We have read recently of concerns about the plethora in recent world cons of Hugo awards. With some of these awards going to non science fiction categories. There has been strong arguments made to reduce the amount of awards and award categories. So it comes with a bit of a surprise that the editors over at Science Fiction Awards Watch are making a point for expanding the award categories, and in a very important area. That of "Lifetime Achievement Award". Which I have to admit I find decidedly odd. There are awards for excellence in non science fictional fields but no lifetime achievement? What's even odder is that comments on their article some would not care to add the category at all! Stranger still. The editors at SFAW make a good argument. If your interested in reading their ideas - select the article title or click here to be taken to the article
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18 comments:
Actually, all of the Hugo Award categories have something to do with science fiction, fantasy, fandom, and related subjects. What seems to bother some people is that only four of the fourteen categories are for written science fiction. Now I've never understood why having a category for Best Fan Artist makes the award for Best Novel less valuable, but maybe I'm just blind to this sort of thing.
(BTW, "Worldcon" is one word -- it's the short name of the World Science Fiction Convention.)
I think it's a good idea. They addressed my immediate concern that it would an exclusively posthumous award. After all, what would be the point of giving H. G. Wells an award?
Couple of points I want to make. I was referring to Mike Resnick's article "Breeding Like Rabbits" in Baen's Universe where Mike points out that very few of the Hugo awards that were awarded this year went to accrual science fiction. Some went to science related articles. Now is that science fiction related? In my book, there is a relationship, but is it science fiction? of course not.
Second Point is that I agree with Wolfkahn....that was very much my concern. Does Philip K. Dick deserve a lifetime? Yep....but he should have received it before he died.... Heinlein, Asimov? Damn Straight...well their families might get a kick out of it....Isaac will haunt anyone that gives him a award after the fact....
I can't respond directly to Mike's article because I don't subscribe to Baen's Universe, so I can only reply to the reflection through you and others who have commented on it.
Here's some reference material first: the definitions of the Hugo Award categories and the 2007 Hugo Award winners. You might want to open new tabs looking at them before reading further.
There are fourteen Hugo Award categories. As the WSFS Constitution says, "Unless otherwise specified, Hugo Awards are given for work in the field of science fiction or fantasy appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year."
If you look at the past year's Hugo Awards, you'll find that:
4 awards went to works of written SF/F.
1 award was for a book about SF/F (a biography of Alice B Sheldon ("James Tiptree, Jr.")).
2 awards were for dramatized works of SF/F (a movie and a television episode).
2 awards were for editing SF/F (Novels and short fiction).
2 awards were for SF/F artists (Professional and fan).
2 awards were for magazines about SF, Fantasy, and SF/F fandom (Semiprozine and fanzine).
1 award was for fan writing.
Note that there were no awards for "science related articles" in 2007. In fact, none of the nominees in Best Related Book were science related, although they would have been eligible if nominated. Mike Resnick had a nomination in that category, for a collection of Worldcon Guest of Honor speeches he co-edited.
I cannot speak for Mike, and I don't know what he actually wrote. I do know that some people are troubled when works that they consider fantasy (not SF) win, but SF and F are equally eligible, and it's not possible to exclude "fantasy" because there's no way of writing an objective definition that would separate SF from F.
Having the list of categories and of the actual winners in front of you, are there any that you would eliminate?
Regarding a lifetime achievement award being awarded posthumously -- if any such Hugo category ever makes it off the drawing board, I think it will only be for living writers. (Well, based on the proposed mechanics, you'd have to be alive as of the point when the final ballot was prepared -- you could die after that -- but long-ago-dead people would not be eligible.)
Eliminate? wow, that's a loaded a word as I think could be used! lol. With the Hugo's selection made by "fan" it would difficult in the extreme to make a case for this or that story being fantasy. But you know, so many people say about the same thing "because there's no way of writing an objective definition that would separate SF from F." but there is the World Fantasy Award....hummmm so its easier to tell if something is fantasy and not science fiction but not the other way around. But would I want the job of making the definitive choice? Nope! Making the choices in my own strange little corner is hard enough. As you can see I was blown out of the water this year with the stories I chose that I thought had a chance. As a fan, I have an opinion of what I consider fantasy and which is science fiction. Some of the past winners I thought were more on the side of fantasy....
Eliminate? wow, that's a loaded a word as I think could be used! lol.
What would you suggest as an alternative? Delete? Remove? The technical term that any motion before WSFS would use is "strike out."
With the Hugo's selection made by "fan" it would difficult in the extreme to make a case for this or that story being fantasy.
Well, it is a popularly-selected award, so each voter is the judge of his/her own preferences.
But you know, so many people say about the same thing "because there's no way of writing an objective definition that would separate SF from F." but there is the World Fantasy Award....hummmm so its easier to tell if something is fantasy and not science fiction but not the other way around.
No, it's not. But the WFA is not a popularly-selected award where every member of the organization gets an equal voice in selecting the award. The WFA is selected by a small committee. The criteria for selecting "fantasy" is "whatever the judges say is fantasy." They are not democratic.
For a popularly selected award with detailed, democratically-derived rules, you have to have objective rules and a transparent process.
But would I want the job of making the definitive choice? Nope! Making the choices in my own strange little corner is hard enough. As you can see I was blown out of the water this year with the stories I chose that I thought had a chance. As a fan, I have an opinion of what I consider fantasy and which is science fiction.
And therefore, you get the total and complete right to be a Hugo Awards judge, along with the 7000 or so other people who can cast a nominating ballot. Each nominator gets an equal choice. In most cases, the administrator follows the principle of vox populi, vox dei, which means that unless a work is clearly ineligible on purely technical grounds (wrong year of publication, for example), the voters' choice prevails. Naturally, the choice of the voters as a whole differs from that of individuals, some of whom then start complaining that it's not fair that their personal preferences are not the ones selected, and that therefore the entire process is broken.
Some of the past winners I thought were more on the side of fantasy....
So what? The Hugo Award is for works of "science fiction and fantasy." It says so right on the instructions. I have a Hugo Award trophy (display copy) right here on my entertainment center. It says "2002 Hugo Award for Achievement in Science Fiction and Fantasy."
What I meant with my own little corner, was just that. Selecting the stories that are read on the weekend program. The point there was that the stories I selected that I thought were strong possibilities were shut out. Last year I managed to hit with a couple of selection....totally shut out this year. That is as close as I get to selecting the Hugo awards. I wasn't even aware that there was any dissension among the folks that were participating until someone sent me a link to the Baen article that Mike wrote. Saying that some of the earlier awards leaned toward fantasy....was just an observation.. nothing more...I tend to like the harder science based fiction. It was not meant as an indictment of the system.
That is as close as I get to selecting the Hugo awards.
Well, of course you can get closer by simply joining the current Worldcon, which would make you eligible to nominate. You know how the system works, right? There's no Secret Masters of Fandom that actually pick the nominees and winners. Anyone who wants to join the World Science Fiction Society by joining the current Worldcon as at least a supporting member (currently $40) can nominate and vote.
I wasn't even aware that there was any dissension among the folks that were participating....
Of course there's dissent. There is more than one person participating; therefore there won't be unanimous agreement on what's worthy.
'Of course there's dissent. There is more than one person participating; therefore there won't be unanimous agreement on what's worthy.'
I think that sums it up well.
Paul, have you joined up? (As the mainstay/driving force behind BMU...)
Yeah, lol, makes me wonder where my head was at. That many people and this much excitement over an article should tell me something! Joined? You know, this is not the first time that question has come up. Ron and I had this very same conversation last year. Since the station hasn't given us a budget it would have to be out of pocket. That being said the cost is not exorbitant - my other concern was that I didn't have access to all the stories and articles that were up for vote. However this year I had many more than I did in the past due to the internet. In the first year, I really wondered how long the program would last before we were edged out or just ran out of ideas. However closing in on our second year BMU seems to have developed a life of its own. I really thought that the stories I read this year were strong runners and was more than slightly surprised by the winners. I think as BMU gets more seasoned there certainly is a stronger argument for becoming part of the selection process. What do you think Ron?
...my other concern was that I didn't have access to all the stories and articles that were up for vote.
Well, it's a common misconception that one shouldn't nominate anything unless you've read everything in the field, but doing so is impossible -- there's too much work being published to do that. As we say over at the official Hugo Awards FAQ, "If you have seen just one movie or read one story that you think is good enough to deserve a Hugo, you should nominate it."
As far as the supporting membership expense, well, I reckon there are very few people who have their memberships covered by some business. Think of it as club dues of $40/year to be a member of the World Science Fiction Society.
Note, however, that if you want to nominate in the 2008 Hugo Awards, you need to be a member of Denvention 3 by the end of January 2008. That's only for the nominating ballot -- you can join later and still vote on the final ballot when it comes out later in the year.
And as far as availability of nominated works goes, most of the short fiction nominated gets made available for free over the web. (There's no guarantee that this will continue, but it has been the practice for the past few years; it's up to the original rights-holders to allow it.)
Kevin,
Excellent point. And well made, because that was exactly the case this year. Kin, All the Things You Are, House Beyond Your Sky were powerful pieces and deserved a vote by us. On another note, I had no idea that January was the first cut off....
And yes, I agree, 40 isnt a budget breaker, but in the past any monies that came in went to defer the cost of maintaining the web page and bandwidth - however it may well be worth considering this year if BMU wants to be just an observer.
A final question (?)
Is there room in any of the categories for audio fiction, like BMU podcasts?
Shaun
I have heard that this question was on the table at one point in past conventions. I am not sure how seriously it was received. I am not sure if it was for original works or a reading like we do (all though, BMU has and will continue to product original works when available) I wouldn't be surprised to see something akin to this in the future though. Podcasts of audio fiction are proving to be very popular. But would BMU be in the running?! Well....wouldn't that be an odd turn of events!
Is there room in any of the categories for audio fiction, like BMU podcasts?
Certainly! Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. (Long Form would apply if it were long enough.) The Dramatic Presentation categories are not solely for movies and television. Any form of dramatized SF/F is eligible. In fact, a Firesign Theatre album (Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers) was nominated in 1971.
Ahhh yes, Kevin comes through! I thought if anyone knew you would!
Hey Shaun, I bet Curtain call would have made a good showing. Love that story
The comments are still going strong over at the Science Fiction Awards Watch blog. http://www.sfawardswatch.com/
The suggestion that seems to be gaining some popularity is - The way it works is that each member gets to nominate a bunch of people each year, and anyone who gets the support of 75% of the voters gets in.- or variations on that theme.
and they also report that Jay Lake on his blog (http://jaylake.livejournal.com/1311645.html)
has championed the push for the addition of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Check it out.
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