Hugo Award for fiction

The Hugo Awards are given every year 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. Hugo Awards have been presented every year since 1953, except 1954.

Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of the annual Worldcon (although only about 700 of several thousand Worldcon members actually vote) and the presentation evening constitutes its central point. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as instant-runoff voting with five nominees (except in the case of a tie).

The Hugo Award trophy was co-designed by longtime SF fan and booster Benedict Jablonski who based it on a rocket-shaped hood ornament from an Oldsmobile 88. The rocket design has become standardised in recent years and the rockets are currently produced by UK fan Peter Weston. The design for the base on which the rocket is mounted is the responsibility of the Worldcon committee and therefore changes each year. The base design has been selected by various means including committee selection, direct commission and open competition (currently the most common method).

The 2006 Hugo Awards ceremony was held at the 64th World Science Fiction Convention on Saturday, August 26 in Anaheim, California. The 2007 Awards were presented at the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan on 1 September.

History

While "bests" had been voted at all Worldcons since the inaugural event in 1939, no awards were presented until the 11th Worldcon (Philcon II, Philadelphia 1953). The awards were the idea of Hal Lynch, hand-machined by Jack McKnight and consisted of a finned steel rocket on a circular wooden base. They were not initially conceived to be a permanent Worldcon feature. However, at the 13th Worldcon (Cleveland, Ohio 1955) it was decided to make the physical awards permanent. A new design capable of mass production was made by Benedict Jablonski. It was largely similar to the first design but on a square base, and became the standard design for most of the following conventions. Initially the award was called the Annual Science Fiction Achievement Award, with "Hugo Award" being an unofficial, but better known name. Since 1993, the nickname has been adopted as the official name of the award.

There have been several anthologies collecting Hugo-winning short fiction. The well-known series The Hugo Winners edited and introduced by Isaac Asimov was started in 1962, collecting all winners up to the previous year, and concluded with the 1982 Hugos in Volume 5. The New Hugo Winners, edited originally by Asimov and later Gregory Benford has four volumes collecting stories from the 1983 to the 1994 Hugos.

Previous Winners

 

2005

Novel: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Novella: "The Concrete Jungle" by Charles Stross
Novelette: "The Faery Handbag" by Kelly Link
Short Story: "Travels with My Cats" by Mike Resnick

 

2004

Novel: Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
Novella: "The Cookie Monster" by Vernor Vinge
Novelette: "Legions in Time" by Michael Swanwick
Short Story: "A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman

 

2003

Novel: Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer
Novella: "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
Novelette: "Slow Life" by Michael Swanwick
Short Story: "Falling Onto Mars" by Geoffrey A. Landis