Jeannette Ng's Campbell Award acceptance speech

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On August 18, 2019, Hong Kong author Jeannette Ng won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer at that year's World Science Fiction Convention. Her acceptance speech, in which she called award namesake John W. Campbell, Jr. a "fucking fascist" [1] and harshly criticized his influence on the field of science fiction, led to significant debate within science fiction fandom regarding Campbell's legacy.

Contents

Background

John W. Campbell, Jr. was the editor of Astounding Science Fiction (renamed Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1960) from 1937 until his death in 1971. The early years of his editorship are often referred to as the Golden Age of Science Fiction. [2] [3] : 80  [4] : 288  [5] : 288  [6] : 128  [7] : 64  Because of his role in launching the careers of many important writers, in 1973 the World Science Fiction Society created an annual award for the best new writer, named in Campbell's honor. [8] Although this award was, like the Hugo Awards, voted on by the members of the World Science Fiction Society, it was not itself a Hugo award, and was instead administered by the publishers of Analog.

Even during his lifetime, however, Campbell's political stances on many issues were controversial, [9] and this controversy increased in the decades after his death, with some commentators focusing on the extent to which his role as Astounding/Analog editor enabled him to shape both the content of the magazine and the demographics of its contributors. [10] [11] [12]

Speechwriting process

Ng has stated that she had not expected to win, and thus had not prepared a speech ahead of time; after another attendee criticized her for being unprepared, she wrote the speech on her phone during the award ceremony itself. [13]

Outcome

A week after Ng gave her speech, Analog announced that they were changing the name of the award for best new writer from the "John W. Campbell Award" to the "Astounding Award". [14] Although they did not explicitly cite Ng's speech as the reason for the change, the majority of media sources agreed that this was in fact the reason; [15] [16] [17] however, author John Scalzi (who himself won the award in 2006) opined that "Ng wasn't an errant spark that caused an unexpected explosion; she was the agitant that caused a supersaturated solution to crystallize", and that she "could not have precipitated a change so suddenly if there wasn't already something to precipitate. This was a long time coming." [18]

In 2020, Ng won the Hugo Award for Best Related Work for the speech. [19]

References

  1. ↑ Enid Blyton had racist views. But I still read her, by Sian Cain, in The Guardian ; published September 3, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025
  2. ↑ Nicholls, Peter; Ashley, Mike (2021). "Golden Age of SF". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2025-04-05.
  3. ↑ Prucher, Jeff, ed. (2007). "Golden Age". Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction . with an introduction by Gene Wolfe. p. 80. ISBN   978-0-19-530567-8. Specific dates vary greatly, but the golden age is most often associated with the period in the 1930s and 1940s shortly after John W. Campbell, Jr. began editing Astounding Stories.
  4. ↑ Roberts, Adam (2016). "Golden Age SF: 1940–1960". The History of Science Fiction. Palgrave Histories of Literature (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 287–331. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-56957-8_11. ISBN   978-1-137-56957-8. OCLC   956382503. Fans bicker pleasantly amongst themselves over the dates most properly connected with this Age, nominally golden. There is a consensus that it starts in 1938–39, some say it ends when World War II does, some that it lasts into the 1950s, but this need not distract us.
  5. ↑ Ash, Brian, ed. (1977). "Science Fiction Art". The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . Harmony Books. p. 288. ISBN   0-517-53174-7. OCLC   2984418. Shortly before the outbreak of war, science fiction was beginning a new phase, one signalled by the appointment of John W. Campbell as editor of Astounding. This next period, roughly from 1938 to 1950, is referred to by some as the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
  6. ↑ Higgins, David M.; Duncan, Roby (2013). "Key Critical Concepts, Topics and Critics". In Hubble, Nick; Mousoutzanis, Aris (eds.). The Science Fiction Handbook. A&C Black. pp. 125–142. ISBN   978-1-4725-3897-0. Golden Age: A term used to refer to the period from 1937 (when John W. Campbell took over as editor of Amazing[ sic ]Stories) through the late 1950s in US SF publishing. The Golden Age followed the pulp era of the 1920s and 30s
  7. ↑ Withers, Jeremy (2020). "Perfectibility and Techno-Optimism in the Pulp Era". Futuristic Cars and Space Bicycles: Contesting the Road in American Science Fiction. Oxford University Press. pp. 25–64. ISBN   978-1-78962-175-4. what many people refer to as the 'Golden Age' of sf (c.1940–60).
  8. ↑ Storm Over Campbell Award; by Mike Glyer; at File 770; published August 21, 2019; retrieved Septembre 23, 2025
  9. ↑ Isaac Asimov, (1973). "The Father of Science Fiction", in Astounding: John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology ; p. xii. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-48167-4; "Campbell championed far-out ideas ... He pained very many of the men he had trained (including me) in doing so, but felt it was his duty to stir up the minds of his readers and force curiosity right out to the border lines. He began a series of editorials ... in which he championed a social point of view that could sometimes be described as far right (he expressed sympathy for George Wallace in the 1968 national election, for instance). There was bitter opposition to this from many (including me – I could hardly ever read a Campbell editorial and keep my temper)"
  10. ↑ Was John Campbell a F***ing Fascist or Merely a Fascist, by Steve Davidson, in Amazing Stories ; published August 24, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025
  11. ↑ John W. Campbell was a Racist and a Loon: A Response to Jeannette Ng’s Campbell Award Acceptance Speech, by Rich Horton, at Black Gate ; published August 24, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025
  12. ↑ Cory Doctorow: Jeannette Ng Was Right: John W. Campbell Was a Fascist, by Cory Doctorow, in Locus ; published November 2019; retrieve September 22, 2025
  13. ↑ John W. Campbell, for whom this award was named, was a fascist., by Jeannette Ng; at Medium ; published August 18, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025
  14. ↑ A Statement from the Editor, by Emily Hockaday, at The Astounding Analog Companion: The Official Analog Science Fiction and Fact Blog; published August 27, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025
  15. ↑ Dell Magazines is Changing the Name of the John W. Campbell Award, by Andrew Liptak, at Reactor published August 27, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025
  16. ↑ Book reviews of the week, in the Financial Times ; published November 8, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025; "After the renaming of the John W Campbell Award for new writer as the Astounding Award (following accusations of Campbell being a 'fascist')"
  17. ↑ John W. Campbell Award Is Renamed, by Peter Libbey, in The New York Times ; published August 28, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025; "The decision to remove Campbell's name from the award came after this year's winner, Jeannette Ng, criticized him in her acceptance speech."
  18. ↑ The Gunn Center Makes a Change, and Further Thoughts on the Reassessment of John W. Campbell, by John Scalzi; at scalzi.com; published September 6, 2019; retrieved September 22, 2025
  19. ↑ 2020 Hugo Awards; at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved September 22, 2025
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