MEDIA RELEASE #3 – [2017-01-09]
Hugo Nominations Open
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The nominating period for the 2017 Hugo Awards has begun. All nomination ballots must be postmarked by March 17, 2017 or submitted by 2017-03-18 06:59 UTC (11:59 pm Pacific Daylight Time on 17 March). In order to participate you must have purchased membership in Worldcon 75, MidAmericon II or Worldcon 76 in San José by January 31st, 2017.
The Hugo nomination process for works published or otherwise released in 2016 is open to current members of the World Science Fiction Society, which means supporting or attending members of the 2016 Worldcon (MidAmericon II), the 2017 Worldcon (Worldcon 75) or the 2018 Worldcon (Worldcon 76 in San José). See worldcon.fi for more information on becoming a supporting or attending member of Worldcon 75. Both attending and supporting members have the right to vote for the Hugo Awards and in Worldcon Site Selection for 2019.
WSFS members are encouraged to nominate up to five works/individuals in each category that they believe are worthy of a Hugo. The most popular nominees will go forward to the Final Ballot.
The final ballot will be announced in early April, and the awards will be presented on 11 August at Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, Finland. Only Worldcon 75 members will be able to vote on the final ballot and choose the winners.
All members eligible to nominate may do so by paper ballot, included with the convention’s Progress Report 3 and also separately downloadable from the Worldcon 75 website, or online by individual links supplied to voters.
As in previous years, voters may nominate up to five possible finalists in each category. However, the World Science Fiction Society’s Business Meetings in 2015 and 2016 made some changes to the way nominations will be tallied this year to produce the final ballot. These include:
- Final ballots in each category will now have six rather than five finalists (but the maximum number of nominations that a voter can make in each category remains five);
- A new system for counting nominations, which will reduce the extent to which a small bloc of voters can dominate individual categories;
- No more than two works by the same creator(s), and no more than two stories from the same series, can appear on the ballot for any one category;
- The requirement that all finalists in a category must receive more than 5% of nominations has been removed.
In addition, Worldcon 75 is trialling a proposed new Hugo category, Best Series, which will become permanent from 2018 if the 2017 Business Meeting ratifies it.
The Hugo base this year will be designed by a Finnish artist, to be selected by the Worldcon 75 committee.
The Hugos are the most prestigious award in the science fiction genre, honoring literature and media as well as fan activities. The awards were first presented in 1953.
More information about the Hugo Awards, including details about how to submit a nominating ballot, is available at worldcon.fi/wsfs/hugo/.
Any questions about the process or the Hugo Awards should be directed to hugohelp@worldcon.fi.
The 75th World Science Fiction Convention, Worldcon 75 will take place in Helsinki, Finland, 9-13 August 2017. For more information about the convention, including current membership rates, visit worldcon.fi. All media releases are available at worldcon.fi/press.
The Guests of Honour for Worldcon 75 are John-Henri Holmberg, Nalo Hopkinson, Johanna Sinisalo, Claire Wendling, and Walter Jon Williams.
Media questions or requests to be removed from the Worldcon 75 press release mailing list should be sent to press@worldcon.fi. Contact info@worldcon.fi with general queries.
ABOUT THE WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION
Founded in 1939, the World Science Fiction Convention is one of the largest international gatherings of authors, artists, editors, publishers, and fans of science fiction and fantasy. The Hugo Awards, a leading award for excellence in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, are voted on by the Worldcon membership and presented during the convention.
