Misplaced Pages

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82-788: Originally, the CSFFA gave out both the English-language and French-language versions of the awards, with the French-language version known as the Prix Aurora . However, the French-language section of the awards is now known as the Prix Aurora-Boréal and was created through an agreement between SFSFBI and the CSFFA in November 2010, which combined the independent Prix Boréal and the Prix Aurora into

164-550: A slate , even though there was no rule against slates. Based on complaints about the 2023 Hugo award process and official statements made about those complaints, Worldcon Intellectual Property (WIP), the non-profit organization that holds the service marks for the World Science Fiction Society, censured the director of WIP and two individuals who presided over the Hugo Administration Committee of

246-552: 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

328-415: A Worldcon in the categories that are currently in use, and are optional; some Worldcons have chosen not to award them despite a year being eligible. Even for years in which Retro-Hugos are given, not all categories receive enough nominations to receive a ballot. In 2017, the eligible years were specified to be 1939–1952 and 1954, which expanded the possible years to include those post-1939 in which no Worldcon

410-455: A bloc Battlefield Earth , written by the organization's founder L. Ron Hubbard , for the Best Novel award; it did not make the final ballot. Another campaign followed in 1987 to nominate Hubbard's Black Genesis ; it made the final ballot but finished behind "No Award". 1989 saw a work — The Guardsman by Todd Hamilton and P. J. Beese — withdrawn by its authors from the final ballot after

492-472: A book". There have been several anthologies of 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

574-502: 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

656-528: A citizen. He was also a significant figure in the electronics and radio industries, even starting a radio station, WRNY, and the world's first magazine about electronics and radio, Modern Electrics . Gernsback died in New York City in 1967. Gernsback was born in 1884 in Luxembourg City , to Berta (Dürlacher), a housewife, and Moritz Gernsbacher, a winemaker. His family was Jewish. Gernsback emigrated to

738-485: A contemptuous crook who stiffed his writers but paid himself $ 100K a year as President of Gernsback Publications) has been clearly established. Jack Williamson , who had to hire an attorney associated with the American Fiction Guild to force Gernsback to pay him, summed up his importance for the genre: At any rate, his main influence in the field was simply to start Amazing and Wonder Stories and get SF out to

820-493: A fan bought numerous memberships under false names, all sent in on the same day, in order to get the work onto the ballot. In 1990, the Best Original Art Work award was given as a special 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. The Retro Hugos were created in

902-413: A forum for the modern genre of science fiction in 1926 by founding the first magazine dedicated to it, Amazing Stories . The inaugural April issue comprised a one-page editorial and reissues of six stories, three less than ten years old and three by Poe , Verne , and Wells . He said he became interested in the concept after reading a translation of the work of Percival Lowell as a child. His idea of

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984-430: A movement, a social force; this was probably decisive for the subsequent history of the genre. Gernsback created his preferred term for the emerging genre, "scientifiction", in 1916. He is sometimes also credited with coining "science fiction" in 1929 in the preface of the first Science Wonder Stories , although instances of "science-fiction" (mostly, but not always, hyphenated) have been found as far back as 1851, and

1066-401: A perfect science fiction story was "75 percent literature interwoven with 25 percent science". As an editor, he valued the goal of scientific accuracy in science fiction stories: "Not only did Gernsback establish a panel of experts——all reputable professionals from universities, museums, and institutes—to pass judgment on the accuracy of the science; he also encouraged his writers to elaborate on

1148-443: A process that ends with vote by current Convention members. They originated and acquired the "Hugo" nickname during the 1950s and were formally defined as a convention responsibility under the name "Science Fiction Achievement Awards" early in the 1960s. The nickname soon became almost universal and its use legally protected; "Hugo Award(s)" replaced the longer name in all official uses after the 1991 cycle. In 1960 Gernsback received

1230-430: A result. The Guardian estimated that the 377 memberships purchased for the attempt would have cost at least £16,965 (US$ 22,000). 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. Two additional awards,

1312-647: A similar magazine, The Electrical Experimenter , which became Science and Invention in 1920. It was in these magazines that he began including scientific fiction stories alongside science journalism, including his novel Ralph 124C 41+ , which he ran for 12 months from April 1911 in Modern Electrics . Hugo Gernsback started the Radio News magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts in 1919. He died at Roosevelt Hospital ( Mount Sinai West as of 2020) in New York City on August 19, 1967, at age 83. Gernsback provided

1394-505: A single award affiliated to the English-language award. The awards are selected by member vote, in a similar style to that of the Hugo Awards . The first award was granted in 1980 at Hal-Con 3 , in Halifax, Nova Scotia , which was in turn the first convention to be named Canvention, a name which rotates to the convention hosting the awards that year in addition to its regular name. Voting for

1476-443: A smaller scale, with limited success. The leaders of the campaigns characterized them as a reaction to "niche, academic, overtly [leftist]" nominees and the Hugo becoming "an affirmative action award" that preferred female and non-white authors and characters. In response, five nominees declined their nomination before and, for the first time, two after the ballot was published. Multiple-Hugo-winner Connie Willis declined to present

1558-427: A special Hugo Award as "The Father of Magazine Science Fiction". The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1996, its inaugural class of two deceased and two living persons. Science fiction author Brian W. Aldiss held a contrary view about Gernsback's contributions: "It is easy to argue that Hugo Gernsback ... was one of the worst disasters to hit the science fiction field ... Gernsback himself

1640-455: Is also considered a pioneer in amateur radio . Before helping to create science fiction, Gernsback was an entrepreneur in the electronics industry , importing radio parts from Europe to the United States and helping to popularize amateur "wireless". In April 1908 he founded Modern Electrics , the world's first magazine about both electronics and radio, called "wireless" at the time. While

1722-475: Is eliminated until one nominee has a majority. For the CSFFA Hall of Fame, the inductee must have been nominated for the trophy, and then selected by a 4-person jury, which is selected by the CSFFA each year. CSFFA is a federally recognized Canadian non-profit, since 2011. Hugo Awards The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of

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1804-469: Is held. Prior to 2017, the final ballot was five works in each category. 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 , with the name "Hugo" being given by Robert A. Madle. The award trophy

1886-440: Is no monetary or other remuneration associated with the Hugo, other than the trophy. Retrospective Hugo Awards, or Retro-Hugos, were added as a concept to the Hugo Awards in 1996. They are awards given for years in which no Hugos were originally awarded. Prior to 2017, they could be awarded for works in a year 50, 75, or 100 years prior, after 1939, where there was a Worldcon but where no Hugos were awarded. Retro-Hugos are given by

1968-585: The Astounding Award for Best New Writer and the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book , are presented at the Hugo Award ceremony and voted on by the same process, but are not formally Hugo Awards. The Hugo Award is highly regarded by observers. The Los Angeles Times has termed it "among the highest honors bestowed in science fiction and fantasy writing", a claim echoed by Wired , who said that it

2050-448: The 1920s to experiment themselves to improve the technology. WRNY was often used as a laboratory to see if various radio inventions were worthwhile. Articles that were published about television were also tested in this manner when the radio station was used to send pictures to experimental television receivers in August 1928. The technology, however, required sending sight and sound one after

2132-460: The 1983 to the 1994 Hugos. The most recent anthology is The Hugo Award Showcase (2010), edited by Mary Robinette Kowal . It contains most of the short stories, novelettes, and novellas that were nominated for the 2009 award. Hugo Gernsback Hugo Gernsback ( / ˈ ɡ ɜːr n z b æ k / ; born Hugo Gernsbacher , August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish-American editor and magazine publisher whose publications included

2214-401: The 1992 awards the nickname has been adopted as the official name of the award. For the first few years, Hugo Awards had no published rules, and were given for works published in the "preceding year" leading up to the convention, which was not defined but generally covered the period between conventions rather than calendar years. In 1959, though there were still no formal guidelines governing

2296-576: The Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form category, "No Award" placed above all nominees that were on either slate, and it won all five categories that only contained slate nominees. The two campaigns were repeated in 2016 with some changes, and the "Rabid Puppy" slate again dominated the ballot in several categories, with all five nominees in Best Related Work, Best Graphic Story, Best Professional Artist, and Best Fancast. In response to

2378-455: The CSFFA at the previous year's Canvention. For a category to not have an award given for it, usually there has to be less than three eligible nominees in that category before the start of voting, or enough people have voted for the No Award option on the ballot, and this wins a majority. The voting uses the instant-runoff voting method, where the voters rank their choices and the lowest scorer

2460-580: The Chengdu Worldcon, and reprimanded the chair of the WIP board of directors. Both the director of WIP and chair of the WIP board of directors resigned. Glasgow 2024 Chairperson Esther MacCallum-Stewart announced in February 2024 that to ensure transparency in the awards selection, they would keep a log of all decisions, publish the reasons for any disqualification of potential finalists by April 2024, and publish

2542-535: The Dramatic Presentation category for the third and fourth time; "No Award" did not win any categories afterwards until 2015. In 1980 the category for Best Non-Fiction Book (later renamed Best Related Work ) was added, followed by a category for Best Semiprozine (semi-professional magazine) in 1984. In 1983, members of the Church of Scientology were encouraged by people such as Charles Platt to nominate as

Aurora Awards - Misplaced Pages Continue

2624-436: The Hugo Awards each year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The Hugos are widely considered the premier award in science fiction. 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

2706-501: The Rat". Barry Malzberg has said: Gernsback's venality and corruption, his sleaziness and his utter disregard for the financial rights of authors, have been well documented and discussed in critical and fan literature. That the founder of genre science fiction who gave his name to the field's most prestigious award and who was the Guest of Honor at the 1952 Worldcon was pretty much a crook (and

2788-544: The United States in 1904 and later became a naturalized citizen . He married three times: to Rose Harvey in 1906, Dorothy Kantrowitz in 1921, and Mary Hancher (1914–1985) in 1951. In 1925, he founded radio station WRNY , which was broadcast from the 18th floor of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. In 1928, WRNY aired some of the first television broadcasts. During the show, audio stopped and each artist waved or bowed onscreen. When audio resumed, they performed. Gernsback

2870-432: 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 . 1963 was also the second year in which "No Award" won a category, again for Dramatic Presentation. In 1964 the guidelines were changed to allow individual conventions to create additional categories, which

2952-524: The authors were excluded due to self-censorship by the Hugo Award administrators in order to appease the Chinese government, known to have a strict censorship regime . Additionally, an unknown number of ballots from Chinese voters were rejected because an award administrator considered them to be similar to a recommendations list published by the Chinese SF magazine Science Fiction World , and thus equivalent to

3034-471: The award. "No Award" won that year in two categories: Dramatic Presentation and Best New Author . 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

3116-597: The awards is done by members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, who pay an annual fee of $ 10. Publishers cannot vote during the nomination or shortlist ballot, but can submit works by authors they represent without paying a fee. The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) and the SFSFBI give out the Aurora and Aurora-Boréal Awards for the best science fiction and fantasy works in each of

3198-413: 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 previous calendar year, rather than the ambiguous "preceding year"; and allowing voters to select "No Award" as an option if no nominated works were felt to be deserving of

3280-454: The awards. The slates were characterized by The Guardian as a "right wing", "orchestrated backlash" and by The A.V. Club as a "group of white guys", and were linked with the Gamergate campaign. Multiple Hugo winner Samuel R. Delany characterized the campaigns as a response to "socio-economic" changes such as minority authors gaining prominence and thus "economic heft". In all but

3362-433: The campaigns, a set of new rules, called "E Pluribus Hugo", was passed in 2015 and ratified in 2016 to modify the nominations process. Intended to ensure that organized minority groups cannot dominate every finalist position in a category, the new rules define a voting system in which nominees are eliminated one by one, with each vote for an eliminated work then spread out over the uneliminated works they nominated, until only

Aurora Awards - Misplaced Pages Continue

3444-491: The categories. CSFFA handle the anglophone Aurora Awards and the SFSFBI handle the francophone Aurora-Boréal Awards, though both organizations co-sponsor the other award. Nominees are only valid if they were produced or completed in the previous calendar year. For the Aurora Awards, the official nominees are chosen by the awards committee from all of the works that have received at least 5 nominations by CSFFA members throughout

3526-523: The cover of the magazine itself states it was a catalog, most historians note that it contained articles, features, and plotlines, qualifying it as a magazine. Under its auspices, in January 1909, he founded the Wireless Association of America , which had 10,000 members within a year. In 1912, Gernsback said that he estimated 400,000 people in the U.S. were involved in amateur radio. In 1913, he founded

3608-410: The final ballot, while the 1964 awards received 274 votes. The 2019 awards saw 1,800 nominating ballots and 3,097 votes, which was described as less than in 2014–2017 but more than any year before then. 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

3690-408: The final shortlist remains. These rules were ratified in 2016 to be used for the first time in 2017. A rule mandating that the final nominees must appear on at least five percent of ballots was also eliminated, to ensure that all categories could reach a full set of nominees even when the initial pool of works was very large. Each nominator is limited to five works in each category, but the final ballot

3772-482: The first science fiction magazine , Amazing Stories . His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with the novelists Jules Verne and H. G. Wells , he is sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction". In his honor, annual awards presented at the World Science Fiction Convention are named the " Hugos ". Gernsback emigrated to the U.S. in 1904 and later became

3854-400: The full voting statistics immediately after the awards ceremony on August 11. In July 2024, the Hugo administration announced that roughly 10% of all votes cast for that year were determined to be fraudulently cast to help one unidentified finalist win. There was no evidence that the finalist had known about the attempt; the votes were invalidated and the finalist did not win the category as

3936-415: 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. 1971 and 1977 both saw "No Award" win

4018-524: The largest readership among radio magazines in radio broadcasting's formative years. He edited Radio News until 1929. For a short time he hired John F. Rider to be editor. Rider was a former engineer working with the US Army Signal Corps and a radio engineer for Alfred H. Grebe , a radio manufacturer. However, Rider would soon leave Gernsback and form his own publishing company, John F. Rider Publisher , New York around 1931. Gernsback made use of

4100-493: The magazine to promote his interests, including having his radio station's call letters on the cover starting in 1925. WRNY and Radio News were used to cross-promote each other, with programs on his station often used to discuss articles he had published, and articles in the magazine often covering program activities at WRNY. He also advocated for future directions in innovation and regulation of radio. The magazine contained many drawings and diagrams, encouraging radio listeners of

4182-572: The mid-1990s, and were first awarded in 1996. Another special Hugo Award, for Best Web Site, was given twice in 2002 and 2005, but never instated as a permanent category. 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. 2009 saw the addition of the Best Graphic Story category, and in 2012 an award for Best Fancast

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4264-596: The most venerable, democratic and international" science fiction awards "in existence". James Gunn , in The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1988), echoed The Guardian ' s 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), said that at

4346-412: The nominees are worthy of the award, or if they feel the category should be abolished entirely. A vote for "No Award" other than as one's first choice signifies that the voter believes the nominees ranked higher than "No Award" are worthy of a Hugo in that category, while those ranked lower are not. The six works on the ballot for each category are the most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on

4428-474: The number of stories that can be nominated. With the exception of 1956, the first years of 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 six nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon

4510-402: The other rather than sending both at the same time, as WRNY only broadcast on one channel. Such experiments were expensive, eventually contributing to Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing Company going into bankruptcy in 1929. WRNY was sold to Aviation Radio, who maintained the channel part-time to broadcast aviation weather reports and related feature programs. Along with other stations sharing

4592-404: 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

4674-501: The placing of a blot on the memory of a justly honored man." Gernsback combined his fiction and science into Everyday Science and Mechanics magazine, serving as the editor in the 1930s. In 1954, Gernsback was awarded an Officer of Luxembourg's Order of the Oak Crown , an honor equivalent to being knighted . The Hugo Awards or "Hugos" are the annual achievement awards presented at the World Science Fiction Convention , selected in

4756-501: The preface itself makes no mention of it being a new term. In 1929, he lost ownership of his first magazines after a bankruptcy lawsuit. There is some debate about whether this process was genuine, manipulation by publisher Bernarr Macfadden , or a Gernsback scheme to begin another company. After losing control of Amazing Stories , Gernsback founded two new science fiction magazines, Science Wonder Stories and Air Wonder Stories . A year later, due to Depression-era financial troubles,

4838-459: The presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the WSFS constitution as instant-runoff voting with six 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. For each category of Hugo, the voter may rank "No Award" as one of their choices. Voters are instructed that they should do so if they feel that none of

4920-438: The presenting of the awards as one of the responsibilities of each Worldcon organizing committee. The rules restricted voting to members of the convention at which the awards would be given, 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

5002-684: The previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by the World Science Fiction Society . The Hugo is widely considered the premier award in the science fiction genre. It is named after Hugo Gernsback , the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories . Hugos were first given in 1953, at the 11th World Science Fiction Convention , and have been awarded every year since 1955. The awards originally covered seven categories, but have expanded to seventeen categories of written and dramatic works over

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5084-422: The prior calendar year, or translated into 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

5166-608: The public newsstands—and to name the genre he had earlier called "scientifiction." Frederik Pohl said in 1965 that Gernsback's Amazing Stories published "the kind of stories Gernsback himself used to write: a sort of animated catalogue of gadgets". Gernsback's fiction includes the novel Ralph 124C 41+ ; the title is a pun on the phrase "one to foresee for many" ("one plus"). Even though Ralph 124C 41+ has been described as pioneering many ideas and themes found in later SF work, it has often been neglected due to what most critics deem poor artistic quality. Author Brian Aldiss called

5248-463: 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

5330-568: The same frequency, it was acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and consolidated into that company's WHN in 1934. Gernsback held 80 patents by the time of his death in New York City on August 19, 1967. His first patent was a new method for manufacturing dry cell batteries, a patent applied for on June 28, 1906, and granted February 5, 1907. Among his inventions are a combined electric hair brush and comb ( U.S. patent 1,016,138 ), 1912; an ear cushion ( U.S. patent 1,514,152 ) in 1927; and

5412-504: The scientific details they employed in their stories, comment on the impossibilities in each other's stories, and even offered his readers prize money for identifying scientific errors." He also played an important role in starting science fiction fandom , by organizing the Science Fiction League and by publishing the addresses of people who wrote letters to his magazines. Fans began to organize, and became aware of themselves as

5494-423: The story a "tawdry illiterate tale" and a "sorry concoction", while author and editor Lester del Rey called it "simply dreadful." While most other modern critics have little positive to say about the story's writing, Ralph 124C 41+ is considered by science fiction critic Gary Westfahl as "essential text for all studies of science fiction." Gernsback's second novel, Baron Münchausen's Scientific Adventures ,

5576-412: The time fewer than 1,000 people voted on the final ballot; she held, 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 . The 2014 awards saw over 1,900 nomination submissions and over 3,500 voters on

5658-454: The two were merged into Wonder Stories , which Gernsback continued to publish until 1936, when it was sold to Thrilling Publications and renamed Thrilling Wonder Stories . Gernsback returned in 1952–53 with Science-Fiction Plus . Gernsback was noted for sharp, sometimes shady, business practices, and for paying his writers extremely low fees or not paying them at all. H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith referred to him as "Hugo

5740-555: 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

5822-420: The year, and then the shortlist is voted on by every member of the CSFFA. This is obtained through a $ 10 membership fee, and can be voted in person with a voting card at the annual general meeting of the CSFFA at that year's Canvention, or online through a portal set up by the CSFFA. A member must have been a member for at least 1 month before Canvention to be eligible for voting. The deadlines for voting are set by

5904-524: The years. The winners receive a trophy consisting of a stylized rocket ship on a base. The design of the trophy changes each year, though the rocket shape has been consistent since 1984. The 2024 awards were presented at the 82nd Worldcon , " Glasgow 2024", in Scotland on August 11, 2024. The 2025 awards will be presented at the 83rd Worldcon , " Seattle Worldcon 2025", in the United States on August 16, 2025. The World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) gives out

5986-681: 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 in An Informal History of the Hugos , 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

6068-409: Was added. Best Series was added as a permanent category in 2018; it was run the year prior as a special Hugo Award prior to being ratified at the business meeting. Another special Hugo Award, for Best Art Book, was run in 2019 but was not repeated or made a permanent category. The 2021 Hugo Awards featured a special Hugo award for video games . It was thereafter proposed as a permanent category; it

6150-565: Was changed to six in each; additionally, no more than two works by a given author or group, or in the same dramatic series, can be in one category on the final ballot. In January 2024, the voting statistics for the 2023 Hugo Awards from the 81st World Science Fiction Convention, which was held in Chengdu , China, came into question due to several authors being declared ineligible without explanation, including Neil Gaiman , R. F. Kuang , Xiran Jay Zhao , and Paul Weimer. Leaked emails revealed that

6232-458: 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 special 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 Fan Artist were added, and

6314-400: 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 trophy, with the exception of the 1958 trophy (a plaque), 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. There

6396-571: Was held at all. Of the fifteen years eligible, awards have been given for eight. The first Hugo Awards were presented at the 11th Worldcon 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. Thus there

6478-511: 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 the awards 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 alternative name in 1958, and since

6560-507: Was not repeated as a special Hugo Award in 2022 or 2023, but was ratified as the Best Game or Interactive Work category, beginning in 2024. In 2015, two groups of science fiction writers, the "Sad Puppies" led by Brad R. Torgersen and Larry Correia , and the "Rabid Puppies" led by Vox Day , each put forward a similar slate of suggested nominations which came to dominate the ballot. The Sad Puppies campaign had run for two years prior on

6642-547: Was serialized in Amazing Stories in 1928. Gernsback's third (and final) novel, Ultimate World , written c.  1958 , was not published until 1971. Lester del Rey described it simply as "a bad book", marked more by routine social commentary than by scientific insight or extrapolation. James Blish , in a caustic review, described the novel as "incompetent, pedantic, graceless, incredible, unpopulated and boring" and concluded that its publication "accomplishes nothing but

6724-452: Was utterly without any literary understanding. He created dangerous precedents which many later editors in the field followed." Gernsback made significant contributions to the growth of early broadcasting, mostly through his efforts as a publisher. He originated the industry of specialized publications for radio with Modern Electrics and Electrical Experimenter . Later on, and more influentially, he published Radio News , which would have

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