Tonight in Kansas City, MO, at Midamericon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, the Hugo Awards
were presented to a rapt audience in person and online, with voters weighing on a ballot
that had been partially sabotaged by a small clique of people who objected to
stories about wowen and people who weren’t white.
The awards featured several callouts to the people who vowed to burn the Hugos down — Neil Gaiman’s written acceptance in a category
where his The Sandman: Overture was the only serious contenter dismissed the antics as attention-seeking
stupidity.
The readers overwhelmingly voted in titles by diverse authors — for the second year in a row, a translated work
by a Chinese author won a prize, and the night also saw the first-ever Hugo awarded to a Filipina person.
Two women of color won for fiction: N.K. Jemisin won best novel for The Fifth Season (and joined other
writers in applause-getting excoriation of the “Rabid Puppies” and “Sad Puppies”), while Nnedi Okorafor
won for her novella Binti.
Another highlight: two astronauts accepted prizes on behalf of Andy Weir and film
adaptation of his novel, The Martian. Weir, who began his career as a self-published author,
took the Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
It was an outstanding slate of winners — a rebirth of the Hugos. Congratulations to everyone who took home a rocketship tonight (and to the magnificent Chuck Tingle, too!).
Best Novel: The Fifth Season, NK Jemisin, Orbit
Best Novella: Binti
Best Novelette: Folding Beijing by Hao Jingfang (translator Ken Liu)
Best Short Story: Cat Pictures Please, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, 1/15).
Best Professional Editor – Long Form: Sheila Gilbert (DAW)
Best Professional Editor – Short Form: Ellen Datlow
Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form: The Martian
Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form: Jessica Jones, “AKA Smile”
Best Graphic Story: The Sandman: Overture, Neil Gaiman; art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)
Best Professional Artist: Abigail Larson
Best Related Work: NO AWARD
Best Semiprozine: Uncanny Magazine
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: Andy Weir
Best Fanzine: File 770
Best Fancast: NO AWARD
Best Fan Writer: Mike Glyer
Best Fan Artist: Steve Stiles