Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine
The Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine is given each year for semi-professionally-edited magazines related to science fiction or fantasy which had published four or more issues, with at least one issue appearing in the previous calendar year.[1] Awards were once also given out for professional magazines in the professional magazine category, and are still awarded for fan magazines in the fanzine category. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".[2][3]
Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine | |
---|---|
Awarded for | The best semi-professional magazine devoted primarily to science fiction or fantasy |
Presented by | World Science Fiction Society |
First awarded | 1984 |
Most recent winner | Uncanny Magazine (edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Erika Ensign, and Steven Schapansky) |
Website | thehugoawards.org |
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The award was first presented in 1984, and has been given annually since. A "semiprozine" is defined for the award as a magazine in the field that is not professional but that (unlike a fanzine) either pays its contributors in something other than copies, or is (generally) available only for payment.[4][note 1] In addition to the regular Hugo awards, beginning in 1996 Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for years 50, 75, or 100 years prior in which no awards were given.[6] To date, Retro Hugo awards have been awarded for 1939, 1941, 1943—1946, 1951, and 1954, but the category failed to receive enough to form a ballot each time.[7]
During the 37 nomination years, 38 magazines run by 133 editors have been nominated. Of these, only 8 magazines run by 25 editors have won. Locus won 22 times and was nominated every year until a rules change in 2012 made it ineligible for the category. Uncanny Magazine has won 5 times in a row, 2016–2020, while Science Fiction Chronicle, Clarkesworld Magazine, and Lightspeed are the only other magazines to win more than once, with 2 awards out of 18 nominations, 3 out of 4, and 2 out of 5, respectively, while Ansible has won 1 out of 7 nominations, Interzone has won 1 out of 28, and Weird Tales has won 1 out of its 3 nominations. As editor of Locus Charles N. Brown won 21 of 27 nominations, though he shared 5 of those awards with Kirsten Gong-Wong, 3 with Liza Groen Trombi and 2 with Jennifer A. Hall. Uncanny's awards were primarily earned by a team of 5 people, Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, and Steven Schapansky. The sole editor for Chronicle's awards was Andrew I. Porter, while David Pringle earned Interzone's, and Ann VanderMeer and Stephen H. Segal were the editors for Weird Tales's victory. Lightspeed's wins were under John Joseph Adams, Rich Horton, and Stefan Rudnicki, with Wendy N. Wagner and Christie Yant added for the second win, while David Langford was the editor when Ansible was awarded. Clarkesworld Magazine's winning years were under Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, and Kate Baker, with 2 of the three also under Cheryl Morgan and the other under Jason Heller. The New York Review of Science Fiction has received the most number of nominations without ever winning at 22, under the helm of David G. Hartwell, Kathryn Cramer, Kevin J. Maroney, and 8 other editors. The next highest number of nominations without winning is 7 for Speculations under Kent Brewster, Denise Lee, and Susan Fry.
Selection
Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as instant-runoff voting with six nominees, except in the case of a tie. The works on the ballot are the most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of works that can be nominated. The 1953 through 1956 and 1958 awards did not include any recognition of runner-up magazines, but since 1959 all six candidates were recorded.[6] Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, while voting on the ballot of six nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held.[8] Prior to 2017, the final ballot was five works; it was changed that year to six, with each initial nominator limited to five nominations.[9] Worldcons are generally held near the start of September, and are held in a different city around the world each year.[10][11] At the 2008 business meeting, an amendment to the World Science Fiction Society's Constitution was passed which would remove this category. The vote to ratify this amendment was held the following year; the ratification failed and the category remained. Instead, a committee was formed to recommend improvements to the category and related categories.[12]
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the work was first published. Each date links to the "year in literature" article corresponding with when the work was eligible. Entries with a blue background won the award for that year; those with a white background are the other nominees on the short-list. Note that Thrust was renamed to Quantum and was nominated under both names; no other nominated magazine has undergone a name change during the period the award has been active.[13]
* Winners and joint winners
Notes
- The definition requires that the magazine meet two of the following criteria: it must "have an average press run of at least 1000 copies; pay its contributors and/or staff in other than copies of the publication; provide at least half the income of any one person; have at least 15% of its total space occupied by advertising; or announce itself to be a semiprozine."[5]
References
- "The World Science Fiction Society Rules 1971". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
- Jordison, Sam (2008-08-07). "An International Contest We Can Win". The Guardian. London, England: The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- Cleaver, Emily (2010-04-20). "Hugo Awards Announced". Litro Magazine. London, England: Ocean Media. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- "WSFS Constitution, Standing Rules, & Business Passed On". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
- Nicholls, Peter; Ashley, Mike; Langford, David. "Culture : Semiprozine : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
- "The Hugo Awards: FAQ". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- "The Locus index to SF Awards: About the Retro Hugo Awards". Locus. Oakland, California: Locus. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- "The Hugo Awards: Introduction". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- "Worldcon 75: 2017 Hugo report #2" (PDF). Worldcon 75. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
- "The Locus index to SF Awards: About the Hugo Awards". Locus. Oakland, California: Locus. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- "World Science Fiction Society / Worldcon". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- "2009 WSFS Business Meeting". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
- Fratz, Doug (Spring 1993). "The Twenty-Year Spree: A Personal History of Thrust/Quantum". Quantum. Doug Fratz (43): 51–56. ISSN 0198-6686.
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- "1986 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1987 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1988 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1989 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1990 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1991 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1992 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1993 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1994 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1995 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
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- "1997 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1998 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "1999 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "2000 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- "2001 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
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- "2005 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
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- "2016 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
- "2017 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
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