Retro Hugos

Retrospective Hugo Awards may be voted on and presented along with the Hugo Awards by a World SF Convention held a multiple of 25 years after a Worldcon when Hugos were not given. The works and people eligible are those that would have qualified had they been given in the historic year. The first actual Hugos were awarded at the 1953 Worldcon for works and people eligible in 1952, but the next set was not given until the Worldcon two years later, so the Retro Hugos fill in the missing years.

The purpose of the Retros is for today's fans to judge the work of the past, not for them to try to replicate what voters "back then" would have chosen.

The Retros were the brainchild of Bruce Pelz. Retro Hugos were awarded the first time in 1996 at L.A.Con III as the 1946 Retro Hugos. The 1945 Retro Hugos, awarded during CoNZealand in 2020, were the most recent.

Whether or not to award Retros is left to the eligible Worldcon. The Worldcons in 1997–2000, ConJosé in 2002, Sasquan in 2015, Worldcon 75 in 2017 and Chicon 8 in 2022 were eligible but decided not to administer Retro Hugos.

Awards	Historic Worldcon	Eligibility Year	Presented At	In
1939	Nycon	1938	Loncon 3	2014
1940	Chicon	1939	TBD	2040 (earliest)
1941	Denvention	1940	MidAmeriCon 2	2016
1942	None (World War II)	1941	TBD	2042 (earliest)
1943		1942	Worldcon 76 in San Jose	2018
1944		1943	Dublin 2019	2019
1945		1944	CoNZealand	2020
1946	Pacificon	1945	L.A.Con III	1996
1947	Philcon	1946	TBD	2047 (earliest)
1948	Torcon	1947	TBD	2048 (earliest)
1949	Cinvention	1948	TBD	2024 (earliest)
1950	NorWesCon	1949	TBD	2025 (earliest)
1951	Nolacon	1950	Millennium Philcon	2001
1952	Chicon II	1951	TBD	2027 (earliest)
1953	Philcon II	1952	First actual Hugos awarded
1954	SFCon	1953	Noreascon 4	2004

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