Everything Hugo Awards

The latest Hugo Award winners have just been announced, and I thought this might be a good time to discuss what the Hugos are and how they work. I first explored the Hugo Awards last year thanks to the HRCYED 2.0 reading challenge. One of the prompts was to read the finalists for an award. I chose the Hugos since I am a fantasy and science fiction fan. All 6 books I read were outstanding and immediately made me an avid follower of the Hugo Awards. 

What are the Hugos?

The Hugo Awards are an annual recognition for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy creative works. They first began in 1953 (with no awards given in 1954). The awards are given every August at the World Science Fiction Convention. 

Why Hugo?

The awards were named after the creator of the Amazing Stories science fiction magazine Hugo Gernsback. Amazing Stories was the first science fiction magazine ever published and is credited with making science fiction mainstream. The first issue featured stories from Jules Verne and H. G. Wells.

How are the Hugo Awards Decided?

Between January and March, members of the current year’s World Science Fiction Society can nominate up to 5 different people in each of 15 categories. At the beginning of April, the top finalists in each of the categories are announced and ballots are sent out to members. The finalists are the 6 individuals with the highest number of votes from the nomination ballots in each category. The voting process is done by a preferential ballot, which means the selections are ranked. On the ballot in each category the finalists are ranked 1 through 6. Voting is completed by July, and the winners are announced at the World Science Fiction Convention in late August/early September.  

In order to be nominated, the following criteria must be met:

• Work published in print in the year prior to the awards year
• Cannot be a reprint of a book. English translations first done in the year prior are allowed
• The work does not have to be traditionally published

The great thing about this process is that anyone can vote, including you! To be eligible to vote simply become a member of that year’s Worldcon. This involves paying an annual fee. You do not have to attend the annual conference; just enroll as a “supporting member” for that year’s Worldcon. Typically, supporting membership runs around $70 for the year. You can watch the awards via live coverage on the announcement day.  

The benefit of having the judging done this way is that it is the voice of the readers that counts and the belief is that only “true” science fiction/fantasy fans will pay the annual membership.

 All trophies feature the original rocket ship design from the 1953 award. The Hugo Award Committee designs a different base for the trophy each year making them all unique. You can view all the trophy designs on the Hugo Awards official website.

What are the Categories in the Hugo Awards?

• Best Novel (40,000 words or more)
• Best Novella (17,500 – 40,000 words)
• Best Novelette (7,500 – 17,500 words)
• Best Short Story (less than 7,500 words)
• Best Series (at least 3 installments and at least 240,000 words total)
• Best Graphic Story/Comic
• Best Related Work (non-fiction)
• Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form (90 minutes or more) 
• Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form (less than 90 minutes) 

                          Both the dramatic long and short form include film, television, radio, live theatre, video game, music

• Best Editor Long Form (edited at least 4 novels)
• Best Editor Short Form (edited at least 4 anthologies, collections, or magazine issues)
• Best Professional Artist (25% of their income comes from the work they do)
• Best Semiprozine (at least 4 issues, one of which has to be in the year of eligibility)

There are also a collection of fan categories including:

• Best Fanzine
• Best Fancast
• Best Fan Writer
• Best Fan Artist
• Best Game or Interactive Work

Recently the convention added two additional awards: The Lodestar Award for the Best Young Adult Book and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

Hugo Award Winners

Hugo Awards for Best Novel have been handed out every year since 1955. Curious about who all the winners have been? Download my complete Hugo Award Winner Reading Challenge Checklist. While I was creating my Reading List of Hugo Best Novel Winners, I noticed that a lot of the winners were titles already on my TBR from having researched the Top 50 Fantasy/Science Fiction Books of all time. I definitely need to start prioritizing these! 

I also discovered that the first female winner was Ursula K. Le Guin in 1970 for Left Hand of Darkness. The first translated work to win was The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu in 2015. Each of the three books from N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy won in back-to-back years.

I did notice that the same authors tend to appear for several years in a row from 1955 to present day. This may reflect bias towards nominating favorite or bestselling writers or if they tend to just write outstanding books year after year. I suspect it is a bit of both. 

What is the Hugo Award Controversy?

In 2023 the Hugo Awards were being hosted by Worldcon in Chengdu China. Afterwards when all the ballot information was released it appeared that several eligible nominees were excluded from ballots and were marked “non-eligible” even though they were eligible. For example RF Kuang’s Babel was not on the ballot despite the popularity and supposed nominations by many in the early round. It appears to be for political reasons, in that people nominated and then excluded have been noted as being outspoken critics of China and their policies. All allegations were denied, but Dave McCartney the chairman of the 2023 Hugo Awards committee subsequently resigned.  

I do plan on becoming a member for the 2027 award year and will participate in the nominating and voting process. If you are interested in following my journey sign up for my newsletter The Bookend where I will not only be talking about how accurate my picks are but also all other things bookish and reading life-related.