year, and concluded with the 1982 Hugos in Volume 5. The New Hugo Winners
The New Hugo Winners
The New Hugo Winners was a series of books which collected science fiction and fantasy stories which had recently won a Hugo Award for Short Story, Novelette or Novella. It ran for four volumes, published in 1989, 1992, 1994, and 1997, together collecting stories that had won the award from 1983 to...
, edited originally by Asimov, later by Connie Willis
Connie Willis
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for Blackout/All Clear...
and finally by Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine...
, has four volumes collecting stories from the 1983 to the 1994 Hugos. The Hugo Award Showcase (2010), edited by Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal is an American author and puppeteer. She also served as art director for Shimmer Magazine and in 2010 was named art director for Weird Tales...
, contains most of the short stories, novelettes, and novellas that were nominated for the 2009 award.
See also
- List of science fiction awards
- List of joint winners of the Hugo and Nebula awards