The 80th World Science Fiction Convention is being held in Chicago, USA, and on September 4, US time, the "2022 Hugo Award Winner List" was officially announced, including a total of 19 awards, Arkadi Martin won "Best Novella" for "The Desolation of Peace", Becky Chambers won "Best Novella" for "Poetry of Savage Growth", Susan Palme won "Best Short Story" for "Robots on the Lost Ark", and Sarah Pinsk won "The Gathering place of oak hearts" "Best Short Story"...
It is understood that a total of 114 works have been shortlisted for the Hugo Award, and this year's important awards are almost covered by women. The Hugo Prize, also known as the Nobel Prize of science fiction, was established in 1953 in honor of Hugo Gensbach, the founder of modern science fiction from Luxembourg, and is produced every year during the World Science Fiction Convention.
At this year's World Science Fiction Convention, Red Star News interviewed Mr. Dave McCaddy, who has served as the chairman of the Hugo Award Selection Committee for many times, on related topics such as "changes in Hugo Award nominations and winning works in the past five years", "selection rules" and "fantasy communication mechanism".
Dave McCarthy
Red Star News: Can you talk about the changes in Hugo Award nominations and winning works in the past 5 years?
Dave McAddy: In the past five years, more and more works from different countries around the world have appeared on the List of Hugo Award nominees, including Liu Cixin's "Three-Body Problem". More science fiction writers and works from all over the world have joined the World Science Fiction Convention, which is a good thing for the science fiction (literature) industry, which is the biggest change in the past 5 years!
Red Star News: Are only English-language works available?
Dave McAddy: No, the vast majority of the award-winning works we see at the moment are in English, because the past World Science Fiction Conventions were mainly held in English-speaking regions such as Europe and the United States. Again, for example, "The Three-Body Problem", the novel was first published in Chinese, later translated into English, and for its English version it was nominated for the Hugo Award and eventually won the award. According to the rules, works published Chinese are also eligible for nomination, but since most overseas fantasy fans do not Chinese, it is rare to Chinese works in the nominated works.
For Chinese works and Chinese fantasy fans, works that meet the hugo award selection rules, that is, those published in 2022, have a chance to be nominated in 2023. We can foresee that in 2023, there will be a lot of Chinese works and Chinese science fiction writers appearing on the Hugo Award nomination list, which is not the case in any previous World Science Fiction Convention, we are very excited and looking forward to it, and the 2023 Hugo Awards will surely become the most special one ever.
Red Star News: According to the hugo awards rules, the 2023 Hugo Awards are judged for works published in 2022, if the 2022 works are translated into English in 2023, are they eligible for nomination?
Dave McAddy: Generally speaking, the nomination stage of the Hugo Awards is from January to March every year, and there are 6 nominated works (writers) in each category, if Chinese works can be translated and published at the nomination stage, there is still a chance to appear on the nomination list in 2023, but because the translated version is also the same work, it can only be nominated according to one work in the same year.
It is worth noting that if a short story is subsequently developed into a long novel, even if the short story has participated in the Hugo Awards of that year, the final completed novel still has the opportunity to compete for the subsequent Hugo Award, but in a different category (short to long).
Red Star News: There are many online science fiction literature works in China, do they have to be physically published to be eligible to participate?
Dave McAdty: Online literature is also eligible for judging, the key is the number of words and the time of first publication, if it meets the rules of the Hugo Award, online literature is still eligible for nomination. Many of the shortlisted short story works at this year's Hugo Awards have also been published online for the first time, which is no different from the situation in China.
Red Star News: What suggestions do the Organizing Committee of the Chengdu World Science Fiction Congress plan to establish a science fiction community and invite relevant personnel of the World Science Fiction Association (WSFS) to interact with the community?
Dave McAddy: This is a good idea, we need to communicate and exchange, so that more Chinese fantasy fans know and understand the World Science Fiction Convention and related mechanisms. The history of the World Science Fiction Convention, the future development direction of the World Science Fiction Convention, etc., the communication and exchange of these contents will improve the stickiness of Chinese science fiction fans and the World Science Fiction Convention. Chinese fantasy fans will always participate in the World Science Fiction Convention, not just next year. In the past, we communicated by email, but now that the Internet is so developed and platforms are emerging in an endless stream, we have more opportunities to communicate. For example, FANAC has a great influence among overseas science fiction fans, and it is also a good choice to cooperate with such institutions.
Red Star News: Is it also beneficial for Chinese science fiction writers who want to challenge the Hugo Award for establishing such a communication mechanism?
Dave McCarty: Yes, we can tell these Chinese science fiction writers about the Hugo Award categories, the selection mechanism, the process, and the requirements of the Hugo Culture for the finalists. In fact, we have always had the Hugo Awards website, but it is still in English, and if volunteers can help translate it into Chinese website, this will give Chinese science fiction authors the opportunity to learn more about this time-honored award.
Red Star News: Is there any good advice for science fiction fans and promising Hugo Award-winning authors?
DAVE MCADDY: Of course, in a way, it's important to win. Although the Hugo Awards do not have a prize money, this honor is more precious and influential. We encourage science fiction writers to take the initiative to recommend their own works, so that more people can read, understand, love and nominate, and also encourage writers to recommend good works to each other. Recommending others is also recommending yourself, which is a manifestation of "Hugo culture", and science fiction fans and science fiction authors can build a good ecology together.
In addition, the mentality of winning should also be more inclusive, with only one winner in each category. It's also an honor for works and writers who were nominated but didn't win. The Selection of the Hugo Awards goes through a long process, from nomination to final award, including the nomination list, the shortlist and the final winner, the whole process is an affirmation of science fiction and the writer, even if he did not win the award in the end. Of all the Hugo Awards categories, the "hardest" winner was the "Astounding Award for the Best New Writer." Every science fiction writer has only two chances to nominate in a lifetime, and there are no misses.
Red Star News: Will there be any changes in the future of the Hugo Awards?
Dave McAddy: For the World Science Fiction Association (WSFS), we're gradually revising some of the charters for the Hugo Awards, and this year's conference business meeting proposes to add the category "Best Science Fiction Games", and if this proposal is approved, this new category will appear at the 2024 World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow. In fact, for the past 10-15 years, we've been adding the Hugo Award category to broaden the scope of this award.
Another important change is the change in the illusion fans participating in the Hugo Awards voting, taking Chengdu as an example, there will be more Chinese fantasy fans participating, and more Chinese fantasy fans will likely be nominated, this change is challenging, but it has a good role in promoting exchanges between the East and the West.
Red Star News reporter Ye Yan intern reporter Xu Ting Picture according to the Organizing Committee of Chengdu Science Fiction Conference
Edited by Tan Wangyu
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