Hugo Award Nominees
Friday, April 16, 2021 at 11:59PM
NATHANIEL R in Birds of Prey, Eurovision Song Contest, Palm Springs, Soul, Tenet, The Mandalorian, The Old Guard, books, sci-fi fantasy

Let's take a brief look at the Hugo Award nominees. They're mostly focused on sci-fi and fantasy literature but they do have one movie category and the nominees go like so...

Long Form Dramatic Presentation" (aka movies)

We hadn't thought of Eurovision Song Contest as a 'sci-fi fantasy' film but there are unseen elves so...

What'cha think? 192 different movies received votes. That seems like way too many until you consider how broad the definition of sci-fi/fantasy is and that between all the streamers and movie studios there are a handful of new films every week. 

As to the bulk of the Hugo Awards...

We have a soft spot for genre fiction (fantasy more than scifi) but movies and television shows hog too much of our time to really be in the know about the literary arts. So we thought we'd share the nominees in case you'd like some reading suggestions (we usually read at least a couple of things once we see the Hugo list). Unlike a lot of awards each year the voting stays open for this for a really long time. Hugo voters have from now until November 19th to vote before the winners are announced at the ceremony at DisCon III in December in Washington DC.  Like the Spirits, and unlike say the Oscars or Globes, voting is open to the public so long as you have a paid membership to that organization. In this case that's WorldCon.

HERE ARE THE NOMINEES. The items linked below are available to read or gaze upon online...

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (aka television... though shouldn't television be long form and movies be short form?)

321 different episodes received votes here. But one wonders if The Mandalorian made up dozens of those or if the campaigning was more targeted on just a few key episodes?

Best Novel (40,000 words or more)


441 different titles received votes but these six won out. Legendary writers like Neil Gaiman, JK Rowling, Michael Chabon, Orson Scott Card, and Isaac Asimov have previously won this prize. The Hugos have been embroiled in identity politics controversies for some time now (detailed in this post from 2019) due to a fanbased voting system (which are theoretically easy to game if you can get other fans on your side). The controversies started with right wing sci-fans successfully putting over some dubious white male lineups (several years back now) and now it has swung around to very diverse EXCEPT in terms of gender;  For the past three years only one man (a trans man) has been nominated in this category. The last man to actually win this category was Liu Cixin (and his translator Ken Liu) for The Three Body Problem in 2015 which was the first Asian novel to ever win the Hugo. 

Best Novella (between 17,000-40,000 words)

157 different novellas received votes. Tor.com tends to dominate the Hugos in a way that's kind of disturbing frankly. Do they just promote the Hugos a lot or campaign relentlessly? 

Best Novelette (between 7,500-17,500 words)

197 novelettes received votes. That helicopter story (the only one not linked above) was a sci-fi piece about gender and  trans identity but was removed from Clarkesworld at the request of the writer (who was not known to be trans at the time of its publication). She had experienced bullying from the trans community about her story. The Atlantic did a piece on the fallout of the divisive story (some in the trans community admired it) and the problems with rigid orthodoxies and online mob culture. 

Best Short Story (under 7,500 words)

634 short stories received votes in this category making these the most hard-won Hugo nominees. Lots of competition!

Best Series

180 series received votes.

Best Related Work (non-fiction but also focused on the sci-fi fantasy world)

277 different works had votes

Best Graphic Story or Comic


254 different projects received votes

Best Editor, Short Form

162 people received votes

Best Editor, Long Form

82 people received votes

Best Professional Artist

179 people received votes. All of these artists, except Maurizio Manzieri, are returning from last year's nomination slate. This is Picacio's fifth consecutive nomination. He won last year.

Best Semiprozine

77 different zines received votes

Best Fanzine

94 fanzines received votes

Best Fancast

230 fancasts received votes

Best Fan Writer

185 writers received votes in this category

Best Fan Artist

158 artists received votes here. Clark, Felix, and Fong all return from last year's nominee pool.

Best Video Game
This is a one time special category (not sure why it isn't a regular category as videogames have been with us a long time. 146 games received votes.

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (presented by the World Science Fiction Society)
NOT OFFICIALLY A HUGO AWARD As with the big A list film festivals some of the prizes you hear about aren't actually "official" (think the Queer Lion at Venice or the Palm Dog at Cannes) but offshoots that play alongside the official event. These works were also eligible at the normal Hugo Awards

Astounding Award for Best New Writer (presented by Dell Magazines)
NOT OFFICIALLY A HUGO AWARD EITHER.

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
See website for complete article licensing information.