World Fantasy Convention Award

Last updated
World Fantasy Convention Award
Awarded forPeerless contributions to the fantasy genre
Presented by World Fantasy Convention
First awarded1978
Last awarded2013
Most recent winner(s) William F. Nolan, Brian W. Aldiss
Website World Fantasy Award Winners

The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction published in English during the previous calendar year. The awards have been described by book critics such as The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", [1] and one of the three most prestigious speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards (which cover both fantasy and science fiction). [2] [3] The World Fantasy Convention Award is a special award given in some years for "peerless contributions to the fantasy genre". [4] These have included authors, editors, and publishers. Other, annually-presented special awards are given out for professional or non-professional work in the prior year in the Special Award—Professional and Special Award—Non-professional categories. A Life Achievement award is also given annually. The World Fantasy Convention Award was first presented in 1978; it was awarded annually through 1987 and again in 1997 and 2013. [5] [6] It has not been awarded since, though it is still listed as an official category. [7]

Contents

Most World Fantasy Award nominees and winners are decided by attendees and judges of the annual World Fantasy Convention. A ballot is posted in June for attendees of the current and previous two conferences to determine two of the finalists, and a panel of five judges adds three or more nominees before voting on the overall winner. [5] [7] The panel of judges is typically made up of fantasy authors [8] and is chosen each year by the World Fantasy Awards Administration, which has the power to break ties. [5] Unlike the other World Fantasy Award categories, the Convention Award has no nominees and is not decided in the usual way; instead, the winner is selected by the convention organizers themselves and announced along with the nominees in the other categories. [5] [7] The final results are presented at the World Fantasy Convention at the end of October. [7] Through 2015, winners were presented with a statuette of H. P. Lovecraft; more recent winners receive a statuette of a tree. [9]

Thirteen people and one publishing house have been given the Convention Award. Seven of the winners are primarily known for their writing, as opposed to editing work or artwork. Six of the winners have gone on to be awarded the Lifetime Achievement award, sometimes only a few years after they were given a Convention Award: Evangeline Walton four years later in 1989, Andre Norton eleven years later in 1998, Hugh B. Cave two years later in 1999, Donald M. Grant nineteen years later in 2003, and Stephen King and Gahan Wilson, twenty-four and twenty-three years later in 2004.

Winners

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony. Items in the Work(s) column are items and companies that the winner created or worked at; they are meant to be representative of the winner's career in the field of fantasy to that point, but the World Fantasy Convention Award is not given for any specific achievement, and no such achievements are listed by the World Fantasy Convention as reasons for the award. In some cases the winner is well known for their non-fantasy works, such as science fiction novels, which are not listed.

Winners and nominees
YearWinner(s)Work(s)Ref.
1978 Glenn Lord editing and publishing Robert E. Howard [10]
1979 Kirby McCauley literary agent for Stephen King, chaired first World Fantasy Convention [11]
1980 Stephen King The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger , The Stand [12]
1981 Gahan Wilson Artwork for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction , The New Yorker [13]
1982 Roy Krenkel Artwork for Weird Fantasy , Weird Science-Fantasy [14]
Joseph Payne Brennan Nine Horrors and a Dream , short fiction in Weird Tales [14]
1983 Arkham House Fantasy and horror publisher [15]
1984 Donald M. Grant Founder and publisher for Donald M. Grant, Publisher [16]
1985 Evangeline Walton The Island of the Mighty , The Song of Rhiannon [17]
1986 Donald A. Wollheim Editor at Ace Books, founder and editor at DAW Books [18]
1987 Andre Norton Witch World , High Sorcery [19]
1997 Hugh B. Cave Murgunstrumm and Others , Death Stalks the Night [20]
2013 Brian W. Aldiss Frankenstein Unbound , Hothouse [6]
William F. Nolan Logan's Run , Ray Bradbury Review [6]

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World Fantasy Award—Novel Literary award for science fiction or fantasy novels in English

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The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to a science fiction or fantasy novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novelette if it is between 7,500 and 17,500 words; awards are also given out for pieces of longer lengths in the Novel and Novella categories, and for shorter lengths in the Short Story category. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration a novelette must be published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition. The Nebula Award for Best Novelette has been awarded annually since 1966. The Nebula Awards have been described as one of "the most important of the American science fiction awards" and "the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent" of the Emmy Awards.

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The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction published in English during the previous calendar year. The awards have been described by book critics such as The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most prestigious speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The World Fantasy Award—Anthology is given each year for anthologies of fantasy stories by multiple authors published in English. An anthology can have any number of editors, and works in the anthology may have been previously published; awards are also given out for collections of works by a single author in the Collection category. The Anthology category has been awarded annually since 1988, though from 1977 through 1987 anthologies were admissible as nominees in the Collection category. During the ten years they were admissible for that category they won the award seven times and represented 38 of the 56 nominations.

The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction published in English during the previous calendar year. The awards have been described by book critics such as The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most prestigious speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction is given each year for fantasy short stories published in English. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as short fiction if it is 10,000 words or less in length; awards are also given out for longer pieces in the Novel and Novella categories. The Short Fiction category has been awarded annually since 1975, though before 1982—when the category was instated—it was named "Best Short Fiction" and covered works of up to 40,000 words. It was then renamed "Best Short Story" until 2016, when it was renamed to the "Short Fiction" category.

The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction published in English during the previous calendar year. The awards have been described by book critics such as The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most prestigious speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The World Fantasy Award—Collection is given each year for collections of fantasy stories by a single author published in English. A collection can have any number of editors, and works in the collection may have been previously published; awards are also given out for anthologies of works by multiple authors in the Anthology category. The Collection category has been awarded annually since 1975, though from 1977 through 1987 anthologies were admissible as nominees. Anthologies were split into a separate category beginning in 1988; during the 10 years they were admissible they won the award 7 times and were 38 of the 56 nominations.

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