Hugo Award

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The Hugo Award, the most prestigious award in Science Fiction, is named after Hugo Gernsback, publisher of the first all-stf magazine Amazing Stories. The Hugos are fandom’s highest honor to its members and others whose work fans admire. Hugo winners are selected annually by the members of the World Science Fiction Society and the presentation ceremonies are central to fandom's most important event, the World Science Fiction Convention.

Regular categories are Best Fanzine, Best Fan Writer, Best Fan Artist, Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Novelette, Best Short Story, Best Related Work, Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Best Editor, Long Form, Best Editor, Short Form, Best Professional Artist, Best Semiprozine, Best Graphic Story, Best Fancast, and Best Series, with others being considered (but probably not "Best Fannish Cat," at least not yet) from time to time. The Worldcon Committee can and sometimes does name a Committee Special Award each year.

The Hugo Trophy consists of a silvery cast-metal Hugo rocket, which is the same from year to year, mounted on a Hugo base which each Worldcon designs specially.

Despite some filthy pros' efforts to use the Hugo as a marketing tool, ithe awards are entirely a fannish endeavor. While pros who pay for membership in WSFS may vote, the administration of the awards, counting of the ballots and production of the awards ceremony are all done by volunteer fans.

To even be nominated (be a finalist on the ballot) is considered a great honour, and unlike other awards, we record that here.

See Hugo Rules for more information and Hugo voting process if you really want the gory details. See also Campbell Award (now renamed the Astounding Award), Special Committee Awards and Retro Hugos.

Official website


History of the Hugos[edit]

The First Hugos[edit]

Fans first awarded the Hugo at Worldcon in 1953. The first Hugos were called the Science Fiction Achievement Awards and were announced in Philcon II's PR 3. They seem to have hoped that the SFAA would become a permanent award, since they called them the "First Annual". (The following Worldcon, SFCon did not award the Hugos in 1954, but the Clevention did in 1955 and that made them a Hallowed Tradition.

The Hugo rocket was first created for the 1953 awards by Jack McKnight (who spent most of the convention in his workshop turning them out by hand!). It was modelled on an automotive hood ornament.

The informal name “Hugos” stuck, and in 1992 was made the official (trademarked, even) name.

The Hugo has been called "the tail that wagged the dog": the first awards were given out more than a dozen years after the first Worldcon, but at present the WSFS Constitution that governs the Worldcon lists the giving of the Hugo as the primary function of the convention.

Process History[edit]

The Hugo Award started out in 1953 as a one-step process; there was no separate nominations phase prior to voting, but, instead, simply a vote among all the works that were considered eligible. Voting was very low. Over the next few years each Worldcon committee invented its own process and its own set of categories, with Loncon in 1957 going its own way entirely.

For the first time, Detention in 1959 provided a nominations ballot followed by a separate vote among the nominees on a final ballot. The nominators weren't required to be members of the Worldcon (or any Worldcon) -- nominating ballots were freely distributed. In fact, on pg 167 of the May 1962 Analog, there's an open solicitation for nominations as part of P. Schuyler Miller's "The Reference Library" column (the book reviews section of Analog).

Voting was somewhat open (the final ballot went out in the convention Progress Report, but there was little or no attempt to limit voting to members) until 1961, when the rules were changed to limit voting to current Worldcon members.

1960 Pittcon saw the first largish Hugo controversy with claims of Nefarious Activities.

The rules adopted in 1961 formally limited nominations to the members of the current Worldcon, although that procedure had been followed since 1959. The procedure stayed unchanged until 1988, when Worldcon members from the previous year were added to the group that could nominate. And so the current two-step process wasn't fully in place until 1963.

The WSFS Constitution itself didn't exist until 1963. There were a set of WSFS Business Meeting resolutions, but they hadn't all been collected, or determined as to which were binding, and how, prior to then. The WSFS Constitution was put together by a committee appointed by the 1962 (Chicon III) WSFS Business Meeting, headed by George Scithers, and was adopted by the 1963 Worldcon.

From 1963 on, the WSFS Constitution specified what the categories were.

See also: Retro Hugos.

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959
(Madle) The International Fantasy Award, named after Hugo Gernsback & by analogy with mundane Oscars, Emmys, etc. Hal Lynch and Bob Madle brainstormed this annually presented set of commendations at the Philcon II; they are presented by a committee to top fanzines, proz, artists, ktp, at the Worldcon. The poll selecting winners in the various categories is perhaps the only fan poll which still produces results reflecting general fan attitudes, thanks to its size.

Category History[edit]

Best Novel 1953-present
Best Professional Magazine 1953-present (Became Best Professional Editor category in 1973.)
Best Cover Artist 1953
Best Interior Illustrator 1953
Best Feature Writer 1953, 1955
Most Promising New Author 1953, 1956, 1959
Number 1 Fan Personality 1953, 1958
Best Novelette 1955-1956, 1959, 1967-1969, 1973-present
Best Short Story 1955-1956, 1958-1959, 1967-present
Best Professional Artist 1955-1956, 1958-present
Best Fanzine 1955-1957, 1959-present
Best Book Reviewer 1956
Best Novel or Novelette 1958 (replaced Best Novel for this one year.)
Best Dramatic Presentation 1958-present
Best SF or Fantasy Movie 1959
Best Novella 1968-present
Best Short Fiction 1960-1966
Best SF Book Publisher 1964-1965
Best All-Time Series 1966
Best Fan Writer 1967-present
Best Fan Artist 1967-present
Best Professional Editor 1973-present
Best Non-Fiction Book 1980-present
Best Semiprozine 1983-present
Best Other Forms 1988
Best Translation 1990
Best Original Artwork 1990, 1992-1996
Best Related Book re-titling of Best Non-Fiction Book from 1999 to 2009
Best Web Site 2003, 2005
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form 2004-present. (Best Dramatic Presentation after short form split out.)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form 2004-present
Best Editor, Long Form 2006-present. (Best Professional Editor after Short Form split out)
Best Editor, Short Form 2006-present. (split out from Best Professional Editor)
Best Graphic Story 2009-present
Best Related Work 2010-present. (retitling of Best Related Book)
Best Fancast 2012-present
Best Series 2017-present
(Campbell Award) 1973-2019
(Astounding Award) 2020-present

Hugo Category Timeline[edit]

1953-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
1955-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
1968-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
1955-01-01T00:00:00Z
1959-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
1960-01-01T00:00:00Z
1966-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
1967-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
1973-01-01T00:00:00Z
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
1966-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
2017-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fiction
1953-01-01T00:00:00Z
1972-01-01T00:00:00Z
Publishing
1964-01-01T00:00:00Z
1965-01-01T00:00:00Z
Publishing
1983-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Publishing
1956-01-01T00:00:00Z
Publishing
1973-01-01T00:00:00Z
2005-01-01T00:00:00Z
Publishing
2006-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Publishing
2006-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Publishing
1953-01-01T00:00:00Z
Art
1953-01-01T00:00:00Z
Art
1955-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Art
1990-01-01T00:00:00Z
1996-01-01T00:00:00Z
Art
2009-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Art
1953-01-01T00:00:00Z
1959-01-01T00:00:00Z
Pro
1953-01-01T00:00:00Z
1957-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fan
1955-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fan
1967-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fan
1967-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fan
2012-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Fan
1959-01-01T00:00:00Z
Media
1956-01-01T00:00:00Z
2003-01-01T00:00:00Z
Media
2004-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Media
2004-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Media
1980-01-01T00:00:00Z
1998-01-01T00:00:00Z
Related
1999-01-01T00:00:00Z
2009-01-01T00:00:00Z
Related
2010-01-01T00:00:00Z
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
Related
1953-01-01T00:00:00Z
1955-01-01T00:00:00Z
Misc
1988-01-01T00:00:00Z
Misc
2003-01-01T00:00:00Z
2005-01-01T00:00:00Z
Misc
1990-01-01T00:00:00Z
Misc
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Hugo Winners[edit]

1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021



Award 1953
This is an award page. If you know something about it, such as who awarded it, who the winners were, what the criteria were, and when it was awarded, please add it! See Standards for Awards.